Encashing the Fuel

Encashing the fuel
It was 1995 and I was posted in a remote location in Arunachal Pradesh in Border roads and had to travel a lot as it meant looking after the maintenance of complete road for stretches of hundreds of kms with which I would get fed up of travelling if the route was monotonous but fortunately the area was hilly hence provided enough oppurtunity to watch the beautiful landscape enroute. The routes were treacherous comprising of twists and turns, deep ditches, steep climbs, sharp turns and demanded good drivers to negotiate those curves safely. The driver’s task was also cumbersome as they had to drive for hours together. Due to the nature of the task they performed they gained lot of experience in driving and were real professional drivers, you can say the best among the forces. They relied on the detachments which were located at an average after every 200kms from where they could get their administrative back up and could rest a while. The detachment basically involved about 5 to 6 men.
The drivers were thus dependent on their own and thus had to have some cash with them for meeting any breakdowns enroute which they could make use of in repairing their vehicle in case of tyre punctures and spend some on refreshments. The pay of these drivers was mostly sent at their homes whenever they used to get it so they were left with little money in their pockets. Unofficially most of the long route drivers would adopt the malpractice of selling petrol/diesel to the local shops which they had tied up while following those routes. Inspite of repeated endeavours of officers to curb such practices they used to outwit them so smartly that a new person would not even come to know what they did when and where. They would turn their gear into neutral on the slopes and make the vehicle move under gravity save a few kms and sell that much amount of diesel and pocket the money. In fact they used to keep their vehicle so fit and never allowed it to go off road as they had to deposit it into the workshops of the department which would take a lot of time especially if a particular part was not available resulting into the driver sitting idle for that much. Hence they would never let their vehicle go off road even if they had to spend the money from their own pockets. This in fact favoured the department in one way that the work never suffered due to delay caused in transportation of resources.
Once I was to go for a road inspection about 150 kms away and return back the same day so I started early in the morning. I was just a novice in the organisation being a youngster. I carried all the necessary stuff like my kit ,clothes ,water bottle and lunch so that just in case if I get late or stuck I would stay in the detachment and return the next day. We started off at 0800h in the morning and the initial journey was nice and I passed my time looking outside to the beautiful landscape . The jeep was in a good shape so I patted the driver for maintaining it well. He was happy and told me that at times after a long run it gives a small trouble also but he will manage it and there is nothing to worry. We travelled through the hills, forests, waterstreams, kutcha roads, bridges, causeways and I kept noting down the stretches which required its maintenance since that was my job. There was nothing on the way except a few small tea shops and general merchandise shop combined into one from where the drivers could buy the necessary stuff and refreshments. I switched on my walkman after sometime to listen to the music as the stretch had become straight now which turned out to be boring. We carried on like this for about 2 hours and then I asked him to stop somewhere as we would rest a while and have a cup of tea. Seeing my mood he also after some time stopped near a shop and we both got down to have a cup of tea. I sat on that charpoy of jute and lied down for a while to stretch my back. Meanwhile the shopkeeper brought tea and we both had it. After refreshing ourselves we started off again . As we started and were barely about 20 m away from the tea shop the jeep seemed to develop some trouble and it stopped. The driver first made two three ignitions but would turn the key off when the jeep used to start which I did not understand why he was doing that but I kept quiet as he had told me in the beginning that it develops some trouble after travelling a considerable distance so I thought it is none of my concern and let the driver do as he feels it fit. The driver switched off the vehicle and said to me that he would require to open the bonnet and check the engine tuning. I nodded and told him to go ahead to which he replied,
“Sir if you could come to the drivers seat, hold the accelerator and the brake for some time I will check the engine in running condition and rectify the defect.”
I agreed gladly to help the poor chap and at once shifted to the driver’s seat and sat on the steering with my right foot on the accelerator and the left on the brake keeping the gear in neutral. He went ahead and opened the bonnet and said to increase and decrease the accelerator rate slowly and keep doing it so that the engine does not stop and I kept doing the same with earphones of the walkman in my ears. After about 10 to 15 minutes he asked me to stop the accelerator process , closed the bonnet and came back to the drivers seat. I also got up and shifted back to the co drivers seat and thereafter we resumed our journey. On the way he switched off the engine while on the slope and carried on in the neutral gear. I asked him why he is doing this to which he replied
“Sahib jeep garam na ho isliye kuch der isko neutral me chala rahan hoon . Issse engine ko bhi rest mil jayega”(Sir to keep the engine of the jeep cool and to give it some rest I am taking the jeep in neutral position)
I agreed to his convincing statement as he appeared to be very honest and sincere in looking after his vehicle and I thus kept quiet . I carried on noting the details of my work and in the evening we reached back safely in time. It was already dark, I took bath and came to our small Mess for the dinner where I met my colleague friend Kashmir Singh who was a mechanical engineer in the workshop adjacent to our detachment and while having dinner had discussion about the problem I faced on the way regarding the jeep. He surprisingly told me that the jeep was in A1 condition and there was no fault in it since he had himself checked it a few days back. He then asked me in detail and I narrated the whole story to him word by word and minute by minute as the events occured. He then burst out laughing and said in punjabi,
”Tainoon vee uh bana gaya”.( He has befooled you too)
He told me that the driver had done the same act with him also which he learnt it later. I came to know the story behind the scene and was really astonished how foolish it was on my part to believe him or how smart was it on his part to befool me. You will not believe that everything was planned right from the time I started my journey till I returned. While on the way after having a cup of tea when we had resumed our journey the jeep had no problem of starting but was made to appear that it had which I had also sensed it for a while but overlooked it since was more interested in listening to the music at that time. What he actually did was that he lifted the bonnet not to rectify any defect but just to block my vision so that I am not able to see what he is doing. And you know what he had done during that time when he had told me to keep my foot on the accelerator pedal while sitting on the driver’s seat holding the steering, he quietly went back took out a rubber pipe and a can kept in the rear side of the jeep, opened the fuel filling slot of the fuel tank from where one fills the petrol from the petrol pump, inserted the rubber pipe into it, sucked the petrol with siphonic action from his mouth, filled the can to its brim, closed the slot, went to the shopkeeper from where we had tea which was just near the jeep sold that petrol to him, filled up his purse with cash and quietly came back to the bonnet. After that he asked me to press the accelerator pedal two three times , closed the bonnet and after coming back to his seat resumed the remaining journey. Incredible isn’t it? But true. He was an expert in it and had been doing it since long.
I went and checked the car diary immediately after this so that I could catch him based on the fuel consumed and mileage covered but that was perfect rather it was 2 litres surplus . It was all thanks to the slope which he had covered in neutral. I then just laughed it out as could do nothing. He was safe and could not be charged. This is what is called smartness which I realised it that day.

