Passport Experience - Redux

(Read Episode 1 to understand the background of our struggle in getting Sofia's passport.)

After our verification file got sent back by the police, we did not have the time to reapply and so assumed that our file was closed in the promised 1 month. We thought we would reapply in Hyderabad as soon as Sofia got a little free. Well, time went by and Sofia got free a year later when she resigned from work !! We went to the Pune passport office just after New Year's 2012 to get our closure letter, which we could use to reapply in Hyderabad.

To our surprise, the inquiry guy in the Pune passport office told us that our file was still open even after more than a year. Whew... that's efficient. We filled out the PP forms again for re-verification. Sofia vowed to make it in time when the police came around this time. So the wait began.

We finally got a call from the police station in April 2012. They said we would have to show up in 2 days or they would send the file back. Apparently, mom found out, they had got the file in early Feb and had sat over it for 2 months because of laziness and election duty and... did I mention laziness? Now they were in a big hurry. Mom trying to bribe the officer didn't work either. So we dropped everything and got the next train out of Hyderabad and hauled ourselves to the police station. There we learnt that 'Sahab' was away on a month long holiday and nothing could be done until his temporary substitute showed up. The officer was very reassuring and said if our case was urgent he would do his best... (to get a heavy bribe, I thought. Why the @#$% did you call us in a hurry if you new your sahab was not there.)

So I extended my leave for a few more days, cancelled all my appointments and emailed instructions for work to get done. I could hopefully work remotely if the power cuts weren't too frequent. Sofia mostly shopped.

A weekend, 2 public holidays and an auto-rickshaw strike later, sahab finally arrived. The officers were also finally free from their 'bandobast' duties. After cold calling the officer thrice a day we had finally scored an appointment. When we reached the police station, we were told that sahab had to go for an urgent meeting, but no worries, the replacement's replacement would now examine our stuff and sign off. After a 3 hour wait, Sofia got a quick interview done. The officer then called us to a separate office and managed to secure his chai paani for the 'urgent' processing. I have to share it with sahab too, he assured us.

So now we wait... for the postman... to get the prized passport. Will keep you posted when we do get it.

Note: Please visit http://ipaidabribe.com/ to ease your conscience.
         Also visit http://www.wikifyindia.com/wiki/Passport to share your experience and help others. The site   is maintained by a good friend Sohel.

Passport Experience - Episode 1

We decided to apply for Sofia's passport in October 2010. 


I wanted to have our Pune address on the passport, so we went to ICICI Bank to make my Pune account a joint account with hers. I could then submit our joint bank statement as her address proof. (Getting that done was an experience in itself. Private banks, for all their polish, can be just as bureaucratic and frustrating as our govt. offices are famed to be.) We tried getting Sofia's name transferred from her parents' Ration Card to mine, but the Hyderabad PDS office told us that there could be no transfers for the next 6 months for reasons that were perhaps state secrets and unknown to them. We tried getting our marriage registered in the Haj House office in Hyderabad, but they said that my Arabic certificate had my name as Murtuza Bhai and my legal name was Murtuza. Sorry pal, better luck next time. Your wife seems to be married to some one else!!! Finally we had to make an affidavit to prove our marriage.


After we finally managed to collect all documents, our agent submitted it. Btw, most of these guys in turn contact the top guys and collect their fees for no effort. It might make sense to look up the top guys' names from the passport website (yes they are listed) and directly go to them. The agent did tell us that our police station had a strict officer and a regular (bribe taking) one. There was nothing more we could do but pray ;-)


We waited patiently for the police guy to show up at our house for the verification. This was going to be tricky to manage as we were living in Hyderabad and had applied at our Pune address. There would have to be a mad rush at short notice. Meanwhile Sofia got a coveted job offer in the first week of December. As luck would have it, we got a call from Mom that the police guy had left his mobile number at our door and wanted Sofia to visit the police station for verification in the next couple of days. Decisions decisions... join work or travel to Pune?? Dream job or Passport??


So finally Sofia did join work and got leaves after 10 days and we went to Pune. When we showed up at the police station, the police guys could not find the file... Finally they realized they had sent it back to the passport office as Rejected since Sofia did not turn up in time. Bah!!! What a disappointment !! They sat on the file for a month and now they sent it back because we were a week late. In the end of December we got a letter from the passport office, which said we would have to reapply for verification within a month or our application file would be closed. No passport after all... 


(to be continued...)

Chatpate Aalu

I always looked forward to this dish that mom made, when I was a kid growing up in Pune. The hotness of the spices combines well with the tanginess of imli (tamarind). I made this dish today and we enjoyed it with some fresh rotis made by Sofia. Here's the recipe. Hope you like it. Do leave comments and suggestions.

1. Boil baby potatoes in a pressure cooker for about 10 mins. You can use regular potatoes too but the smaller ones are sweeter tasting. (Note: Add a small piece of imli to the cooker to prevent scaling). Peel when done and cut the bigger ones into halves if required. (Peeling is easier if dipped into cold water)

2. Take fresh whole spices - kashmiri chillies, zeera, and whole dhania and grind them coarsely. Take a few imli pieces (just broke them off the tree outside our house) and boiled them in half a cup of water for a few mins.

3. After the imli is soft, strain it to get the pulp and discard the rest.







4. Take a good amount of oil in a non-stick kadhai and add the ground masala when hot. Fry the masala at low heat taking care not to burn it. Add the baby potatoes add fry well for a few mins, coating them well with the masala. You can add some more regular mirchi powder if you like it spicy.

 5. Season with salt.

6. Garnish with chopped coriander / dhania / cilantro leaves and serve with roti.

Remedy

This is what I do for a living. I am a Remedy Developer :-D

I love this particular cartoon, because it combines a strip that I love (Dilbert), with work that I love (Remedy).

First Light

Seeing first light.... my first real blog post....

As I type the first words, I feel its really difficult to create something when you sit down to it. My best thoughts and inspiration usually come when I am lying in bed after waking up on a Sunday morning or when I am doing my morning job :-p

I don't know what this blog is going to be about, but as the current header suggests, it is going to be anything random that comes to my mind. I want it to be about anything that I want to remember or let the world know about. Anything that I am excited about. I hope to update this blog at least once or twice a week, and if it works out, then maybe more often.

While I secretly hope that I get tons of followers, this blog is currently only for myself and some people I know.

Wish me luck !