Today India completes 58 years of independence.  And, the country’s leading daily – The Times of India – carried a small feature that spoke of India “retiring”.  (The official retirement age for most government employees is 58!)  It’s not a very pleasant sight when the national newspaper gives up hope on a nation.  Or am I making too much of it? 

For many of us, Independence Day has only meant a day to take a break from work.  Sure, there are those who go out and buy the customary miniature flag for their workstations, homes or cars.  There are even those who stay glued to their television sets, watching I Day specials, all day.  And then, there are those who head out of town to make the most of their “day off”, sometimes combining it with a couple of days leave to extend their holiday.  I would presume that the sentiment would be a bit different in India’s smaller towns and villages.  But the ‘urban citizen’ is another animal altogether.

What is my stance, you ask?  I am not much of a “patriot” in the strictest sense of the term.  In fact, I am against the concept of ‘nation’.  I think it only breeds intolerance towards others and accentuates dissimilarities between people of different countries and races, instead of harbouring peace and harmony among all – I have known of enough wars and riots, to form that opinion.  I consider myself an Earthling… a citizen of the Earth.

But on this weekend, something happened that left me just a wee bit prouder of the country (and city) I live in, than I was earlier.

You see, in this vast and developing nation of mine, there are still a number of areas in which good citizens are left wanting. My recent post on the deluge in Mumbai would give you some idea of what I mean by that.  One such sphere of Governmental and Administrative control is the police.  Most people who have had to interact with ‘The Police’ would spend the rest of their lives narrating stories to their friends and families of the harrowing time they had… to “warn” them from the perils that lay in store!  The legislative and judicial system is not of much help, either – The case you filed as a bachelor is likely to get a ‘hearing’ after your grandkids are born.  So, it was with much trepidation that I found myself dialling 1-0-0… the hotline for the police…

The problem was that, for the past several nights in a row, an earth-moving machine was busy excavating the land in front of my apartment building.  The activity used to begin at about 7 pm and go on until 3 am.  The decible levels of this machine were higher than a passing jumbo jet!  As a result, me and family could not get any sleep – even after shutting all the windows of the house!

There must be something one can do about this, right?  There must be some law that prohibits such activity after daylight.  In fact, I recalled that a number of open-air concert venues had recently run out of business in Mumbai when the cops started enforcing the law of “no loudspeakers to be used after 10 pm”.  And, I found myself reaching for my telephone and dialling that dreaded 3-digit number : 100.

If you’re from India, you’re probably thinking : “Are you out of your mind?  Don’t you think the cops have more urgent and critical issues to deal with?  You just might find yourself behind bars for ‘being a nuisance’ to the police!  Worse still, the builder funding the activity may send goons to your house!!!” 

But, I wanted to give it a shot.  After all, I pay my taxes religiously.  And, it is my hard-earned money that is funding the salaries of the police, right?  There must be something I could do about this!

(Suitably translated from Hindi from a phone conversation at 12.30 am, one night of Aug 2005)

Me : Hello?

100 : Police Control Room. How can I help you?

Me : Major construction activity is happening right outside my house at this hour! Can you help?

100 : How long has this been going on?

Me : For the past several nights in a row. The noise levels are so high, we can’t get any sleep.

100 : Give me the location and your name, and we’ll send a police van to the area to investigate.

Me : Here’s my name and location. How soon can I expect someone to come?

100 : About 20 minutes. (Signs off)

20 minutes later, I watched from my window as a van drove up to the big Caterpillar machine.  Several cops got out of the van and had a brief dialogue with the vehicle operator. 

A few minutes after that… pin drop silence. 

It worked !!!  I was overjoyed!   I could hear silence again!  My family could sleep again!

That night, my faith in “the system” was restored.  I was close to giving up hope on many matters concerning life in Mumbai, and India.  But, it wasn’t destined to be so. 

Dialling “100” was still an option.  The police actually came and solved my problem.  In 20 minutes! 

The nation’s leading daily may have given up hope, but I hadn’t.  Independent India may have completed 58 years of work, but was far from retiring…

P.S. A week after that incident, the Caterpillar still hasn’t returned, except in daylight.