You have license??

"Step out of your car madam...You did not obey the traffic signal"

"No, I did...It was green when I crossed the junction..."

"I am saying no, madam..please come out first"

Grumbling internally, I got out of my car. The traffic cop obviously did not know my car AC's psychology. It hates the sun and hot weather. It refuses to work when its hot. Then what is the point, you ask? Well, I am not going to digress from the current topic and explain. My Ac's clock was ticking and I wanted to reach this new restaurant without being soaked in sweat.

A little background on the story - I had my visa interview that day(there, I bragged). The nice consulate lady approved my visa. I was happy and relieved and wanted to spend money to declare my happiness to the world. In this case, the hotel industry. Bala was with me(Good boy he is. Some times.) And yes, he is not Rajnikanth. But you are supposed to know who he is, if you read my blogs. Poke around the blog to find out, if you care.

This traffic cop stops me at around 1 PM under the merciless, blazing Chennai sun. Blistering Barbeque Nation I say!

"Who is this?" - Cop, pointing to Bala.

I internally smiled at the cop's question. If I tell his name, will you know? Do you read our blogs?

Anyways, I said, "Friend".

"You have license?"

"Yes"

"You crossed when the signal was red...Shall we tell your dad?"

"Dude, you dont want to, trust me" - Sound's mind voice.

I smile.

"It will cost you Rs.1500"

This time I laugh. I still dont talk.

A few seconds later.."Ok...give 350 and get the receipt"

"Sound, pay up. He has come down to 350...Lets get outta here" - Bala to Sound.

"Good that the cop cant hear you, Bala. Just keep quite. Else you will be the starter in Kodambakkam middle-of-the-street branch of Barbeque Nation." - Sound's mind voice. I still smile. I do that when I am amused, irritated, sad or angry. Translation for, always.

I look at the cop and still smiling, I ask, "How much should I give sir?"

He must have thought..."So, you are deaf?". Maybe he did think I was deaf. Because now the fine amount was reduced to Rs.100, only without a receipt. I did not need a receipt.

I paid up, got back my license and pulled Bala into the car before he could say anything else. Same side goal putter.

Had it been any other day, I would have stayed there and asked the cop to give me a proper receipt and would have even contested it in court. But, like I said, I got my visa approved that day. I was happy.

Yes yes, I just bragged again. And here is some more of it. I am leaving day after tomorrow and will not blog until I get a laptop, most probably. My last post in India :D

I am loving these "last" senti statements. It is fun.

You gotta earn it...Mind ittt!

There are ads these days telling us that we need to earn chocolates - just earning enough money to buy them does not suffice anymore. So, a day with Maya akka after a loo-hoo-ngg time - yeah, I did have to "earn" it. I literally did toil in sweat(I drive a Maruti 800, 2004 model...no point in expecting it to keep me cool under Chennai's blazing sun at 12 in the noon near Doraiswamy subway).

Well, I started out cool(AC was working fine when I set out from home) and happy, singing along with the MP3 player in my phone. I felt very grown up, driving to T nagar via the subway(mom never allowed me to take my car there). So, it was a great start to the day. Little did I know that I had some (l)earning to do.

I deftly swished past the traffic near Ashok pillar(adellam chuma jujubee, you see..). After turning right at the Bloo-Pink store junction and reaching Arya Gowda road, I felt I had arrived. I had definitely become a grown up, pukka Chennai citizen. I was going to reach my Mecca - Pothy's junction, on my own.

I had forgotten one thing. Have you seen pictures of the Mecca Masjid? It is this huge building surrounded by a sea of human heads.

Pothy's is similar to it, surrounded by human heads and tops of cars, autos and other vehicles strangulating Chennai's roads.

I was in the line, waiting for my darshan of Pothy's, from 11:30 to 12:30. I could not even give up and turn back home. There was not an inch of space around my car. I was chanting the names of all the Gods that my grandmother has mentioned in her story telling sessions while stuffing breakfast into my mouth during my school days, because my car has this strange habit of stopping and refusing to get started in the very middle of a traffic jam.

The line moved on. I almost expected a counter by the side of the road, reading "Special darshan - Rs.50", for a short route to Mukthi. But alas, nothing of that sort has come up yet. So the traffic snailed on and on. There were 2 lines on the road and whenever the line on my right edged a few inches further, I felt like nudging the car in front of me and saying, "Move it man! Look at that guy on the right, he is going places, and I am stuck with you! Trust me to get tangled with the losing side!", much like pattu mami in edhirneechal..."aduthaathu amboojatha pathela" song).

My feet were smarting with pain and begging to stay away from the clutch and brake pedals. To cut a long traffic line short, I finally made it to Pothy's. I could not resist taking a snap of the shop and, I must say, I did risk my life in the process.

P.S: Don't be deceived by the picture. I was driving slow, and put some space between me and the car in front of me amidst a lot of honking behind me. The road was packed, I say.

At that point, whichever demi-god in heaven is responsible to collect the "earnings" metrics and attest that I am a certified "(l)earner", decided that I could now use the second, third and fourth gears(which, by this time, I was sure both me and my car did not know how to operate any longer). It was a breezy drive(yeah, I had to lower my windows and give up all pretence of driving an air conditioned car) after that.

I reached Maya akka's house. She has a very cute home and I have always had fun with her. Today was no exception. We had great food, and we watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S at home. A perfect weekend. Thanks akka! :)

Oh, what did I (l)earn today? I learned that one must never drive to T nagar on a hot day - always take an auto. And earned a great saturday :)