Indian expat girl loses favourite toy on Dubai Metro, policeman gifts her a big teddy

Dubai: An Indian expatriate family has thanked Dubai Police officials who made their daughter’s ninth birthday trip to Expo 2020 Dubai memorable by gifting her a big teddy after she lost her favourite doll on the way.

Keralites Remya Srivalsan and her husband Srivalsan took their daughter Jhanvi to Expo 2020 Dubai on her birthday on November 19. Residents of Discovery Gardens, the family had taken Dubai Metro to the “world’s greatest fair”, where Remya currently works as a stage manager with a production company.

On their way, however, Jhanvi lost her favourite doll, Remya told Gulf News.

“It was a tiny Peek-A-Boo tablet holder plush puppy gifted by my cousin,” Remya said. “It was very close to Jhanvi’s heart. She called it Icey and would carry it wherever she went. She had even made a small bed for it to sleep on and she really wanted to get it back,” Remya added.

Wanted her ‘Icey’ back

She said they immediately checked with the security officials at the Expo 2020 Metro Station. “We checked with several officials to trace the doll. They too tried to look for it.” The family was then told that they would be informed if the doll was found and were advised to contact Burjuman Metro Station’s lost-and-found section if they did not get a call in a couple of days.

Remya said they took Jhanvi to the toy shop the next day and asked her to buy any toy she liked. “But she just refused. She wanted her ‘Icey’ back,” Remya said.

Last Friday, Srivalsan took Jhanvi to the Burjuman Metro Station. “But the doll was not there. Jhanvi couldn’t control her feelings, which she had been holding back until then. She burst out in tears,” said Srivalsan, a civil engineer at Abu Dhabi Port.

Act of kindness

Seeing that, the officials at the lost-and-found section understood her pain, he said. “Surprisingly, one of them immediately got a huge soft toy and gifted it to her. It is a white teddy. Jhanvi was too happy to receive it from a policeman and she named the teddy ‘Icey’.”

Remya said it became a memory of a lifetime for Jhanvi and the entire family. “This may look like a small thing, but there was no need for that official to do it. The act of kindness and generosity from Dubai Police really touched us and we want to thank the person. We didn’t get his correct name. I think it is Saeed or Zayed. Anyhow, we want to thank him and the entire Dubai Police department. We have been living in the UAE for ten years now and we have always been happy about the safety and security here,” she added.

Meanwhile, ‘Icey’, the teddy, has now become Jhanvi’s new friend and she proudly tells everyone about the story behind the new toy.