The other day the primary school where my grand daughter goes to arranged a Field trip for the five-year-olds. Among the 3-4 places the kids were taken to, the local police station was included in the list. It reminded me of our social studies classes where we saw pictures and learnt abut the civic services and utilities.
At the end of the day I called up my granddaughter and asked her how was the day. She was so excited and faltered (usually she has the gift of the gab, believe me) and then spurted out - "Didi ma, the policeman said good morning!" To make more sense I asked her again what happened. In her excitement and wonder she did some somersaults over words and then explained - "I said good morning to the policeman and he also said good morning to me!" Yes that definitely can be a wondrous surprise even to an adult, leave alone a small child. Of course, I was happy for my little girl and wished her goodnight, as she was pretty tired after the 'field trip'; and I sat back in reflection.
You see when I was a kid, I don't remember being scared of a policeman (always scared of the rag-picker, popularly believed to be child-kidnappers); rather they were just a part of the system I knew as my city. In our times the policeman could be as friendly as the postman or the telegram man. However, views and perspectives have changed drastically in the past 40-50 years; the police is now often viewed as a hard, unthinking, heartless, crude personality. I know there are many mothers who advise their growing daughters to avoid the police as far as possible, even at times of any peril. Yes there have been instances where the uniformed man took advantage of his status, but the harping of such incidents and media bashing has only helped to put up the antenna in the ordinary people.
What if we could start believing in the goodness of humanity all over again - wouldn't that help to make the world a better place for us and our generations to come! Personally, I have never had any negative interactions with the police, not even in Delhi where we lived for about 12 years or so. In fact, I found the Delhi police to be extremely helpful and kind in several instances, even though they can look like King-Kong. Do we stop to think that the same police man we mindlessly blame is also a human being with a family to love and care for? That he too is aware of being sensitive, being good, being religious, being kind while he walks a tightrope between being humane and doing his duty with diligence. Do we expect more than what we can possibly get from these uniformed human personnel, who perform their duties under the scorching sun or in near-zero degrees temperature?
I did not set out to espouse the cause of the policeman in India, but the very fact that my grand daughter was incredulously and deliriously surprised that a policeman could say hello, good morning, smile and be nice - just made me wonder.
At the end of the day I called up my granddaughter and asked her how was the day. She was so excited and faltered (usually she has the gift of the gab, believe me) and then spurted out - "Didi ma, the policeman said good morning!" To make more sense I asked her again what happened. In her excitement and wonder she did some somersaults over words and then explained - "I said good morning to the policeman and he also said good morning to me!" Yes that definitely can be a wondrous surprise even to an adult, leave alone a small child. Of course, I was happy for my little girl and wished her goodnight, as she was pretty tired after the 'field trip'; and I sat back in reflection.
You see when I was a kid, I don't remember being scared of a policeman (always scared of the rag-picker, popularly believed to be child-kidnappers); rather they were just a part of the system I knew as my city. In our times the policeman could be as friendly as the postman or the telegram man. However, views and perspectives have changed drastically in the past 40-50 years; the police is now often viewed as a hard, unthinking, heartless, crude personality. I know there are many mothers who advise their growing daughters to avoid the police as far as possible, even at times of any peril. Yes there have been instances where the uniformed man took advantage of his status, but the harping of such incidents and media bashing has only helped to put up the antenna in the ordinary people.
What if we could start believing in the goodness of humanity all over again - wouldn't that help to make the world a better place for us and our generations to come! Personally, I have never had any negative interactions with the police, not even in Delhi where we lived for about 12 years or so. In fact, I found the Delhi police to be extremely helpful and kind in several instances, even though they can look like King-Kong. Do we stop to think that the same police man we mindlessly blame is also a human being with a family to love and care for? That he too is aware of being sensitive, being good, being religious, being kind while he walks a tightrope between being humane and doing his duty with diligence. Do we expect more than what we can possibly get from these uniformed human personnel, who perform their duties under the scorching sun or in near-zero degrees temperature?
I did not set out to espouse the cause of the policeman in India, but the very fact that my grand daughter was incredulously and deliriously surprised that a policeman could say hello, good morning, smile and be nice - just made me wonder.
