Yesterday [7th May 2013], It was the 3rd Time in my life, that I was trending on Twitter, some saw it as creating panic, some saw it, that I was just trying to raise a ruckus for no rhyme or reason, and some saw this as a publicity stunt, but what happened, and why it happened, needed an introspection from my end, though I managed to break a finger, got into a fist fight, had my shirt torn open, and surrounded by 20 goons who were out for my blood, I look back at it, and wonder Kya Yeh Zamaana Kharaab hai (Is this world really bad?)
I live in South Delhi, to be Precise, on the Ring Road, in Lajpat Nagar 3, I was born here, started my first company here, and still live here, though over the years, the property prices on the Ring Road, have shot up, and vested interest for some land owners on the Ring Road, led to rampant commercialisation [Both legal and illegal] to happen on our road, the RWA over the years got split, some wanted that their property’s become worth 100′s of Crores so that they could call it a day, sell it off, put the money in the bank and put their feet up in the air at the beaches of Goa, while soem of us still recall the old days, where you could even play cricket on the roads, and this was a peaceful place to live, but those days are gone by.
My House on one side is surrounded by a Famous Eatery in Delhi, that has caused major headaches, and a bank on the other side, there is even a Clinic that my aunt runs at my house, and a clinic at the Adjacent house that my nephew runs, so I am not sure if we are also a part of the commercialisation, but that is not the debate to the things.
Commercialisation brings 2 things, (a) employees who come by various mode of transports, and some need parking (b) visitors that need parking, and parking at this time in Delhi is something that has managed to become a priced possession, and I don’t recall where I read it, but there have been a lot of RWA [Resident Welfare Association] battles fought over parking.
At My House we ensure that there is a driver to help you park, and there are people who would help you manage parking outside, though a parking operation runs outside my house, which we have never been able to find out, who runs it, or where is the licence, as the stretch for parking is reserved for just outside Haldiram, but you can find a parking attendant standing everywhere and ask for money, if you ask them to show an ID card, or their licence to manage parking, you are roughed up, even down to this, that now we have 2 Beat Officers sitting on a bench, making sure no one leaves the parking without paying their share, is this a part of the parking Mafia?
If One goes to the MCD website, and looks up the Parking, it shows that the Parking is unallocated, though I would leave that to web masters maybe not updating. Anyway, moving forward.. since that is not what is at Agenda.
So down 10 Houses from my house, is a Mahindra Dealership, called Koncept Auto, typically they park their cars outside their Dealership on a Road wide enough for a single car to pass by, and there is a squabble each day there, though Mahindra’s staff manages this, yesterday was a day where we were just taken by surprise, at roughly 3:00 PM while I was leaving for a meeting from my place, I saw a number of New Cars, without registration parked on both sides of the road, including outside the Gate to my house and the Adjacent house, a call to Koncept Auto on Phone Number 4678 7777 was answered by a pretty rude person, who in his not so kind words had to say
we are not removing these cars, if you have a problem, call the police
A following call to the Delhi Traffic Helpline at 258-44-44-44 at approximately 3:30 or so, which lasted 6 minutes had me explain to them what was happening, and I was told that they would send someone, but since the lane is really what is called a service lane, in Hindi “Colony ke andar ka rasta hai”, then they would not do anything about it, and the matter would have to be reported to the Local Police station by calling 100.
A follow up call by my Wife, had someone turn up from the Police department, and got about 5 odd cars removed out of the 20 – 30 that were parked initially and left…
At around 6PM When I reached home, the Road was blocked, the Cars were still parked on both the sides of the Road, and I could not turn my car inside my house, a Beat Officer was on duty walking by and I requested him to intervene, and the answer came
Call Traffic Police, I can’t do anything
On a Number of Requests, he asked me to send someone to the Mahindra Dealership and request them to come, I did send my Driver, and he got along 2 People, to remove the cars, and this was the start of you said, I said.
Now in an Incident, leading to a Heated Argument, there are enough things said, that don’t have to be said, the Gentleman [A sales person from Koncept, I am to understand], was abusive, and Said, we have paid for this parking, we will not move, the Police man requested them to move the cars, and the people were on First Name basis, which surprised me, but the cars did not move, on a request, that My driver and I could move the cars, abusiveness of the gentleman man from the Dealership started, and he flung to grab Harpreet [You know her as @meangeekchick on twitter], and I stepped him and held him back, my shirt tore open, and a fist fight started, suddenly out of nowhere, I was surrounded by 20 odd people, from the Dealership, trying to beat us up, someone called the Police station about the Squabble, and we had police suddenly all around
The Police arrived on the Scene, and I was asked to move in, as the goons were looking for my blood, since the Police inaction was there for the last 2+ Hours, I went on twitter and was tweeting side by side, with @anandmahindra’s twitter id in tow, who was to know what was to happen, as an average citizen, all I wanted was to protect myself.
A Few minutes later, the Crowd became bigger, and bigger, tweets were running in all directions, and people were reaching out to Mr. Mahindra to do something, and suddenly we are told, that we are to be Arrested, and Harpreet and I were to goto the police station, at the Police station, we were given two options
1. We lock you and your Wife Up inside the lockup, with these guys and you settle it amongst you
2. You settle it outside the police station and give us a compromise statement, as we are very busy
My Brother reached the station, and I got a few calls from my family members to compromise, after all that was the sane thing to do, knowing that the POLICE is not on your Side, but on the DEALERS side, after all they were on first name basis, knowing that you don’t want to spend a night inside the cell because you have responsibilities that you need to attend to, and not with people thirsty for your blood.