The Hidden File
I was posted to a place in the field somewhere in J & K where once I met an officer who was wearing lot of ribbons indicating that he had served in field area for quiet a long time and is having a lot of field experience behind him which generally only very senior officers have. But this officer was comparatively quiet young and his field service did not seem to appear commensurate with his age. So I asked him how he has managed these many ribbons to which he replied,
” Managed ? I feel pity on myself and have a feeling that I am being punished for no fault of mine as all my life I have been loitering around in the field area only. I do not have any senior person known to me nor does the HQ listen to me inspite of my writing so many letters to them to post me to some peace station.”
Hearing this I told him,
”There must be some communication gap somewhere in between due to which you are suffering and to sort this out you must go to the posting department of your HQ in Delhi”
He agreed and decided to go on leave to his head office at Delhi. When he went there and met the concerned officer dealing with the postings he was told that his file is not traceable and he should wait and rather help them trace it with them as there was shortage of manpower there. He saw that all the files were scattered here and there, some were lying in the almirah, some were out of it covered with the dust, while some lay on the floor packed with the small ropes etc. So the search for the file began and they all were on it to locate it . The search carried out for 2 hours and finally he found the file which was being used as a lid of an earthern pot (Ghara) covered with dust and at the corner of the room. He immediately cleaned it by hitting it with his other hand two three times and handed over the same to the posting officer. The posting officer after opening the file saw that all his life he had never been posted to a peace station so he felt pity on the officer who had come with the grievance and asked him,
”Which station would you like to be get posted to just tell me and your job is done?”
The officer was overjoyed to hear this so he requested for posting him to Delhi and was very thankful to him for being so kind and considerate in giving him his choice station. While departing after getting his problem solved he said to the posting officer,
“Sir I would be extremely thankful to you if you could do me one more favour”
The posting officer said,” Yes ! Yes! Anything else by which I’ll be able to help you”
The officer who had come with the grievance said,
“Sir if you could kindly replace this file to its original position from where it was picked up ?”
The posting officer laughed and said,
“Done”
And the file took its position back for being status quo.
The officer is still at Delhi since a long time enjoying his peace tenure.

Ek choti si dog story (A small dog story)
The Lost Letter

There was once a discussion going on between some street and pet dogs over a conference in one corner of a street in which dogs from far off areas had come to participate as the matter was very important for them. When the minutes were read by their secretary a point came up that why they are not respected like other animals like the Cow, Tiger etc inspite of them exhibiting their loyalty, sincerity and hardwork towards the mankind which is unquestionable even by the humans. Why their name is misused especially in films and considered as an abuse? Whereas the cow is worshipped like a mother, the Tiger is considered to be a national animal and photographed with the Goddesses and so on. The dogs have provided utmost security even at the peril of their life, done such a great jobs of saving many human lives by locating mines and explosives, helped man in catching the deadliest of the killers, entertained humans and shown highest degree of faithfulness which the humans can not even dream of and what not.

