Well. Hello there! Long time. No See. Sorry my bad that I haven't been writing much. Been almost 3 years since my last post. This one's called
" 9 to 5 ".
So, there are 2 reasons why I decided to write again. One - This blog is special to me and I can't see it go dry with no content. Two - I wanted my creative juices to start flowing and writing is the best medium for that goal.
Now that I've decided to write again, next up is deciding what to write about - I have a handful of stories in mind. And decided to write this one since it really changed my perspective about certain things, which will be clear by the end of this story.
This is about an interesting set of events on a random Friday when I was working a sort of 9 to 5 job.
The location for story was Chennai. The year I think was 2013. Been 8 years now. I was working for ITC Ltd. as a manager. I was in charge of setting up a manufacturing facility and the location of my factory was in the outskirts of North Chennai. Just like you or anyone who has worked at 9-5 job, I absolutely loved my job. :D
Well. Yeah... I wouldn't say I was super excited with my job. It was ok, I guess.
Anyway, no point talking about that. Let's jump in right into this one.
This was my first job. And it was to set up a manufacturing facility right in the outskirts of Chennai. For the first 2 years of this project, I was living in this so-called outskirt area - a place called Tiruvottiyur. It was like 30-40 kms north of core Chennai city. But when the project was about to be completed and the next project about to commence, I was asked to move in to the city. So, I took up residence in Vellachery with Jairaj, who's a very close friend from school and Rohit, who was Jairaj's friend. And it was one kickass year chilling like crazy with the two of them.
And no! This story isn't one of those fun #flatmatebonding/doingcrazysh*ttogether bromance story. That's for another day. This is a specific incident that happened during the 1 year I spent at Vellachery.
Although I had moved to Vellachery (VCY), I had to visit Thiruvottiyur(TVT) quite often to close out the first project - Since it was my first professional contribution as part of my work life, I was also quite emotionally attached to the project. I was leading a near 100-member team and I wanted to be present at the project site often myself since I felt my oversight was absolutely necessary.
Usually, ITC used to arrange a car for me to travel all the way from VCY to TVT. But occasionally when the car won't be available, I used to take a local train and travel half way and then take a bus for the remaining part of the journey. This was one of those days. And when I travel, I typically have my backpack + my trademark headphones where I'll be blasting music.
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| Yes. These exact same headphones from Philips which they've unfortunately stopped now :( So, I wake up in the morning, travel from VCY station to Chennai Beach station (which is half way b/w VCY and TVT). I get off the train. And remember, I have my headphones one while walking.  So, I'm in the station platform and ideally, I need to take the foot over bridge in the station to reach the main platform from where I should be able to exit. But the lazy boy in me decides to do what a bunch of other people are also doing. Cross the platform via the track and jump/climb to the main platform - Lol. No. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't jump or climb. But there was a gradual incline from the level of the tracks to the level of the main platform. And there were many people who crossed the tracks and got onto the main platform like this instead of going over the bridge. So I thought what's the harm - I'll also do it  So, I was peacefully listening to music and I crossed the track. I was walking up the incline to the main platform and Tada! If you haven't guessed it already, it was   Yes. The cops. Rather. A cop. Railway police officer. He stopped me. He said using mobile while crossing the platform is an offence. I thought I was going to be caught for crossing the tracks itself but hey! He didn't seem to have any problem with that. The fact that I was listening to music while I crossed the platform was apparently a mistake - one which didn't make a lot of sense. But may be because you'd lose track of an upcoming train if you're on the phone and potentially put yourself at risk might have been the reason. I said sorry. But he was like you'll need to pay a fine.   