That traffic cop

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!

Life past 26/11

Hello there

The 26/11 of the year 2009 is quite memorable for me. Why? Read what my thoughts were on this day-

Me, in the morning: 26/11 of the year 2008 was a black day in the history of our country. Every person can relate to this incident, and such other catastrophes in their own way. On one side, there are survivors, some are witnesses, some are relatives, some are insurgent fellow country beings, and some are just people whose hearts go out for the martyrs. On the other side are the fiends who committed the heinous cataclysm., actively, and passively. Some are existing who are of the opinion that they are not on any of these sides, and their conscience allows them to be so....no words for such category....Nonetheless, I want to accentuate that it is not just such issues that can help one rub shoulders with people around him/her. It is high time that we consider existing commonalities as the binding string around us, and be united. We do not need another 26/11 for that.

Me, in d noon: My mommy had been out to visit her parents, so I was kinda incharge of the house for 3 days, starting from 24th to 26th, and a fact about me is that I totally suck in the kitchen. When I was cooking, I was just adding whatever I could lay my hands on, and my guinea pigs were my family members, who were swallowing every morsel for the love of me. Chopping onions and tomatoes was replaced by grinding onions in a paste in the mixer, and ketchup, respectively. So, no more tears :)

Me, in d afternoon: After finishing my chores on 26th, I resorted to my pc, and started with my routine there. Chatted with a dear friend, who is undergoing her training stint in Mysore for a software company> She had decided to show her emotions by donating blood. Done with that, she fainted, got 2 stitches on her chin, and numerous wounds. Why did she have to be such a heroine, huh?

Me, in d evening: After spending good 4 hours staring into the face of my facebook and orkut accounts, etc, the hour my mom was to arrive reached, and brought with it some mindblowing news : My offer letter had arrived. I was too daft to react in any way....I opened the letter and was staring at it as if it were written in Latin. It just could not sink into me, totally thick of me!

Only after my beloved people read it for me could I understand that I was supposed to join office on 1st Jan @ Pune. My 6 month long wait was over, n my joy was seamless. My glee was multiplied by 'n' for every person congratulating me for the news, where 'n' this time was any integer i chose. it was my happy time, my happy place. In my ecstasy, I even forgot to acknowledge the receipt of my dear offer letter.

A week went past in a whirl, did loads of shopping, hanging out, enjoyed a lot; true to the last-month-of-freedom-feel thingy that I used to hear before. Got so many gifts from my near ones, who felt truly happy for me. So now I had a stack of most eligible books for reading, a collection of movies to watch, and a month of time in hand! And with the sound of Jingle Bells approaching, I was readying for the last Christmas wherein I would be so carefree. Perfect!!!!

Soon after I divided my time into slots for these tasks priority wise, my manager decided to give an assignment to be completed in the time before I join, and submit the report the day I join. Whoa man! What a killer!!

So now I am here, sitting and studying even more :(

Nonetheless, I am more than waiting for this year to finish, so I can embark onto my journey as a pro on the Day 1 of 2010. Goodbye 2009, you were wonderful!

Me n my boredom

Hey friends

How does it feel to sit home all day, waiting for a new company to come for off or on campus placement, or your offer letters to come, or your joining dates to arrive? Very touchy question naa?

After my exams got over, on 7th June, I felt like a free bird...had done with my engineering, and now, I had all the time in the world to do whatever I could not do when I was jailed in for 4 years. So started my new routine: just enjoying life. No rules to follow, no submissions to take care of, no attendance to maintain...well, I had no issues with my attendance in any of my engg semesters, I had above 90% attendance in each sem....silly of me, cuz minimum 75% was mandatory, and I exceeded the limit by a staggering 15-20%!

Anyway, I had a very nice time, hanging around with my friends, reading fiction, trying new music, watching movies, and most importantly, social networking. If I was not out, then I was sticking to my PC. All my friends who were placed into some company, like me, and awaiting DOJ used to meet up online, and talk about any company that gave out joining, and then used to cuss the company that we were placed into. Come Wednesday, and we used to hunt for any new openings in Times Ascent. We all used to try our luck wherever we could. We had formed this nice coterie, and used to keep each others hopes high, and ears open for new openings.

Results came out on 17th August, and nothing changed in my routine. I was just a graduate unemployed person now, with least priority assigned in a house where everybody was busy with their life, and I had nothing to keep me busy.

Soon it became bugging to just do nothing. I was so used to always having a book weighing some 0.5 kg plus ( I studied from reference books, all those firangi authors u know....) under my nose that my fiction books barely filled the void. Going out meant that I was supposed have to answer questions like 'wassup?'. And the mundane answer used to be 'waiting'....Low ebbs were common there after. There used to many rumours afloat about my company this, n my company that. I had to keep these subservient news aside, and just be positive, as others would advise me. But the implodings could not be controlled... People from all around the globe used to advice me that this is the best time of my life and that I should make the most of it, and that this time wont ever visit me again. But it is easier said than done. Had my date of joining been definite, my definition of enjoyment would have multiplied by 'n', where 'n' was any integer greater than 4.

Somebody said unto me that talent, if unused, becomes rusty....it was gory to listen to....but nous. So my hanging-in-the-between friends, keep going, and dont bend to subjective rumours. See you all busy soon :)