"...VIP movement aahe, thaamba zara!..."

"...VIP movement aahe, thaamba zara!..."

...said the cop ["There is a VIP movement happening, just wait"].

A friend & I were going somewhere in a car. We were stuck in a long traffic jam leading to a signal. After a few min, just when it seemed we would comfortably cross the dreaded junction (the light was green & we just had a couple of cars ahead of us) a traffic cop came and shot his hand in front of the wind shield, signaling us to stop. The lights were still green, so we were obviously not amused after having crawled till that point and yet being stopped.

My friend rolled the window down and asked the cop "Why are you stopping us when the signal is green? Look at the traffic behind us, we've been stuck in this forever!" That's when the cop said what I quoted above. Apparently, some politician was on his way from the airport. So we waited there as we saw the vehicles from airport street being allowed to move out. This continued for the next 2-3 minutes as we kept waiting impatiently. Finally, we saw a set of cars pass through, many sporting flashing beacon lights.

"All for that entitled brat!" remarked my friend, giving them a dirty look. "How are they going to learn about the struggles of the common man stuck in traffic unless they go through the same as well and then work towards improving circumstances!" I concurred. This friend of mine likes visiting famous temples, so referring to one such visit, he said "The other day we were waiting for darshan at a temple and they wouldn't let us in till this one politician and his family were done offering their prayers. It is so disgusting, as if they have a first right to God..." "By the way," I interrupted his rant, "I have seen you take the VIP darshan queue by paying money once. How is that different?" I quipped.

For those who do not know, VIP Darshan is a separate queue where distinguished people or people who can cough up a "fee/donation/monetary offering" to bypass the usual queue for the general public. And since there are many such people who can do that, there is another, albeit shorter queue for such people. "Arree that's just for darshan yaar, to save some time, it hardly costs money!" he justified. "Wah! A separate queue for senior citizens or differently able is understood, but just because you paid money you get quicker access to God?" I asked. He just waved his hand dismissively and that was the end of the discussion.

If in a public set-up, we are using something that gives us an undue advantage over the public using the same set-up, then it is probably us exercising an entitlement without often knowing it. If we frown down on others doing it while we ourselves indulge in such practices, then that's definitely a red light we fail to spot.