I realized my mistake, thought the fine would be a few hundred bucks and asked him for the amount so that I could pay it and head to work. He said I'll have to follow him to his superior officer's room to pay the fine. I said OK. He accompanied me to the railway police station room. It was a room with a staircase to the first floor. There were nearly 20-25 well dressed individuals carrying bags who were there in the ground floor. I was puzzled. What have so many people done wrong to be held there. Anyway, it didn't matter to me. I asked the cop for the fine so that I could head out. Surprisingly he asked me to wait in the hall for some time. I had work to get to. So, I asked the cop when I can leave since there were people waiting for me at my project site. He said I'll have to wait for some time for the superior to come. Asked me to wait along with the others. This was around 9 am in the morning. I thought the superior officer (Sub Inspector / SI) would come in a few mins and decided to wait. But obviously, seeing so many other office goers stuck there in the same room - who knows for how long they have been waiting - that was a bit concerning. But there were 2 cops outside the hall guarding it and one of them had a rifle kind of a gun. So, I decided to wait along with the others. 15 mins passed. 30 mins passed. The SI hadn't shown up. The only change to the room was there were 4 more new people who got added into the room. And all these people were decent look well-dressed office going folks whom I could gauge had a decent personality. I messaged one of my direct reportees at work about the situation and that I'll be an hour late or so. Little did I know what lie ahead. I started talking to the others who were detained. Most of them were also detained for using mobiles. That got me more worried. Is that such a big crime that you get detained. After all, we were all ready to pay fines. Now it was 11 am. Absolutely no sign of the SI. A few of us kept asking the cops when the SI will arrive. The cops progressively got angrier, asked us to shut up and wait. I realized that the situation I more serious than what I thought. I messaged Jairaj and my dad about the situation. Neither of them was in a position to help me out unfortunately.
 At around 12 pm, I noticed a fellow person who was detained go to the cops and tell them that his daughter will be leaving school soon and he needs to go pick her up. Initially, his voice was mellow but when he saw that the cops were not budging, he started to raise his voice. They shut him down and asked him to wait. God knows what happened to his daughter? By this time, I realized I'm going to be really late for work. The cops specifically asked us not to call anyone from there. So, I tried messaging one of my reportees, told him about my situation. He said he'll try to take care, but I was deeply stressed. One other fellow "detainee" - I think he had contacts with some Sr. police inspectors. The cops came into the hall and called out his name. He stepped forward and he was given permission to leave. We started raising our voice but through sheer abuse of authority, they asked us to stay inside.  Wait. I wanted this to be a fun-serious story but it's turning out to be slightly too serious. 
 Around 4 pm, they take us from the Chennai Beach station to Chennai Egmore station where the Railway court is situated. I was frustrated and amused at the same time. I didn't know what was the motivation for these cops. Finally, I reach Chennai Egmore station. It's around 4.30 PM. And 5 minutes before entering the court, the cops take us aside and tell us that the actual case that they've filed against me was for peeing in public and if I resist/argue against that in court, they'll not give my ID card and will make my life hell. Suddenly, the entire story changed. Apparently, listening to music while crossing tracks was not even an offence. The cops needed a few people as scapegoat for reaching their monthly fine collection and case charged targets. And I was one of the victims...There! That was the motivation for the cops. But hey! 5 mins before entering the court room, I didn't know this. I was just told that I'm charged with a case for peeing in public in a railway station. I was too tired and to be honest, afraid to resist at that point and all of us who were there agreed.    I was taken into the courtroom. And it was just like in the movies. There was a clerk kind of person sitting beneath the judge. The judge was a lady with spectacles on. And there was an advocate in black gown. Oh! I was definitely tensed. And I was asked to get into the box where the culprits stand. And it was a collective trial since there were many so called culprits. So, it was around 4 of us standing inside the box together.  The cops had given us strict warning/orders to say that we agree to whatever the advocate charges us with. So, when the advocate asked us, we all said yes. The judge stated that we'll each have to pay a fine of 100 Rs. Damn! 100 Rs. That was it. I could have easily paid it at 9 in the morning but my normal 9-5 day had been transformed into this messed up interesting one of a kind 9-5 ordeal.   Should I have resisted more? Probably yes. Did I? No.  What would you have? I don't know. Some of my friends say they would have surely resisted. Only thing I can tell them is unless you're actually in the situation, you'd never know. After this, I got so scarred by the local trains there, I have never been on one. To the point where I got my car from Kochi to Chennai so that I don't need to worry about commute.  |
I still can believe you publicly admitted you peed in public 😋
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