I was taking an evening bus journey in India. With the sweltering heat and every seat filled, all passengers were happy that this particular bus had 'glassless' windows.

The conductor came round collecting fares. As he got to me, I noticed a piece of paper flutter out of the wad in his hand and down the length of the bus, neatly evading the desperate clutches of my fellow passengers before vanishing out of the back window and into the night.

The conductor realised to his horror that it had been a 50-rupee note. He urgently rang the bell until the driver performed a dramatic emergency stop. The conductor and a number of passengers then leapt out of the bus and headed off back up the road into the gloom in search of the lost note, armed only with a torch. They returned, disappointed, 25 minutes later.

As we set off again, a remarkable thing happened. A man stood up and started a whip-round. Everyone dipped into their pockets and coughed up a few rupees and the resulting cash was presented to the (relieved) conductor.

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