Easiest way for pocketing cash, if you are a traffic cop: Find a junction, where there are routes running out in every direction, and atleast one of them is not allowed to be taken by vehicles. Now, verify that the No-entry board has been put up where it is hardly visible for the regular commuters, and then stand there, with a receipt book, which will hardly be used, since the money is going to your pockets directly. Simple way, innit? Now, if you see that the board is a bit in proper visibility range of the commuters, just change the location of this board, use your ‘vardi ki taakat’ if you need to. You are a cop, you rule the streets!
You find roots missing here? Let me tell you about it.
Saturday evening, 21st, I am hurrying to reach a place in time. There is this road I regularly take, which bifurcates into 2 roads, that are complementary, and thus make an angle of 90 degrees each with the main road; exact ‘T’ junction. Left turn here was previously allowed. Then they decide to make it a one-way. So a board is put up, at the centre of the ‘----‘ in ‘T’, ie, on the plain wall straight ahead. Being in hurry, I do not see the sign which is way far from where a commuter will be taking a left turn. I do see cops standing at every turn in the T junction and I wonder why. Looking around trying to see why people are asked to bring their vehicles to a screeching halt, I see the board, which is at least 50m away from me, and at a height of circa 50m from the ground level there. So this cop asks me to stop, and show my license, which I promptly do, and that son of a gun handed me over a ticket, charging me 100 bucks, instantly!
The cop went on to stop other 2 fellows who were just about to turn left. I had started to see red. I went up to this ‘Dabanng’ type cop (with a Raybon goggle), my mind set for a heated dispute which I knew would ensue, and began explaining my point which was that the board was too tiny seen from this position. The text and the symbol on the board were not visible, when one is taking a left turn here. I stood there, explaining the niceties about taking a left turn, to a MALE cop. Why would one be looking diagonally opposite when one has to turn left, and thus endanger one’s life, as it is only the left side from where one could be bumped into? The cops tell me that the board is of standard size, and so is the text, and symbol written on it. Fine, accepted. But how about the point where the board will be put up? Can’t it be placed on the left side itself, where people who are turning left can see it and stop there? Especially for a corner where left turn was previously legal, it would be ideal to have the board on the left, as people who regularly commute, can spot it easily. The brusque cop tells me that people anyways don’t glance around and look for or follow traffic rules unless there are cops around. This is a country where rules have to be enforced.
I, being a law-abiding citizen of my beloved country (ahem), retaliated saying that I do not look around for rules written on boards when cops are around, and so is the case with many other ‘jagruk’ citizens; you can go show that uniform and its worth to the rest. The cop glared at me, and told me that this road has been a No-Left allowed ab initio. As far as I could remember, (‘far’ here was just last week) I had ridden on this road, and I had seen arrows drawn in white on this road going towards both the sides. When I fed him this piece of info, he challenged me right away, Barney Stinson-style, and said ‘Challenge Accepted! Show me the arrows’, with a glint in his eye. I was a bit diffident here, because he looked and sounded very confident about the fact that there are no arrows there, and the reason is that this street has been a one-way all the while, though people never followed he rule. Nonetheless, I led him to the spot where I had seen the arrows, and to my relief, they were just there! I smirked and I told him that all I want is that the sign be put up at the most ideal location, wherever we have the need.
We walked back to my bike, where he handed back my license. For some further drama, I gave him the hundred bucks, in front of a nice audience, and told him to use the money for uprooting the board to put it up in the right place. With a smile, I left that place. Take a leaf of outta my book, fellas, and also, carry your license!
