This time, last year, we guys were in Delhi on a vacation. I think I can say that it was my favourite vacation till date! I just fell in love with Delhi the very day I reached there, and I loved the winter even more! Since we stayed for more than a week, we visited quite a few places there. Each day was an adventure on its own, but this one day – when we visited the Akshardham temple, seemed like it was a lot more!
We were at Chandni Chowk while three among us decided to visit the temple. Now since the temple was located at quite a distance from where we were at, we were told that it would be best for us to take the metro. And luckily for us – the metro station was within walking distance. As we headed out to the station, we came across a store that sold airguns, and one of my friends – a so called impulsive shopper, bought a pistol, and along with it, some four-hundred pellets! He put it in his haversack, and we got going.
A few minutes later, after a splendid metro ride – we were at the temple. And yeah, between the time we got in the metro and got out of it, we played a little prank on the other group of guys, who stayed back at Chandni Chowk. But soon, we were to figure that we were going to have buns on our own faces instead!
Anyway, at the entrance of the temple complex, there was a security check and we had to walk through a metal detector. And when this guy with the gun walked through, well, the machine screamed out so loud, that you would think someone had grabbed the machine by its – um, you know what!
Quite obviously, he was asked to open up his pack. So were we, but I think the guards were more interested in what he was carrying in there! This is where things started getting – entertaining, if you can call it that! My friend was a little hesitant in showing the contents to them, which only made them more suspicious! Soon enough, they saw the pistol – with its metal barrel, and a solid wooden handle! And yeah, the four-hundred rounds of pellets too!
In no time, the guards from the other places too centred on us, like we were Santa Claus and were giving away presents! With the guards not understanding English, and us, totally sucking at Hindi, it was a little troubling to explain to them that it was only a toy! Well, I was not too sure if you can call it a toy – but we had to try it anyway! We tried telling them we just purchased it on our way to this place, but we could not prove it to them, as this wise-guy had not asked for the invoice!
The guards did not buy our version of the story, and got us across the road to a police check-post. The drama continued there, only this time, it was the Delhi police instead of the temple security! And nope, they were not very convinced with what we were saying either.
Finally, my friend decided to end the circus, and asked the cop if he could demonstrate the gun. The cop answered in the affirmative, and so this guy took a pellet and loaded it in. So now that the gun was loaded, there was only one more thing left to do – fire!
The next thing this guy said to the cop must most definitely be among the stupidest thing anyone has ever said to a cop!
Impulsive Shopper: Can I fire the gun now?
You should have seen the look on the cop! I mean, he must have been wondering if he is going to witness a shootout at his check-post, and that too, after he himself, having given his approval for it! We noticed another cop come by, and I think he flipped the safety switch on his semi-automatic rifle to the armed position!
Good sense prevailed though, and my friend handed the gun to the cop, and asked him to fire it instead! The cop agreed to the idea immediately, and took the gun. I do not know why, but he unloaded it, and loaded it once over. Then he aimed the gun at a tree, some three feet in front of him. The people around us moved a few steps back, covered their ears with their palms, and began to squint their eyes! And then the cop pulled the trigger!
Bang!
It was a comedy of sorts – the pellet, of course, was thrown out the barrel, hit the tree, bounced back, and fell down! Everyone was smiling, but for one guy – the one who purchased the gun! There was a collective roar from everybody saying that it was not real! Ironically, that is what we had been trying to say since we arrived! The other cop switched his rifle to the safe position, and was flaunting it at us!
The cop who fired the gun, now had a grin on his face and started enquiring about how much it cost us, and told us how he found it unreasonably expensive for the displayed performance! My friend, who was going through this entire trauma, was visibly disappointed at learning the fact that the gun he bought had a shooting range of some three feet!
The temple guards still did not want the responsibility of having the gun deposited in their lockers, so it was agreed that we deposit it with the cops, and then enter the temple, and pick it back on our way out. We handed the gun to the cops and we entered the temple!
That is another story all together, and I should probably save it for another post!
PS: The aforementioned prank we played on our friends involved convincing them that this dude was busted at the metro station, when they security there found him carrying a gun. Sadly the joke turned back on us, when he did get busted, just when we told them it was only a prank!
