Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Bangalore cop- with a soft touch

This happened right near my office today. The red light near my office had rather less traffic this morning, which made it easier to get to the office. As I turned at the junction near my office, there was a cop who put up his hand and indicated STOP to me. It was the usual stuff I thought - you know, cops checking your license and documents and finding an excuse to make some money. But, I was stumped at what I saw a few seconds after that STOP signal.

The cop started moving away from my car towards the middle of the road. Behind him was a lady who was trying to cross the road but was unable to do so (given the chaos at the signal where I was trying to take a right turn). The cop kept stopping different vehicles that were trying to avoid the signal and with a firm hand, helped the lady cross the street. Very impressive!

We are unforgiving in "chargesheeting" the policeman in India, at their inefficiency etc. But, this was a moment for me to cherish. And a moment that taught me that there is a human side to these cops that is quite never noticed.

Good to see such a cop, in the heat and dust of Indian roads and noisy, restless traffic.

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