Morning milk booths, roadside teashops, idlers' clubs and post-tambola groups were rife with comments. ``It was a protest against rising petrol prices.'' ``It couldn't be then they should have ridden a bicycle.'' ``It was a mobile banner declaring that rulers are men of the soil.'' ``No, it was an arrogant assertion that laws are for only lesser beings.'' Finally, it was an unpremeditated act in a moment of hurry when an appropriate mode of transport was not handy. At least one important newspaper took that line.

It printed a photograph of the twosome on a Bajaj with several policemen running alongside. It stated that Verma listened to grievances, warned officials and announced that he would tour the area on a bicycle after a week.

The morrow brought forth the second scene. The ChiefMinister was dramatically presented with a challan by a police officer in the midst of a press conference. He was told he had to either pay up or appear before a magistrate. He chose to hand over two hundred-rupee notes to the officer.

What has the Chief Minister bought with his couple of hundred? By fining himself, according to one editorial comment, he ``has shown himself to be a stickler for the law.'' And there follows a rider: ``Perhaps he could now extend the same conscientiousness in tackling the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation.'' A tall order? A far-fetched conclusion? Perhaps both.

But Sahib should be thankful for the implied indulgence. The comment could have been much more vitriolic. One would have called Sahib's scooter-ride a gimmick had it not been such a poor joke. The show of police indulgence to an errant Chief Minister turned two-wheeler driver committing a minor road offence is symptomatic of the larger indulgence of organised criminal gangs which operate with impunity inthe Capital.

The subtle hint in the above comment: that the whole affair was stage-managed. At least one newspaper charged in no uncertain terms that the exaction of a penalty was an act permitted and directed by the Chief Minister himself, while another wondered if the policeman would suffer for his effrontery. There could no doubt be some who believe the entire episode to be in the nature of a filmi plot wherein fake eve-tearers are hired to create a situation in which the hero vanquishes them to win the lady's heart.

Whatever the real facts, I could not help recalling the experience of my good friend Shiv Sarin, while he was a student in the US. ``Once my mentor, R.G., was returning from Boston to New Haven after dropping his son off. Due to differences in the speed limits between Boston and Connecticut, he was found to be overspeeding and was intercepted by the traffic police. A policeman pulled him over and was writing out a ticket for $125. On instinct, R.G., an Argentinian by origin, gave thepolicemen his visiting card. The officer showed great respect and said, ``Oh! You're a professor at Yale! I have never met a real professor in my life.'' He appeared very impressed and R.G. saw to his pleasant surprise that the policeman was crossing out the $125 figure. But the next second, he was completely shaken.

He saw that the policeman had hiked the fine to $250 and had also written underneath: ``Personal appearance in court necessary. Trying to influence a police officer on duty.'' Mind you, R.G. had only shown the man his visiting card.

The policeman had done his duty with a vengeance and, after the initial shock, the professor felt no embarrassment in admitting what he had tried but failed.