For the past month or so, I have noticed that the pavement on the opposite side of the road to Vasant Kunj Police Station was blocked by police barricades. I have been forced to walk on the road facing the incoming traffic. Finally, yesterday when as I returned back after purchasing vegetables I was pushed towards the pavement edge by the motorists on the road I snapped. I crossed the road and marched into the police station. Few men in police uniform were standing. As I hesitated wondering where I should go and complain they asked me what I wanted. I explained about the barricades.
"How do you know it is ours?"demanded one policeman.
"Delhi Police is written in bold letters."
"But how do you know it is ours? Just because Delhi police is written does not mean that it is ours."
""Don't you want to know whose it is."
"Ah! Say that you want us to find out whose it is. You just cannot assume it is ours just because..."
"You can give a written complaint," said another policeman. "Go in there," he pointed to the building up ahead.
So I went there. As I entered, I could see rooms on either side. On the left side, it was crowded. So I entered the room in the right. Once again I explained the issue to the two policemen seated in the room.
"It is not our jurisdiction," said one finally. "It is the jurisdiction of that police chowki," and he waved towards the crowded room on the other side.
So I went there and once again repeated my statement. That the barricades were blocking the pavement and that it was impossible to walk.
"It is like this," explained the policeman on duty. "We have received the barricades and there was no place to store. So we have stored it on the pavement outside. We have to distribute it to other police station that come under this district."
"So how long will that take?"
"I will inform the officer-in-charge tomorrow. Your point is well-taken but you have to understand our limitations."
So the pavement continues to be cluttered with barricades till the police (Please note that the motto of Delhi Police is With You Always) decide when to remove it. But then the pavements in India have wide variety of uses. Everyone uses it except the pedestrian who prudently walks on the road amidst the traffic, dodging the motorists.
Meantime, the JNU administration has decided that the power usage has surged because of the heat. They have, therefore, decided to administer load shedding/power cuts. The administration officials are important because they run the university. Therefore, they have no power cuts. The air-conditioners run constantly keeping them cool. The faculty and the schools are the expendable parts. Therefore, the power cuts have been administered to us. The air-conditioners are not working raising the temperature of the room shutting down our eqiupments. Of course there was no need to inform us. It was only today when we got little suspicious that we figured out the issue. So here is to Merry Summer!
"How do you know it is ours?"demanded one policeman.
"Delhi Police is written in bold letters."
"But how do you know it is ours? Just because Delhi police is written does not mean that it is ours."
""Don't you want to know whose it is."
"Ah! Say that you want us to find out whose it is. You just cannot assume it is ours just because..."
"You can give a written complaint," said another policeman. "Go in there," he pointed to the building up ahead.
So I went there. As I entered, I could see rooms on either side. On the left side, it was crowded. So I entered the room in the right. Once again I explained the issue to the two policemen seated in the room.
"It is not our jurisdiction," said one finally. "It is the jurisdiction of that police chowki," and he waved towards the crowded room on the other side.
So I went there and once again repeated my statement. That the barricades were blocking the pavement and that it was impossible to walk.
"It is like this," explained the policeman on duty. "We have received the barricades and there was no place to store. So we have stored it on the pavement outside. We have to distribute it to other police station that come under this district."
"So how long will that take?"
"I will inform the officer-in-charge tomorrow. Your point is well-taken but you have to understand our limitations."
So the pavement continues to be cluttered with barricades till the police (Please note that the motto of Delhi Police is With You Always) decide when to remove it. But then the pavements in India have wide variety of uses. Everyone uses it except the pedestrian who prudently walks on the road amidst the traffic, dodging the motorists.
Meantime, the JNU administration has decided that the power usage has surged because of the heat. They have, therefore, decided to administer load shedding/power cuts. The administration officials are important because they run the university. Therefore, they have no power cuts. The air-conditioners run constantly keeping them cool. The faculty and the schools are the expendable parts. Therefore, the power cuts have been administered to us. The air-conditioners are not working raising the temperature of the room shutting down our eqiupments. Of course there was no need to inform us. It was only today when we got little suspicious that we figured out the issue. So here is to Merry Summer!
So, Its not good. How long was the power cut?
ReplyDeleteI am also disappointed to know about the state of the roads within our campus.
ReplyDeleteOn 19th it was 10 to 6. On 20th, the power cut started at 10. When the power did not come back, we went to the Dean and then called the Engineering department. They were unwilling to believe that -80oC freezers cannot work in 42oC heat. In fact, their solution was that we should put in an exhaust fan in the lab to remove the heat. Anyway, after lot of wrangling, they restored the power at 2pm. There is no power cut today but that is because it is a holiday. We have to see tomorrow.
ReplyDelete