The bureaucratic structures are evident everywhere, sometimes literally. I am told you need 200+ signatures to complete a construction project, and you can't get them all before you begin. There are half built buildings on virtually every block. Sometimes construction halts for years. Eventually, the right rupee drops in the right place, the right signature is generated, and construction is finished in weeks.Other bureaucratic structures seem to have sprung from Kafka's nightmares directly. To get reimbursed for my travel expenses, I need a bank account. To get a bank account I need a PAN card (social security card). To get a PAN card I need proof of residence and to get proof of residence I need to register with the foreign office.
Registering with the foreign office meant standing in line for 2 hours to submit my application which consisted of two copies of 7 documents. After standing in line, I was "preprocessed" by an officer to be sure I had the right documents, and the documents were then stamped by a second officer. Finally I met the "head officer" only to be told that I didn't have the right documents. Fortunately, he could be persuaded to admit that I did have the right documents, grudgingly overlooking the fact that I didn't. He gave me his final stamp of approval. The end result of all this is that I received a ticket to come back that afternoon to have my documents processed. Trust me, it makes even less sense when you are actually doing it. It seems like no matter what I do, I keep ending up here:
When the place I am looking for is here:
Needless to say, I still don't have a bank account. Don't get me started on getting a cellphone. I had to go back 4 times, twice because my signature on two of the documents didn't match. In the end, they suggested that I place one document over the other, and trace the signature. Which I did, and in doing so invalidated the whole purpose of the signature. But, the bureaucro-saurus was satisfied.
-F. Seahorse
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