hidden image

Bob’s Banter by Robert Clements Police were Mute Spectators..!

Robert Clements Robert Clements
17 Jan 2022
Bob's Banter on mute spectatorship of police by Roberts Clements

A line appearing almost daily in newspapers, after murders in broad daylight, religious places vandalized, or assaults committed is that the ‘police were mute spectators!’ I decided to visit a police station on the wings of my rather vivid imagination and find out why policemen had become mute spectators.
‘Sir,” said the policeman to whom I fist asked the question, “Do you like my uniform?”
“Of course!” I said.
“Do you know every crease, every fold has been meticulously ironed by my wife at home?”
“That is very sweet of her,” I said.
“And do you want me to disrespect her work, by going home with a crumpled uniform?”
“No!” I said quickly, as the policeman stood up and tried to tower over me.
“So, either I honour the women in my house by honouring her work, or humiliate and shame her honest labour by coming home with all her love’s labour lost! Do you want me to do that?”
“No! No!” I said hastily, “It is important to honour our women!”
I was going to beat a hasty retreat from the police station when another policeman stopped me, “Being a mute spectator is part of a meditative process!” he said quietlike. “Once upon a time I was also a loudmouthed cop! Yelling, shouting, cussing everybody, till I learnt the art of silence!”
“Was it a difficult process?” I asked innocently
“Everything takes time!” said the cop, “but all of us learnt that this meditative exercise had huge rewards for us!”
“How’s that?” I asked.
“I used the ‘art of mute spectator’ when a minister beat a woman who questioned him, and was immediately promoted to senior inspector!” said the inspector of the police station and then lapsed into silence.
“I used this vipassana and got a medal last Independence Day,” said another cop, “All I did was hold my lips firmly together instead of shouting, ‘you are under arrest’!”
“That must have been tough?” I asked.
“I just saw the medal in front of me, even as the minister’s brother-in-law lynched the innocent father of the girl he raped! Once you see things in the right perspective it is easy!” smiled the policeman to me, “You should try it!”
“Try what?” I whispered.
“This meditative silence we have learnt!” said the inspector as he stood up and walked to me, “Come!”
“Come where?” I asked very frightened.
“I want to show you our jail and torture chamber!”
“I am willing!” I shouted.
“Willing?” asked the inspector.
“Willing to learn the art of mute spectatorship!”
“Ah!” said the inspector happily, “Imagine the whole country soon mastering this art!”
“Haven’t we already!” I whispered as I rolled out of my imaginative world into the reality of the present..!

bobsbanter@gmail.com
 

Recent Posts

Amidst whispers of combating the rampant spread of misinformation, the Government orchestrated an amendment to the IT Act
apicture Aakash
25 Mar 2024
I was pleasantly surprised to receive your letter dated March 15 in both Hindi and English. You mentioned in your letter how you have received trust and support from 140 crore people
apicture A. J. Philip
25 Mar 2024
On January 12, 2024, a couple came to the USM to invite the community to their daughter's wedding. While sitting and talking, the conversation turned to Fr. Varghese Alengaden
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
25 Mar 2024
The Church's response to the Indian general election in a pluralistic world should be multifaceted
apicture Dr. John Singarayar
25 Mar 2024
We have seen different ruling styles. China recently concluded its weeklong annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing in an exultant tone.
apicture Thomas Menamparampil
25 Mar 2024
Half a decade ago, a Bollywood movie took the entire industry by storm. The Manoj Kumar starrer "Roti, Kapda aur Makaan"
apicture Jaswant Kaur
25 Mar 2024
Every time, movie lovers can't wait for the release of the latest James Bond production. James Bond movies focus on the titular character, a fictional British Secret
apicture Peter Fernandes, SFX
25 Mar 2024
The supreme iconoclast, Howard Zinn, observed that there is no such thing as impartial history. Even the most conscientious historians are partial in two ways
apicture Mathew John & Annie Mathew
25 Mar 2024
Securing 87 per cent votes in the 2024 presidential election with a voter turnout of 77.5 per cent, the 71-year-old Vladimir Putin will become the President of Russia for a fifth term
apicture Sacaria Joseph
25 Mar 2024
I raise this question mainly in the backdrop of the recent installations of bishops and an Archbishop in some of the north Indian dioceses
apicture M L Satyan
25 Mar 2024