Alcoholic Security

It was 8:45 A.M. I was walking towards the main gate of the institute going to work. A girl was walking out of it. The bar for preventing vehicles from passing through was being lowered with a remote control. Before I could shout a warning, it came down and hit her on the center of her head. She grabbed her head, looked around in confusion, looked in the direction of the watchman's hut, and went out without saying a word. I hoped she did not collapse somewhere on the road with an internal hemorrhage. I reached the gate, went in by the side of the lowered rod, and looked at the watchman's hut. The fellow was sitting inside without a care in the world. I walked toward him and asked, "did you not see the girl walking through? You should have stopped the bar from getting further down and hitting her." He looked at me through bloodshot eyes and mumbled "What?" So I repeated what I had said. "That bar did not hit her" he slurred. "It goes up automatically if it is going to hit someone." "I saw it it hit her. If she bleeds inside her head and dies, there will be a police inquiry and a court case against the institute and you" I said. "She should have watched for the bar coming down" he said. I showed him my identity card and told him I was Professor and Head of my department. That did not seem to register. I asked him for his name so I could complain to his senior officer. "You don't need my name" he said with a slurred speech. "Just complain to my boss." "Have you consumed alcohol?" I asked. "Your eyes are all red". "Alcohol?" he asked indignantly. "Ha! My eyes have been red right from my childhood. Have YOU consumed alcohol?" Now I was sure he was deeply under the influence of alcohol. I told him I would complain to the head of the institute as soon as he arrived. Then I went in search of the senior security officer. I found two of them and they went one after the other to find out who it was and if he was drunk. I followed them. By now the drunk had managed to get out of the hut and was standing on unsteady feet, trying to explain his innocence in as coherent manner as the fuddled brain would permit. I advised them to get his breath alcohol level done in the emergency room and left. On my way to the ward I met a union leader and asked him about this guy. "He drinks quite heavily" the leader said. Perhaps there was some reason for it. But to drunk at 8:45 A.M. on security duty was unpardonable. He was meant to stop terrorists from entering the campus and protect all people withing. Perhaps he thought the young girl was a terrorist and was trying to stop her by hitting her on the head with the bar. Why he should stop a terrorist from leaving the campus was beyond me. Perhaps he wanted to stop this terrorist permanently from harming others, either by coming back to the campus or elsewhere. I went to the ward and started my morning round with my staff members and residents. In five minutes this guy arrived, looking surprisingly sober, and said, "I apologize. What happened to day will not happen again." I left it at that, because his speech was still slurred and the sobriety must have been temporary, either due to shouting of his sober colleagues warning him of the consequences, or putting cold water on his head. "He was dead drunk" confirmed my Assistant Professor after the guy left. I went to see the chief security officer after the ward rounds. He was not in the office. I told them who I was, what the situation was, and requested them to tell him to call me when he came back. He did not call. Perhaps they protect one another. Perhaps they have a deeper bond. I had heard our institute had been turned into a castle to protect us from security threats from terrorists after the attack by Ajmal Kasab et al. Perhaps they should provide for hot oil to be poured on heads of people approaching the gates. Technology must have been so advanced by now that the security personnel will be able to tilt the pots and pour the oil using remote controls, just like they raise and lower the traffic bars with remote controls. If any of their own gets burnt, we could reserve beds permanently for them.