Sir, I had a strange experience on the 2nd of this month, when me and my neighbour set out on different bikes. We were stopped for checking at RTO Circle. I had a valid helmet on but still the personnel grabbed at my helmet while I quickly managed to unlock it. It was like a ‘surgical strike’ on my poor head. He verified the headgear and after deciding it to be valid, returned the same. My neighbour, I thought, was not so lucky when his helmet was confiscated. However, when we reached CKC Circle a cop lunged at me again while my friend brazenly whizzed past the cop’s nose without a care, smug in the belief that he need not pay any fine as he had with him the receipt for his helmet. That day I saw so many helmet-less riders who were not being checked at all. I do not know about the effects of demonetisation, but ‘de-helmetisation’ had certainly empowered the common man, albeit temporarily. I hope that the materials from the seized helmets are recycled for the purpose of filling the innumerable potholes dotting the city streets. The non-ISI helmets might eventually turn out to be life-savers, after all.
- G. Basavaraj Urs, Mysuru, 10.1.2018
