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Fuel furore
Jaspal Bhatti

Whenever there is a hike in petrol prices, there are downcast and tense faces with the possible exception of beggars. They are the only people who are delighted at the steep increase in petrol rates. They know that at traffic light intersection everybody is going to switch off the car engine when the red light is beaming and roll down the windows.

And just as the windows roll down, it is going to be a heaven-sent opportunity for the beggars to flash their begging bowls before the car occupants.

Whenever I watched dacoit films, I wondered why the dacoits were always on horseback and never in a car. Now I think I know. While on horseback the dacoit is never worried when his vehicle is going to run out of petrol. And using petrol vehicles for a dacoity might turn out to be a losing proposition after all. The dacoits would be frustrated to find out the booty to be less than Rs 10,000 when they had spent 15,000 on petrol for their vehicles.

I know of a man who was about to immolate himself as a mark of protest. Just as he was about to pour a can of petrol over his head, his wife stormed in, snatched the can from him and screamed, "You extravagant fool. How could you think of using petrol to immolate yourself when petrol is so expensive?"

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