This one is recent, on our way back from one our friend’s places late friday night I get stopped by a squad checking for DUI somewhere in Koramangala. I stop without a fuss, I drink on very rare occasions, so no sweat there.
Cop: “Stop, come out, I have to smell you!!”
Seriously!!
On our way to Goa last year we were stopped at the border for general checking. I do not object to them as such, helps build the security and keep the highway safe.
The cop asks: “Where are you headed?”
Me: “Margaon, Goa”
Cop: “Where from?”
Me: “Bangalore, Karnataka”
Cop: “Ok go”I start the car and was about to head off into the rain when he violently slaps on the car and screams “Stop, stop, stop”
Cop (pointing to the child seat): “What’s that?”
Me: “A child safety seat!” I expect these guys to know such stuff these days, my mistake.
Cop: “Aur usme kya hai? (And what’s in it?)”
Me (pointing to the already very visible child): “A child!!”
This was a long while back when we were driving back from Pondichery pretty late in the evening (make that night) on NH66. We had stopped for some general rest time and some highway patrol guys stopped to question us
Cops: “Where are you going?”
Me: “I am traveling with my wife, driving back to bangalore from Pondichery”..
Cops (pointing at my wife): “Then who is this?”
What really can one say to that!
It seems many petrol pumps are back to their thieving practice. Here are some tell tale signs:
- The person filling asks you about the capacity of the tank. If you intend to fill full tank (about 37-38 litres when the orange warning comes on) do not disclose how much might go in.
- There are too many people around to distract you. People asking Cash or Card, Windscreen Cleaning, Whats’s the Mileage, etc are all distracting tactics. They will fill your tank for more than what it can take!!
- The person filling constantly keeps tinkering with the nozzle lever. The constant release – re-release of that lever disrupts the flow of fuel. Since the pump does not react that fast, it keeps on counting.
- You ask for fuel worth Rs 1000/-, they fill for 200/- and claim miscommunication. What they actually do is, they pretend to fill the balance without reseting the counter. Result, you get Rs 800/- worth fuel while paying Rs 1000/-.
The Onward Journey
The start got delayed from 6 AM till 8 AM and further till 830 after the little one decided to stall us. Then we ran back and got the gifts which were for the marriage that we were headed to attend. Two cars were tricky to begin with and I had my doubts trying to maintain pace with the Indica, which came through soon enough. So I let the Indica start at 8 AM. 830 start meant that we were in the thick of Hosur road IT traffic. Senseless directions by BBMP to keep to the service lane to go till Hosur were ridiculous, simply because there was no service lane after a point of time. What’s the use of such a drastic notice I do not know.
Food stop right after Dharmapuri
Car was not tanked up so the search for IOCL Extra Premium started soon after we hit clear roads. [more]