Aditya Vedula’s Weblog

New year 2008 started with an incident i always avoid…… A traffic ticket……

Though i’ve been driving in Hyderabad from childhood, Chennai in college days and Bangalore too recently, I somehow managed to escape a traffic ticket till date……But my luck ran out today somehow…… Though notoriously famous for giving traffic tickets and towing away vehicles, I managed never get into the clutches of the Hyderabad traffic police….

I set to go to pay my mobile bill due in a few days to a nearby place…. I paid my bill using my credit card which saved me from much embarrassment and hard work later…..I wuz on my dad’s bike as i dropped him in the nearby temple while coming here……

Planning to take my sis a few chocolates on new year eve, i wuz thinking nothing when a cop appeared out of nowhere and asked me to pull over…….Experienced previously what cops do when they ask people to stop, i immediately stopped, locked the bike and held the key in my hand….

The cop(must be a educated guy) asked me politely to show my driving license and the vehicles registration certificate…..I took out my license and handed over it to him and started rummaging in the junk my dad kept in the box below da seat……I found a couple of his files, a pair of chappals(LOLZ) a raincoat, a tool kit and a few papers……I saw the papers…..They happened to be an expired insurance certificate, an expired Pollution under control(PUC) certificate……The RC was missing…..The first thing that came into my mind was that this was not my day…….!!!!!

The cop asked again to search leisurely as though it would pop out of nowhere……The things turned out so bad that i happened to leave my mobile at home and even my dad left both of his mobiles at home as he went to a temple…..I did not dare to call home and ask my mom as she would first shower me with the choicest of “praises” and then get worried as hell…..

In all vain i looked at the cop and said that i do not have the RC, i do not have a cell phone to call home, and that I’m helpless……..He said unless u pay the fine we’d take the bike to the PS…..That is the last thing i can let him do as bikes which go to the PS generally do not come in one piece…..So i asked him to take him to the Inspector…..

The Inspector(another gud guy as he was polite too) asked my name and my fathers name, first wrote on a ticket and then started questioning me looking at my license…… He asked the constable what the problem with my case was…..The guy repeated the above things that i do not have a RC, was holding an expired PUC and insurance certificate…….The inspector gave me a look which delivered all sort of feelings like disgust, happiness, greed etc…….

He asked me where the documents are……I explained that this was my dad’s bike and I wuz pretty much unaware how he maintained the docs…..He generally have all the originals with him so must have forgotten to place a copy in the bike…..But was unable to explain the lapsed PUC and insurance……He asked the constable if i was wearing a helmet which i always do when i drive…..The constable answered in the affirmative and so he cooled down a bit…….He then asked me what i did……I said i wuz working with “*******”…..

He must have been thinking me as a street thug or a big mafia don owing to my look……But when i uttered the name of my company his looks changed thanks to the brand image my company has…..”What is it…..???” were the words from him next…….”Its a software company…..!!!!” was my immediate reply……..He took me for a complete fool for the answer as what he meant with the question was “How can people working in respectful places be irresponsible like this…???” which later struck me and i laughed for my dumbness…….

He then showed me two sections for which i can be fined for 600 bucks……I immediately put the dumbest face i could muster and said i have only 300 bucks so please fine me anything less than that………He thought for a moment and fined me for the same 300 bucks i had in pocket and gave the receipt to me…….

I silently handed over him the cash and said THANKS……It must be the first time a person thanked him after being fined and so he gave me another “What a weirdo” look…….I even thanked the constable out of habit and left the scene immediately hoping this would not repeat again………

So this is the start of my new year with a traffic ticket which i hope would be my first and last………

A small advice to people “Always wear a helmet while driving a bike, and always put on a seat belt while driving a car…..”

So with this friends, follow the traffic rules, do not jump signals, drive safely, get home in one piece…..This is for the safety of you as well as all the people on the roads…….

Thats it for now……..

Au revoir….Bonne nuit…..