Thursday, October 19, 2006

Run-in with the Mama

On my way to work I was stopped by a Mama near ShivajiNagar police station. Along with me another dude on a scooter was pulled over. I realised what the problem was when I saw his licence plate...it was from Madhya Pradesh...my bike is Karnataka registered...

I knew that Mama was going to try and make a quick buck from us. By the time I parked my bike and entered the police station, the other dude had already bribed his way outta the sticky situation.
Mama asked me to show him my NOC while he pocketed the 100 he had just received.

I told him that I didnt need one as its been not more than 2 months since I bought the bike and the law is that you can ride your vehicle without an NOC for 6 months in a foreign state.
Thinking I was unaware of this clause in the law he went on to describe in detail how the law works and how I should have a temporary NOC with me if not a permanent one.
Then hes like,"Ab bolo...1000 rupees ka fine hain...parchi de doon kya?" (Now tell me...its a Thousand bucks fine...do you want a receipt?)

I asked him to wait while I phone my friend who is a police commissioner...Mama got worried..."Yeh karne ki kya jaroorat hain? Woh toh Karnataka ka commissioner hain, Maharashtra ka nahi!"
(Why do you want to do that? He's the police commissioner of Karnataka and not of Maharashtra!)

I continued to let the phone ring...He relented saying."Kya tum yahaan permenently rehne ke liye aaye ho? Agar nahi toh NOC ki jaroorat nahi hain! Tam jaa sakte ho."
(If you're not gonna stay here permanently then you dont need an NOC! You can leave.)

He handed me back my licence and left as I walked away with my head held high and a broad grin on my face!

The score now stands...
Royston - 1 Mama - 0


PS - For those who are unaware of the term Mama...it is the fond name by which we refer to our traffic policemen here :)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

ha ha good one!

Meenakshi Rehani said...

neat!

Switchblade said...

@noiz and fangs: I know! Feels great to put one over the 'ol Mama :)

Johnny said...

thats the way buddy...sweet win :)

That Girl said...

ermm when did you move to Maharashtra?
sorry.. been away thats why the cluelessness....

in Bangkok.. we have the "sexy cops"...who have washboard abs and will take away your licence or keys if you dontbribe them...lol. unfortunately...no phone calls help here...coz theyre ALL corrupt!! no wonder we have military rule now!!

Switchblade said...

@grafxgurl:
Corruption is all over the place....really sad state we're in. Small victories like this are a ray of light though :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, I din't know you started blogging after the gap until I checked today. Good to have you back!

@post-Way to go!! Hehe.

Cinderella said...

Ha ha...lovely post.

Mama got a fantastic lesson !
You know actually we should have a know how about the way our country works,lest these hooligans scare us and rob us away.

Yo man...way to go !!

Switchblade said...

Wielding such power really cool! Next time I get pulled over for any reason Im gonna call my 'source' and watch the high and mighty mama squirm!!
*Evil Laugh*

SwB said...

howdy brother!

Cinderella said...

Where on earth r u...?