Nabarangpur: At a time when stories of selfishness and deceit often dominate headlines, one man’s simple act of honesty in Nabarangpur has restored faith in humanity.
Dhanardhan Mandal, an employee at Mangalam Timbers, has won widespread appreciation for returning four lost mobile phones to a group of nursing students. His gesture has been hailed as a rare display of integrity in today’s world.
On July 16, four students of the Nabarangpur Nursing College — Pujashree Pattnaik, Rupalika Nayak, Pramila Harijan, and Subhadra Bhandari — accidentally placed their phones in the wrong scooter’s storage compartment. The scooter belonged to Dhanardhan, who had visited the college that day to inquire about B.Sc. Nursing admission for his daughter. Since mobile phones aren’t allowed in classrooms, the students had intended to keep their devices in a compartment of a blue scooter owned by one of them — but mistakenly left them in Dhanardhan’s similarly colored vehicle.
Unaware of the mix-up, Dhanardhan returned to work. It wasn’t until later, while opening the storage compartment at Mangalam Timbers, that he discovered the four phones — all on silent mode.
Without hesitation, he handed over the phones to the security personnel at his office and informed the college. The nursing college authorities, led by Director Muna Satapathy, traced Dhanardhan and arranged for the students to collect their devices. In the presence of staff and security personnel, Dhanardhan personally returned each phone to the rightful owner.
The students were overwhelmed with relief and gratitude, and the college praised Dhanardhan for his honesty. Locals have joined in lauding his action, calling it a shining example of integrity.
