A red Benz sedan was parked in the portico of Muscat International Airport's arrival hall. It was early 2000s, the airport was much smaller than what it is now. The car was blocking traffic, arriving passengers, and the rest. It was not helpful, and illegal. A young traffic warden came and looked for the owner for a few minutes. Stood there, scratched his head, walked around and around. There were no takers. The frustrated traffic warden pulled his 'Chalan' booklet, wrote a ticket, put it under the wiper and walked away.
My guests haven't arrived, so, I continued to loiter.
There came a man with a cigar in his mouth. He looked at the ticket and was offended. Now, he was looking all over, and finally located the traffic warden. Clapped at the warden and summoned him to the car. A conversation ensued, the warden looking at the ground as if he had sinned, and the man with a cigar lecturing in a low,but stern voice. There was hardly any response from the traffic warden. Finally after five minutes of scolding, the warden pulled the ticket out and tore it up. The smoker got into the car and drove away.
Those of you unfamiliar with Oman's power structure, there are families, who have enormous informal power over the others. The Royal family is of course on top, and then depending on their relationships with or recognition by the Royals, varying degrees of power prevail. I suspect that the smoker is in one of these circles of power, not very close to the Royals, but not very far from them either. Else, no one would dare challenging member of the ROP, Royal Oman Police. That was Tale One.
Tale two. In 1981, when Mrs Indira Gandhi was the PM of India, her car was parked 'illegally'. A young female traffic warden - later became the most decorated female police officer in India todate - had the car towed away. The traffic warden is Kiren Bedi, a prominent advocate for transparency in Government. Despite all it flaws and its lurch towards development, there is something in India which gives hope.
Kiren Bedi is a symbol of such hope.
My guests haven't arrived, so, I continued to loiter.
There came a man with a cigar in his mouth. He looked at the ticket and was offended. Now, he was looking all over, and finally located the traffic warden. Clapped at the warden and summoned him to the car. A conversation ensued, the warden looking at the ground as if he had sinned, and the man with a cigar lecturing in a low,but stern voice. There was hardly any response from the traffic warden. Finally after five minutes of scolding, the warden pulled the ticket out and tore it up. The smoker got into the car and drove away.
Those of you unfamiliar with Oman's power structure, there are families, who have enormous informal power over the others. The Royal family is of course on top, and then depending on their relationships with or recognition by the Royals, varying degrees of power prevail. I suspect that the smoker is in one of these circles of power, not very close to the Royals, but not very far from them either. Else, no one would dare challenging member of the ROP, Royal Oman Police. That was Tale One.
Tale two. In 1981, when Mrs Indira Gandhi was the PM of India, her car was parked 'illegally'. A young female traffic warden - later became the most decorated female police officer in India todate - had the car towed away. The traffic warden is Kiren Bedi, a prominent advocate for transparency in Government. Despite all it flaws and its lurch towards development, there is something in India which gives hope.
Kiren Bedi is a symbol of such hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment