Caught (with) the Police ... (Traffic Police)

Ok...I know most of you would be very happy looking at the title that I got caught with the Police...atleast Traffic police....but I was happy...want to know why....just read on...

This happened on a wonderful saturday...just few days back…to be precise…9th Jan 2010…...I planned to go to Chintamani (near Kolar), it’s the place where my wife spent her most..well almost all her childhood days there...She had gone there on Wednesday....so I thought of going there as basically for a weekend relaxation at my in-law's house...:-)... (Nice Food, Raja treatment, different environment, Superb chats... what else...perfect relaxation without much expenses right? ;-)….just to mention here, the chats there are of excellent taste…had almost everything when I went there…starting from Boti masala, onion chakkali masala, nippat masala, dahi puri, tomato slice, ompudi masala, hesaru bele masala, mosru boondi, fanta masala,…yes that was my dinner for Saturday…)

Ok coming back to Saturday morning, I was just waiting for my kid to come from her school and then started off in my Car on the Yelahanka-Devenahalli Airport road...usually I drive fast, many of them who have sat in my car knows that...but since I was going with my kid and no one else...I thought of going a bit slow (around 80kmph) though it was the airport road with less traffic...Saturday afternoon...u see... It was not even 10-15 mins, I had crossed 10 kms from yelahanka and was on a cool road with not much traffic…and…I was just chatting with my sweet little kid telling all types of stories and giving gyans…just then…I just observed that there was 1 Tavera ( a yellow number plate) going very slowly probably less than 60kmph...I being busy with my talking with my kid, didn't even think why he is going slowly...but still took it as a surprise that a cab fellow is going < 60 on a highway like this...But within seconds came to know why….there was a traffic cop in the middle of the road and by the time I thought he shouldn’t ask me to stop….he just showed signs to park my car in the service road...first thought maybe it is just a routine check....and was happy that I have all the documents in place....for the record this was the first time a traffic cop catching me when I was driving my car....there are other times they have caught me when I was driving my bike...those are different stories which I will post it some other time....ok, coming back...after I parked my car...I saw that these people have come prepared with all the videos to capture at what speed each car is going…..hmm…at first shot thought "Oh my God"...then realized that I was not driving as I used to drive usually....for the record again usually on these highways with that kind of traffic or actually for me traffic is not that a concern if there are 3 lanes like that...I drive minimum 100 to 140kmph....I was glad that, this time I was driving slowly otherwise I wud have been in trouble......The traffic constable asked me to meet the traffic inspector who was sitting inside the police vehicle...then I thought "hmmm....this is going to be a problem..."...thought..." let me take my kid...may be...if the inspector sees my kid...he will have some consideration..." thought he might think "driving with kid ...papa...ok ...we shall leave him this time"...u know it usually works....it really worked when I went on a dharmastala-Horanadu-Sringeri trip recently...will post about that also later......ok, again coming back....I asked my kid to come out of the car...but my kid being a kid...didn't wanted to come...she got scared seeing the traffic constable...repeated pleading also went in vain... Ok, with a brave heart went to see the inspector....
Now in the police vehicle on the navigator seat...an inspector sitting with his blackberry which is also connected to a small printer via bluetooth and next to him was a bag....yes ...a bag to collect all the cash from poor people like me........Before me, there were 2 people waiting to pay their fines...the reason for the fine..."OverSpeeding"...The inspector was just telling "go and check your car speed from the data collected..."...Immediately myself and another person who was in front, ran towards the back of that vehicle where a person was there recording every car passes by...
