The Ramar Pillais at Pune Railway station
Ramar Pillai... Does that name sound familiar? Does it take you down the memory lane? If you were old enough to understand that the cost of petrol was "high" during the mid 1990s, you would have heard this name for sure. He is the one who became the talk of the town, all newspapers were writing about him, every news channel showing his "achievement", the man who became famous overnight... the man of the moment, the man who "created petrol" from plain water and using his "magical" plants and his invention "herbal petrol" was the most talked topic across all age groups. If it were to happen now, in this "internet age", I can blindly say that the number of hits on you tube for "kolaveri di" would have been way behind the hits for "the making of herbal petrol". Neverthless, Ramar Pillai was in the limelight even then and very soon for all wrong reasons. He was "exposed" and his tall claims of "petrol from water" evaporated quicker than "petrol" evaporating on a sunny day. Why am I talking about Ramar Pillai now? That's because of an experience that I encountered in Pune... an incident that I cannot forget in my life. It happened in March 2010 at the Pune railway station, when I was relocating to Pune from Bangalore. These guys at the Pune station were one step ahead of the (in)famous Ramar Pillai.
I was relocating to Pune and wanted to take my bike to Pune. I decided to transport it by train since it was reliable and the least expensive mode of transporting. One of the condition to transport the vehicle by train is that the petrol tank MUST be EMPTY. I had personally emptied all the petrol in the bike to a 2 litre "Sprite" bottle that I was carrying. I had ensure that the "reserve tank was also empty, before transporting the vehicle and the railway parcel booking office personnel issued me the necessary documents after verification. I was told that the bike will reach the destination within 3 days.
I left Bangalore on the same evening. On the third day, I went to the Pune railway station parcel office and they confirmed that my bike had arrived. I finished all the formalities, collected the gate pass and I was pushing the bike towards the exit gate. I stopped a railway staff to ask for directions to the nearest petrol bunk since my petrol tank was "dry". I was glad that there was a petrol bunk very close by and started pushing the bike towards the exit. At the gate, I parked my bike on a side, walked to the counter to hand over the "gate pass". At the counter, the guy told me get the bike near him for "verification". I was wondering what verification he wanted to do for a bike that has just arrived from a different state. I pushed the bike closer the counter and was expecting him to ask me for the vehicle documents like NOC, RC, Emission certificate etc. Even as I was just trying to park the bike, the guy pulled out the pipe coming out of the petrol tank and opened the "tap". To my surprise and shock... there it was... Petrol flowing out of tank... and it was not "dripping" but it was "TATA namak like free flow" :( The man started blabbering something about "violation of rules" but I wasn't paying attention because I had still not come back to my senses seeing the petrol. I was telling to myself... it would probably be the last ounce of petrol trapped in the tank, because I had emptied the tank myself. Just to be sure, I opened the tap myself and the petrol was still flowing like TATA salt... I could not believe what I was seeing. The "gentleman" was still talking about my violation and the consequences if there was a fire in the bogie, the risk I had put to lot of other valuables including the train. I objected saying "I had emptied the tank and it was verified at Bangalore" to which he said - "I opened the pipe in front of you, you checked it yourself, I did not fill petrol in a different pipe and show you etc... I was clueless, wondering how this was possible. I was actually thinking that these guys were leaps and bounds ahead or Ramar Pillai. Ramar Pillai at least needed water and some herbs, but these guys produced petrol from "thin air"... I had to bribe the guy to avoid "booking" me for a crime that I had never committed. As I was just pushing the bike out of the railway station premises, I thought I heard a "voice from above" which said "Welcome to Pune" :)
At my office when I described this incident to my colleagues, I realised that this was no magic or act of a "superior Ramar Pillai". I understand that this is the handy work of the "loading/unloading staff" in collaboration with the police staff at the exit gate to make some quick buck. I understand they use syringe to inject petrol into the tank. Even one syringe of petrol that would cost less than Rs.10 would help them make money to the tune of Rs.500 per bike. Incredible India...
I was relocating to Pune and wanted to take my bike to Pune. I decided to transport it by train since it was reliable and the least expensive mode of transporting. One of the condition to transport the vehicle by train is that the petrol tank MUST be EMPTY. I had personally emptied all the petrol in the bike to a 2 litre "Sprite" bottle that I was carrying. I had ensure that the "reserve tank was also empty, before transporting the vehicle and the railway parcel booking office personnel issued me the necessary documents after verification. I was told that the bike will reach the destination within 3 days.
I left Bangalore on the same evening. On the third day, I went to the Pune railway station parcel office and they confirmed that my bike had arrived. I finished all the formalities, collected the gate pass and I was pushing the bike towards the exit gate. I stopped a railway staff to ask for directions to the nearest petrol bunk since my petrol tank was "dry". I was glad that there was a petrol bunk very close by and started pushing the bike towards the exit. At the gate, I parked my bike on a side, walked to the counter to hand over the "gate pass". At the counter, the guy told me get the bike near him for "verification". I was wondering what verification he wanted to do for a bike that has just arrived from a different state. I pushed the bike closer the counter and was expecting him to ask me for the vehicle documents like NOC, RC, Emission certificate etc. Even as I was just trying to park the bike, the guy pulled out the pipe coming out of the petrol tank and opened the "tap". To my surprise and shock... there it was... Petrol flowing out of tank... and it was not "dripping" but it was "TATA namak like free flow" :( The man started blabbering something about "violation of rules" but I wasn't paying attention because I had still not come back to my senses seeing the petrol. I was telling to myself... it would probably be the last ounce of petrol trapped in the tank, because I had emptied the tank myself. Just to be sure, I opened the tap myself and the petrol was still flowing like TATA salt... I could not believe what I was seeing. The "gentleman" was still talking about my violation and the consequences if there was a fire in the bogie, the risk I had put to lot of other valuables including the train. I objected saying "I had emptied the tank and it was verified at Bangalore" to which he said - "I opened the pipe in front of you, you checked it yourself, I did not fill petrol in a different pipe and show you etc... I was clueless, wondering how this was possible. I was actually thinking that these guys were leaps and bounds ahead or Ramar Pillai. Ramar Pillai at least needed water and some herbs, but these guys produced petrol from "thin air"... I had to bribe the guy to avoid "booking" me for a crime that I had never committed. As I was just pushing the bike out of the railway station premises, I thought I heard a "voice from above" which said "Welcome to Pune" :)
At my office when I described this incident to my colleagues, I realised that this was no magic or act of a "superior Ramar Pillai". I understand that this is the handy work of the "loading/unloading staff" in collaboration with the police staff at the exit gate to make some quick buck. I understand they use syringe to inject petrol into the tank. Even one syringe of petrol that would cost less than Rs.10 would help them make money to the tune of Rs.500 per bike. Incredible India...
