for THE people, by THE people….
Hi,
Got my first taste of the hassles of running around to get your work done in a government office today. I had to make some modifications to my name as appearing in the Passport(PP) and as usual, was in queue well before time to ‘catch a place’ as its called. In comes a security guy…must be 25/26 n starts in full blast in tamil ONLY about who has to be in which queue. Some bechara in the middle asks a doubt n security sir gets angry upon getting interrupted n marches off yelling” I’m working here for the past 8 years n u tell me this n that”……turns off……n everyone else is like, “sir, sir, its ok sir…please continue telling” n all that bullshit crap…
ME: God, if ever I get a chance I’d make this chap hanged upside down a gutter in Chennai for eternity!!!!
After the usual halla gulla of everyone getting into line, there’s a person who does a preliminary check on data…ok, I passed that….phew!!!!
ME: good god, thank you, 1 step done….
Next, go to a counter that the guy told n just pay the money …n now comes the crux of the whole situation. I had a visa PAI at the US consulate for a stamping and had to have my passport in place before that….the normal time is 3 days to dispatch the PP….
ME: Sir(wow, these people DEMAND respect, not COMMAND respect!!): I have a PAI on Monday, can you PLEASE have it dispatched earlier…I have all proofs right from a ration card, marksheets, bonafide..u name it I have it…..
But god, this was not my day…..
SIR1: Madam, I need a photograph like how u look JUST NOW!!
ME: Sir, but that’s me only, ok u want a clearer photo..i have just tied my hair , that’s all…I din know that was a crime!!!
SIR1: yes I agree, but u see maa, there’s a photo shop just down there, plz get that n only then we can process it…
ME: ok,…n walk dejected outta that office n in the meantime letting security sir know that I need to get back in again , so PLEASE may I come in again…..
Walk n get a photo clicked luckily in 15 mins n rush back to SIR1 and start explaining him my urgent issue case of PP again all over….nice man, directs me to another lady telling me :” go get it signed from her, then I can dispatch it today itself”
ME: Rush to that lady, who was (GOD< just not my day or what on earth)…was royally pissed off with a man who had the right pp n kept insisting that it was wrong, so I had an idea of who is gonna bear the immediate brunt of her frustration…..
ME: again, explain to her that I need this n I need her help to speed up the process.
SHE: NO, I don’t deal with this, nor do I have the discretion to decide on this issue. Please meet the PRO(pubic relations officer) for this.
ME: Pray n stand in the pro queue hoping that they would take up my case n speed up the case….
In I enter after a 20 min wait n start explainin the whole damn thing to them again… sum1 wake me up in mid slumber N I can go on about my PP!!!! ha ha
PRO1: has a look at my baby 12 th std photo in the PP n concludes that it was issued when I was a minor n so no chance of a early dispatch….n damn,don’t they know enuf maths to calculate that I was not a minor then, by seeing the DOB n DO Issue??!!! Wow….wonder who recruited them on earth….would love to meet him/her some day…
Okie, after all that, PRO1 & PRO 2 decide that they cant decide on this, n that they are not the deciding authority….all this has to be done only after meeting the SHE who in the first place directed me to them!!!! I almost wanted to whack them n tell them that, she sent me to you, n now, u send me to her again!!!
ME: anyways, sarcastically tell them that “thanks then, I guess I have to cancel my slot in that case, thank you anyways” in the most pricking manner that I could muster up!!!
ME: rush back to SHE n tell that they say they cant decide n she has to. SHE thinks n tells me to meet the admin….they can decide…..
ME: go to admin n he tells, MEET THE PRO!!!!
ME: I already met them, they told to meet SHE, she told to meet you n you are telling me to meet PRO again!!!
ME: storm back angrily to the counter n submit my form n tell them to dispatch it aaram se…take your sweet time!!!!! I cancelled my slot thanks….
Phew, man this was something I was waiting to pour down on my blog….n write to some place….I know this might sound like some god damned whining session…but that’s not the point. The point is that, noticed a lot of things in this whole loop n this is what I think about it:
- The whole system sucks big time!!! The working conditions are so bad there, with the heat n all , I agree that it’s a far cry from the cozy AC offices that we work in….The comps are bad, old black n white systems with legacy things running on them. NOTE: A friend of mine tells me that the computer training given to the employees in another office is like, draw in paint!!! Wow..sounds great!!
