Kem cho - A Good cop who made my day
It wasn’t as cool as I thought it to be. After driving for more than hundred kilometers on an expressway, taking a detour on to a muddy road was no less than awful. More so as it was the first time I drove out of Surat after getting license to drive.
I drove my family on that very rainy day to attend a religious congregation at Sri Raghavendra Swamy mutt in Vadodara. The ring road was still under construction. I could not see the rear side of my car due to reddish brown splashes all over the mirrors and windows. Heavy traffic ensured my full attention on the ABCs of my car. Thanks to my continuous efforts to keep the windshield clean, the spray water tank was over. For a first time driver like me that muddy road was a perfect test bench. Well, that was just the beginning of a stress test…not on my car!
Due to pointed stones on the road and a family of humps and craters, it was difficult to maintain a constant speed. My palm sweated due to stress, and eyes dried. We still had about six kilometers to cover to reach our spot.
Everything was okay and manageable until I sharply turned left and realized that I was on a very daunting steep ramp. The stretch was very narrow and only one vehicle could pass at a time. With slowing speed, somehow I mismanaged the clutches, and the car stopped. The soft clayey mud with rounded stones beneath, and the thick slurry on the road ensured the car slipped steadily backwards despite breaks applied. I knew there were vehicles behind but I could not help. Those drivers were cautious enough to move backwards as my car slipped.
When hand-breaks also failed, I tried to accelerate as hard as I could to overcome the pullback, but was not enough. What next? I managed the slip till I found the car stopped just about an inch from a large dark SUV. As the left side mirror was less dirty, my wife saw there was a police vehicle behind us.
My family looked anxious. In the next minute when I was still trying to start the car, the guy knocked on my window. It was a cop! "Kem cho...barabar?". Well I did nothing wrong, but I was then feeling uncomfortable and distracted. I had heard lot of appalling stories elsewhere from people mentally harassed by police in such circumstances.
No wonder if he had asked me to show my driving license or my car’s registration or the insurance…or if he had given an awful glance at my papers…or questioned me about just anything trivial like wrong font size of the registration number, or the wrong size of number plate, or even about a dirty mirror. I always put my seat belt on, and insist my fellow travelers to do so as well, so he can’t question me about that. I had heard that even when everything is right, a cop can still find something wrong. I guessed all he could do is to penalize me for stopping at the wrong place.
But…he did none of it. He asked me to get my family out of the car. Though it was drizzling, Deepa got down with the baby and Amogha followed her to the top of the ramp.
"Can you now manage?" asked the cop. Well, nothing appeared to have changed! Why did he ask? He said that he placed a stone to the rear wheels, and assured me the car will not slip further. Okay, that boosted my confidence! I quickly pressed the pedal so the car went a few feet forward and then started slipping again. ‘No! No! Don’t stop! Keep trying hard’ yelled the cop. He made sure his assistants pushed from the back, and asked me to try again. Lol! In a few seconds, the car was at the top of the ramp. Huh! A deep breath. And a dry palm! Gushing confidence! The cop passed my test.
My family stood there waiting for me while the other cops were busy handling the traffic from the opposite side.
"Thanks a lot Sir, we feel blessed to have cops like you".
"No time for this Bro!…keep moving…I guess you know the way…if not, call me on this number…"