Saturday, April 19, 2008

Play Safe

My Cousin's in-law was admitted in the ICU last week right after Vishu celebrations. So everyone was all *gloom* and waiting for the recovery. As her in-law got better ,the patient was shifted to a seperate room and this made it convenient for the vistors to chat and gossip for a longer time. On one such a busy day my cousin and her hubby drove to the hospital (they had to frequently visit the hospital for the food and medicines,etc.) and asked her son and niece to reach there after a while. Since they had taken the car ,the boys were planning to ride the bike. Boys and bikes... a dangerous combination. Since my cousin's niece had taken his license they were all set to rock their journey to the hospital. They were still at home warming up for the fun ride when my cousin called and said that they were stopped and were given a fine by the traffic policemen for not having their seat belts on. So they warned the boys for being carefull at that junction cos since they both are young, one 18 and the other 14, they could be held up for the sake of it. The boys as usual confident about themselves said they will handle the situation and finally began their fun ride. As they neared the junction they became a little cautious and rode as though they knew nothing about the policemen being there and that the couple they had caught earlier had nothing to do with their lives. But as fate has it ,one of the policemen asked them to stop and asked the rider's license. All prepared he smartly handed out his license with a Colgate smile. Now here begins the fun part of it. The outwitted policeman then wanted to outwit the boys and very sternly asked the boys ' why are'nt your seatbelts on?' Laughing their heads off.. it did'nt take much time for the policeman to digest the fact that bikes don't have seatbelts!!! And this time as he was totally chummy-fied he could'nt leave the boys without a fine as it would go against his ego. So he charged the rider for riding without the helmet and since the boys came without money ,had to ring my cousin for help. My worried cousin reached the venue and told the traffic policemen about the hospital issue and that it's an emergency and all .They could'nt get away with the 100 Rs. fine as the policeman justified his side by saying that they are given a target and need to catch that many cases in a day. That day, apparently, room number 455 was affected by the laughing gas and all the people outside the room were in doubt whether it was a circus being held in there.

My uncle met with an accident day before. A bike accident.He fractured his face and the doctors said that the fracture could have been avoided if he had used the helmet. And as it has always been my dream to ride a Scooty pept in Disco green... which has not yet been fulfilled cos of my dad's fear of two-wheelers only made it even more clear that I will not be given the permission to be the rider or the passenger. Dad as usual kept bragging about the unsafe traffic and roads and blah blah ... but an important message to be passed is that please wear on your seatbelts while driving and use your helmets while riding a bike. It's the traffic rules which we have to abide by for our safety.

Here are some funny vehicle facts: This is a forward I received some time ago.

Over the weekend, I filled up my car's fuel tank, and I thought fuel has become really expensive after the
recent price hike. But then I compared it with other common liquids and did some quick calculations, and I
felt a little better.

To know why, see the results below – you'll be surprised at how outrageous
some other prices are !

Diesel (regular) in Mumbai : Rs.36.08 per litre

Petrol (speed) in Mumbai : Rs.52 per litre

Coca Cola 330 ml can : Rs.20 = Rs.61 per litre

Dettol antiseptic 100 ml Rs.20 = Rs.200 per litre

Pantene conditioner 400 ml Rs..165 = Rs.413 per litre

Red Bull 150 ml can : Rs.75 = Rs.500 per litre

Corex cough syrup 100 ml Rs.57 = Rs. 570 per litre

Evian water 500 ml Rs. 330 = Rs. 660 per litre

*Rs. 500 for a litre of WATER???!!! And the buyers don't even know the source

Cup of coffee at any decent business hotel 150 ml Rs. 175 = Rs. 1167 per litre

*And this is the REAL KICKER...*

HP deskjet color ink cartridge 21 ml Rs.1900 = Rs.90476 per litre!!!

Now you know why computer printers are so cheap ? So they have you hooked for the ink !

*So, the next time you're at the pump, don't curse our Hon'able Petroleum minister – just be glad your car
doesn't run on cough syrup, after shave, coffee, or God forbid, printer ink *

5 comments:

jac said...

Awaited you with a Vishukani in my blog. But now it seems that I have to bring it here.

Greetings of a belated Vishu, neha

Neha Nair said...

hey thanks...same to you! and the kaineetam?

Anonymous said...

sorry about your uncle...good post though. the vehicle facts were damn funny :) keep blogging!

Dwarak said...

Very well written!! Riding bike has been my nightmare too in bangalore but yeah I do wear helmet.. Driving a TN Reg vehicle in bang is such a nightmare!Best way to avoid fine is to avoid the cop.. he catches u ought to pay however spot on your documents are..:) The vehicle facts were funny!

Deveika said...

Hey Neha,

Firstly so sorry about your uncle. Hope hes doing well now!

We need to follow certain basics while driving , for our own safety (if youre a narcisst)and for the society,(if you feel like a philanthropist;)
Hey but the cake goes to these policemen who make a fast buck and boy how fast ,sets our head reeling!
Your mini budget was pretty informative to say the least and your post laden with the right tinge of humour.
Good going gal ,Keep blogging:))

Love,
Devika