The Incredible Intransigence

Dictionaries define this favourite word of mine as :
" Refusing to moderate a position, especially an extreme position; uncompromising."

There are times in one's life when one seems to feel one's hanging by the end of the rope... and one feels like roaring like a gorilla and...

I must share two such experiences here. The first one happened at an internet cafe, near the Thirumangalam circle. One look at the old man, quietly manning the counter and I knew he thought I was trouble. The feeling's mutual boss, I felt like telling him but he pretended to be checking his register. Hardly a few lines in there, I spied into his record and convinced myself, he's a Big Pretender.

Name? I gave him.
Address? I wrote Room 101, So-and-so Hotel.
Can't you give a proper address?
Well, I am staying in a hotel, am new, looking for a house...
Give me a house number, street number, road number -
It's not possible, sir. It's like asking a bachelor the name of his future bride.
Look here, I am serious.
So am I sir.
The police are strict with us. Times are not good.
Okay sir, I know that...but I don't have a 'pucca' adress how can I-
Give me a proper address.
I don't have one-
I am sorry but-
I know-
Law is law,it does not bend nor-
Look here, my address is what I have written -
Why don't you give me proper address like House no.:420, 22nd Street, Anna Nagar...
You mean to say I invent an address, and-
NO! I didn't say nor mean-
Then how can I produce an address that I don't have?
My dear sir, try and understand my position -
I do, I do sir.
So give me an address...
I don't have one.
Everyone has a proper address-
I am from Pune, shall I give you that address-
No.
Why?
I want your local address -
I don't have, I have just come here last week, have not found a proper house as yet-
Why don't you try and understand sir?
What?
That the police will catch me.
Do I look like a terrorist, a hacker, an embezzler, or an enemy of the state?
Did I say so?
You implied so, dear sir.
Why don't you give me a proper address and finish it off?

At this point I thought either he was insane,stark staring raving drooling mad or I was. One of us was.

I just went and started surfing the net. The young boy who usually mans the counter, spluttered unable to control guffaws that were racking his chest. Tears rolled from his eyes.

That's your Tamil bureacracy for you. Employ the scrap from government, at cheap labour rates and get your customers rattled nice and thoroughly.

I never stepped into that particular cyber cafe ever -after having told him so.

(c) Max Babi 051706