- There’s s’posed to be a separate queue for the elderly n all , but that’s just on paper….don’t they realize that they are also gonna be old one day n that one day they might just end up in a similar condition when they go to some other office??
- What’s really irritating about this thing that happened today is that, OK man, you don’t/cant issue it soon, then why the hell not tell it before instead of making me run around the whole damn office 10 times???? If not a single person has the discretion to decide, then who on earth has it?????
- Everything is written in English/hindi, what about the local lang then????
- But everyone speaks in only tamil, what about the rest who cant understand it properly???
- Why is the web site not up with the latest updates n exact procedure for each thing mentioned clearly????
- Why cant simple pamphlets be issued at the entrance mentioning the proof needed for various services????
- In comes a broker n whisks away his ‘client’ in front of all the people waiting in a queue!!!
I know its easy to question the system n find faults with it……but I will NOT deny the fact that this game of tossing over the ‘deciding baton’ today sure has hit me…..things that we talk about..patriotism, the masses, the system, the people, the way things run around here, the way you n me are heart n soul of it n how we live with it…..with not one of us capable of changing it…the few who do, either pay for their lives with it and go their graves with the satisfaction that they tried……they could have lived as well, cz this is not gonna make any difference….Sounds pretty frustrating huh??!!!! Hah, it sure is, the worst part being that I’m not able to do anything about it…..India…..this word sometimes just becomes the country that you choose in any form/drop down box in a site or something….but, its you n me, living it, breathing it, loving it….
n yes, I love it……I do love it, to hell with my PAI!!!!At the end of the day, its mera bharat mahan all the way….
di.
guess this is the longest post I ever typed…..
posted by diana @ 7:55 AM
2 Comments:
Strength begs youth of India to gather it up, to the brim, in their hearts and flush it out against these government servants.
"Red" tape is holding India back otherwise lots of NRI fed up with "Green" card processing would rush back to their "Swades" and we'll all see Googles and Intels moving into their motherlands (gothe pun?) with some R&D outsourcing into Americas.
I believe we really need an "Indian" Thatha to come out off reel into the real, and remember he'ld be in the Godse mould not the saintly one.
God in India are worshipped with Ugly faces and its time we understand what those ugly faces signify??
Suj: Photo: I showed them a photo clicked 2 days back for my visa n he said that it cant be scanned!!! I din know this much DIP all my life that a photo clicked for visa cant be scanned.
Working conditions: I mentioned I agree that their working conditions are hell. But that does not mean that every soul entering the PP office has to bear the brunt of this!!
Things that we think about: I dont need to read the manifest top to bottom to vote suj, n yes....I do vote...n hey, I'm not that patriotic a soul that I think every second about mera bharat mahan.
I guess I din put across my point clearly.
"What irked me about the system was every person in that office making you run around for no cause. Are yaar, if a certain thing cant be done, tell it straight. Difficult to digest that not one soul in there has the rights to take decision. I dont demand that my work be done fast like I’m some god damned VIP, I went there requesting them for it, but I did not get a positive/negative reply(which I was ready to take it in either case), Hell, I did not even get a reply.” Just one person in there could have told that it cant be done, that’s it. I would’ve gone my way, instead of wasting time like a fool.
But no, 5 hours of running here n there, n in the end , the conclusion was that, wow man, no one has the authority to decide if a PP can be issued soon in case of an emergency.
N reg, web site, I guess I cant go n tell my CEO to bid for the PP service web site enhancement project. That’s my company policy, not mine!!!
N yes, tell me one way in which “WE” all can make a difference. I think all this sounds really good to talk about making a change n the youth n all that, suggest me one way to do it, coz I cant think of a way to change it in anyway. N I have been told by people that, “Diana, this is just the first hassle to have had to face, there are many more like this. So, get used to this thing!!” n ok, I now know what to expect. I know I cant go n hammer into a politician’s head about the country n mera bharat maahan stuff, so what to do about it?????? I cant think 365 days a year as to how to change the system. Its very obvious that when you face the shit, you hate it.
Anyways, thanks for the counter post/comment.
Anonymous: An “Indian” thatha would do no good, cz that can happen only in reel, never in real life. The only thing that can save the country is the bunch of idiots sitting in Lok Sabha/rajya sabha!!!!
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