Violation and the Law
On a ride yesterday along the highway that connects big bad Kochi with the rest of South Kerala, a friend narrated a sorry tale. A luxury sedan speeding along the Highway was caught on the traffic police radar. The printouts revealed that the car was speeding at 120 km/hour while the permissible speed was 70 km/hr. The cop had to stop the car.
The drama unfolded then. From the car alights a film star, a superstar in his own right. He walks up to the cop and asks him why the car was stopped. The poor constable, a bit shaken on having to confront the popular star, explains why. Retorts the star: “I have bought this expensive sedan to reach my locations on time. If you feel I’m guilty, you may do whatever you feel like doing.” Saying this he walks up to the car and speeds off again. The flummoxed constable is left at his wits end not knowing if it would be right to forcefully stop the filmi VIP.
What ran through the poor cop’s mind may have been these queries. “What would be my fate if I, a small time cop, stop the actor in filmi style? Will my superior officer stand by me or would I have to spend the rest of my career at some godforsaken corner of the state on punishment? Would the actor’s crazy fans leave me alone?” Questions no one here would answer, indeed.
A car speeding along a highway well beyond permitted speed levels, needs to be stopped and the driver penalized. The star doubling up as driver is no reason for excuse. Imagine a layman, you or me, at the wheel of that speeding luxury sedan. The traffic constable would have pulled out his folder or at least mouthed a few filth for the layman driver to curse himself. Here on our roads, every single minute, a layman gets punished, while well-connected popular beings are let off. Who is to blame?
The star's words which sounded like he has bought the expensive to car to set the road on fire on way from location to location itself need to be seen as arrogance at the expense of poor lives. How dumb can such popular figures get? To what irresponsible levels can a social being like him stoop to? How dangerous can a responsible citizen like him get? I buying an expensive car doesn’t mean I should put to danger the lives of other people on the road. It is like having a nuclear button and hitting it at will. It is like a trigger-happy police man hunting down all he comes across and labeling the killings as encounter deaths.
What say?
On a ride yesterday along the highway that connects big bad Kochi with the rest of South Kerala, a friend narrated a sorry tale. A luxury sedan speeding along the Highway was caught on the traffic police radar. The printouts revealed that the car was speeding at 120 km/hour while the permissible speed was 70 km/hr. The cop had to stop the car.
The drama unfolded then. From the car alights a film star, a superstar in his own right. He walks up to the cop and asks him why the car was stopped. The poor constable, a bit shaken on having to confront the popular star, explains why. Retorts the star: “I have bought this expensive sedan to reach my locations on time. If you feel I’m guilty, you may do whatever you feel like doing.” Saying this he walks up to the car and speeds off again. The flummoxed constable is left at his wits end not knowing if it would be right to forcefully stop the filmi VIP.
What ran through the poor cop’s mind may have been these queries. “What would be my fate if I, a small time cop, stop the actor in filmi style? Will my superior officer stand by me or would I have to spend the rest of my career at some godforsaken corner of the state on punishment? Would the actor’s crazy fans leave me alone?” Questions no one here would answer, indeed.
A car speeding along a highway well beyond permitted speed levels, needs to be stopped and the driver penalized. The star doubling up as driver is no reason for excuse. Imagine a layman, you or me, at the wheel of that speeding luxury sedan. The traffic constable would have pulled out his folder or at least mouthed a few filth for the layman driver to curse himself. Here on our roads, every single minute, a layman gets punished, while well-connected popular beings are let off. Who is to blame?
The star's words which sounded like he has bought the expensive to car to set the road on fire on way from location to location itself need to be seen as arrogance at the expense of poor lives. How dumb can such popular figures get? To what irresponsible levels can a social being like him stoop to? How dangerous can a responsible citizen like him get? I buying an expensive car doesn’t mean I should put to danger the lives of other people on the road. It is like having a nuclear button and hitting it at will. It is like a trigger-happy police man hunting down all he comes across and labeling the killings as encounter deaths.
What say?
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