And oh, the gun only fired three feet as it was not loaded correctly. Somehow, I think we were lucky the cop failed to load it correctly!
We were at Chandni Chowk while three among us decided to visit the temple. Now since the temple was located at quite a distance from where we were at, we were told that it would be best for us to take the metro. And luckily for us – the metro station was within walking distance. As we headed out to the station, we came across a store that sold airguns, and one of my friends – a so called impulsive shopper, bought a pistol, and along with it, some four-hundred pellets! He put it in his haversack, and we got going.
A few minutes later, after a splendid metro ride – we were at the temple. And yeah, between the time we got in the metro and got out of it, we played a little prank on the other group of guys, who stayed back at Chandni Chowk. But soon, we were to figure that we were going to have buns on our own faces instead!
Anyway, at the entrance of the temple complex, there was a security check and we had to walk through a metal detector. And when this guy with the gun walked through, well, the machine screamed out so loud, that you would think someone had grabbed the machine by its – um, you know what!
Quite obviously, he was asked to open up his pack. So were we, but I think the guards were more interested in what he was carrying in there! This is where things started getting – entertaining, if you can call it that! My friend was a little hesitant in showing the contents to them, which only made them more suspicious! Soon enough, they saw the pistol – with its metal barrel, and a solid wooden handle! And yeah, the four-hundred rounds of pellets too!
In no time, the guards from the other places too centred on us, like we were Santa Claus and were giving away presents! With the guards not understanding English, and us, totally sucking at Hindi, it was a little troubling to explain to them that it was only a toy! Well, I was not too sure if you can call it a toy – but we had to try it anyway! We tried telling them we just purchased it on our way to this place, but we could not prove it to them, as this wise-guy had not asked for the invoice!
The guards did not buy our version of the story, and got us across the road to a police check-post. The drama continued there, only this time, it was the Delhi police instead of the temple security! And nope, they were not very convinced with what we were saying either.
Finally, my friend decided to end the circus, and asked the cop if he could demonstrate the gun. The cop answered in the affirmative, and so this guy took a pellet and loaded it in. So now that the gun was loaded, there was only one more thing left to do – fire!
The next thing this guy said to the cop must most definitely be among the stupidest thing anyone has ever said to a cop!
Impulsive Shopper: Can I fire the gun now?
You should have seen the look on the cop! I mean, he must have been wondering if he is going to witness a shootout at his check-post, and that too, after he himself, having given his approval for it! We noticed another cop come by, and I think he flipped the safety switch on his semi-automatic rifle to the armed position!
Good sense prevailed though, and my friend handed the gun to the cop, and asked him to fire it instead! The cop agreed to the idea immediately, and took the gun. I do not know why, but he unloaded it, and loaded it once over. Then he aimed the gun at a tree, some three feet in front of him. The people around us moved a few steps back, covered their ears with their palms, and began to squint their eyes! And then the cop pulled the trigger!
Bang!
It was a comedy of sorts – the pellet, of course, was thrown out the barrel, hit the tree, bounced back, and fell down! Everyone was smiling, but for one guy – the one who purchased the gun! There was a collective roar from everybody saying that it was not real! Ironically, that is what we had been trying to say since we arrived! The other cop switched his rifle to the safe position, and was flaunting it at us!
The cop who fired the gun, now had a grin on his face and started enquiring about how much it cost us, and told us how he found it unreasonably expensive for the displayed performance! My friend, who was going through this entire trauma, was visibly disappointed at learning the fact that the gun he bought had a shooting range of some three feet!
The temple guards still did not want the responsibility of having the gun deposited in their lockers, so it was agreed that we deposit it with the cops, and then enter the temple, and pick it back on our way out. We handed the gun to the cops and we entered the temple!
That is another story all together, and I should probably save it for another post!
PS: The aforementioned prank we played on our friends involved convincing them that this dude was busted at the metro station, when they security there found him carrying a gun. Sadly the joke turned back on us, when he did get busted, just when we told them it was only a prank!
And oh, the gun only fired three feet as it was not loaded correctly. Somehow, I think we were lucky the cop failed to load it correctly!
