On locating a disco, and the adventures of a colleague
It is very easy to locate a bar, disco, or any ‘joint’ that
is open till late in the night these days. Just drive past a *.* infested area and look for a
policeman around a hundred feet round the corner. Our friendly neighborhood policeman resembles a hunter waiting for his prey from Jim Corbett’s or Kenneth Anderson’s jungle lore. Only, his weapon is a handheld breath analyzer, which has become the alcoholic’s much despised nemesis.
Many of those apprehended complain that the keepers of law themselves are drunk. Our police brethren defend themselves by saying that they never drive drunk, which is definitively true, they normally hitch on to a hapless auto driver, who takes upon himself the daunting task, cursing under his breath and foregoing the night’s earning for a pittance.
A media colleague pursued a car speeding away from the scene of an accident. After a long circumvented chase through the city’s snarling traffic, the car finally stopped. Apparently he thought that he had given our man the slip. Our colleague got down, and was about to approach him when the fugitive saw him and this time gave him the genuine slip. Perception being a prerequisite in reporting, our man promptly jotted down the registration number from the fashionable plates and handed it to the concerned official who put it into the records and assured ‘prompt action’. The moral of the story unfolded about a week later when the very same socially and morally conscious colleague spotted the very same automobile at a traffic signal in the city and conveyed the very same to a police officer engaged in getting a zebra crossing painted. The reply was proverbial. The official nonchalantly looked at the vehicle and said "Howdhaa ?" badly translated into English means something like "Oh really" and resumed his artistic endeavor. My friend, late for an assignment had to leave. "The state of the victim warranted a good six months of invalidity," he later recounted.
My grandmother says that both heaven and hell co-exist and is actually a payback facility one avails-Tit for tat. Traffic
policemen, go through enough of traffic to render their lungs hospitable to respiratory illnesses. The masks given are not used by many of the policemen who find them asphyxiating and very uncomfortable. In fact, a policeman told me the tangible irritation the mask produced made him stop using it. The traffic that provides their identity (and a livelihood) also spews carbon monoxide with which they enjoy an enforced osmosis." The face masks are not fool proof. However they filter major particles which, when not filtered may cause more damage to the body,"€P Bette Gowda said when asked about the effectiveness of the face masks.
Exhaust causes inflammation of the trachea and takes four weeks for recuperation, exposure to the exhaust fumes for prolonged periods of time may even prove fatal. A study in 1998 by the Lakeside Medical Centre on 1,065 traffic personnel showed a prevalence rate for asthma as high as 24.6 % as compared to 1,160 non traffic personnel where the prevalence was found to be 16 %. "Medical check-ups are advisable once every three months. Though we had offered to do it free of charge, they have not approached us," Dr Paramesh of the centre says.
...and now the million dollar question-Is this fatal indifference or plain poetic
justice ?.