Incommunicado

So it was Karnataka bandh on 4th October, Wednesday. Some dispute over Belgaum between Jai Maharashtra and Sakat hot Karanataka. Well...who cares...?!?

We decided to take advantage of the midweek off and went off to the hills...Nandi Hills. The nice Brigadier uncle from MES (Millitary Engineering Services) had arranged for 2 Fauji gadis, black Ambees with red light on top, et al. After that, there was no stopping us, errr..., except once. On the way, bout 30 km from Bengaluru and 40 odd from the hill top, we came across this group of "peaceful" protesters "requesting" us to "reconsider our trip", that too, ever so "peacefully". I couldn't make the sarcasm more evident. The scene was almost comic, we, nicely tucked in the Ambees, and one poor Policewallah trying to handle the, by now, quite irate mob. One gentlemen pointed his finger to the direction we came from and said..."Go Back". Not quite the Quit India Movements "Simon go back' though. I was in the front seat and cracked up, a very unsmart move, I must add. Neway, some conversation followed between the policewallah. Brigadier uncle rolled down the window and said "Suniye, hum sab Delhi se hain, aur hum bhee aapke saath hain...!". And that proved to be good enough for the floodgates to open. Off we were...to the country side.

I later discovered that the abbreviation MES had been (mis)interpreted by the mob as 'Maharashtra Ekeekarn Samithi'. Those familiar with the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute and the root cause of the Karanataka bandh will understand the significance of it all...