A story on three wheels...

Place: District Court Room

Case of Muniappa vs Pratik; Charges levelled against Muniappa- Attempt to murder, Willful causing of physical Injury, Dacoity, Mastermind of the Gang which conspires and attacks citizens.

S.Ganesan the prosecutor spoke "Your honour, I don't think there is any further need of investigation or cross-examination as all the charges against the accused have been proved beyond a reason of doubt".
"Is there anything the defence counsel would like to say in response to this?" boomed the voice of the Lokayukta S.Hegde. Such cases were routine for him, but then his willingness to do justice in simplest of the matters was what had catapulted him to such heights. Honest, cunning,shrewd(in the classical sense) and brave were some of his well-known attributes. The ones that made criminals fear him, and which is why they exercised caution.
"No My-Lord, the defence rests its case; and expects justice to be done".

"Very well then, It has been proved beyond a reason of doubt that the accused masterminded the attack on Mr. Pratik on 26/03/2007. With help from his accomplices, the identities of which are yet to be found out, he looted Mr.Pratik forcefully taking possession of all his belongings and also attempting to gravely injure him using a chopper,which is now in the court's custody, thus putting his life in fatal danger."
"The Court finds Mr.Muniappa guilty of all the charges levelled against him and sentences him to 3 years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 10,000 to be deposited with the court on/before 28/06/2007."
"The court is adjourned", and the Lokayukta walked away.


3 Years Later...

"Heyy Guru, you are back, and what an occasion to come back, we have been alloted new chawls near Basavanagudi", said Ramanna to Muniappa as he made his way out of the central jail. It had been three years since he had seen the outer world. He felt good and relieved that finally he was out. All his pleas for parole were rejected on grounds he couldn't understand.
"And Guru you know what, while you were inside the Government has launched a new scheme"
"What is it?" asked Muniappa dryly, as he was in the least bit interested in Ramanna enthusiasm. All he wanted to do was go home and see his wife and son Karthik.
"It is a brilliant scheme, all the prisoners who come out of jail after serving a sentence of more than one year will be given auto-rickshaws as a part of a rehabilitation scheme".
This caught Muniappa's attention and in the next 30 minutes he garnered all the information that he could from from Ramanna.

In the next 20 days Muniappa had become a licensed driver. He had a clean Job and a clean image. The khakhi dress helped him camouflage his past physically in the least.

As I listened to this story it occurred to my mind that what if, the khakis camouflaged only the outer criminal but not the inner one. There are thousands of Auto-Rickshaw drivers which share pasts as murky as Muniappa .Bangalore is host to thousands of I.T professionals from around India. A majority of which travel by a rickshaw on a daily basis. "Saaaar, Tonty rupees meter ka upar de do, kaaali aana padta"; "Saaaar, one and half hota, kam mein nai parvadta" such statements are the flavor of the day in bangalore. As much of a nuisance it is, it can't be ignored for the dependence is too great in absence of any other convenient mode of transport.

While the pockets of the helpless I.T professionals get pinched everyday, there is no immediate relief in sight . For people who have earned easy money all their life, how will the idea of hard-earned money ever fit-in ? Does the government have complete assurance that these offenders will never be found on the wrong side of the law ever again ?If not, then isn't life of so many civilians in a grave danger? Why are people being made to forcefully face such situations on a daily basis? The drivers and their families make up a substantial number when vote-bank politics is considered. Given the inclination of political parties to enjoy themselves in such muck, it is not surprising that a wilful blind eye has been turned towards the problems of the migrants. Because pleasing the I.T population (mostly migrants) isn't going to vote them to power but ignoring the driver's surely will.When all this happening the only thing one can wonder is "Where does the buck stop"?

A story on three wheels is just a small attempt to highlight and understand this phenomenon prevalent in bangalore from a wholesome perspective.