Recently Vidyullekha Raman had a harrowing experience at a five-star hotel lobby in Vienna where she lost her bag containing a passport, money, and other valuables. She is back home now and we talk to the chirpy actress to find out how she is.
Vidya says, “I went to Prague and Vienna for a holiday with my friends and cousins. We were in Vienna for a couple of days, went to Prague and came back to Vienna as my flight back home to Chennai was from there. As we were entering the five-star hotel lobby, two men approached me asking for directions and I replied saying I am a tourist and I don’t know.
I had my suitcase in the trolley and the bag containing all the valuables was on top of this. Then I walked into the hotel, these two men again came to me with the same question. I got pretty annoyed and told them to approach someone. It was during this time, the other man grabbed my bag from my side and put it in a black cloth bag and ran out through another exit. The place was, in fact, buzzing with activity with many hotel staff also around. When I looked for my bag for my passport to check in (ID proof), I realized it was missing. I was devastated. The CCTV footage clearly revealed the act by these men. I immediately complained to the police but they were not hopeful.
I also contacted the Indian Embassy who was very helpful and nice. In the same evening, they made sure that I got my emergency passport.
In a way, I am happy that I got home safe and sound because we hear about so many mugging, shooting and killing incidents. I am thankful I just lost my bag. In fact, I took out my mobile phone from bag to take a selfie which helped me contact people. Otherwise, I would have lost my phone too. You can say, a selfie saved me”.
On the professional front, Vidya is very happy that her recent release in Telugu, Sarainodu is fetching her good name.
