* Standing Up * Date - 26 Sep Time - 8 PM Place - Dwarka, West Delhi The market at Dwarka Sec 12 has a T-point shaped entrance. 1. A person can take a left turn to enter the market or go straight ahead towards Sec 13. 2. The entrance point serves as the exit point too. Being a one way street outside, all vehicles coming out of the market must necessarily take a left turn and move towards Sec 13. They cannot turn right as that is the wrong side. That day I was in my car and on my way to the market. I was to take a left turn to enter the market (as described in point 1 above). However, a car exited and started to turn right (the wrong side) and honked so that I would give way to let that car pass. I reacted by turning my car at such an angle that it made it impossible for that car to pass through. They kept honking. I noticed that there were 4 men in that car. I was alone. One of them started to shout, and their language made it obvious that they were Jats. I did not budge. Instead, I flashed my headlight and honked too, indicating that they need to go turn left and take the Sec 13 road. Then, one of those four well-built Jat men got down from the car and started to walk towards me. I quickly pressed 100 on my phone, ready to dial, just in case. I turned around to see if there were other cars or people around. There was just one car behind me, and it had a young couple and a small kid, not the kind of people who would be able to help me in case I got beaten up. I am not sure what happened to me, but I suddenly decided to unlock my car door and got down as well. I walked right towards that Jat guy and met him midway between both of our cars. He tried to speak, but I began before he could. Brother, this is the wrong side. You need to take right and go that way. Lets follow the rules, shall we? I told him in Hindi. He just stared at me for a few seconds. I expected a blow on my face any second. But the red light behind me turned green, and suddenly a number of cars arrived just behind me, all waiting to turn left and enter the market. I turned around and looked at a couple of those drivers right in the eye, and deliberately threw my hands in the air, higher than I normally would. But I was scared too, so I quickly took a few steps back and shouted a little loudly. These guys are coming wrong side. They are blocking the way. At this point, one of those drivers who had seen me throw my hands in the air got out of his car and started walking towards us. I told the Jat guy, Brother, you need to take the right turn. See, people are honking. The Jat guy returned to his car and they drove away, the right way this time. I didnt get beaten up. I could have been. They were big men, looked uneducated and could even have been drunk. I will never do something like this again if I am alone, because it is too risky. But despite the risk involved and the fear I felt even as I bought my groceries from that market that day (I swear I turned back every few seconds to see if those Jat guys had come back to beat me up), it was the right thing to do. Standing up for the right things feels wonderful. ~ Abhijit
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 17:00:00 +0000
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