The Enquiry counter

My passport application has been pending for about seven months now. Online status said “Please furnish stay proof of your present address”. So I decided to visit the Ghaziabad passport office. Getting work done from govt. officers is a daunting task. And that’s why I have been procrastinating to go there. I prepared myself mentally for the frustration that I will encounter and the visit met all of my expectations.

The passport office website said: Office timings (Monday to Friday): 10am to 13.00 pm. I left home to reach there at around 10.05 am thinking they probably won’t open on time. There was a common complex of income tax office, passport office (and probably some other offices as well). Passport office was on a third floor. When I got there I saw a long line extending to staircase on the floor. I asked someone what was the line for. He didn’t know. I decided to look for the inquiry counter. Website suggested going to the inquiry counter first to first check the status of your application. Meanwhile I saw the counter for which there was that long line; I still didn’t know what it for was. I moved ahead and entered a room where there were many counters. I went to the one where there was minimum waiting time (it was for the delivery of passport so not the right place for me but I decided to try it). 

THE SCIENCE STUDENT

There was only one person in front of me in this line. He looked to be around 25 years of age. He was from Agra. I came to know this from all the pleading that he was doing to get his passport. The person (officer) manning the counter looked to above 40 years of age. He was quite neatly dressed. He had in his hand the 10th class certificate that the person from Agra had given him. The person told the officer that he had brought this certificate as was asked of him. He also told him it was his third visit from Agra within a period of 4 days.

The officer gave the certificate a skeptical look. He asked what all subjects he had. The person from Agra told him he was an arts student. “This doesn’t look like a certificate for arts. This has science as a subject on it. Are you sure you weren’t a science student.” said the officer. He asked the person to list all the subjects he had and crosschecked it. And then said why there are mathematics and science here. He asked one person standing beside me to check if this was an arts certificate.

I wondered whether the passport department official or headmaster of a school.
The person who was given the certificate explained it is a 10th class certificate and that is why there is science and mathematics here and gave back the certificate. After waiting for sometime officer finally agreed to process the application.
Then I asked my question. I told the officer that my application has some problem related to address proof. What should I do? I don’t think he listened to what I said. He just said that the enquiry counter is outside. Room no. 331.

 

THE INQUIRY COUNTER

I went outside and asked a guard where the inquiry counter is. He pointed to that long line. I said some curse words and went to the end of the line. Persons in the line had a form in their hand. I found out that this form was required to ask a query at the counter. I asked the person ahead of me about the form. He said you will get it over there, pointing in the direction of the guard. I went there and saw guard had the forms with him. I asked for it and he gave one to me and I wondered why he didn’t give it to me when I asked about the counter in the first place. I filled up the form and went to the end of the line. Line had grown a bit more. And it didn’t appear to be moving. I checked my watch. It showed 10.25 am.

There are four main characters in this story. They were in the line ahead of me. Let me introduce them.

 

P1: From Saharanpur. Around 25-30 yrs,

P2: Private sector employee. Around 35 yrs.

P3: Tom cruise lookalike. Around 30 yrs.

P4: A student, 20yrs.

 

I couldn’t stop noticing but most of the people there were from some small towns/villages in U.P. P2 had an interesting tale to tell. P2 came to this office some days back and stood in the same line for about 2 hrs to find out what was wrong with his application. He had to submit some documents. Today he had brought those documents. He went to the counter to submit the documents. But the person manning the counter refused. The officer said he would have to be in line. It meant standing in line once again, probably for about 2hrs to submit the documents.
Then I realize this is not just the inquiry counter. It is a lot more.

 

THE PLOY

This counter is inquiry + submit your missing documents + buy a new form counter. It does all of these jobs. It is manned by a person who is one of the slowest when it comes to working on a computer. Equally slow in returning the change in case someone buys a new form from him. This passport office caters to all the districts within 200km of Ghaziabad. Everyone from these districts would have to go to this counter. So naturally there is huge load on this office. But the rule is that anyone coming to this office first has to go and find out the status of his application on this counter. You do the math. This single counter caters to lakhs of people. All of them may not decide to show up at the same time, but still. Longer the queue on this counter, shorter it is on others. Interesting isn’t it.

