Sunday, July 19, 2009

It's Official!

We've heard a lot about Indian Babus. Any procedure that involves any government related employee, we know it would be ages before it reaches completion. From getting a telephone repaired/disconnected to renewing a passport to getting a driving license, the bigger it is the more cumbersome it gets.

Sometimes we are lucky and things go on smoothly. I would call such people blessed! Sometimes we are rich and we bribe to get our work done quickly. Again, blessed. But most of the time any amount of incessant cribbing falls short of the the torture we go through.

And so in my mind, government employees were slow, had an easy 9-5 job involving more of chai, samosa and gupshup than work and cared little about their customers. Until yesterday that is. So I’m in this country where Arabs have earned huge sums of money by refining oil. Sometimes their day begins at 8 and ends at 1. Their weekend is almost a 4-day thing wherein they work only for half day one day before and after the weekend. During Ramadan, i.e. for over a month in a year, their day ends at 3. Yesterday I had Visa related work. I went to the ministry before it opened so that I was amongst the first ones. There were about 50 more people like me. Even after 1.5 hours after their scheduled opening time, work didn’t start. Then the guard comes and says, today we have decided to remain closed!

Laughable, it is. This is just a small example of how the, well, babus operate here! It takes months to get a driving license. They fail you atleast twice before finally giving it. Finding a licenced instructor is tougher than finding God! When you do find one, he will ditch you a lot of times wasting precious time and taking your frustrations level to unbelievable heights. And then they show you attitude!

After seeing all this I have new found respect for our country! We are highly effective, laborious and cordial. Even a rude official answers your queries. Here, you would be lucky even if they understand what you are trying to ask! This doesn’t mean we should ignore the loopholes in our system. There are miles to go before Indian authorities reach global standards. But as they say, we find more satisfaction in life by seeing those who are below us, and so I am proud of things back home!

5 comments:

  1. Sounds like a case of andhon mein kanda raja!

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  2. yeah D...its a perfect case of that!

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  3. well...i m a starter....nisha di.... why i called u di...coz i need to create a virtual world...where i could find serenity and peace......where people trust each other and don't suspect on others...where all dat is truth is listened .......

    i m reallly fed up with ma life and want an soothing escape...

    well abt sarkari babaus.....
    i hv just turned adult ...and i need to get a driving license made....
    i'll be shortly visiting the office .....
    abd i'll keep u update what happens dere

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  4. India is will be and always the best place.... with all its lacks and babuish behaviour and laziness....


    Nisha, Here from Edu's blog...

    Ash

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  5. Yeah. India in great.
    Even the babugiri seems to be reducing with time, at least in the cities I lived.

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Your sweetness makes my day. Gentle criticism will be taken in the right spirit too :)