The coverage of the entire Keenan-Reuben episode in Bombay brought back some memories of mine, that were not so fond.
Many moons ago, 2001 I think, I was waiting a red light aka stop signal and this middle-age gentleman in a dhoti and a cycle decided that he had to get ahead of the traffic, his attempt to push through made him bump into my side view mirror, being a proponent of patience, I pulled up a little and re-adjusted the mirror. Not to be outdone, our man in dhoti pushes up again and hits the mirror yet again, irritated but still under control, I moved up further and lo behold, BUMP yet again. "To hell with patience", I said to myself and came right out of the car and hauled up the guy (gudhi pakad ke, as delhi parlance goes). What happened next, set my expectations and more importantly my place in the heirarchy of New Delhi, very clear and more so cut me to size. The guy who by now was very sure that he was going to get at least one slap from me, pulls his hands up and tells me in a very authoritative tone, "Haath mat uthana, hum Advani jee ke ghar mein maali hein" (translated : Dont try to hit me, I am a gardner in the house of Shri. Advani). This totally shocked the wits out of me, never in my life had I imagined that I would run into the gardner of the esteemed (then) Deputy-Prime Minister of Lesotho, let alone India. As with all things that shock you, you back down to think, and that is exactly what I did. Sure enough, I had caused a traffic roadblock that I was blissfully unaware of in the midst of the shock that I'd just been subjected to, which however did not miss the eye of the traffic cop on the otherside who promptly rushed in to diffuse the situation. My woeful pleas to him were met with a "Sir jee, ab aapko kya batayein, Dilli mein har kutte ka ek baap ghoom raha hota hai" (translated - Almost everyone in Delhi is connected to the political heirachy in some way). Which also explains the despair that these guys go through every time they try and stop one of those black tint cars with beacons on top. Imagine pulling someone who just blew all the rules away and being subjected to further humiliation at the hands of a senior colleague and then having to let go of the offender. (Anyway... subject for another blog.... later)
The cop offered me a coca-cola to calm my temper down and sat down and chatted with me about life in general. Once I calmed down, it made me wonder, in ideal circumstances I would've never thought of the police, considering they're so maligned. But this guy dropped me off with an advice, "Sir jee, kabhi bharose se dekho hume, wapas bharosa hi milega". Ever since then, I've always used cops and the uniformed as an ally more than anything else.
A friend of mine once wanted to test something I had told him about highly-secure locations, where people are usually mad about being mistreated. He uttered the two magic words and was immediately met with respect.
The larger question is why do we not trust our own system? (I do not condone what happened, but I am wondering could there have been a better way out?) Which is what happened in the Keenan-Reuben episode, they first saw that they were outnumbering the hoodlums and got into a fisticuff without realizing that the guy would come back and do what he did. Instead maybe, just maybe, had he called the cops and reported what happened, sure they would've taken some money from the hoodlum and let him off (which is a possibility) but not without giving him a stern warning, I doubt the hoodlum would've had the gall to come back for revenge.
A couple of nights ago, I was driving back home and on the Siri Fort (not the apple SIRI) Road, just ahead of the Ansal Plaza the road winds into a shapely S, which does require some level of sobreity, which as I discovered 4 young men in a Maruti Swift weren't and came right about a few cm from brushing my car. What followed was a discussion of "How I met your mother" and when the situation was turning volatile, me alone vs. four drunk 25yr olds. from fairly well to do families was not a battle I wanted to pick, so I got back into the car and drove down towards Defence Colony, which thank god for the car thefts has some very stringent policing. The 4 extremely mad men followed me in a frenzied chase in their small engined car, which was also their biggest mistake. As I turned into the Defence Colony market, I saw them turn in as well and promptly blocked the road and got out at the police check post, much to the amazement of the cops who promptly ran over, Carbines, Lathis en-masse. The 4 men realized their mistake too late and ran right into the trap and got quite a sound thrashing that evening much to my satisfaction, they were let go, but only after they paid up. And I have serious doubts if they will ever decide to harass anyone else on the roads inebriated.
All I'm saying is that situations will arise, people will get into conflicts, there will always be a moron in the crowd. If you believe that you're the saner one with a higher ground to take, make sure you call the men in khaki before you decide on any bravado. Remember, tempers run high, people do irrational things. The one thing I can vouch for is that a little bit of trust on our system will go a long way. Had these two young men had that trust their families would not have to deal with the tragedy they're facing today. And I am not judging who's right or wrong in this scenario, what I am trying to say is When in a sticky situation count on the cops for some basic relief.
