Si, Se Puede

First things first!!!- I was mugged last night.
It was a subconcious wish I had had for a long time I must confess , but I had some specific requirements of my own:should have been non invasive(to my body parts),should involve minimal loss, should be fun to think about in retrospect.
..and what do you know? It was almost tailormade.
One does not imagine that the catalyst for a much delayed post has to be something this dramatic,turns out that is what it took!
Lusting after a samosa-chat for a few days now, I decided to indulge myself sunday night by going to Lee's at the corner of 23'rd street and Portland- to the North of the campus- quite close to where I used to live earlier.It was 10.35 p.m and what I did not know then was that the flavor of the night was destined to be very different.Disappointed to find the cafe just closing their shutters after alighting from a campus cruiser(free transport within a certain radius of the University to preempt such muggings!),I turned to make a
call to my friend whom I was supposed to meet there.As I stood dialing her under the bright yellow glow of the street lamp right by the mailbox a van pulled up a metre away from me and even though I had to cross the road to walk to her place I decided to let the van pass-as all polite pedestrians do!
Out Walks a guy from the back door and walks right up to me- even as I was looking straight at him believing he needed directions-reaches inside his waist and shows me something protruding out of it under his T shirt.
The area was well lit-it happens to be a USC tram stop-buses come and go every 15 mins-there were desis loitering on the sidewalk about 20 feet from me ,just outside the area served by the lamppost right overhead me and it had not been more than a couple of minutes after I landed from the cruiser.I seriously thought it was a joke.

"Give me your phone"
"Oh,you want my phone ,here.... "
"What do you have in your pockets?"
Hands pressed against the front jeans pockets "Just keys..."
"Turn around"
So, I turn around and let him frisk the two back pockets-he pulls my wallet out and walks into the van.

The whole "transaction" took about a minute....the van turns to the right and the driver and a passenger on the front seat give me a thumbs up as they pull away.
What did I notice as they pull away?The car was of color somewhere between blue and silver,identification made difficult by the yellow glow of the street light.
There were three guys -the dude who robbed me,the driver and his front seat co-passenger.Did I notice the number plate?You are curious?- cause as they pulled away I could see their back for a good 10 seconds-that being the punchline will have to wait till the end, I am afraid!
As soon as I could gather myself I ran to the bunch of desis and asked them for their phone to call DPS emergency(again a sort of campus police,raised to prevent such incidents :)).Stammering into the phone lent to me by a non-chalant guy I saw a DPS vehicle rush to the spot within half a minute -jumped into it and I guess must have been quite incoherent as the personnel radioed back "All Units,incident at portland and 23'rd ,headed east, Need backup, language barrier of the victim"
The last bit of information radioed back was I guess warranted by my unsatisfactory descriptions of what the van looked like and what color it was.Also "Victim" :)!!!
Nevertheless we went around in circles around 23'rd,scarf, Adams, portland, Oak and the surrounds. It was fruitless but finally we came round to ground zero where I was telling the two cops in the van about what exactly happened and how the van was placed when the incident took place and prepare yourself for it :There comes a lady peeping into the window of our police car going "Hello Officers, I am from Chicago and am here just visiting my nephew who goes to USC. I am not very fond of the neighborhood here and just wanted to let you know that it gladdens my heart so much to see you doing such hardwork,patrolling the whole area. Just wanted to thank you! "
Did I shriek out in anguish at her pre-judgement? Did the Irony of her statement and my situation make me lose my mind?I am afraid not.....But as the lady left ...walking away from the car the cop driving said "It was so difficult to keep a straight face as she was speaking" and I just broke into laughter!Ironies :)
Well, then ofcourse later I had to go to the DPS office, help them fill their investigative report form ,cancel all my cards and block my SIM.There has been quite a bit of sympathy and in the case of the friend I was supposed to meet even some empathy towards me. I have been promised her hospitality at Lee's -to the samosa-chat for about a month-till I get my cards back. I am hoping my advisor will look leniently at my abysmal rate of research. I also hope atleast this post gets to a wider audience than the usual single digit readership ones.....
I will leave you with the best irony of the evening according to me:
The van that robbed me had a blue paper plate instead of it's license at the back with white letters that said (Take a guess first hints : US 2008>>Obama>>3 words)
"Si, Se Puede"





References
1. Wikipedia.org