#3
The incident described in this article happened a few months ago, when we had dropped by at a relative's place. The place located in a narrow street in Mylapore, had no room for cars to be parked. Parking the car contiguous to the street was ritualistic until then.
An hour after the car was parked, it was missing. The car had either disappeared or been towed by the police, the latter being much more probable. Being my sister's month old car, she was startled. The 'guy at the iron shop' had closed for lunch for the hour and had no clue where the car was. I wasn't shocked, unlike my sister. For me, it was partially exciting for I knew it was a game with the police. And so, we enquired among people who could have seen the car being taken away, no one had any idea. Common sense suggested we could enquire at the nearest police station and so, I along with my father and sister, in my dad's car drove to the Mylapore police station.
'The officer at the entrance' showed us in. The men there were dispersing for lunch and lead us to the Traffic Police department in the first floor. The sight of the first floor left my sister in a daze for it shared a striking similarity to a men's changing room , there was only one police constable in that floor and he was busy with his lunch. As we walked back down, the 'officer at the entrance' suggested we go check at the beach or at the next nearest police station. The next nearest was by my place. And so we drove to the Abhiramapuram police station. The officers there were done with lunch, and they listened to my father with interest. "My car was parked by the street around 11 and .....". They seemed like the better officers at that moment. They suggested we call the control room, and gave us the number. The line was busy.
And there we stood, right before the police station having no idea where the brand new car had been taken. It was not parked in a 'No Parking' zone. Moreover, it wasn't the idea of the second to park it at that spot. Highly frustrated but keeping his cool was my dad. Just as we decided to go to the beach to look for the car, an attempt to reach the control room succeeded. My sister explained solicitously to the 'officer on the line', "It wasn't parked in a No Parking zone, it is a brand new car". Calling back after five minutes, the 'officer on the line' confirmed that a car towed matching the mentioned description had been taken to the beach or The Music Academy junction.
The MA was the next spot. From a distance, my sister spotted her car parked under the flyover next to the towing van and a traffic police officer. Parking the car haphazardly, my father, and sister got off the car. I used the opportunity to enhance my parking skills and parked the car better.
Frustrated and heaving a sigh of relief at the sight of her car, she interrogated 'the officer' why her car had been towed. "The Governor had to pass by the road". That was the answer. Disgusted by the hasty response, my dad asked why there was no information left about where the car was being taken. He wanted answers for the hour we had just spent in agony. "Governor varam bodhu car ah nirithna apdi dhan pannuvom" were the words of reply. The calm was lost. My dad wanted legitimate answers. After a few heated exchanges, the police officer fetched the key, didn't unlock the wheel yet. He had just taken his billing machine out. Demanding a fine of 500 from us, he carried on billing. My father stopped him from doing so. He wasn't ready to pay the fine, not for the amount, but because there was no wrong on our side. When asked what the fine was for, he replied it was for the car being parked on the road when the Governor passed by. When we argued it wasn't a 'No Parking' zone, he hastily said it wasn't a Parking Zone. Looks like there is something that we have all missed between Parking and No Parking.
This led me to these inferences : Never park your car in a place that does not have a 'Parking' sign. Paste your personal contact details on the windshield of the car to make it easier for the police to reach you. (sarcastic suggestion by the officer)
Balked at the purpose of the fine, my father refused, 'the officer' contemptuously replied he wouldn't release the car. The disrespectful comments infuriated me. I decided to take help from my 'influential friend'. I knew I wasn't taking advantage for there was no wrongdoing on my side and for we had been treated crudely. I remember shrieking at one of the police officer's harsh remarks before I decided to take it to my friend. The 'influential friend' was quick to respond. All he wanted to know was the name of the police officer. I could see my father succumbing to the officer's demands as I was on the line, I shouted from a distance asking him to wait. I didn't want it to be an episode where the police officer had his way even when he was on the wrong side.
The officer threatened to move the car to the beach if the fine wasn't paid immediately.
It all had to happen at the same moment, as my father drew currency notes out of his wallet (to pay the fine), as the policeman re-towed the car, came a phone call. 'The officer' responded with respect on the line. It was from an authoritative person. I do not take pride in saying this, again, I hadn't taken advantage of my friend's resources.
It is stupefying what a phone call can do. The police officer, who showed no signs of respect until then unlocked the wheel and had just three words to say and I quote "Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban".
Had the 'infuential friend' not been there, we would have had to accede to the police officer. This is not thanking the friend. "Why did my car which was parked very much in the corner have to be moved for the Governor to pass by?, Why did the officer show such baffling disrespect?, Why were we asked to pay a fine!" are the unanswered questions.
British prime minister David Cameron took to the Metro Rail after a speech of his a few years back, while the Governor here requires a convoy and the road to be cleared to make it through the way. The police officer was definitely not a friend as he had claimed.
Thoughts about our country being a politically bad one flooded me that day. I respect policemen, it would be wrong to judge them with one incident.
Unwilling to indulge in any further exchange with the police officer, we returned to the relative's place for the special lunch.
The incident described in this article happened a few months ago, when we had dropped by at a relative's place. The place located in a narrow street in Mylapore, had no room for cars to be parked. Parking the car contiguous to the street was ritualistic until then.
