Have I?

Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?

If jumping a red at the traffic signal is considered one, then I surely have; several times, all unintentionally and when thrown into a tight spot by bully vehicles  and monstrous city buses which never stick to their lanes in India.

I have received tickets, have paid fines and have also been subjected to lectures by conscientious traffic constables 😄

One noteworthy recount is from Mumbai… I jumped a signal under the Sion flyover, as I was new to driving in Mumbai and really not  aware of all the peculiarly placed traffic lights… Once upon a time in Mumbai, traffic lights also hung from the shoulders of huge trees 😁 in some areas, such used to be the paucity of space,then…

So promptly the traffic constable appeared, waving me to the curb and then this follows…

C- ” Madam, where are you off to? “

I-  ” Sir, I am new to Mumbai, I didn’t see the 🔴 light,as it was hidden by the leafy branch of the tree.”

C- ” Show me your DL”

I- ” Here it is sir. Please see my ID as well, I am a soldier and recently got posted here “.

C- ” Aha, ok, so you are from the Indian Air Force!” Continues to assess me in my civvies. Then comes the question… ” So who is your current Chief? “

I- “Air Chief Marshal… ” ( I provide the correct answer, of course 😎)

C- ” Very good. How many commands are there in your services?

I- ” …. ” Again the correct answer.

Now comes the real one…

C- ” You know your service so well, how about  knowing the traffic rules equally well ? “

I- “you are right, I will try to learn about the location of all the different traffic points and lights that come on my daily runs.” With an apologetic  look, I took leave, sans a fine, thank God for small mercies…

Several years , several cities and several tickets later, here I am… quite a learned person on traffic rules around here.