The Hot-Cross Policeman !

There was a time in the 1960s when Bangalore police constables were pretty stiff and severe with bicyclists. Those days the wages of these cops were rather frugal and that used to motivate many of them to keep a watchful hawk's eye on petty traffic violators. There were many laws in place and the penury of the policemen would ensure that these laws were obeyed. There was a rule that cyclists had to compulsorily halt at 'Halt & Proceed' signboards. Double-riding on a bicycle was a strict No-No! Any cyclist pedalling the wrong way up a one-way street would be apprehended. And to be caught riding a bicycle without a proper light after 7:00 p.m. was the most heinous sin a cyclist could commit.

The impoverished police constable of those days would be on an eager lookout for violators. Each quarry caught meant that he could pocket a neat two rupees. As students, we were most wary of the 'no double-riding' rule and the rule of a 'light for the bicycle after 7:00 p.m.' We had our own tricks. The moment a cop apprehended a cyclist for double riding, the pillion rider would dismount and scoot from the scene. And without the presence of the second person, sometimes the cop would be forced to let the main rider free without being able to fleece him. But those days once you were caught for an offence, the chances of being let off without paying a bribe of two or three rupees were pretty slim. Having been forced to subsist on a slim pocket money of thirty rupees a month at the rate of a rupee a day, we used to be terribly nervous of getting caught by a cop for petty violations.

Bicycles of those days would come equipped with a mechanical dynamo, but since they were expensive, thieves would shear through the metal sleeve attachment  and steal them. Many others would use a flashlight with batteries, but since these would run out of charge it was considered very expensive to use them. The third alternative was to use a contraption similar to a hurricane lantern, much smaller in size though, and rectangular in shape, which would have a tape-like wick and the flame being kept alive with kerosene. This contraption would fit onto a slot on the cycle handle. Frequently this would burn yielding a thick soot that used to film the glass and render the light barely visible to pedestrians. A sufficiently severe gust of wind would extinguish the flame.

A friend of mine, Manu, once lit up such a lamp and ventured to ride his bicycle from Jayanagar 4th Block and towards Lalbagh West Gate after the deadline of 7O'Clock. He might have ridden the cycle for ten or twelve minutes when he was rudely accosted by a cop for riding the cycle without a light. My friend was surprised and when he checked the lamp, true enough the flame was extinguished. He pleaded with the cop that he had, in fact, lit up the lamp and that it must have gone off.

"Just shut up and come to the Police Station", he was rudely told by the cop. No amount of pleading would convince the cop who forcibly tried to lead both the cycle and the cyclist to the Police Station. My friend rued his luck, as he imagined that he would have to shell out a bribe from his pocket money for the month.

Just so that he could extract a heftier bribe, the cop began lecturing my friend on how the youth of those days were being spoilt by their parents and how the country is deteriorating due to lawlessness. He kept the moralising spiel at a sufficiently high pitch as he led the cyclist towards the cop station. He also talked of how, if he indeed went to the station, a stiff fine would be levied and so on. As he was busy framing the precise words and leading the offender away, he inadvertently laid his hand on the lamp which was still blistering hot, though the flame was extinguished.

"Eeoooww!!" the cop shouted and retracted his hand in a sudden violent jerk. There was a profound silence for a few moments as the cop eyed my friend meaningfully. My friend returned a blank and vacant stare that affirmed his innocence in the wicked workings of the universe.

"Sari !!  Haalagi hogu !!" ( o.k.!! Get Lost!!) said the embarassed cop and my friend was saved of a two rupee expense that would have meant two masala dosas, two vadas and two coffees for him and his girl in Bangalore of those days.