Adios... Stay safe
Many moons ago, 2001 I think, I was waiting a red light aka stop signal and this middle-age gentleman in a dhoti and a cycle decided that he had to get ahead of the traffic, his attempt to push through made him bump into my side view mirror, being a proponent of patience, I pulled up a little and re-adjusted the mirror. Not to be outdone, our man in dhoti pushes up again and hits the mirror yet again, irritated but still under control, I moved up further and lo behold, BUMP yet again. "To hell with patience", I said to myself and came right out of the car and hauled up the guy (gudhi pakad ke, as delhi parlance goes). What happened next, set my expectations and more importantly my place in the heirarchy of New Delhi, very clear and more so cut me to size. The guy who by now was very sure that he was going to get at least one slap from me, pulls his hands up and tells me in a very authoritative tone, "Haath mat uthana, hum Advani jee ke ghar mein maali hein" (translated : Dont try to hit me, I am a gardner in the house of Shri. Advani). This totally shocked the wits out of me, never in my life had I imagined that I would run into the gardner of the esteemed (then) Deputy-Prime Minister of Lesotho, let alone India. As with all things that shock you, you back down to think, and that is exactly what I did. Sure enough, I had caused a traffic roadblock that I was blissfully unaware of in the midst of the shock that I'd just been subjected to, which however did not miss the eye of the traffic cop on the otherside who promptly rushed in to diffuse the situation. My woeful pleas to him were met with a "Sir jee, ab aapko kya batayein, Dilli mein har kutte ka ek baap ghoom raha hota hai" (translated - Almost everyone in Delhi is connected to the political heirachy in some way). Which also explains the despair that these guys go through every time they try and stop one of those black tint cars with beacons on top. Imagine pulling someone who just blew all the rules away and being subjected to further humiliation at the hands of a senior colleague and then having to let go of the offender. (Anyway... subject for another blog.... later)
The cop offered me a coca-cola to calm my temper down and sat down and chatted with me about life in general. Once I calmed down, it made me wonder, in ideal circumstances I would've never thought of the police, considering they're so maligned. But this guy dropped me off with an advice, "Sir jee, kabhi bharose se dekho hume, wapas bharosa hi milega". Ever since then, I've always used cops and the uniformed as an ally more than anything else.
A friend of mine once wanted to test something I had told him about highly-secure locations, where people are usually mad about being mistreated. He uttered the two magic words and was immediately met with respect.
The larger question is why do we not trust our own system? (I do not condone what happened, but I am wondering could there have been a better way out?) Which is what happened in the Keenan-Reuben episode, they first saw that they were outnumbering the hoodlums and got into a fisticuff without realizing that the guy would come back and do what he did. Instead maybe, just maybe, had he called the cops and reported what happened, sure they would've taken some money from the hoodlum and let him off (which is a possibility) but not without giving him a stern warning, I doubt the hoodlum would've had the gall to come back for revenge.
A couple of nights ago, I was driving back home and on the Siri Fort (not the apple SIRI) Road, just ahead of the Ansal Plaza the road winds into a shapely S, which does require some level of sobreity, which as I discovered 4 young men in a Maruti Swift weren't and came right about a few cm from brushing my car. What followed was a discussion of "How I met your mother" and when the situation was turning volatile, me alone vs. four drunk 25yr olds. from fairly well to do families was not a battle I wanted to pick, so I got back into the car and drove down towards Defence Colony, which thank god for the car thefts has some very stringent policing. The 4 extremely mad men followed me in a frenzied chase in their small engined car, which was also their biggest mistake. As I turned into the Defence Colony market, I saw them turn in as well and promptly blocked the road and got out at the police check post, much to the amazement of the cops who promptly ran over, Carbines, Lathis en-masse. The 4 men realized their mistake too late and ran right into the trap and got quite a sound thrashing that evening much to my satisfaction, they were let go, but only after they paid up. And I have serious doubts if they will ever decide to harass anyone else on the roads inebriated.
All I'm saying is that situations will arise, people will get into conflicts, there will always be a moron in the crowd. If you believe that you're the saner one with a higher ground to take, make sure you call the men in khaki before you decide on any bravado. Remember, tempers run high, people do irrational things. The one thing I can vouch for is that a little bit of trust on our system will go a long way. Had these two young men had that trust their families would not have to deal with the tragedy they're facing today. And I am not judging who's right or wrong in this scenario, what I am trying to say is When in a sticky situation count on the cops for some basic relief.
Adios... Stay safe
