'BILL GATES'

‘BILL GATES’

With no intent of malaise or slander, the topic is titled to draw attention. Catchy titles attract attention and invite ‘reading’. So, our ‘Bill gates’ is not one man; it is a reference to any number of persons performing ‘like-functions’ at different places. There is any number of them for the same job. Actually, they are more associated with checking of data of items ‘taken’ by buyers as per the bill. Their presence is too well known to be recalled again.

Common occurrence

These men are found in cinema halls, guarding the points of entry. For every member they check the bill [ticket] at the entry point [Gate]. Without bill, none can traverse entry and ‘verifying agency’ collects the bill at the gate [Bill at gate] and so bill gates, as there are several gates. Without his clearance, none can enter the auditorium, without causing a ripple. The same person may be assigned different gates on varied occasions. So too, he is bill gates. It is not as if these bill gates are only found in cinema halls. They are found in different venues like departmental stores / super markets and so on.

Other locations

These men occur in Circus enclaves, guiding the members of audience to their respective bay or circle. Sometimes they may be called in to guide children to wash rooms and so on.

Another place of their presence is eye hospitals. Primarily, they check the patients’ cards for details as to where [s] he should be taken and also verify the class or category, so that the patient is put at the right place for examination.

A major place of these personnel is the Railway platform. There are many of those bill gates in special attire or plain clothes; the latter are extremely alert in locating prospective errant passengers. Yes, they wait near the exit point and look for ‘guilty’ faces. We have no idea of how a guilty face appears. But, they [bill gates] are too adept in tracking them, however sophisticated the ‘guilty’ may seem. They have a particular style of ‘blocking’ such wrong-doers from moving further. They call, “MISTER..Ticket”. The wrong-doer earnestly searches his pockets and hands over a ticket. Our ‘bill gates’ are shrewd enough and in a glance ‘b g’ says , No, this is invalid. This ticket is from KODAI Road; the two trains that have arrived do not halt at that station; I suspect you have been travelling from Erode or from Mangalore without a valid ticket. We will hand you over to Police, here and now. Stand here till station Superintendent comes. After 10 minutes the culprit pleads in a trembling voice Sir, sorry sir I came from Tirumangalam for a JOB INTERVIEW. Where is that ticket? Asks‘b g’. I handed over that ticket to TTE on arrival. ’B G’..  Tirumangalam train came by 6.20 ; now it is 7.40. Don’t tell me, I will put you behind bars after SS [ station superintendent] comes. With more tremble in voice the man seeks to know ‘sir.. when SS will come?  ‘BG’ .. “he is not your servant he will come by 9.00 am”. You ticketless travelers must be put behind bars for 2 months. Suddenly, the TL T [Ticketless traveler] droops and drops to the feet of B G , asking for pardon. The ‘BG’ calls someone; a burly-looking porter comes, picks the TLT from the floor; holding his shirt by the left fist, the porter delivers 3-4 slaps on TLT’s left cheek and a few blows to his [Porter’s] heart’s content. By now 30-40 on lookers watch the treatment. ‘BG’ shouts ‘move away why do you stand here? BG advises the porter to take him to station superintendent’s office for collecting fine or some statement from TLT. The TLT who started off as a smart guy, now stands crest-fallen. ‘BGs’ can be quite menacing if we fail to abide by stipulations of the system. The Railway BGs can collect the bill at the gate – true ‘bill gates’ they are.

Prof. K. Raman