Unmasked in Delhi? Everyone has a reason to escape challan
Residents share their tried and tested excuses, which they cooked up to save themselves from not paying the challan for caught without wearing a mask amid Covid-19 pandemic.
As much as a mask is an absolute necessity in the Covid-19 times, it is advised by one and all to not to flout the safety protocols, no matter what! But, quite often, and still Delhi-NCR residents are being caught not wearing a mask. To top it, the bahanas (excuses) that thus follow are hard to ignore for the imagination at play here is stupendous! Here are all the reasons that denizens have been enlisting, when caught without a mask. Read, and laugh out, but don’t follow suit.
‘Paani pene ke liye utara tha’
A Gurugram-based young professional says, “I was alone with absolutely no one in the car. And I had pulled my mask down to hand around my neck for only a few minutes. Just then a cop approached me and said, ‘Fine nikalo!’. I got flustered and said, ‘Sir maine to sirf pani peene ke liye utara tha bas pehenne hi laga tha’. Yet I was challaned ₹500.”
‘Hard to breathe when masked’
“I have tried to make an excuse and escape being challaned, but it didn’t work. Cops just don’t listen! I told them I have breathing issues, and that the mask makes it hard for me to breathe. It isn’t exactly a lie though, but yeah I know it’s important to wear it all the time,” says a college student who wishes to stay anonymous.
‘Had to throw the gum’
Delhi-based Chim Sharma, an engineering student, shares an interesting incident. “I was at Lajpat Nagar at around 2 one afternoon. While standing by the roadside with my friend, I was casually chewing gum and talking. The moment I pulled down my mask to get some fresh air, a Police jeep appeared out of nowhere, halted next to me, and asked me to pay the fine. To save myself the trouble, I said ‘I was about to throw the chewing gum away and was looking for a bin so that I don’t spit in public, and hence took the mask down. I tried to con them into believing me, but alas, no use! I had to pay the fine.”
‘Fine only one of the twins, please’
“My twin brother and I were in car and had come out to pick up something from the grocery store nearby. In the hurry to leave, we forgot to wear our masks and just a short distance from our house a policeman caught us without it. When he asked to pay challan, we told him our situation and convinced him to fine only one of us instead of both since we’re twins,” says a resident of Greater Kailash II.
‘Just going nearby’
A Gurugram-based college student says, “I’m mostly careful all the time, but this once I missed wearing a mask while stepping out, and my God... the cops caught me! My go-to excuse was that I forgot to wear it; which was also a fact. I insisted that I’m going nearby, it will just take five minutes to come back, and even apologised to them for this miss. I told them that I won’t repeat it ever again. I think they saw my genuineness, and that’s why I got saved from shelling out money for the fine.”
Author tweets @Nainaarora8
