The other day, me and my friend went to the market nearby at Indira Nagar for regular shopping... It was evening time... around 7 or 8. We saw one thelawala with roasted corns, and stopped there to relish a few pieces of roasted corns. As we were waiting for the thelawala to prepare the corn, a small truck came, with two traffic policemen in it. One was inside it, and the other was outside on the truck. They stopped by, scolded the thelawala to move away from the road, although he was at a safe distance from the road. Then they kept saying something to him and discussing something among themselves. We were not able to understand much. It appeared to me as if they were not so strict and friendly ones who will just ask him to move and drive away... Then they asked him about the corns... From their conversation in Telugu, I guessed, may be they stopped by to buy some corns... or may be will take a few corns as bribe. Then within a flash, the police who was outside, picked at least 10 pieces of corns and drove away... The poor thelawala was requesting not to take that much, but they did not listen... All this happened in just seconds... All the people around there gathered there suddenly... but they could not do anything... we could not do anything... And the poor fellow came back to cater to us and a few customers waiting for the roasted corns... We asked him, "Does he happen always?" He said, "Yes, all the time... " It was tough to watch his sad face. It was a shock to me... Rest of the time, I ate my corn silently, lost in thought... So many thoughts were filling my mind... And I was eating my corn as vigorously as I could...
Those were the people who were supposed to protect the people on road. They did that to that poor guy! They were no less than the dadas that I watched in 80's hindi movies. And this happened in our very own Indira Nagar!!! How can we trust poilce, then? They were worse than those gundas! They did not do all this for any discipline! In that case, they would have first thrashed the cars that were parked in random manner blocking the road and making it difficult for the walkers... They did not.. they wanted an easy target.. some one who can not protest! Its true then... all those adages, "only the fittest can survive", "Jor jaara mulak taara" are so true... n in such cruel ways!!
What will happen to the poor fellow? He must be finding it difficult already to support his family with the meager income by selling roasted corns... How does he handle it everyday? Why does not he voice against them? How can he? When he is the only one to shout or beg! How can he face the snatchers who are backed by the huge bureaucracy behind them! And when the people around him choose to be mute watchers!
The fact that everyone gathered suddenly when they were snatching, and in a minute everyone got busy in their own business, reminded me one of the stories by Ruskin Bond, where, the tiger hides and targets one deer while all the deers are grazing merrily. He suddenly jumps onto one of the deers and all the others flee. The deer is dead and tiger walks away with his food. Then within no time, all the deers come back and graze as if nothing had happened... How are we different as human race from those deers! Just as we have both carnivores and herbivores amongst us! But then, I was also among those mute spectactors! I too could not do anything! Why? The question kept nagging me! I could have taken a photo of their vehicle... I could have shouted... All those men could have shouted in unison! What could have those two policemen do if all the janta would have shouted! Nothing! But noone did! Why? since we were trying to protect ourselves at the cost of those few pieces of corn? or... we are resigned that such things happen and we have to face the bitter reality? or the mentaility of "It is his problem.. Thank God! not mine...", or the shock and indecisiveness of what should be done? or the lack of awareness and preparedness? that we don't know what should be done in such a situation? May be all of these?
My thoughts floated into imagining all horrible incidents that happened to me in the past and to the others... the horrible incidents that get highlighted in media everyday and move into oblivion every day!! What if a girl would have been groped? What if a person would have been looted? What if a woman was raped? What if someone was chain-snatched? What if someone would have been stabbed or shot at? Of course, this incidence of stealing the corns was not as horrible as I was imagining... But then, the concerns it arose was same... I, as a person, need to be more courageous .. we as people need to be less dumb... We need to act smart.. We need to be prepared.. We should know that we need to act and act smartly in such situations instead of standing as mute spectators....
I came back to my hostel with the same thoughts, but after a while, forgot it and got occupied in my other activities... in the same way those deers did.
