How do you turn a life-easer into a life-choker? Ask Ashwin Shenvi,the superintendent of police in Hisar,who plans to make taxi-takers perforce get their photograph taken first,provide journey details as well as explain their very reason for hiring a taxi and,in case you are about to reach for that misused and misunderstood cliché Kafkaesque,theres more: the traveller has to provide two references from the area of hiring. Journey details also include any half-way halt. So you cant use even the boot if you hadnt divined when and where and how nature would call. Shenvi is,no doubt,motivated by the angelic impulse. He believes this will act as a deterrent for criminals: We keep witnessing incidents of cab operators being looted,or passengers becoming victims of crime. So Shenvi has used his powers under Section 149 of CrPc,retorting,It is not necessary that all instructions be totally practical. Well,they did put a blanket cap on text messages to protect mobile users from unsolicited telemarketing calls. Thats perhaps the book Shenvi took a leaf out of,while all he needs is a good GPS tracker. Want to visit the in-laws in the next town? Get a visa. The taxi,or the cab,of the glorious Battle of Marne vintage,when it carried French reserve infantrymen to the battlefront,is primarily a public-hire (hailed on the street a la Sherlock Holmes) or private-hire (pre-booked radio taxis) vehicle,conceived and re-imagined as a public utility. Shenvis disservice to the public,if he doesnt step back,can only be undone if he becomes the taxi service itself. After all,the film Carry on Cabby was originally meant to be produced as Call Me a Cab. Maybe Martin Scorseses inspiration for the remake of Taxi Driver,announced last year,will come from Hisar.
