When in Rome, do the Romans

Many a time I am amused by what happens around me, with me, or for me. Irrespective of whether you like it or not, certain things stay with you for a long long time. These amusing things are what people like to hear, either to get entertained, or like to know about you, or to pass time for the heck of it. But there is another set of people who you like to talk about the bygone days.

Coming to the point there is a random event I like to talk about. It so happened in 2005 (the year I was out of college) I was travelling in a bus. I managed to find a seat and was lost in my thoughts, I saw a Police Inspector (I wish I remembered his name) who got in the bus and was looking around (for what, I dont know). He looked at me and smiled, came closer and said, "Please get up" which I did with all due respect and he made a sort of old guy sit where I was. I thought to myself, a good deed that was - as I didn't notice someone standing who needs a seat.

With this running in my mind, the inspector says to me "Please, come with me". I asked why and was told. "You are not supposed to sit in that seat as it is for physically challenged people". I looked around for a sign and pointed out to him that there was none, so I couldn't tell the difference.

He looked at me, smiled again and pointed at something written over the window. I looked back at him, and with all the politeness I had in me, I told him that I can’t read that language. He insisted, "Please, come down with me. Let us talk about it". I, as cool as a guy I am, followed the white rabbit.

After walking a few paces he asks me again. "You are not supposed to sit on that seat. You have violated the rule and you need to pay fine". Fuck off, fuck off was running in my mind all the time. I again said that I can’t read the language and to my utter surprise he says, "'Do in Rome as Romans do'. Do you not know this?". I look at him right in his eyes (he was wearing some kind of shades) and I say, "I believe I am in India and I am an Indian". He smiles, and says, "Come with me and let us discuss. You either pay the fine or come with me to the station". I duly ask how much I had to pay, he said, "Only a hundred, which should not be too much for you".

Then it stuck me, I had no money on me. All I was worth was Rs 40. AS I was explaining my financial situation to him, he said, "You have to come with me to the station. There we decide what to do". For the 10 minutes I was waiting for him to collect some more poor souls and get money from them, I was contemplating on running away and then imagining things (like police running after me, I doing the Dhoom stuff on cars, bikes, and what not..). After my movie was about to reach the climax, I find myself sitting in the police jeep (mind you, for the first time, that way). A short (hah!) ride to the station, I go in and I am made to wait for quite some time till my fate is decided.

A long 15 minutes later, I am called in. Believe me I felt like a criminal for the first time in my life, and all the movies I had watched were flashing in front of my eyes while the Inspector and his senior discussed my issue (and all I understood was that they were talking). Then the senior guy tried to scare me saying, "If you don’t pay the penalty, we will register a case on you". On asking for what, he says, "For misbehaving with an inspector".

Then, there was something written on a sheet and I was asked to sign, I said that I am not going to do so till I get that written in English. He promptly says, "So you want all the signs in Karnataka to be written in Kashmiri". (my mother-tongue). The moment I said, "Our national language will do just fine", I knew I dug my own grave. The two of them look at each other and then for a few minutes they talked and finally I was told, "You arrange Rs 100 or you are staying with some thieves tonight" (and he said this pointing to one of the dark corners around). I think for a moment and tell him to get someone come with me to one of the ATMs and I will hand over the money, but I get a denial saying get someone here and get me BAILED OUT...

With all this, I was in a state of mind to take them over. But I never mustered enough courage. I called a friend and calmly explained the situation to him. And while I was waiting for my friend to BAIL me out, I was treated like a hardened criminal. I was under vigil for the one hour I was in the police station. It felt nice to have experienced something of this kind.

While walking out of the Police Station, I pondered over one thing only, is it really important to follow the old adage “When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do”.