Meanwhile, at the station, the guys are asked to give their names and addresses. When one of the names is mentioned, 2 of the cops freeze - they recognize the family name.
HIJ is out to have fun, and he gives the cops some vague address in Cochin. They say there is no such address, and he says no problem you go and check.
KLM is called and his address is way up in the north of India. KLM SMSs Ishaan before that with the message
"You're going to be my dad. I'm giving your Delhi number to the cops. Hindi mein baat karo."
The cops struggle to speak with KLM in Hindi. They're quite happy because he's from the north - "Oh we will get a chance to do an official visit to that place. I'll take my family along."
At which HIJ takes off "Sir you've never seen the Taj Mahal???"
And the discussion turns to Tourism.
XYZ is sleepy when he's called, and before he can say his name out he passes out in front of the cops, falling on one of them.
He is laid out on one of the benches and the boys request for one of the pedestal fans to be moved near him. They do that and XYZ starts snoring.
RST is called and they find that he works in the car industry. The cops writing down all this are interested. "Sir I'm planning to buy a Maruti 800. Which model should I take?"
RST immediately launches into a What Car lecture on the 800, Alto and Santro and the cops are spellbound. He even tells them there are killer deals available in the second hand market and they should talk to him before they buy a car - he can find them a good second hand sedan for the same price from True Value.
By now the cops are eating out of his hands. Its nearly 5.30 and the teashop boy comes over and the cops order 3 teas. "Make that 7 teas" says RST.
The boys pipe up from behind "And something to eat too - do you have bonda/vada or some other kadi (snack)? Bring some of that along too!"
Tea and some snacks arrive and the guys sit around chatting with the cops. KLM recommends better tyres on the kpbolero.
The SI comes around and informs them that they will have to pay the fine for the offence "Illegal Possession of Alcohol" (Rs.1,000 per head) and an FIR will be written out. A case will be registered in court, but they will manage it without the guys having to be present, so they need to pay Court Fees, Hearing Fees, etc.
An inventory is made of all the fees, and the cops add Rs.1000 for cost of diesel for the night's adventure to it. The total bill adds up to something like Rs.9,900 all inclusive.
Meanwhile, back at the resort, Ripper wakes up and decides its time for the promised mountain trek. He SMSs KLM
"I'm up and ready, shall we start trekking?"
KLM replies "We have already started trekking at 3.30 am. We have now reached the police station."
In a couple of minutes A S H V I N comes running into my room at the other resort - "ripper is on the phone. he says someone has been arrested"
I take the phone and an agitated ripper is on the line "Steer 4 guys have been arrested"
"I know. They havent been arrested, they've gone to the Police Station to negotiate"
"What happened, what do we do? Shall we go there?"
"Hang on, I'll come over and we can plan something out"
I quickly wash and change, making sure I remove all traces of alcohol from my breath. Then we ask A S H V I N to take a casual stroll outside and see if there are any cops posted outside. He confirms there are none, so ASHVIN and I take the Safari and drive up to the resort.
The resort's owner has arranged for someone to stand bail and he has 'talked' things out with the Dy SP. One of the chaps from the resort jumps in and we head out to the Peermade Police Station.
As we drive up to the Police Station we spy KLM sitting outside and having a smoke - cant be that bad if the guys are free to sit at the station gate and smoke, I thought.
Mansidea goes inside with RST and they discuss the settlement, meanwhile we call up Tadu and ask him to come over with a 2nd car as we need to transport people back.
Tadu comes in and says "What happened?" He cant understand why we didnt inform him and I realize that was the biggest bloody blunder - Tadu's family is quite influential in these places. His cousin laid the foundation stone for this police station! Its there - etched in Marble on the wall!
Anyway, we pay out the required $$$ and the guys come back to the resort with us.
Edit: As of now, I've paid up the Rs.10k required for the purpose. One of the chaps will be in touch with all those attended shortly to discuss ways of sharing this figure.
After we go back, we ask the rest of the group whether we should now call off the drive or continue and the overwhelming response is "Lets go on!"