India bureau day

India bureau day
5th July, 2011

Wow, I am the VISA Queen!

Today was supposed to be a shopping day. However, for me, it was an Indian bureau experiencing day which became the start of my adventure to VISA Queen.

Because my Indian VISA will expire on July 27th, in order to be able to board on the fight on 30th, I need a three-day extension of my current VISA.

Don, the young guide and me departed at nine this morning, and left for the Ministry of Home Affairs as instructed by the officer in the FRRO which I visited yesterday. Got the number, waited for nearly 45 minutes, then we were able to get into the VFO. My number was 55, and the office should have started working at 9:30. But when we got to the office in the second floor, there was no one behind the front desk. Everybody was waiting without looking for the officer. Maybe Indians believe there is no need to rush when there is always a way to resolve problems? So they were just waiting. Don did the asking, and then an old Indian woman came in. Everybody rushed to the desk and tried to get closer to the woman. No queue at all. Another live scene reminded me of the terrible Indian traffic. However, this time I was seated high and isolated with the traffic in a bus – there was no distance between me and other people. They were pushing me. Hey, if you value your time, why nobody asked for an officer? Well, sometimes it was hard to understand Indian for me. Again, I felt the paradoxical nature of Indian culture.

After I finished the form, I returned it to the lady, and it was sent to the officer to check. It was so terrible to wait for hours in a room without A/C, with all windows closed, and crowded with people sweating all the time. And nothing to do except talking - it was great that Don was there, sharing his interesting stories with me in that sauna-like office. Well, I should not devalue the sauna with this as the office was filled with a terrible smell.

It seemed for Chinese citizen the situation is somewhat complicated. I had prepared for that but I didn't realize that the situation was even worse for me until I was interviewed. On my VISA, it writes "non extendable, non changeable" which seemed going to ruin my day and the trip. Fortunately, I was so lucky to have a nice officer who made a special case for me and I was able to get the order. And even better, he made it possible for me to make the processing possible within one day rather than an average of 2 to 3 days.

Then I went back to the FFRO and got the stamp there for the extension. Besides the waiting, another interesting thing was the bribe. Last semester in Dr. La Ferle's class we were talking about the tradition in India that certain kind of bribe is acceptable and is a norm. Now I got the great chance to get the first-hand experience! Today there were two officers asked the guide for some money, so that I could get through or get my stamp without much waiting. But unfortunately for the officer in the FRRO, when he tried to find the guide, the guide was out. So he was not able to get the "compensatory" he was supposed to have. Poor man.

Well, then I came up with the weird idea that bribe is also the reflection of Indians’ belief that there is always a way – bribe is just another path for Indians to get things done and they acquiesce the legitimacy of it. Is that a unique aspect embedded in Indian democracy as it was not mandatory but you have the right to choose to pay extra? I do not know. But it is admitted as the Indian way.

About four in the afternoon, I got my first VISA problem solved. Luckily, I did it without paying extra fees. Enjoyed the bureau India, witnessed the bribe-asking norm, and finally got the best result. What a day!

Without our young cute guide, it was impossible. How important to have somebody knowledgeable about that culture! That further proved a principle mentioned in the ethnography book that the perspective from a native is quite necessary as outsiders are usually culture-blind to most issues.

At last, special thanks to lovely Don! Thank you so much for making me such a lucky girl!