 

THE WAIT

Any way there I was, standing in the queue which was moving very slowly. I could see frustration on the faces of lot of people. That seemed to assuage a bit of mine.
You should have come a little earlier, said someone to P1. Maybe the line would have been shorter then.

“I got on the train at 5 in the morning. 9.30 am I reached Ghaziabad. How much earlier could I have come”?

It was 11.30. Most of the people in the queue were tired. Not able to stand that long, not even sure that they would be entertained today as office closes at 1.30 pm. Those coming to the office now don’t have a chance. People in the queue suggested them to come back some other day. Those arriving now went straight to the front of the line. Hoping perhaps they would get a chance. This led to the persons already in the line to start shouting.

“Get in the line”… “Move them out of here”.

There was no security guard so those people didn’t move. There were some girls also who were in that group which tried to break the line. One of them requested to people in the line.

“Please allow me to get ahead in the line”.

She looked to be around 25, probably a working woman.

“Madam, get in the line at the end”, said someone.

 

AND IT CONTINUES

Due to the resistance, those new people couldn’t break the line.

Meanwhile I saw P3 moving to front of the line and coming back. Actually he had two forms with him. But the official at the counter entertains only one at a time. For the second one, get into the line once again, at the end.

So he came here with his friend. They were waiting in the line turn by turn.

As I came close to the front, I once again heard the same girl once again, “please allow me to get ahead in the line”, she said.

“Madam, if you were in line then you would have got a chance by now”, said someone.

“You are also in the line, you haven’t got a chance till yet”, said the girl. I couldn’t help smiling.

“Why isn’t there a separate ladies line”, she asked, I don’t know to whom.

“This is one thing right that has happened in the country”, prompt came the reply.

“From where are you madam”, asked someone

“From Ghaziabad” she replied.

“You are from the local town and there are people from Agra here but you don’t care”, came the response.

“Madam we are also wasting our time, get in the line”, said someone.

“We have to go home and do household work, cook food. You don’t have to do this all”, said the girl.

“She is talking about cooking food. Has she even seen the stove?” said the person right in front of me.

Finally a policeman came and arranged the line and asked those out of it to go at the back. One person came to me and said, “Don’t let anyone break the line”. Then it all went silent once again.

 

GOOD MAN

It was around 12 o clock now. Most of those new comers including the girl left. They would have to comeback some other day. As I was standing, an old man. He looked weak, age really showed on his body. He directly came to the front of the line. By now I was also near the front. His age showed through his weak body. He had just arrived at the office. He was obviously too late.

“Uncle go and come back some other day”, suggested the people already in line.

“Where are you from”?

“Saharanpur” he said. He wasn’t a local. Would have to travel quite a bit to come back again I thought. The old man disappeared.

After some time I saw him standing a couple of places ahead of me in the line. Others in the line also realized this and started shouting. “Why did you let him get in the line? Get him out”.

P1 has allowed him to enter the line in front of him.

“Please allow him to get in”, said P1.

“Yes please allow him. He is here for hajj application. He is a good man. He is a hajji”, said a burqa clad woman.

“If I allow someone to get in front, won’t the people behind be feel irritated”, said someone from behind.

“Look if you have a problem, then allow this man to get in and I will move behind you. Would that be ok”, said p1

“Please allow him. He is here for hajj application. He is a hajji”, reiterated the woman.

The confrontation subsided. The man was allowed in the line.

“We didn’t allow that girl to get in now did we, but we allowed him”, the guy in front of me snickered.

 

RECURSION
Finally I got my chance, it was 12.30 by now. I gave my request form to the official at the counter. He told me the documents I need to submit. I didn’t have those documents then. I would have to come back again. Where I would have to submit them, I asked,

AT THIS COUNTER, said the official.

__END__