An hour after the car was parked, it was missing. The car had either disappeared or been towed by the police, the latter being much more probable. Being my sister's month old car, she was startled. The 'guy at the iron shop' had closed for lunch for the hour and had no clue where the car was. I wasn't shocked, unlike my sister. For me, it was partially exciting for I knew it was a game with the police. And so, we enquired among people who could have seen the car being taken away, no one had any idea. Common sense suggested we could enquire at the nearest police station and so, I along with my father and sister, in my dad's car drove to the Mylapore police station.
'The officer at the entrance' showed us in. The men there were dispersing for lunch and lead us to the Traffic Police department in the first floor. The sight of the first floor left my sister in a daze for it shared a striking similarity to a men's changing room , there was only one police constable in that floor and he was busy with his lunch. As we walked back down, the 'officer at the entrance' suggested we go check at the beach or at the next nearest police station. The next nearest was by my place. And so we drove to the Abhiramapuram police station. The officers there were done with lunch, and they listened to my father with interest. "My car was parked by the street around 11 and .....". They seemed like the better officers at that moment. They suggested we call the control room, and gave us the number. The line was busy.
And there we stood, right before the police station having no idea where the brand new car had been taken. It was not parked in a 'No Parking' zone. Moreover, it wasn't the idea of the second to park it at that spot. Highly frustrated but keeping his cool was my dad. Just as we decided to go to the beach to look for the car, an attempt to reach the control room succeeded. My sister explained solicitously to the 'officer on the line', "It wasn't parked in a No Parking zone, it is a brand new car". Calling back after five minutes, the 'officer on the line' confirmed that a car towed matching the mentioned description had been taken to the beach or The Music Academy junction.
The MA was the next spot. From a distance, my sister spotted her car parked under the flyover next to the towing van and a traffic police officer. Parking the car haphazardly, my father, and sister got off the car. I used the opportunity to enhance my parking skills and parked the car better.
Frustrated and heaving a sigh of relief at the sight of her car, she interrogated 'the officer' why her car had been towed. "The Governor had to pass by the road". That was the answer. Disgusted by the hasty response, my dad asked why there was no information left about where the car was being taken. He wanted answers for the hour we had just spent in agony. "Governor varam bodhu car ah nirithna apdi dhan pannuvom" were the words of reply. The calm was lost. My dad wanted legitimate answers. After a few heated exchanges, the police officer fetched the key, didn't unlock the wheel yet. He had just taken his billing machine out. Demanding a fine of 500 from us, he carried on billing. My father stopped him from doing so. He wasn't ready to pay the fine, not for the amount, but because there was no wrong on our side. When asked what the fine was for, he replied it was for the car being parked on the road when the Governor passed by. When we argued it wasn't a 'No Parking' zone, he hastily said it wasn't a Parking Zone. Looks like there is something that we have all missed between Parking and No Parking.
This led me to these inferences : Never park your car in a place that does not have a 'Parking' sign. Paste your personal contact details on the windshield of the car to make it easier for the police to reach you. (sarcastic suggestion by the officer)
Balked at the purpose of the fine, my father refused, 'the officer' contemptuously replied he wouldn't release the car. The disrespectful comments infuriated me. I decided to take help from my 'influential friend'. I knew I wasn't taking advantage for there was no wrongdoing on my side and for we had been treated crudely. I remember shrieking at one of the police officer's harsh remarks before I decided to take it to my friend. The 'influential friend' was quick to respond. All he wanted to know was the name of the police officer. I could see my father succumbing to the officer's demands as I was on the line, I shouted from a distance asking him to wait. I didn't want it to be an episode where the police officer had his way even when he was on the wrong side.
The officer threatened to move the car to the beach if the fine wasn't paid immediately.
It all had to happen at the same moment, as my father drew currency notes out of his wallet (to pay the fine), as the policeman re-towed the car, came a phone call. 'The officer' responded with respect on the line. It was from an authoritative person. I do not take pride in saying this, again, I hadn't taken advantage of my friend's resources.
It is stupefying what a phone call can do. The police officer, who showed no signs of respect until then unlocked the wheel and had just three words to say and I quote "Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban".
Had the 'infuential friend' not been there, we would have had to accede to the police officer. This is not thanking the friend. "Why did my car which was parked very much in the corner have to be moved for the Governor to pass by?, Why did the officer show such baffling disrespect?, Why were we asked to pay a fine!" are the unanswered questions.
British prime minister David Cameron took to the Metro Rail after a speech of his a few years back, while the Governor here requires a convoy and the road to be cleared to make it through the way. The police officer was definitely not a friend as he had claimed.
Thoughts about our country being a politically bad one flooded me that day. I respect policemen, it would be wrong to judge them with one incident.
Unwilling to indulge in any further exchange with the police officer, we returned to the relative's place for the special lunch.
Wow, the part about the Governor passing by was completely unexpected! I can't believe cars can actually get towed for such absurd reasons! It's not even legitimate. And do most of the places in Chennai even have parking signs? Does that mean we can't park our cars anywhere? This way there's no guarantee of security. This also shows how difficult it is for the common man to receive justice in a system where corruption is so deep-rooted.
ReplyDeleteThey can get towed! They don't need reasons.
DeleteI've not come across any public place that has a parking sign.
And yes, its hard to win against the policemen!