Routine, as the title of this poem suggests, describes the customary routine of policemen. There nothing extraordinary or exceptional about it. It is a realistic recordation of the confrontation between the police and the lawless agitating adolescents.
The policemen bearing putties, a relic of the British Raj, on their legs in the month of June, feel a burning sensation. The helmets, which they wear on their heads, make them feel that their brains are “fire pulp”. As the uniformed policemen reach the place where the crowd have gathered to agitate and indulge in violence, some of the agitators move backwards. They agitators hurl abuses and filthy words on the policemen, which they ignore because they are used to it.
Karan Singh, a senior policeman, who walks side by side with his boss curses the agitators who were young men in their teens. He says that all the agitators are younger than his children. They have not yet attained the age of puberty. They move toward the young agitators who have fulfilled their mission by setting a tramcar ablaze. The agitators are even ready to burn the policemen who are already feeling that their legs, covered with putties, were on fire.
The policemen are a platoon against a thousand agitators who are warned by the police to desist from indulging in violence. The happening was a routine affair. Such incidents had happened many times before and, hence, the role they have to play is well rehearsed. As the mob does not disperse, the police officer orders his men to load their guns. They obeyed. He alone points his gun at the crowd and the others aim into the air. He orders the policemen to fire. As he fires his gun into the crowd, one of the agitators is hit and falls down dead. The agitators disperse.
The Salvage Squad comes, takes the body to the autopsy room and removes the burnt tramcar away. The policemen, tired and depressed, the policemen walk back to the lines. In the evening one of the leaders of the agitators says on the radio that they are marching forward and will continue to march till they achieve their aim.