A common man's conundrum

Two friends sitting in a road side hotel are waiting for a person. One of them is Vivek, a student who is doing his Masters from USA and came to India for a one month vacation. The other guy, Sandy, is still looking for a job in India. They were waiting for a person who apparently can be a tiny cause for the big change in Sandy’s life.  After a 15 minute wait, the person arrives. He sits in front of them and Sandy orders Tea. The person, in a simple white shirt and a jeans pant takes out some papers and says “Rs. 500!!”  Sandy starts thinking, Sandy says “Is there any other way out?” The person nods his head in disagreement. Then Vivek speaks “Give us a minute” and takes Sandy out.

Sandy says “I think we should report this.” Vivek takes his I-phone out and dials a number. He speaks for couple of minutes and then goes back to the table they were sitting before with Sandy. He hands the phone over to the person. They hear the person saying “yes sir”. The person then hangs up the phone, gives it back to Vivek and with a grudging smile hands those papers to Sandy showing him the place where he needs to sign. Sandy takes a pen and signs his Passport enquiry form thanking Vivek and his minister Uncle.

Sandy hears his phone ringing and picks it up. It says Vijay calling. He answers the call and says “We are about to start.” Vivek hears Vijay saying “Rush up guys, the bus is about to leave in 15 minutes”. Sandy says “We will be there in 10 minutes.” They get on Sandy’s bike and start.

Its mid afternoon and Santosh is getting frustrated with the heat. His job demands him to stay in the sun for the whole day. He sees two people coming on a motor bike and the guy driving is talking in his cell phone and they seemed to be in rush. Santosh stops them. Sandy pulls his bike aside. Santosh says that talking on cell phone while driving is against law. Sandy starts thinking. Santosh orders them to attend the mobile court and pay the fine. Sandy offers Rs. 50 and requests to let them off as they are in rush and they cannot afford to miss a bus. Santosh, the traffic constable, agrees and leaves them with a strong warning.

Sandy asks Vivek, “Do you think you could’ve done the same in USA?” Vivek replies “Dude, that’s USA, you don’t want to break the law and fall in trouble. I would have stopped you right away if you even try to call someone.”

Sandy sees Vijay calling again, but he doesn’t pick his phone as he can see the crowd and sense that they have reached the place. Vijay comes running towards them and says “The buses are almost full and the lines are too big. You guys took a lot of time.” Sandy for a moment thinks of explaining the traffic incident but then decides not to. Sandy asks “So, what do you think we should do. We can’t back out now.” Vijay says there is a way out and takes them to the buses where a big line of people were waiting to get into the bus.

Vijay points towards few people in the line and says,” Do you see those people, they offer help. They stand in the lines for the whole day but they don’t get into the bus. They are here for people like us who cannot stand in the line. You give them Rs. 100 and you get the place in the queue. I have already paid them. We can be in the bus in couple of minutes.” They all give a sigh of relief.

Finally, they are in the bus. They are going to be part of one of the greatest achievements of the history. They are going to live up a dream. Vivek feels his one month vacation is going to have more than it’s worth. Sandy thinks this can change the fate of many jobless people like him. They reach their destination point. They get down the bus and walk along with the thousands of people under a big banner.

The banner says “SUPPORT ANNA HAZARE. STOP CORRUPTION”