A friend and I were travelling by 23C recently on our was to Besant Nagar. As we got into the bus at the IIT stop, two(obviously drunk) guys sped past the bus on a bike yelling and screaming at the bus driver. The driver kept trying to lose them - by either going slower or faster but these guys kept up with the bus and kept screaming. Apparently, this has been going on from Saidapet. Finally, the driver stopped the bus at the Madya Kailash signal.
There were 3 cops at signal - it was sunday evening and they were doing what cops do best on sunday evening - torture inncoent college students regarding lack of various papers and so make huge sums of money in the process. The driver stoped right next to them and tried telling them about the two guys. One cop was on the phone and didn't realise that the driver was talking to him until he caught me waving frantically to him he trotted over to see what was going on and when he found out he came back to his original place, a completely bored expression on his face. The second cop - an old cop, listen to the driver and then walked away, and the third cop was in the corner 'potty kadai' smoking!!!!!
They were completely unconcerned. Why should they listen to what the driver has to say, was their attitude? After all, the driver has no money to hand over as a bribe.. he has no influence, he can't get them a promotion! And helping him, would probably mean, they'll catch a lesser number of students and lesser bribes!
Yuck!
Recently, a friend of mine was caught "speeding" (read: 40 km/hr) at 11 in the night. The cops caught him and because there was a girl(another friend o mine) with him, they started giving him ahard time and demanded he pay them 8000Rs. They kept at it until the girl remarked, "this is ridiculous, lets call your dad". Then they backed off, since the dad was a respectable gentleman who's sure to be influential.
And this other friend of mine, who's doing journalism, tells me that even if he's caught breaking traffic rules (going the wrong way in a one way lane, for example), the cops don't do anything further. They just let him go. Which, if you ask me, is as cowardly as they can get!
This city's policemen disgust me no end!
I wonder if there's something I can do about it - at least the Madya Kailash incident since I witnessed it first hand. If you guys can think of anything, let me know..
Milestone Birthday
1 day ago
22 comments:
Damn, at least they didn't do any damage, which they're as likely to do. When was this?
I've been called up for lane violation, and one hilarious* time I was caught for running a stop light. I suppose it was right for me to pulled up for the lane violation: I was in the right-most lane when I changed my mind and wanted to go straight. I hate it when people stand in that lane, so I moved a little past so that cars behind me could take the U-turn (in front of Chennai Central at around 6.30 a.m.) and blam! I got pinched.
* Why hilarious? Well, you see, we were on Mount Road and I was right behind a bus, with a bus to my right, going at some 5-10km/h (you know, stop and go traffic) and I couldn't see the red light till I was halfway through the intersection. At which point these policemen thread their way through the traffic and stood in front of the cars. I got away with giving them 30 rupees in change :D It was a rather unfortunate time to get caught.
:-P There was this one time Soumya got caught with an expired LLR. She was returning from tution and had no money on her whatsoever. The cop asked her to cough up 100 bucks, and she said she didn't have any money. He said, okay, gimme 50. She said "I don't have any money!". The cop looks at her incredulously and goes "Not even 50?" And she makes a very sad face and says "No!". Finally, he had no choice but to let her go!
if the drivers try to be proactive, the cops turn the other way. you can't win, i tell you! :P
@ Pseudo: Sadly, we can't :-P
I have had more trouble with the guards at IIT-M than with the entire police force in madras :(
The guards at IIT-M are a piece of cake. Just tell them some random room number (100-400 will be a safe call) at some Rivername +Hostel and you're free to go! :-)
Hmmmm... happens! Especially if the month's just starting out!
I thought they do it at the end of the month.. and every 15th! Do you know that some of the radio channels give traffic updates where they tell you which parts of the city to avoid if you don't have your papers?? It's very funny!
seriously..........such is the nature of our police force....u know there were 100 policeman deployed in the area in mumbai were the terrorist struck....but our "hawaldars" couldn't do any thing...coz they only know how to use a lathi and to take their hafta...
In case thinking of a number is too hard, just claim you're visiting Chitra. It's easy enough. If you check the register, I bet you'll find more people 'visiting Chitra' than the rest of the hostel itself.
@V-Punk: Do you watch friends? I re-saw this episode where rachel gets caught by the policeman for over speeding and she has a expired license to boot and she flirts her way out of the situation! So I guess it's the same everywhere!
@Roshan: Yeah, and it's funny how many of them 'visited Chitra' when Chitra wasn't anywhere near IIT!
but.but.. I was visiting Chitra, not to mention, write a stupid exam
In the absence of a deeper conviction, actions are driven simply by immediate incentives (positive or negative).
Its not like every student at IIT harbors a profound appreciation of the significance of knowledge or the yearning to meaningfully contribute to the knowledge-pool. Cog assignments, cog in quizzes, demand undeserved sympathy from faculty, snatch the degree and vamoose. Its hypocritical to expect everyone else to do their duty in the right spirit, while we are allowed to misinterpret our lousiness as juvenile fun.
Its statistically unlikely that every person who joins the police force is driven by a noble ambition of contributing to an orderly society. So it is inevitable that they look for loopholes to make an extra buck whenever possible.
Lack of expected spirit, and exploitation of loopholes exist in every sphere. So i dont understand your specific cribs regarding the chennai police force.
Besides, poor dudes stand in the sun at choke-a-bloc smoky intersections staring at passing vehicles all day, all for peanuts. No wonder they pick on peanuts-putting couples, for an extra bite.
@ Sido: JAM =! visiting Chitra. Ask George. He'll tell you. I'm greatful for the temptations, though!
@ George: See? Some people get me tempatations when they come to write exams. Of course in return for a few(alright, many) songs..
@ Bharat: I never said I wasn't a hypocrite. Not that I'm proud of it, mind you. Be as that is, compromising on the safety of civilian is not the same as copying one's assignment. And I'd also like to point out that I don't expect undue sympathy from our professors. Infact, if you ask me, we need a harder hand! Something I used to repeat many many times in MCC.
Its not about you in particular.
All I am saying is that this attitude pervades every sphere. When driven solely by incentive, such exploitation of loopholes happens. Just that it manifests in a flagrant and annoying way when it comes to the police force, while it goes largely unnoticed in other spheres, unless some event of significance brings it into focus. There is no point in singling out and magnifying one specific symptom of a larger underlying attitude issue.
@ Bharat: One's gotta start somewhere! The law enforcers seems like a good start, don't you think?
A child wants some kind of undisrupted routine or rhythm. He seems to want a predictable, orderly world. For instance, injustice, unfairness or inconsistency in the parents seems to make a child feel anxious and unsafe.
Abraham Maslow.
@ Satyaki (rather, Maslow): Question is, does this hold only for children?
Are u sure that the bus stopped at Madya Kailash and NOT at Madhya Kailash???!!!!
@ not nice: I don't think it makes a difference! Just like my name is sometimes spelt chithra!
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