Toffees in the Till

Toffees and small chocolates costing 1 or 2 Rupees have, off late, become synonymous to money in India.

These small sweeties have now officially found a place in the tills at every counter of retails outlets, be it a super market or a corner shop selling daily utilities.  (see photo)

Every time a customer pays the bill and the retail outlet needs to return some petty change, the person at the till seriously and authoritatively hands down these toffees instead of giving back 1 or 2 or even 5 Rupees.

Sadly, customers accept the practice without questioning the logic behind it.

I, being a fighter for my rights, have questioned it every time a retailer has offered me this barter, and refused to accept it.

This Saturday, the man at the till at Spencer's tried the same trick with me; and I thought this is high time I should share my amusement with the world.

I asked the guy, 'what if I pay him for the groceries I had bought, in the form of chocolates and toffees, will he accept that?

He, with conviction, shook his head in negative.

My next question was obvious. 'Then how do you expect me to accept sweeties in place of my hard-earned money?

The boy looked at my with weird expression. I could read the question in his eyes - "Why would you not accept the common phenomenon which everyone has accepted in India?"

Alright!

I will accept the toffees in place of my money, which is rightfully mine, if insisted upon.

But, I have my condition: The shops too will have to accept when I pay for my purchase in toffees and chocolates.

I can imagine myself going out of home with my bag full of toffees and chocolates next time when I go for shopping at any Indian retail store.

The Real Policing

The police are supposed to be used for maintaining law and order.
Not in the state of Uttar Pradesh!
Here police constables can be seen carrying vegetable basket behind the wife of a police officer, or escorting the officers' children to school or even helping the saheb's family in their general shopping .

I spotted this young constable (photos) pushing the shopping trolley walking a step behind the family of some bureaucrat.
At Spencer Mall in Gomti Nagar.

He was attentive and running from shelf to shelf picking up stuff for the family, which included an old lady, a young woman and a middle-aged man.
All of them appeared healthy enough to walk (escalators were not working at that time) to the first floor.

However, the feudal mentality compelled them to carry a slave with them. Who would have been better than the poor constable - maybe his first posting!

The family is not the only one, its the pattern in the state where bureaucrats misuse the security they get or the official vehicle they get to perform their duties.

I hope the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav takes notice of this trend. I hope he does something to check the misuse of government property.

After all, it is the money of the common man that goes into the maintenance of government vehicles as well as into the salaries of government employees!