On Duty

I drive a Hyundai Verna. There is one particular tyre on my car that frustrates me the most. Reason—it keeps puncturing. The tyre has even maintained an average... 1 puncture per 2 months. Things were cool in September; however, it happened again a couple of days ago.

This time, I took it to a 'new' repair shop. This shop had been boycotted by me a year ago for another shop that was nearer to home. So, I reached the shop with a disgust on my face, disappointment in my heart, and a puncture in the same bloody tyre. I gave the tyre for repair and started surveying the scene around me.

Hey, what's that? I saw this structure; it was never there a year ago.

It looked like a public loo, but it was too small in size for that. Plus, there was no drainage system that I could see.

Anyway, I decided to ask one of the locals about this mini monument before I could take a look myself. This guy told me the structure was kind of a post for a policeman. It was built to accommodate a gunman on duty.

"Very interesting", I thought.

Although I had seen a lot of such posts in movies and at high-security places, I didn't know what they looked like from inside.

I started walking toward it. After all, there was no guard on duty... and it had to be the right moment to carry out some inspection.

What all could be inside?







-A chair?
-Some cement bags?
-Some place to keep guns... and even bullets?
-Water bottles?
-A small fan?
-An ash tray?

I must confess the post looked dirty from outside. The paan spits from paan spitters had not spared the post... just like the rest of the city.

Ok! So... I reached...
When I peeped inside, I could not believe how precise I had been in my guesswork.

I returned to the punctured tyre. That tyre, for that moment, seemed less irritating.