Button Up Your Shirt, Jackass!

This incident happened on the second day of our Bangalore-Leh trip.

We exited the expressway and hit NH 8. The highway was crowded due to traffic snarls created by the road widening work. Within minutes of hitting the highway, we were stopped by traffic cops. They were stopping all out-of-state vehicles and checking their papers. They asked us for Thomas' drivers license and the vehicle's emmission certificate. We produced both and they let us go. The same was repeated at least three times and each time we were allowed to go without a hitch.

Just when I thought that we had exited the city, an officer with a posse of constables stopped us. This chap looked more like a goon. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone and he was unshaven. One of the constables flagged us down and this chap (let's call him Jackass) swaggered up to us. He, like the others before him, demanded Thomas' drivers license. When convinced of its authenticity, he demanded the emission certificate. He looked quite disappointed when even that turned out to be authentic. Then, he told Thomas that we needed to pay a fine of 200 rupees and then moved to the front of the vehicle with the emission certificate in his hand.

I realized that this chap needed some special treatment. I got out of the vehicle and very firmly, demanded that he hand back the certificate. He did so immediately, but no sooner had he done that that he began commenting about the fact that we were violating local laws by not having a yellow strip on the side of both headlamps. I told him that we had been intercepted by three other teams and that none of them had pointed it out. He and I both realized that he was just bluffing and looking for a way to make some easy money.

I then drew up to him, looked him straight in the eye, and very firmly ordered him to button up his shirt. That completely took him by surprise. Before he could recover, I gave him a stern lecture about harassing the public and that he had no business stopping us. I then changed my posture. Half sitting on the bonnet with one foot on the bumper, I gave him a dressing down. By the time I finished, he had already given up on us and left looking like a jackal that has just lost its meal. He left saying, "I'm letting you go because you are traveling with your family". What the..!!!

During the entire incident, both Thomas and Chanda tried to appear very serious, but were very amused.

Moral of the story - Understand your rights and learn the rules. Never let cops bully you.