Few of my recent experiences:
- General population thinks that people in IT industry earn unnecessary money, and they should pay to anyone who ask for money even without a cause
- If you have a car, then you have too much money, which you don’t need
- Helping others in need, doesn’t necessarily means you can avoid trouble from distant relatives of the victim, who are more interested in your money
- Police will try to make money, even if you are not guilty
- Judicial courts is not really a good place to spend an evening
- In front of law, everyone is equal – both criminals & innocents are treated same way. If you are an innocent, be prepared to be treated like a seasoned criminal.
- Your friends are the only one on whom you can rely in tough times
Last week I was waiting on a traffic signal, where people usually don’t stop even if the light is red. An old man crossed in front of my car and stood beside. When the light turned green, I started moving at the same time an auto-rickshaw cut too close to the old man which resulted in the guy falling in front of my car. Luckily I was moving too slow. When they old man did not stood up for a minute, I got down from my car, only to find out that he had broken his leg. So as a responsible citizen & looking at his age, I took this guy to hospital, got him first aid and then took him home. His son requested me to drop him to a nearby hospital, for which I agreed. All health care and medical facilities were free for this guy there, as the hospital and his employer has the tie-up.
On reaching the hospital, there were his distant relatives waiting, not for the injured old man but for me. They wanted money. This pissed me off… Why should I pay the money, was my question. But who cares… you works in IT, drive a car, seems to be an outsider, then surely must be having trunks of money is the general belief.
I refused to pay the money, and approached the police. Spent whole evening at police station (PS), troubled many of my friends, and ruined mine & their day. An FIR was registered against me for negligence driving, under section 338 IPC. What a day!
If that was not enough, I had to get a bail next day from court, which was an experience in itself. The judge (magistrate) is treated like a God, of course he is, since my life at that moment depended on his decision to grant me bail or not… So the second day was ruined, too!!
Advocate charges fee for each time I meet him. Police asks for money for doing their job, and I get sleepless nights…
At the end, I only realized that even if I would have hit and ran that day, I could have avoided all this trouble. I m guilty of being a responsible citizen!