We asked "ok, show me my car speed"...He just asked "which car"...the other person said "WagonR"......he showed an image with the car and the speed of the car saying "95kmph"...He said “Chec” and went to pay the fine…I got shocked, ok....what’s in store for me…..., with little hesitation I said "Ford Ikon"...ok, he selected that and showed & said "92kmph".....oh...then I thought due to not much traffic I might have pressed the accelerator a little more and would have been driving at 90's...Now the inspector didn't oblige both of them who were in front of me and both paid Rs.300/- as fine...I heard the inspector saying "80 is the limit...85 varegu bidthivi (till 85 its ok)....85-100...Rs. 300/- fine...beyond 100kmph, Rs. 700/- fine"...wow...what formulas...my mind was thinking in 2 ways..."lucky that I didn't go beyond 100 which I usually do, but unlucky that though I thought to drive at 80, I still went to 90..or rather 92..." I was then realizing that I was around 90-95 just when the constable asked me to stop......My brain started thinking more...running at high speed...." what to do now...he didn't allow the person who went at 95, will he allow me...what are the different ideas...to escape from this...shall I try to get my kid ...maybe it helps...or just by saying that will it help...or should I argue with him that I didn't go at that speed...or should I bribe him...naah...Why should I bribe...let me try something else..." and thought and thought but no idea came to my mind...just then...both of them left...and I was there alone...I started saying "Sir, I havn't driven fast, I am taking my kid, so it was not that fast, just that the road was so empty that the little extra accelerator push was there otherwise from Yelahanka I am driving at just 70-80 itself...blah ..blah..." and all.."...nothing impressed him...he just said "see other people have paid, if u had crossed 100 then u would have had to pay 700"...I being Harsha don't want to just pay 300 like that...if it was 100 or so...it would have been fine with me, but 300 means a lot for me...started again saying "Sir, please leave me this time...I will take care next time...u see the road was so clear...I didn't realize that it touched 90..."...But seeing the inspector not interested...thought it will not help, ok I have done a mistake, got caught that too red handed with proof...let me pay for it...I took my purse, gave him Rs. 500/- note...The inspector gave me Rs. 300/- back...I got confused and wondered..."Why he gave 300 back to me...didn't he check, did he give on purpose...will he give me a receipt, is he taking that as a bribe...." just then...the inspector said " I have given 300 back to u since u r requesting otherwise tell me I will fine and u will have to pay Rs. 300.."...that is when I thought "aah....how can an inspector mis-calculate..he is pucca in that....if not with anything else" and thought " this fellow wants to take the entire 200 to his pocket and what I would have saved is just 100....."thought "if I am paying 200, then I will pay 300 itself...it doesnt make much difference to me, atleast I will not be giving to this inspector..."...ya...I thought that way... if you had thought I wouldn't have thought that way..then u r wrong…u havn’t understood me yet…..ya...dunno if the inspector had taken just 100 and given 400 back, then my mind would have thought in a diff. direction though it shouldn't think in that direction...anyways....so since this inspector wants a bribe and now I haven’t offered him to bribe, I thought "This is best opportunity"...and told the inspector "Sir, naanu bitti bidi antha kelidhe, reciept illada haage fine thagoli antha alla ( Sir, I asked u to leave me, not that to take fine without receipt)....u take 300 or 200, but I need the receipt"...He felt offended as I went back against what he did...I could see that in his face and in his words....I had every right to scold him also for doing such things...but didn't wanted to get into arguments with police ppl...u know how they r...they can go up to any extent...they can even put me in a hit & run case also...So I just kept quiet when he was saying "....eno request maadi konde antha helidhe, ok 300Rs. kodu, receipt kodthini ( since u requested, I told u, ok give me 300Rs. will give u receipt)"...I replied back "I have given u already 200, take here is another 100, now give me the receipt"... I knew that since he got offended by my reverse talk, he couldn't talk properly...this really made me happy, now I was not worried that I really paid Rs.300 and 300 just went waste...I was more than happy and was smiling all the way from the time I took the receipt till I sat in the car and drove off....I just wondered....wow...I had my day today...once again...yes once again...I caught the traffic police person instead he catching me......:-)....

PS: once again because I have done like this quite a few times....will post them later....keep revisiting my blog...
Thanks for reading this small incident of mine which I blogged here as a big story...:-)