Fine Please.................................

Scene 1: MG Road, B’lore

Today, after the lunch I went to M G Road for some important work. MG road is not in the interiors but in the heart of the so called IT hub of India. The building I had to get into had a notice board in front of the main gate mentioning that visitors cannot park their vehicles inside the building. Luckily the notice was written in Kannada ,so urs truly being a lucknow nawab, couldn’t undeshtand it… so, I conveniently ignored it and promptly parked my bike on the pavement beside the main gate and went to the security guard to enquire if he could allow me to park my vehicle. He being a jobless bloke , refused and asked us to read the notice in spite of knowing my inability to read the local language.

So, I came back started my bike and started moving on the pavement for the road. And as in bollywood films, when the hero tries to flee with his girlfriend, the badguy(usually girl’s father or brother ) appears and catches them red-handed…similarly, a traffic police inspector came and took my vehicle’s key. Then I ran after him (read slow motion running) asked what have I done? He accused me of driving on the pavement. He seized my driving license and asked me to pay the fine. But, I tried to argue with him that I have not committed any mistake and I was not driving on the pavement but he refused to listen any of my reasons and asked me to come to police station if I want my driving license back.

Now, I feel that it is not the policeman’s fault either…he waz simply performing his duty in the best way that he could…it is just plain circumstance taking its toll on me.

I also tried to bribe him to get my license back. But, he refused to take any money and asked me to come to the come to police station. At least some of the government employees are doing their job honestly. I did not have any option left so went to the police station.

Scene 2: Police Station,Ashok Nagar,B’lore

Its my first time entry to any police station in India (and abroad alsoJ) and I was shaking like a little puppy in cold weather.
And added to my worries, the police fraternity proved yet again how rude they can be…
Inside the police station an officer asked me where am I from? I said, “Lucknow”. Then he replied that this is not Lucknow and that I ain’t dealing with Lucknow traffic police.
We, the software engineers, have given an Identity to Bangalore and in retrospect are being treated rudely by the local people, which is very unwelcoming to the outsiders.
I was simply dumbfounded at the audacity of the police man, with which he was misusing his power... I told him that this is India it will be better to leave it as an integrated entity rather than drawing boundaries within itself (again filmi ishtyle) .
Ultimately I paid the fine but it makes me feel good that this money will go to the Indian Government and I do not have any regret that I was fined because it was my fault and I should be punished….

In the end, I returned with a happy feeling and a lightly loaded wallet ....

Date: Nov 20th, 2005…
A huge crowd standing in front of a school…some faces smiling...Some worried…hey...m also standing in the same crowd….neither worried nor smiling… checking the chicks…but…what is the occasion? Dude…it’s CAT 2005…the greatest festival of the year I guess…Everybody was eagerly waiting for the gate to open…A boy came with his father….he looked around for a while n then spoke to his father…”Dad, seems like most of the people standing here are repeaters…”..after some time he spoke to his father again..”Father, I can do the toughest question within 1 min 24 secs”..I do not know how did he reach to this conclusion...nyway..I wished him best of luck with a smile…as soon as my watch ticked 10:00 the gates were opened and the people started moving…it was looking like the water is trying to find its way thru a narrow passage…somehow I managed to enter the college with my bike…then…find the room where u are going to sit and write the test….I was trying to find my way to the board where the lists were pasted mentioning the roll numbers and corresponding rooms….suddenly a girl came…she pulled me back and occupied my place in front of the list... I had a look at her… she was beautiful..…she looked for her room exchanged a smile with me and moved away quickly…I got my room and then felt the need to visit the rest room….there was no need to ask abt the location of the same as a long queue was visible in front of a room….then I wanted to have some water…so I had to follow queue again…but as soon as the time passed the queue broke and everybody was snatching the bottle to have the water as soon as possible…then I entered the examination hall…everybody was quite…n nervous(…including me) ….even if u do not prepare and don’t put any effort then also u hope that u shall do well…it’s a human nature…my friend who also appeared for the exam with absolutely no prep…was singing a song while sitting in the examination hall…Kajra Mohabbat ka Ankhion main aisa daala….the boy sitting next to him gave him a smile…at least my friend was cool….for the next 2 hrs I tried to put my best ..after coming out the test center ppl were discussing how tough the test was…but DI was very tough…a girl was telling this to her bf….when I reached home my friends were waiting for me for the lunch…we cheered for the CAT 2005…n had lunch…Most of the ppl who worked hard and gave their best shud get the admission…this is the truth and the reason why y my best effort was not enuf to make it to IIMs…..best of luck..Ravish…better luck nxt time…