When the thieves broke into the country home of a renowned film director in southern India, taking gold, silver and cash, they made a clean getaway. But days later, a small plastic bag appeared outside the house’s gates, stitched shut with thin sticks and containing something wrapped in a white handkerchief. Inside was a medal for a prestigious national award that the director, M. Manikandan, had won in 2021 for one of his films. With it was a brief note handwritten in Tamil, a regional language. “Sir, please forgive us,” the note read.

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Persons: Manikandan Locations: India