CHALTE | CHALTE: Police Polite: Yes, Believe it

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 36 | ISSUE 03 | 01 NOV 2012

CHALTE | CHALTE

Police Polite: Yes, Believe it

A barricade near Mazar on Corbyn's Road and a few police personnel stood there at around 9 PM of Saturday 20th October. One of them waived me to stop. Irritatingly I took my car to the side. A person in Khaki, quite young approached and pleadingly asked me to show my driving license with a suffix of 'Sir'. My ears could not believe the tone of the official. He noted my license number, returned the same and left me dumb with his softer 'Thank you sir'. Another day on 21st October I was stopped at the entry of Chouldari village. The police official literary 'requested' me to make an entry with the police official waiting at a make-shift counter at the road side. The young lady police official in Hindi wanted to know again with a prefix of 'Sir', whether I was carrying my driving license. The tone was as if it was not a crime to drive without license. I produced the same and she smilingly returned it back after an endorsement. She did not forget to throw a 'Thanks'.

The same day I was stopped at IP&T-Air India Office junction and was denied to go straight from Secretariat to Rajniwas side as I had to go to Shadipur by a police personnel. It was a declared one-way for smooth movement of traffic but I had to cross hardly 100 meter to take a right turn on a common road. And this time the tall built Dy. SP (Traffic) himself came to my car, bowed his head to my car-window and said, 'sir, this is one way and please take a bit longer route. This is for the cause of smoother ways for many others too. Please bear with us'.

Unbelievable? But believe it. Not a shocking but a pleasant experience. In a place where within a radius of 5-6 KM, 12-14 Puja-pandals existed with minimal possible road diversions, the Police could truly manage the situation splendidly more with their politeness than their skill, I trust. In our country, a personnel in Khaki will behave polite is a common man's dream but during these Puja days, the Andaman and Nicobar Police did it. Kudos!