I Took To The Streets Of Delhi To Gift Roses To Even/Odd Offenders And This Is What I Learnt

Brief: Volunteer as a civil defence volunteer on the streets of Delhi, hand out a dozen roses to people driving wrong numbered cars, and try not to killed. Take a videographer.

Simple enough, right? How difficult could it be to hand out a dozen roses? There¡¯d be hundreds of people in Delhi driving even numbered cars on an odd day, right?

Not quite.

How it started

Wake up at 7. Get a civil defence vest.

I called up half a dozen uniform shops. But turns out, you can¡¯t just buy one.

First stop - Chattarpur

I needed an area which was a complete nightmare during office hours on a regular day. Enter Chattarpur metro station. Wading my way through traffic, and narrowly escaping being run over by a Hyundai Creta, I finally managed to get hold of a couple of very busy volunteers. They had been regulars at the spot right from Jan 1, when the scheme first came into effect.

I began with the most important question of them all.

Things were actually taking shape here. Young volunteers and Delhi police working in tandem were helping in picking out violators rather swiftly. Two volunteers on each side of the road would walk in the traffic at a red light, pick out the even cars on the streets, and inform the police. The latter would take over from there.

I was, however, a little disheartened to learn that I actually had to earn the civil defence jacket, and couldn¡¯t just buy one from any random uniform store. But I could still pick out the even cars on this odd day, and congratulate them sarcastically with a rose.

Driving slower than usual, I actually managed to find a defaulter gallivanting around the streets of the capital. Well, at least I thought so.

I really should've been prepared with a rose for this man. I was very sure he was lying. I lie all the time, so I can spot a liar when I see one.

Next stop - BRT

I really wanted to check out the scene at BRT, and knowing that I wouldn¡¯t find a place to park, I thought I'd leave my odd car at N block market, GK-1, and take a cycle-rickshaw instead. I found a florist on the way to the red light too. Having spent enough cash on buying some not-so-pretty roses, I landed up at the red light.

It wasn't half as crowded as it generally turns out to be at any given point of time on a regular day. Strangely, this place didn't have as many cops as Chhatarpur, but the number of volunteers was much higher. The few I spoke to told me that they had been giving out these flyers instead of roses.

I'll be honest - knowing none of the others had any roses to give out did make me feel special *insert mushy emoticon*.

But that didn't last very long...

Because not a single car violated the rules. I was thrilled because I couldn't find anyone, but also disheartened because I really wanted to give out them roses to people. After a couple of hours, I was pretty much done with this place when...

This wonderful gentleman in a car suiting his personality, a Scorpio, stopped by at the turn and asked for a rose for his even car. He wasn't even alone, he was out with what seemed to be his wife and child! I gave him two roses - one for driving around in an even car, and the other for being shameless enough to ask for a rose. And this, JUST when I had begun painting a different picture of Delhi in my head. Mr. White Scorpio 4444 really brought me down to reality. On another note, God help his child.

But chatting with the volunteers really made my day...

And I did keep my word

Giving out some roses to the women volunteers for all the hard work they had been putting in, I moved on to, perhaps, the most popular area of the city - CP

Next stop - Connaught Place

The story was similar to BRT here - there was not one even car. I did wait around for a bit, in case someone like Mr. White Scorpio 4444 dropped by asking for a rose and some dignity, but that was not to be.

I learnt two very important things about my city today

1. Roses here are very expensive and die really soon.

2. Delhi might not be cutting down drastically on pollution, but it really is working together to make a difference. And that¡¯s a pretty amazing sight.