As I visited the Red Fort today for my second consecutive Independence Day event, I was reminded of an amusing incident that took place last year.
I was provided a white Ambassador cab by my office which took me to Lal Quila and from there was supposed to drop me to my office in Green Park.
As dignitaries like the Prime Minister, Defence minister etc. are the chief guest in the event, the security is obviously tight and all roads leading to Red Fort are shut down. As a result no public transport like buses, autos etc. can ply in the vicinity.
So, as the ceremony got over I sat in the cab and drove out of the venue as hordes of Delhi Police personnel along with general public started leaving on foot to the nearest bus stop—at least a couple of kilometres away.
We were waiting at a traffic signal when a police constable approached us and requested us to drop him till the Darya Ganj bus stop which was just five minutes away.
As he sat in the car, he enquired as to where was I headed and I promptly replied- Green Park.
The constable immediately had another request-- instead of dropping him at a bus stop could we drop him at Tilak Marg police station as it would fall on my route.
I obliged.
Now began the fun part. A policeman, seated in the front seat of an Ambassador car which has a reputation of lugging around VIP's with a walkie talkie held upright in his left hand and a 20 something in a polo t shirt in the backseat.
From traffic policemen manning the intersections to pedestrians and motorists, it was a sight that bemused all.
