Gurgaon cops break the Navratra myth

Gurgaonwallahs are quite shocked to see the increased checking on the roads, since they assume the cops would take it easy during Navratra and think that people don’t drink and drive during this time
Even as the Delhi traffic police considers Navratra a relatively easy time in terms of cases of drunken driving, Gurgaon traffic police has increased checking on the roads.
According to them, it is not correct to assume that people will not drink during this time. Vinod Kaushik, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Gurgaon, says, “We are doing strict checking these days. Kal bhi humare naake lage hue thay har jagah. Hum log yeh kyun maan lein ki log Navratra mein kam peete hain ya pi kar nahi chalate?” Also, since this is election time, the checking has been increased anyway. “Election is the biggest thing on our mind right now. All this checking is also happening because of the upcoming elections. We’ll be stricter as the election day comes closer,” he adds.
TOI spoke to some party regulars about their experience with the cops during Navratra, and most of them were surprised to see that they were stopped and asked to take the breathalyzer test.
Surprised to see the cops
On Friday, my friends came over and insisted on drinking, but I wasn’t really up for it because of Navrata. They kept telling me ki aaj checking nahi hogi, aaj toh banta hai. But somehow I convinced them to dine out instead. To our surprise, while we were going out to eat, we were stopped by the cops around Palam Vihar and they did check all of us. I was thanking my stars that I didn’t give in to their demands and we weren’t caught drinking and driving during Navratra. More than the cops and the fine, I would have had the worst time with my mom if she had found out I was drinking during these days.
– Ishan Munjal, 25, MNC professional
We were watching the semifinals at Cyber Hub on Friday, and decided to go to Murthal for paranthas later. We picked up a few beers during the drive, and decided to drink after we had crossed the Gurgaon-Delhi border because there were chances of checking because of the upcoming elections. Thankfully, we hadn’t started drinking, since we were stopped at around Arjangarh and the cops checked our car and papers, etc. We were so scared of being caught with alcohol, because more than anything else, it is considered immoral to be drinking and eating non-vegetarian food during Navratra. Wahan toh bach gaye but we threw those cans later, since we were too scared.
– Jitender Singh, 26, corporate professional
Unlike other Friday nights, this Friday, we had decided that we will head back home from work because most of the people in our group were not drinking. But then the match turned out to be so awesome and even the weather was so nice, we had a change of heart. We decided to buy some alcohol, have a ‘carobar session’ and then watch the match at the amphitheatre. The Friday night tension was there but then we thought since so many people are observing fasts, maybe the traffic cops will take it easy. We were so wrong because as soon as we bought our booze and had our first bottles, we were stopped at a checkpoint. We finally got out by saying that we were just going home and will not be drinking on the roads, and that’s exactly what we did.
– Ankit Nagpal*, techie
No one really cared about Navratra in my office group, but since I followed them every year, I decided to skip the drinking for these 10 days. Initially, it was like a joke for everyone and they tried to convince me, but then they gave up. I was made the designated driver for the night and we went out. While coming back, when the cops stopped us, everyone was quiet and I convinced them I was sober because of Navratra. They didn’t believe me and I finally did the breathalyser test, after which they let us go.
– Kriti Saxena*, works with an advertising company
Cops explained that people were drinking and driving during Navratra. We keep thinking that these days are dry days in our country, but on Friday, I was coming back late from work and I saw a crowd around the liquor shops. I wondered if liquor was being sold cheap and people were taking it home until I was stopped at a checkpost and the cops were checking people for drunk driving. When the cop asked me to take the test, I told him it was pointless to check people these days. He then pointed towards one guy who was caught drinking and driving. Aajkal Gurgaon ke log zyada hi global ho gaye hain, Navratra mein believe hi nahi karte.
– Vikas Narang, 28, entrepreneur
I had taken my girlfriend for dinner on Friday because meeting up is a weekend ritual and drinking was out of question because of Navratra. When I was coming back, I was stopped by a cop near the Signature Tower traffic signal who put me through the breathalyser test and I ended up asking him the point of checking these days. He said that aajkal log bade besharam ho gaye hain, Navraton mein bhi peete hain. He told me he had booked 10 people already for drinking and driving till about 11pm.
– Aman Shorey, 29, works with an MNC
It’s just like other days. For me and my family, this period is for detox. Normal days mein daaru kahan hi chhodi jaati hai, par inn dino mein, festival ke naam pe we quit it for a few days. I think log consciously kam hi peete hain. Iss time par, if you see the pubs and bars, wahan bhi hardly koi crowd dikhta hai. And this lack of ambience further diminishes the need to have drinks in these 8-9 days. But I think police normal days ki tarah hi checking karti hai.
– Radhika Awasthi, 27, PR executive
There are some people who tend to go overboard in these days and have unlimited fun because they think there won’t be any checking. I think police bhi chilled out rehti hai, yeh soch ke ki sab Navratra mein sukhe ghoom rahe honge, and log isi baat ka faayda uthate hain.
– Raghav Gupta*, 30, entrepreneur
(*Some names have been changed on request)