9.September,2009
.....such a wonderful day.the warm gleam of the sun..cool soothing wind...the crows flying about [ its Kerala , what else will you find fluttering around ?] there was this unexplained energy about the day.For me , I felt like this was my day, and I'm going to own it..little did i know that this day would change one of my many preconceived notions and this time .about "certain people".felt that on this day we [ me and my friend] could accomplish something, seize the day, and we looked forward to it ..we got out of the house all cheery faced , bright eyed..it looked overwhelmingly weird I tell you..started the bike..its just fills your heart up when u hear the sound of the engine in the morning, especially if you haven't touched it in two days..so we rode.rode into the ever growing traffic.It just felt so good, with the wind in your hair.A feeling which we would regret later on.We hardly travelled 1km when a distinct khaki clad personnel waved to us.The wave wasn't friendly.Screwed !!
'Stupid.Cursed day..'..the first words through my mind.at this point had 2 options : pretend that i didn't see them..even if i smiled at the officer to stop, like a law abiding citizen
I chose the latter..parked my bike near the curb and stepped off the bike. We walked to the "White Bullet" ..where the other 'victims' were trying to 'negotiate'.The Khaki wasn't in a good mood it seems as none succeeded in proving their case.Screwed again !! There was still a chance..my pillion riders father was in the police. Our "get out of jail free " card . That was our point for negotiation . The Officer was in bad mood for sure as he didn't even listen to what we had to say.He even threatened to slap a 1000 Rs fine on us for we didn't have the papers with us at the moment.He asked us bring the papers and show it to him and the take the bike . Trapped like dumb rats . We took an auto to my place and came back with the papers . The Constable with the officer and the traffic police present there recognized my friend and asked us to wait till the Officer gets a break from his 'hard work' . Waited for about 1 hour before he was ready to see us.Then we were introduced to the officer by the constable. I'm guessing this is the part where u assume that we got off Scott free ,since v had connections..YOU ARE WRONG ..you don't want 2 be a policeman's son and get caught for riding without a helmet..you are done for..since they knew his father ..they dealt more freely with us..as we stood there ..we were to witness to almost 20 of their 'catches'..and we were used as props in their work ..there was a guy who was driving an Innova who was caught for using the phone while driving . Slapped 500 Rs fine on him..We stood there as passers
by gave us their sympathy smile . What we witnessed there was pure police work what the Officer called 'criminology" ..the detained had something in common and the detainers did admit to it , most of them were young. the characteristics were quite evident : young. shades, Tshirt , modified bike , power filters , flashy bikes and hair style ..they just hate the pulsar and the stunner ..they did have much familiarity with the Yamaha FZ ..the longer we stood there ..the more comfortable we got to them and before long they were cracking jokes with us He had his hands on my shoulder as he explained to us his duty..n they wer still commenting on us even if had something to do with my friends long hair or my black Tshirt ..they were asking about our hairstyles...and after that they were giving us pointers on what the police look out for , what makes them suspicious and all that .but all that time ,they did all that while doing their job., they didn't miss any one who fits the above description...it was an experience and it was worth the 2 hrs 23mnts that we stood there..pretty long time Isn't it??..Yea..thank god that had connections right ? ..NOT..!!...and they stopped their 'work' when the last leaf of 'book of fines' got over . Since the book was over ,they could not charge us . :P ..and we shook hands as he told us 'feel free to say a hello when when we see him somewhere' ..we nodded ..as they got on their white beast and rode off into the sweltering sun .As for us , we were smiling at ourselves as we walked towards our bike , we had saved 100 Rs..we just couldnt stop grinning like idiots.
If you are wondering what was the notion altering experience i was talking about..its this..fr the 2 hrs 23 mnts we stood there..we got to another side of the Khaki ...the lighter side..reminding us..they are humans too ..they are people just like us..and for the people who have been fined..don't curse them for doing their jobs..they are not heartless, its their responsibility ..if we were aware about ours..we wouldn't have been caught . I know I learnt my lesson . From the inside..
peace..
