Peak Bengaluru: Traffic marshal ran an ad agency, exchanged cards with man who was fined. Here’s what happened
After stopping a man for driving a vehicle without a PUC certificate, a traffic marshal who ran an advertising agency exchanged business cards with him.
Another day, another peak Bengaluru moment! Today’s episode shines a light on how a traffic marshal fined a man for violating traffic rules, but instead of just issuing a ticket and moving on, he went the extra mile and struck up a conversation with the man. Startup founder Ashish Bansal shared this heartwarming story from 2012 on the microblogging platform and tagged the official handle of Peak Bengaluru.
Read| Peak Bengaluru: Startup co-founder and colleague, who are neighbours, get stuck in traffic. And then…
It all started when two of Bansal’s friends from Australia visited India and went on a long late-night drive. “Out of the four of us, one person was the designated driver and did not indulge in booze, as we knew that a checkpoint at Domlur would obviously be in place by the cops,” Bansal wrote on X.
And, as they had anticipated, they were stopped at a checkpoint outside the Embassy Golf Link (EGL). While everything was in place - the driver was sober, the documents were in order, but the Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate had expired. Consequently, they were slapped with a fine of ₹500. Surprisingly, none of them had enough cash on hand to pay the fine.
Bansal was then left as surety with the cops while his friends headed towards an ATM to withdraw cash. When they returned with the money, they couldn’t believe their eyes.
“I was exchanging business cards with one of the traffic marshals. This volunteer ran an advertising agency and I had just gotten into advertising two years back. There was a long chat about how things were, which ended in this business card exchange,” Bansal further shared.
He concluded, “It was a beautiful city then, and it still is. The people of this city make it so.”
Take a look at the entire post here:
The post was shared on March 21. It has since then accumulated over 4,600 views and a flurry of likes. Many even took to the comments section of the post to share their thoughts.
Also Read| Bengaluru woman peels vegetables while stuck in traffic, internet calls in ‘high level productivity’
Check out how people reacted to this post here:
“Did you end up having to pay or were you let off? Years back, I worked for Taj and had a parking sticker on the car. Got caught for breaking a signal close to the hotel. Cop saw the sticker and let me off saying, “Aap ka namak khaya hai.” (beat cops used to go to the staff cafetaria),” posted an individual.
To this, Bansal replied, “We did pay and even got a receipt.”
Another added, “One of the reasons we bought an EV was/is because of the proliferation of PUC checking as well as the huge fines involved, especially if the PUC certificate was from an un-authorised booth masquerading as genuine, and also cops appreciate less emissions on their duty.”
The official handle of Peak Bengaluru also dropped a comment on the post. They simply reacted with a purple-coloured heart emoji.
What are your thoughts on this?