**this is a true life incident.Characters and places in this blog are very much real.
A recent experience my friends and I had while traveling in a popular weekend train made me realize… the sorry state of affairs that our country operates in. It just somehow runs .
My friend lost her purse containing a bit of cash and a lot of cards – atm cards, corporate travel cards, credit cards during our train journey – it accidentally fell out of the train- and my two friends and I decided to place a complaint in the Police Station just so that we have a complaint number to block any of the cards, we weren’t anyway expecting them to find her purse – that would be too much of an ask.
Three girls enter the police station at the wee hours of the morning: there’s a lady cop sitting in one of the rooms and two constables – it’s a dungeon like damp smelling dimly lit place. This is what transpired there.
“enna ma enna venum”What do u want??
“ sir, purse a misplace pannitom train la – it has some money and a few cards - we need to place a complaint”.
“oh!!! where did u lose it” I was skeptical about the excitement! Enna da ivlo aarvama ?
“in transit sir..it fell out of the train accidentally”
“ Ange tholachitu inge vandhu keetenna naanga inna pannamudiyum?” pat came the reply.Just as I thought! The eagerness is to pass the buck! Not my business!u dint lose it here y ask me!
“What do we do sir? Train just came here.. so we got down to complain… “ A stress on the “sir” a little bit at least ensured we dint hear bad vocabulary.
He goes on” You should have stopped the train then and there.. got down and searched for the purse !” Is he crazy!?? I think.. Does he really expect anybody to get out of a train at 2 in the night in a godforsaken place in utter darkness and search for a purse?
What followed was like the lecture the station master gives to Kareena in Jab we met. Advice… on how IT people don’t realize the value of hard earned money As if my company pours dollars on me for sitting and writing stories in offical time! …on how we will easily get the new cards back and never realize the pain of losing something.. I half-listen half think whether I should also ask him like Kareena did –“ do u give this advice in free or do u charge something for this also.. “…
And then he said something which I just couldn digest… in this era of teracomputing! – He says “ ok.. for your satisfaction place your complaint… But how will it reach jolarpet!!!! U should have got down complained to the station master there! If you complain here what can I do??God .. this guy was totally in the wrong era.. anachronic is the word.. “mail .. call ..fax..courier.... its ur business to take the complaint to jolarpet .. not mine” I was thinking.. And I was appalled at our police force not even being aware of basic technologies… I looked around… not a single computer in sight.. just some wooden tables, chairs, tattered files –all belonging to the pre –independence era I’m sure and this guy in front of me.. who also probably is from there.These people are so technologically backward – anyone can give them the slip!
The complaint was written in a piece of recycled – pale yellow paper- no number , no file - with a ball point pen that kept stopping – bah! That’ll go straight into the trash I thought as my friend wrote a letter.. this guy giving hundred instructions on the format of the letter.. whom it should be addressed to etc , rather than bothering about whether it had details of what got lost and whats the contact number of the person who placed the complaint! .. Finally we were done and this fellow says- “ Don’t expect us to find your purse. In case some guy with a good heart finds it, he ll take the money and send you the cards don’t worry.” Pakka..
Attitude,,unne maadiri naalu peru irundha naadu uruppadum I thought..
As this was happening the lady cop was asking us unnecessary details irrelevant to that situation – IT course better a computer science better a.. endha college.. endha course.. “friends llarum ore edathula place aana jolly a irkum la.. “ Romba mukhiyam ippo.. kaarthala 5 manikku police station ku ungala paathutu naalu vaartha kadha pesitu polamnu daan vandhen..… How can she master the art of talking the irrelevant! ,.. I was fuming… .
As this was happening.. a lady was bought to the station by her relative.. she was wailing.. and why wont she !She had lost her daughter there!! And the first thing that a wailing .. perturbed mother gets when she rushes to the police station to complain that her daughter is missing… “Arivu ille unakku??? .. Ipdi daan ishatathuku poga viduviya” that lady cop asks!! Ariville unakku… neenum oru lady thane.. yaaravadhu venumne ponna tholaipangala?? To rub salt to the wounds.. when the cop learns of the girl’s age being 14 .. she starts off.. “vayasu pullaya poi tholachitiye.. enna vena aagalam….” I was standing there..shocked at the treatement being meted out to a lady who is already in the trauma of losing her child… is this the way you talk to her?? “Summa edhayaadhu tholachitu complaint vandhu kudukkavendiyadhu.. engalukullam vera vela ille??” Shock! Vera enna vela irku unakku… this is ur primary job!!! That too in a railway station where hundreds of people come and go everyday.. things are bound to get lost.. and that’s the only reason you are here!
Then a few more questions on where they lost her, when, etc. all just for formality- neither did that female note down the details nor did it register even in the remotest corner of her head. Inspite of all the arrogance and callousness I had witnessed since morning the little bit of optimism that still remained in me decided to wait and see…what happens… I expected at least a couple of constables to go with the mother.. aid her in her search… a few announcements on the microphone… lets see.. I waited..
To my utter shock and disbelief.. not one soul budged from that police station.. a person is lost.. a young girl at that..no search team formed.. not even an announcement on the mike. No one willing to listen to the details of what she was wearing..did she carry money… they dint even ask her name!!!! and the only reaction the police gives is.. “complaint kuduthutu po.. paaklam… “ A similar piece of pale yellow paper comes out.. and in all her anxiety and turmoil.. the mother wastes her time filling up a sheet of paper..which is going to go to the trash.. From their “initial investigation” the police made an “important breakthrough” ..the girl can read and write … “ Seri seri She can read and write ah.. she ll find her way herself..”.. Wow.. this is what the police is there for… to tell me that she will find her way back herself..!Idhu enakku theriyadha
I was left wondering.. the treatment meted out to my friend s purse and the lady’s daughter… was the same! Give your complaint and go.. if they find their way back.. u are lucky! Sheer arrogance, lack of involvement in the work they do, zero use of technology, zero accountability, untrained on how to handle people, laziness.. endless list of “areas to improve”. Idhu ipdi than irkuma? Is there no way to improve this? Can I do something? Atleast let me begin by writing this to express my anger and anguish.
What we need is a complete revamp of our police stations.. Computers! For heaven’s sake!! And a bunch of young ones.. willing to do the job.. throw out the manual work.. replace them wih computers.. throw out 10 old unwilling arrogant monsters and replace them with 5 youngs turks who like the job they do.. and you can pay them well enough to lure more youngsters to the police force.
Anbuchelvans & chelvis! We need u…
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