Thursday 3 July 2008

Wheel of uncertainity

Location: My Workplace
Time: Evening around 6.00pm after work

My office is located 10 minutes away from my apartment & so I walk it up most of the time. I generally leave the office building thru the underground carpark at the back. There is this cargo business located just opposite to our building where you find a lot of these guys from Kenya and Sudan, working there. They mind their own business most of the time but they know you exist & you know they exist coz you see them everyday at the same time.

One day I was coming out of the carpark and there is this 1 negro perched on his cycle bang opposite the road. After a cursory glance I turned right & proceeded down the road.
Some 1 minute later I could hear a sort of a low ‘shhhhhhh’ from behind me, like somebody trying to attract my attention in a sidey way.

Warning bells went off in my mind. But I did not turn to check who it was. I was certain it was the same guy on the cycle. Then another ‘shhhhhhh’. It was quite lonely road & it was also becoming dark. I did not panic but was not happy about the situation either. Soon I could see him from the corner of my eye. He was cycling verrry slowly in the same direction I was going, but on the opposite side of the road. And again “shhhhh……” . I took out my phone & dialled 999 for the police(no I didn’t press the green button yet).

I have to tell you guys that this country takes a very serious view of a complaint from a woman regarding matters like eve-teasing & harassment. The police monitoring that particular area will reach the scene of crime immediately(like in 3-5 mins) & haul the guilty off to jail without even hearing his side of the story. Actually that way, women feel quite safe in this country.

And so yes, I make a show of dialing the number. Ofcourse he can’t see the number but he can see that I’m dialing a number, right. And sure enough the next moment his cycle passes by

I smile triumphantly. Then I hear the sound again….shhhhhhh…..

Now I’m confused. I squint in the approaching dark at the African on his cycle more carefully. He is texting somebody on the mobile & so was cycling very slowly. And his cycle wheel was making this ‘shhhhh’ noise everytime it turned full circle.

To say I felt like an idiot is an understatement.

18 comments:

  1. he he he..

    we generally go by stereotypes.. often are mistaken!

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  2. Funny how we misunderstand situations some times...but then that was very smart thinking of you when you dialed the number, wonder what i would have done.

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  3. haha..poor guy!
    next time ensure the person is ACTUALLY teasing before presSing the panic button :D

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  4. At least you didn't press the green button! I agree with winnie the poohi, we tend to go by the stereotypes, and are often mistaken.
    Still, it's good to be careful.

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  5. hee hee... missing the good old days back home? ;)

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  6. nance
    stereotyping is not right. it is also better to be safe than be sorry...

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  7. something very similar happened to me too. But i thought there was a ghost chasing me with a discreet ching-ching sound and it was my bloody key chain!! he heee.
    but thatnk God you didn't hit the green button lady!

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  8. lol, yea, quite a few people i know have been scared in a similar way. its always better to err on the safe side though

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  9. WTP: yeah it is funny when I thk abt it now:-P

    Sunshine: Actually I had 2 options ready...press the green button & run for my life:-D. In such situations experts tell u yell 'FIRE' instead of help.

    ISH: hehe after tht incident every time I see that fellow I have this sense of guilt and hide a shamefaced expression.

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  10. IHM & Lan: No, no....him being a Negro had nothing to do with this...it could have been anybody.
    just imagine its getting dark & u r going home on a lonely road & somebody is behind u making a shhh noise.
    even if it was a woman, u'll wonder whats wrong with her & whether u shd raise an alarm:-P

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  11. wannabe: hehe I see that u r imagining the usual 'some idiot cycling past singing the popular regional song kinds or mayb whisting, winking etc(the kalabhavan mani irritating manju warrier kinds):-D'

    preethi: long time no see. happy to c u back in action:-D
    Ching-ching sound huh, LOL

    g-man: "its always better to err on the safe side though"
    whichever way i read this sentence it comes across as an oxymoron..LOL

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  12. well it is an oxymoron :) useful one tho

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  13. Yup! :D To understand it perfectly, you need to grow up in Kerala... don't think, you did right?...still you've got the picture! ;)

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  14. I got goose bumps reading this. But yeah, u never know when danger lurks. Good for u, u think on ur feet.

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  15. hehehehe ,poor guy ,he would have been in a soup if you called ,all is well that endswell

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  16. g-man: in that case, thanks;-P

    wannabe: yep i got it immediately:-P

    bins: yeah it was scary for some 3-4 minutes. Afterwards ofcourse I felt so stupid:-D

    Sukhoi: Yeah I know. Still makes me feel guilty whenever I think about it.

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  17. ha ha!! This was a funny story!!! I can imagine something like this happening to me. :)

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  18. anjuli: these kind of things are always happening with me too. the other day I was waiting to cross the road & this car slows down in front of & the driver makes a gesture.
    "Huh the nerve of the man" I thought, "he actually thinks I'm going to get into his car".
    only after he passed by I realised that gentleman actually slowed down to let me cross the road.
    :-P

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