What comes to your mind when you read “MP 09″? Perhaps some serial number? A roll number? Number plate of a vehicle from Madhya Pradesh? The last answer is partly correct.

This is not a number plate, it is a phrase deeply connected to Indore. Its so common that people use it in sentences like “Where does this vehicle belong to? MP 09″.

Since my childhood, I’ve been living in Indore – a good 12 years – 1991 to 2003. What is so special about Indore? Nothing. It’s a “comparatively” small city, with a tiny airport, unclean railway station, crowded bus stand, a few decent malls, good roads here and there, too hot in summer; too cold in winter, power-outages, pollution, corruption, poverty, and so on.

I came to this city from a village (Sardarpur, Dhar) – no English, no etiquette, a total zero. I joined The Daly College, Indore in 1991 – class 1K. I learned new ways, made new friends, perhaps actually started speaking English for the first time here. I touched the first computer of my life in the corridors of this school – perhaps the reason why I became a software engineer lies deeply rooted in this place.

All the childhood mischief, playing cricket on evenings, racing my “un-geared” two wheeler on the roads, playing pranks – and then double crossing our allies to play a double prank – the golden days of my life perhaps. In that mischief, I found some of the greatest friends of my life – it’s just pleasantly surprising that my best friends are as old as 17 years – in my small life of 24.

The deeper I dig into memories, I just keep finding more gold in the heart of Indore – that is what it means to me, and much more which I can’t even express.

Anyways, just taking the liberty of completely flipping the topic to something else. The only vehicle that I own is a bike – it’s not hard to guess that it’s MP 09. Driving this bike in Bangalore and Hyderabad has caused me some trouble. Traffic policemen see a source of unlimited income when my bike crosses them on the road. My bike is stopped and checked many many more times than a local bike.

The procedure to stay out of trouble is as complex as it can be. If your bike has been transported to Hyderabad, don’t use it until -

1. Madhya Pradesh RTO gives a no-objection certificate to drive it in Andhra Pradesh
2. You pay Andhra Pradesh road tax, which can happen only after 1.

Perhaps it’s a compelling need that I break the rules, because I can’t wait 4 months for Madhya Pradesh RTO to issue a NOC. As a result, when I get “caught”, I don’t have enough documents to prove myself innocent.

Earlier, I used to be scared about the whole thing. I used to literally beg to be released, at whatever cost I need to pay. Then I realized, it’s not such a big deal. It’s only a small mistake, for which I need to pay a nominal fine, and then I can just go.

Coming to today, a similar thing happened. I was stopped and asked for documents. I promptly declared that I don’t have a NOC and I haven’t paid the road tax. The policeman started saying that they’ll seize my vehicle and I can collect it from court after paying fine. Cooperating, I readily removed the bike key from key-chain and handed it to him.

Then I inquired, what was the fine amount. He asked me what I wanted to pay. Smiling back I said, “Is it not a fixed amount according to some rule? How do I get to decide it?”. I asked him to let me know the fine, and I’ll pay that. Perhaps confused by my behavior, he suggested that I go talk to his senior.

The senior policeman asked me where my documents are, did I have a valid driving license. I showed all documents to him, again declaring that I don’t have a NOC, and didn’t pay the tax. He asserted that I need to get the NOC and pay the tax soon. I sarcastically commented saying “Sir, I don’t run the MP government. How can I control when will they issue a NOC? It has already been 4 months of waiting. I went to the RTO to pay the tax, but they need the NOC, I really can’t do much.”

“Ok, then you need to pay a fine.”

“How much is the fine amount, sir?”

“It varies. Depends, sometimes its 300, sometimes its 500, depends on the case.”

“Ok sir, whatever is the fine amount, I’m ready to pay.”

“How much will you pay?”

“(Confused) Whatever is the fine amount, sir”

“So you are sure you want to pay the fine? It’s valid only for one day.”

“Yes sir, I’ll pay the fine. And you can give me a receipt for it.”

“Ok, you need to go to the main police station to pay. Let’s go?”

“Ok sir, let’s go there.”

“So you are sure you want to pay the fine?”

“Yes sir.”

*another 10 minutes of back and forth*

“Um.. ok, this is your first time. But you need to pay the fine next time. Go now.”

“Ok, thank you sir.”

I didn’t know that being truthful and clean was so beneficial. Perhaps sometimes one has to pay a costly fine, instead of a cheap bribe – but I think it is much more satisfying and fulfilling to our souls than being a coward who bribes his way out on every corner. It also reminds the corrupt officials that they are doing wrong (or that they wont be able to earn any bribe from us), and more often than not, they just let you go without any fine or bribe!

Let’s all pledge to avoid bribing, as much as it’s humanly possible. I know we are all imperfect and weak human beings, but we should never give up trying to be better than what we are.

Adios.