Tuesday 3 April 2007

The Other Side of Parking and Police


Last week on a weekday I had an unusual experience.

I had to go to a bank on a main road and parking was alloted on one side of the adjecent road. There was a 'No Parking' board on the other side but there were some cars parked there.

Right near the entrance of the A.road , there were a bunch of police men relaxed and settled...sitting in cosy chairs under shady trees and enjoying the gentle afternoon breeze ...looking very much at ease .

Seeing the other cars parked in the opp direction , I too encouraged by another erring driver , parked my car there. But very cleverly :P asked the policemen there , if I could park it in that area.. One of the cops said "Oramaa podumaa" (park it close to the pavement)...and I proudly showed them how close to the pavement the vehicle was and with a big smile of gratitude proceeded to the bank :)

After half an hour when I came back , I saw a rectangular metal frame and a big lock fastened along the driver side wheel :(

Imagine my shock and I turned around to give the policemen an accusing look and only after that did they realise that the car had been locked :(
They were very apologetic and then told me that they were there for the CM's
security and had nothing to do with the traffic (!!!) .
I said "But when I asked you..you never told me" and they said "Its very rare
to lock cars in this road".

But even before I asked them , they called the traffic police who had the key , and asked them to come over. Apparently they were having lunch and I had to wait under the trees :(
They offered me a chair (!) but I preferred to stand there...and was listening to
their conversation about Tamil Nadu politics (very interesting :P) . Then one of
the SIs elaborated an accident that had taken place a few hours before in Ambattur and was very disappointed with the general public. He said that not one person came near the victim and it was only the auto drivers who came to the victim and took him
to the hospital..(but the case was fatal) . The SI was all appreciation for Chennai
auto drivers saying they are the ones who always come to the rescue during crisis.

Then the conversation turned to general cribbing about their odd duty hours , their kids schooling , their respective native places etc. all in their own unique accent .They told me about their kids and what they are planning to study and also
enquired me about my schooling and family.

Meanwhile another person came there asking them "Can I park my car here?"
and there was a chorus of "vendaaaam!!" from all and pointed to me and my car :(
The guy said "I am related to the CM" for which they said "Neenga traffic police
kitta sollidunga" .
Dont know what made me ask that guy if he likes standing under the shady trees in that area :P. He took his car and drove away promptly .

Finally , the traffic police came in their crane like vehicle and the SI requested them to remove the lock and pleaded (yeah..I heard him request) that it was his fault :)

By the end of this half an hour I had seen another side of Chennai police and was quite impressed with their attitude and outlook.Inspite of the inconvienience I felt the experience was worth it .
Once the lock was removed , they gave me a nice send off .

I never dreamt that there'd come a day when a bunch of policemen would be relieved to see me leave :))



BTW...I found this post http://shocking.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/funny-answers-written-by-students/
by Pegasus absolutely hilarious..check it out :)

19 comments:

Ravi said...

Good one Sree. Eppadiyo moi ezhudhaama thappicheenga. Vaazhthukkal!! So nalla marketing tactics irukku unga kitta.

balar said...

பெண் என்றால் போலீசும் மனம் இறங்கும்!!!:):):)

Sree's Views said...

Hi Ravi..
//Eppadiyo moi ezhudhaama thappicheenga//
Ahaaa...adhu epdee ezhudhiduven..modhalla nalladhanama kettu paathen avalodhaan :P
But I cld sense that they felt bad about it :)
The main thing is ,that day I had a lot of time..so chumma vetti ya wait pannen..if I had had any work..ore upset aagi iruppen :)
Sari..unga post la en second comment paatheengala ;)

Sree's Views said...

Hey Bala.....
Ninaichen....ennada innum namba Bala vandhu kaala vaaralaiyennu..vadhuttel :P
hmmm penn enbhadhala konjam soft corner irukardhu ennavo unmaidhaan :) But namba epadee approach pannaromgaradhu kooda mukkiyam illa..what say u?

Ravi said...

Sree,
Yes paarthen. Thodu dhaanae... thangama, vairama, platinum-a? edhula venum-nu sollunga ;-)

Btw, pudhu post pottirukken.

Sree's Views said...

Hey Ravi...
//thangama, vairama, platinum-a? edhula venum-nu sollunga ;-)//

Ahaaaa...iduvalavo generosity :)
Romba thanks , Ravi..the thought counts.. plastic or glass ones wld do :)
Unga post pathen..I was reminded of "Michael madana..rajan","panchathandram",
"jumaanji","It could happen to you" and "Few good men" :)

unfuel the planet said...

//I never dreamt that there'd come a day when a bunch of policemen would be relieved to see me leave//

:)) nice start for a lawyer.

and thanks for the advertisement of my blog.

Ravi said...

Sree,
Yes, good movies-na andha list poyitte irukkum, that's why I chose only climax so that I could restrict the number but adhuvae oru periya post-a aayiduchu!!

Syam said...

katchi la serndhinga aala kaanomnu ethir katchi ungala kidnap pannitaangalaanu paarthitu irundhen...police protection oda vandhuteenga :-)

Syam said...

you are rite...police thalli ninnu paarkum pothu theriyaathu...avanga kooda pesinaa thaan theriyum avangalum nammala maathiri thaannu
:-)

Sree's Views said...

Hey pegasus..
//and thanks for the advertisement of my blog//
Anytime ! But u know your blog does'nt need it. Its already popular and rightly so . Your humor section is simply superb and other economic and political related posts are very informative :)

Sree's Views said...

Hello Syam...
Naan eppomey Katchikku romba loyal...avalo easy yaa enna kidnap panniduvaangala :P
(neengadhaan enakku padhavi....percentage ellam koduthu irukeengalaey..appuram enna..happy !!! )

Unga oorukku (US) vandhappo...indha oorla cops ellam enna approachable la irukaangannu ninaippen....but pesi paathadhula avanga koncham biased aa irundha maari irundhudhu ( U must be knowing better)...inga namba dhoorama irundha paravaillainnu ninaikara namba police avalo receptive aa irundhaanga :)

Never judge a book by its cover nnu ninaikiren :)

KK said...

Magalir ani thalaiviku yen vanakangal :)

Sree's Views said...

Hello KK...
Vaanga vaanga :)
Vanakkam :)
Enga blog pakkam vandhamaikku romba nandree :P
Unga Pedagogy(adhaney andha word) post romba rasichi padichen..appuram neraiya tags pottu irundheenga :) You have a nice blog :)

Adiya said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Adiya said...

:)... Tamilnadu police romba thaikula pasam mikkavagan. :)

Better to keep us away from such non-sense things

Sree's Views said...

Hey Adiya...
Edho paavam ,sollittu ponaangaleynnu oru pity...avalodhaan...adhukku poyeee :P

//Better to keep us away from such non-sense things //
Puriyalai paa :(

R Kamal said...

Lol...thats true...the way of approach makes the difference.but not always.

Sree's Views said...

Hello kamal...
Welcome here !!

//the way of approach makes the difference.but not always//
By this I meant one's behavior and the message one conveys...most of the time , it is correctly understood...unless someone wants to misinterpret it intentionally :)

Thanks for ur comment :)
Your sketches are really something :)