The case study was done deliberately by them and after enough brainstorming sessions and necessary lectures / debates over the issue it came to light that that their case has never been projected properly by them due to frequent inter rivalry amongst them where they do not allow any of their fellow colleague to flourish in their areas. Hence their immediate higher authorities had not put up their statement of case to God for his perusal due to which they are suffering. Even if some efforts were made by their predecessors in the past most of the time the case was rejected on flimsy grounds like grammatical mistakes, delay by the clerical staff, the concerned officer being on leave, adapting of procrastination attitude by the mediators who also asked for undue favours from them (which they refused due to their inborn quality of honesty and faithfulness) in processing the matter forward. But in case of animals like that of a cow the matter was expedited with no reiterations as she gave milk for free to the intermediate brokers and greased their palms with her milk products at the right time, got her work done within no time and thus got a respectable place in the society of mankind.
The Tiger also got his case expedited due to his power of paws, claws and fear over the others to which no one had courage to dare stop his statement of case for getting the sanction of the competent authority. Every one up the channel quietly pushed it through smoothly since nobody wanted to get involved in a fight with the powerful beast as they were not confident of the police protection of the Hyena force who in fact were in close nexus with the Tiger since they hunted and shared their prey together.
At the end of the conference it was thus summarised that a letter of recommendation would be drafted by them and after due consensus of every member it would be forwarded through the proper channel to God for granting them a respectable status on this planet. The letter was then accordingly made by them taking the help of a chimpanzee friend who was a clerk by profession and was obliged by the Dog society by lending 4 dogs for the security of his banana tree for a week .
After the letter was drafted and put up for the consensus a contentious point surfaced up which lead to a heated argument. The bull dogs wanted a greater share of respect as they were stronger to which the Alsatian strongly objected to, raising their tails as they claimed themselves to be more handsome and smarter. Seeing this the Doberman rose up and interrupted that they do all the work of catching the thieves which is the most difficult part for which they have even sacrificed their tails also hence they should be considered for grant of the maximum benefit . Seeing the situation the other high quality breeds also stood up and soon their was lot of barking. Then their leader, a common street dog stood up and said that they will give their views one by one after all of them sit in a single line and mark this area by pissing on that single tree so that everyone feels that this is their area and thus are equal in status to each other only after which their views will be considered otherwise unnecessary barking by everyone would lead to nowhere and he also emphasised that the standards of respect and status will be kept same for all right from a normal street dog to the Great Dane. They also decided that they will not fight like humans on the basis of caste, creed, colour, sex or status as it does not befit a dog to discuss such things and their credibility should be thus maintained at all costs whether they win this battle or not. Hearing this everyone kept quiet sat in a single line and agreed to their leader with their ears down and tails in.

The letter was then finalised, approved , signed by their Society president with the signatures of four witnesses and sealed in an envelope. This was to be taken to the God through his assistant who would in turn handover this to his PA (Personal Assistant) and finally would be put up to him on his table so as to follow the proper procedure. The dogs got the information that one of the assistants taking care of their area, the fox was nearby so the journey started and the group of dogs went to him to hand over the letter but when they reached they saw that the fox was involved in a scandal with lot of vixen around him with whom he was relaxing.
“How can such a person of low morals be an assistant to God”, the dogs said to each other. He was a fake. So the dogs started their journey back in search of a true assistant. As soon as the fox came to know of this he felt very bad as had planned a lot of services to be taken from these dogs in lieu of their letter work which fizzled out of his hand. So out of frustration he went and informed the Tiger that his days are numbered as the dogs are going to gain more respect than him very soon as soon as their letter reaches the Almighty. Hearing this the tiger got furious and ran after the dogs to get hold of that letter. When the dogs saw him chasing they immediately understood the cause, got together and planned to hide the letter. They could not find any other place to hide it so one of them shoved the letter into back side of his colleague and they continued running again.
But soon they were caught and when the tiger asked them about the letter they replied that they do not have any such letter. They also informed him that they had come to meet him to take his advice on important matters but this fox was asking for 2 kg of milk and 5 kg of meat out of which 3 kg of meat was for the tiger which they did not have so were helpless. They also added that the fox had frightened them on the pretext that the Tiger would kill them if they go empty handed to him hence fearing this they took off to their heels. Hearing this the tiger slapped the fox and allowed them to go thereby apologising for his act of doubting and pouncing on them.
The dogs somehow after double crossing the fox came back but when they discussed about the letter they forgot the dog on whose back side they had hidden the letter and till this day they are still searching for that letter by sniffing behind each other. If you notice carefully whenever they meet someone from their community the first thing they search for is that letter for it is a matter concerning their status and self respect in the society. Humans understand this and thus they are their friends. Humans also can hardly do anything till such time the letter is found as nothing moves without recommendations in this world and especially this country which you all would agree with me.
The dog who narrated this story to me last week also asked me at the end,
“Does this happen like this in your society also ?”
I kept mum for a moment and said,
”We’ll discuss it some other time as I have to go for attending a conference now.”