Though prejudice is and most
unpardonable bane we continue to endorse it, often to find ourselves proved
wrong.
Am myself an anti-prejudice
flag bearer or so I thought until…
…my beloved car met with an
accident, all due to the stupid mistake of a white monster-car on my left. In
an attempt to avoid collision from the fast swallowing mouth I swiveled my car
toward right only to bang onto a divider, and by the time I could figure out
what happened, the monster escaped unscathed.
As I took stock of the
damage, fumes from the tyre & heat from the closing crowd left me dizzy.
Something was wrong by the look of their expressions & than I saw him.
The biker was pointing
finger at me & garnering the undeserved sympathy, but wait a minute what
was going on? I was utterly confused.
My safety antenna went up
& in no second I locked myself in the car.
The car started but wont
budge…oh *%#$, of course the busted tyre, I was stuck & could no longer
ignore the biker, who stood at my car window, peering down at me & mouthing
stupidity. I say stupidity because apparently he was under the delusion of
being struck by my car & wanted compensation.
“Whoa, whoa, it’s my car
which has got damaged, where did you & your bike come from”, I demanded.
“It got damaged when you
suddenly decided to turn right, (pause) madam!” I didn’t like the tone in which
he added madam in the end.
I eyed the bike & his
arm, just a minuscule scratch, on both prized possessions of the opportunist. I
gave him an evil stare & looked at the thinning crowd, someone had called
the police & they were ordering them to get back to their own business.
As the officer approached,
his grin turned to groan and he sat down on the pavement crying. My heart-beat
reached a crescendo, the police & an opportunist, perfect combo.
He swaggered towards us
& listened to the biker’s tale, I flicked down my window just enough to let
his voice trail in. Tale it was, alright. The officer asked my side of the
events & stood thoughtfully.
Look, you’ll have to pay him
something; it’s best to close the case here than to carry it forward, amicable
conciliation is what he called it.
Okay, how much? (My mind was
doing a quick calculation of the cash in my wallet. God knew how much I’ll be
swamped off)
100Rs he said & I looked
at him with disbelief.
“How much for you, sir” I
said. (Now he’ll tell me the real deal, I was sure)
He ignored my last sentence
& asked me to give just the 100Rs. He took the biker aside & handed him
the money who zipped off after some protestation.
Call a mechanic & go
home, he told me to which I asked him again lest he had not heard me before. He
gave me a long sad look & said, not all police people are same madam.
With that, he was gone…so
was my prejudice.