Someone Has To Do It

Yesterday we had a get together on account of a friend's belated birthday party - had lunch, saw a movie and drove around. One of the guys was here from Bangalore for the weekend so we drove to the Kachiguda Station to put him on the train. As we made our way onto the platform, at the station's entrance there was a police jeep with a pale skinned labrador panting away in the back with two safari-suit clad policemen sitting in the front. These men were scoping out the place and probably waiting on orders. We didn't make much of the scene.

While the guys waited for the train, I had to take a leak and made my way to the nearest lavatory. On rejoining the platform's bustle I noticed that one section of the crowd just past the lavatory were moved away and formed a rough semi-circle opposite the wall with a 20 foot radius. The three characters from the jeep were in the middle, all staring at an old blue suitcase placed on a window ledge. Everyone around who understood the scenario was getting into a pre-panic mode - trying not to act stupid by smiling or laughing while quickly calculating the odds but also in order to satiate their curiosity weren't moving away either.

By the time I got there and realized the parameters of the situation, the dog had already done its sniffing around and its handler had moved it and himself back by 6 feet from the window. All the while the other man remained right next to the window with an airport security-type frisking device that he hovered over the suitcase for a couple of times. Then he took a step forward, put his hand on the suitcase's latch and in one move yanked the lid up. Like always, it was empty.

The situation quickly defused and the crowd dispersed, only now allowing themselves a smile. I started walking back towards the coffee shop where my friends were waiting, thinking I had a story to tell. But I stopped after a while and looked back to see what they did with the suitcase, it remained where it was found and the safari-suit squad was moving towards me. I waited for a while and when the man who opened the suitcase was nearing, I held out my hand. In bemusement he shook my hand and I told him the first thing that came to my mind:

"Itlanti pani cheyali ante chala dhayryam kavali sir!"
("To do this sort of work, a lot of courage must be necessary sir!")

He smiled and went on his way.


Also Interesting:
Review: "The Hurt Locker"