Roughly at about 7:30 PM The matter was settled as a compromise, my look back at twitter had people calling me a Gossip, to Hungry for News, to people asking Mr. Mahindra to step in. Tweets from friends and well wishers went out saying, we live in a Country run by goons, and I should not give up the fight, after all I was asking for my rights only, and reminding a Dealership that they can’t do this.
Around 8PM I got an SMS saying, that someone from Mahindra Corporate should be in touch with me, roughly at 2PM when I finish this blog post, I have not heard from them. Though around 8 PM I did get a call from Someone called Mr. Toophan that he is the Group CEO and he was not aware of what happened, and would like to come and see me in the morning.
Right now, I believe I have 2 of my fingers broken, typing is a Pain, and writing this with assistance and voice over text, the day looks lousy and traumatic, I did get a visit by Mr. Toophan saying how he loved us as neighbours and I had his unconditional apology, and an underlying statement, that let us know what we can do.
When I reminded him that this was not done out of publicity, or for any other reason, there was a smirk on the phone, sharing some pictures that I took of the Dealership last night, using the Footpaths, and Bus Stops as their Parking spots, taking away right of way of a Pedestrian, he assured me this will not happen in the future.
Lessons Learnt:
1. Make sure you involve people on Social Media, to get a sense of direction and help
2. Don’t loose faith, try to avoid any arguments on the road, as you may just get injured
3. Try to turn a blind eye, and be forgiving, or you will not be able to forget the incident
4. The Police is not on your side, they will first fight on jurisdiction, then fight on who’s side they are on, and then tell you that they are busy, and have better things to do
5. IF your neighbourhood is becoming commercial, try to move away, and don’t live in the old world, that you have lived here all your life
6. Remember, that you are the fool in all this, not the brand that is breaking the law, or the officials who run civil services
At the end of the day I am disillusioned, spending all my life trying to give back to society, both in my social responsibility and by creating jobs as an entrepreneur, making sure I spread love, and peace to the people I touch [not saying, I don't loose my temper ever, I do, I am human], I feel disillusioned, if India is really the country where I want to live, the law seems to have disappeared. But then running away is easy, fighting it and having it resolve is tougher, and I am for now, choosing to fight it, give it my best, and help solve a problem, whether that is something that Directly impacts me today or will in the future, or something that won’t impact me at all.
I am no activist, neither am I an idealist, but what I will not accept is being told, that Sab Chalta hai bhai, Yeh Zamaana Kharab Hai!
Reference [1] : Parking Site at Haldiram that seems to be allocated by MCD
Reference [2]: Lookup Parking Sites on MCD website
Is this all, well no, there were a lot of things said and unsaid, but then that is for another day
Post Script: Reference Images from Last Night, where Mahindra Cars were parked on The Footpath, and the Bus Shelter. I have an assurance from Mr. Toophan that this will not be done, the assurances include
1. No cars will be parked outside their own designated area
2. No Cars will be washed using Hoses and water wasted
3. Bus Stop will not be used for parking cars, selling accessories, and fit outs
4. Footpath will not be used to park cars
Updates, Friday 10th May 2013 with Mahindra Dealership
This week has had it’s ups and downs, just like any other week, but having a finger not working on you, depending on voice to text, to do most of your work is not as easy, but it works very nicely when you are on a Mac.
Anyway, it has been 3 Days since the Brawl with the Mahindra Dealership in Lajpat Nagar Happened, Today I thought I will take some more pictures, so we See in the First Picture, the Cars are parked outside 60 Ring Road, though they are in line, and the Traffic can move, and then you see the Cars outside the Dealership – Still parked on the Footpath, and the Bus Stop area, the Cars are washed here [Though the hose is gone, and it's a Bucket, and people washing it], and lined up here, taking up an Area which is not a Designated parking.
Despite the Promise Made by Mr. Toophan, the CEO of Koncept Auto, Nothing has happened.
I also see a lot of conversations on Twitter, and a whole lot of phone calls and comments poured in, Learning from these
1. I am not expecting Mahindra to Reply, I am sure they asked their Dealer to take care of this, but the Dealer is still overlooking what Civil obedience is, Mahindra & Mahindra may step in, or may not Step in, but the Dealer is making a mess of a Residential Area, Causing Bottlenecks on the Road, and using the Footpath as His Parking, removing access for people to be able to walk on the Footpath.
2. People have showered love and blessings, and have said, that they are happy that one of us stood up, there have been warnings too, don’t do this, or else I may get into trouble from well wishers, but at the end of the day, what is nice is for people to say, if He can do it, We can do it too.
I will randomly keep posting pictures of Civil Dis-obedience by the Dealer [M&M], and Also Haldiram and Jagdish Store at the Ring Road, Since, the Police or the MCD is not willing to do anything, I am hoping someone will spot this, and have it fixed, the Footpaths are designed for walking, even the MCD document about the parking [Though it says parking is not allocated] shows the Footpath clearly.