Sarah Writes a Letter to the FRO

Pretty much everyone who is not on a tourist visa has to register with the Foreigners Registration Office. Indian bureaucracy is simply astounding. And not in a good way. Registration requires several visits of multiple hours each and the provision of numerous copies of every legal document in your possession. Not to mention, you must write a letter to the FRO requesting that they perform the service you need. Melinda and I had registered previously, and then we had to extend our current visas. This is a whole other process involving roughly a month of waiting and trips to several establishments all over the city. After that, we journeyed back to the FRO so that they could stamp our registration papers and make our new visas officially official or whatever. Honestly, I'm not sure any of this matters because no one has ever checked to make sure I am registered. We do it just to be safe.

Anyway, the madam of FRO office stamped our papers (after only 1 hour!), and then informed us that responsibility for our address had been shifted to a different FRO location and we needed to go there and have that office and confirm that our registration had been transferred. *Sigh*.  Madam assured us that our information would be mailed to the new location that day or the next. So, a couple days later (today) we went to the new location and attempted to do as we had been told. The man there said, predictably in retrospect, that he had received none of our information and he would need copies of every legal document in our possession as well as two passport sized photos, and a letter of request stating that we would like a transfer of our registration to that office. We were super annoyed. It may not sound that bad in this blog, but trust me if you waste weeks of your life doing something pointless, and then face the possibility of having to do the whole thing again, you will be annoyed too. The part that really got me was the letter. I didn't really want to move to that office, I just wanted to be done with the FRO forever.. And why on earth should I have to request that you do your job?

In the end a wrote a polite informative letter. This is the one I wanted to write:

Dear Sir:
Since the government of your fine state is forcing me to transfer my registration to this most magnificent office, I, Sarah Beth Blake, passport number *********, visa number ********, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident at (this flat) at (this address), do most humbly request and desire THAT YOU DO YOUR FREAKING JOB and transfer my registration to this office.
                                         
                                                                                                      Yours ever so sincerely,
                                                                                                                   Sarah Beth Blake
                                                                                                                    16/09/2011

Only in my dreams... After going to back to our original FRO office and trying to figure out why they hadn't received our files, we discovered that all that was sent was a transfer request, but not the copies of documents. So, then we went back, gave the man what he wanted and he signed his name. However, we're not done yet. At some point, I stopped listening, because it was almost 3 and I hadn't eaten yet, but I gather we have to go back and complete the process after Durga Puja a giant holiday that's coming up in October. 
                                           

Melinda and Sarah's Tuesday Adventures

Here's a sample of the randomness of my life.

Late August:
One day, as Melinda and I were returning from a trip, we got into the car and had the following conversation with our friend.

Friend: There is just a small problem.
Us: What?
Friend: The brakes don't work.

Fortunately, what he meant was the brakes are starting to have problems. All we needed was some brake fluid.

Two weeks ago:
We discovered the Freshman aka "Freshers" social night. As Melinda and I were leaving our Bangla class one Tuesday night, we heard what sounded like an outdoor concert and decided to investigate. What we discovered confirms the validity of my personal philosophy that one should always, always, always, follow the music.  There was a small lot with a stage that had a huge banner which read FRESHERS. Several people (presumably the freshers) were standing around or attempting to score soccer goals. Representatives of each of the university's departments came and gave performances, usually accompanied by loud music and always with a fog machine. Some boys from the physical education department got up there in uncomfortably short shorts and did some impressive yoga and strength moves. One of them put his foot all the way behind his head. While it's true the performers were quite strong and flexible, I now have absolutely no desire to participate in any physical education program, so I'm not sure they achieved their goal... Another boy from a department which I can't recall got up and flung himself about the stage with great enthusiasm to very fast music and techno lights. The worm was involved, as it should have been. I believe Melinda has video clips of some of these performances which will be uploaded shortly, or not so shortly depending on the speed of my internet connection. Oh my goodness. People. ALWAYS. Follow. The Music.

Last Week:
Last Tuesday, we discovered the awesomeness of Mr. Kumar our Bangla teacher. It was Teacher's Day, so some of the Korean students collected money and bought gifts and food for a class party. (Side note: Koreans are possibly the sweetest people ever. I have yet to meet one I don't like.) We sang Happy Teacher's Day instead of Happy Birthday, took a class picture, and talked about what we liked best about our class. Then, as we were discussing Mr. Kumar's excellent art skills - he's always drawing pretty pictures on the chalk board - we discovered that he also studied under one of India's best pantomime artists. Obviously, a demonstration was necessary. He did walking, stairs, smoking, drinking tea, and an impersonation of a thief climbing a rope, among others. He actually is pretty good. 

Today:
I very nearly witnessed a death while in an auto on the way home. After class, I went to the mall to get some dinner, and then got in an auto. Normally, the 5 minute trip to my house is uneventful. Today, however, the driver was impatient and mad at the world. He zoomed off at the first opportunity only to be forced to slow down by the inevitable traffic jam. The auto was stuck behind a taxi that was trying to turn, so the driver laid on his horn and did his best to get around it. But, he misjudged the distance between his auto and the taxi, and hit it. Thankfully, we were going pretty slow. We got by and proceeded to barrel down the road. Until, we came around a curve and an old man appeared in front of us. We came within inches of hitting him at quite a high speed. I'm not convinced the man would have died, but it would have done some damage for sure. Then, the auto driver stopped so he could engage in a shouting match with the man he nearly ran over due to his reckless driving. It was really irritating. If you're not going to apologize, just shut up and keep going. I was greatly relieved when I finally made it home in one piece and without witnessing anything traumatic.

Apparently, Tuesday is the day for strange things to happen to us. Only the first incident occurred on a different day.