The rains have set in. And last week, it'd been pouring camels and elephants every evening in B'lore. Which made life a little difficult for those folks who had set out from their homes in the morning without umbrella in hand, and who were suddenly stranded without a vehicle.

My husband had a sudden meeting in the evening in the other side of the city and so he would be returning home straight from there, leaving me to rely on those oh-so-reliable autos plying in B'lore. Which would have been quite manageable actually, if not for the fact that the rain gods took it on them to shower us with their blessings that day.

So there I was, out of office for an hour, but still lingering at the entrance...waiting for that blessed species- an auto driver who would go where I wanted him to go. However the rain gods were only blessing me with showers, not friendly auto guys. So at 7.30, I made my way to the pre-paid auto stand opposite my office. There was quite a crowd there, mostly families, a couple of guys with laptops, and another lone lady like me- dupatta draped over her head, braving the rain which had luckily slowed to a drizzle.

The stand was manned by a lady cop and a guy cop. I bow down to both of them- they were ultra helpful, the sweet people. They would go all out to flag down the errant autos who were totally focussed on the opportunity to make mega bucks while the rain pelted and wouldn't stop for the regular fares that we would've given them.

So it happened that whenever we spotted an empty auto, all the junta would rush up to block the way and then the lady cop would come with her whistle shrilly sounding in the air and then accost the driver and ensure that one more group of persons got to share the way home. At times, even autos with single fares were accosted and negotiated with to share the fare and a little bit of the way.

Thus a crowd of about 15 or so had dwindled to half the number, when up came an auto that looked empty. The waiting 7 hullaballoed and swarmed around the auto, which had no recourse but to stop. Without stopping to answer the bewildered questions of either the driver or the two passengers that were in it, we called for the cops, who came whistling up.

They asked the driver where he was going. The driver dillied and dallied and just wouldn't come clean. At that, the cops who were used to the dilly-dallying tactics of the drivers who just wanted to get away without taking in passengers got tougher. And we also peeped in menacingly. The cops insisted that the driver tell them at least in whch direction he was going.Airport Road, Old Madras Road, Fraser Town...??? WHERE?
At this the driver looked at the passengers. And all of us turned towards them too. It was dark inside as it was nearing 8 pm by now. The two passengers- young guys- shook their heads in the negative to all the places mentioned. The cops and ourselves were now losing our cool, despite the gentle rain drizzling on all of us.

"Where are you going? tell us!!!!"

Hesitantly, in a hushed tone, came an indecipherable reply. Where?, the cops barked out again.

Again came the hushed reply- Bar, Sir.

The two young men were just going to the bar for a drink to revive them in the rains. The weather , I would think was perfect for that 'small'. And they were totally unnerved by the cops and the public flagging them down on their harmless outing. As was the driver who knew that he was not at fault, but didn't know if he could vouch the same for his passengers.

All of us laughed in sheer merriment, and waved them warmly on their way. Wecome to Bengaluru - the pub city!