How to get a passport in Mumbai - Tatkal

Note: Please consider watching this movie called "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" as I am sure most of you who have landed on this site have been in some kind of an out of the box situation and will connect with my agony I had to go through to get a passport.

Hi,

Its been a while (1.5 years approx) that I have received my passport. But I still hallucinate a mail from the passport office insisting me to surrender my passport. Well am not a pessimistic guy but certainly my personality has changed after encountering those tough situations I faced to get my passport.

The reason why I suggest to watch the movie mentioned above is that I consider my case to be the most fu*ked up case in the entire history of Indian Passport. The silver lining is that I still got my passport!!
So don't worry.... Just go with the Flow!!.....

There are 5 documents which are essential to apply for a Tatkal passport in Mumbai; Proof of Birth, Proof of Address, Verification Certificate, Degree Certificate, Notary of all these documents.

• Proof of Birth: If you are born after 26th Jan 1989 then it becomes mandatory to produce a birth certificate issued by the Municipal Corporation of the area in which you were born. If you are born before then a school leaving certificate will do. Please take special care to ensure that your name, your parents name is correctly mentioned in these documents as passport authority makes no compromise with them when its a case of Tatkal passport. If at all you find some spelling mistakes then please do get it corrected.
  My Story: Unfortunately I was born after 26th Jan 1989 and I did not have a birth certificate. So I went to the Municipal corporation of my ward and applied for one. But they gave me a birth certificate in which my mother's pre-marriage name was mentioned and there was a spelling mistake in my dad's name. These unfortunate things happened because the municipal authority exactly copies the data which is there in their records which in my case was already semi-correct. So I was shown the doors when I went with these documents to the passport office. Hence I went to the Municipal office again to get it corrected. They asked me to get my parents' marriage certificate to change my mother's name to the current one and my dad's PAN card etc to correct the spelling mistake. I did not have the marriage certificate either so I had to ask my parents back in Karnataka to make one. It took another 3 months. Finally after receiving the marriage certificate I got the corrected Birth Certificate.
• Proof of address: Its mentioned very clearly on the passport website with notes at the bottom of the list. You can check that out here: Address Proofs. If you have stayed at more that one location in the past one year the address proofs of ALL those locations will be required with the dates establishing the period of stay.
  My Story: Unfortunately I had stayed in 3 different locations in Mumbai in that one year. I got all the bank statements of ICICI bank which clearly stated that I have stayed at a particular address from so and so date. I also got a letter from my company stating the address with dates.
  Note: Nowadays passport authority doesn't accept even bank statements from private banks. They have given a list of banks whose statements can be accepted as address proofs. Police verification will be done at all the addresses. Please take time to read the notes given at the end of the list of address proofs in passport website and make sure you don't fall prey to any of the clauses.
• Verification Certificate (VC): This is the crux of your Passport story. Though there is an option in the passport website that either a verification certificate or 3 more documents will be required but Mumbai passport office straightaway refutes the 2nd option. When you argue with them they will show you the clause at the bottom of the screen written in small letters; "The information provided above is indicative. The decision of APO/RPO shall be considered final." Verification certificate can be obtained from someone who holds a good position in the Govt dept. For eg General Manager of a Public Sector Undertaking, Commissioner of Police etc etc. There is a list of people whom you can approach. Check this out: Annexure F
  Once you get a person who agrees to give you a VC please take utmost care about the following points:

• You will need 2 Original copies. 1 copy won't be accepted.
• Make sure the VC on the Letter Head of the person's company. Usually they will have their own letter heads with the company logo and their name on it. That will be perfect.
• Signature and seal should be in such a way that it is crossed on your photo. I have heard people getting rejected on as silly as a reason as that.
• Again, if you have resided in more than one address in past one year then mention all with dates.
• Mobile no of the person on the certificate is a must as passport officials call the person before even letting you to the 1st counter. They will ask details about you from that person, so keep him/her informed about your details like education, present work etc etc.
• Xerox and attested copy of his/her Id proof. 

My Story: I went with 3 additional documents as mentioned in the site and I was simply shown the door. When I argued they showed me the clause "The decision of APO/RPO shall be considered final". With great difficulty I got this verification certificate. Thankfully one of my department heads was considerate and chose to help me. When I went to the passport office with the verification certificate, the lady at the counter took it and went inside. She asked me to wait. After half an hour she came saying that the person who has given me the verification certificate has not picked up their call. I was asked to come again on a time when he can be available to pick calls. I called this guy and we decided on a specific time when he would be available. I took an appointment for that appropriate time and my ob was done.  

•  Degree Certificate: If you are a matriculate or above then you will be eligible for ECNR status. This means emigration check not required. Whenever you move out of the country the authorities don't put under much scrutiny since you are an educated person. Proof of your latest education is what is really required. 

• Notary of all these documents: Go to a notary agent (its usually an advocate doing this job) and get a notary on a stamp paper. The notary document consist of your details and make sure that exactly matches with the documents you have provided (even spellings).

I took a total of 5 attempts to get my passport, the last two being Tatkal. Once my application was accepted by the reception counter then it just took 15 mins to clear the 3 main counters (A,B and C). I got my passport within 2 days.

After all this, the next step is police verification. In my case there were 3 police verifications to be done since I stayed in 3 different addresses. The police will again check all your documents which you have submitted to the passport office. If you stay in a rented house the police asks for a rent agreement and an NOC certificate from the owner of the house.

My story: Police from my first place of stay cleared my file quickly as I used to stay in my company hostel and the hostel warden knew the police well. I did not get any call from the police of my second place of stay. Police from my third and current place of stay asked for a NOC which I did not have. They did clear the file though with some comments on it. When I checked out in the helpline they said the police has sent my file to passport office but with some comments and I may have to visit the regional passport office in Worli to clear it. So far I have not gone to the regional passport office in Worli but I might get a call from them asking for clarifications. In the mean time I am trying to put all my addresses in line.

Caution: Please strictly apply passport from your current place of stay and not from your permanent residence. One of my friends applied from Bhopal (his permanent home) while he had already shifted to Mumbai. Poor chap roamed around the world till after 1.5 years of getting passport he got a mail from passport office Bhopal to submit his passport. He had to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 and his file was closed. He is now applying again, this time from Mumbai.

A Passing Thought: My Handkerchief!

“Best read when served with a bit of cough and cold”

Imagine giving a presentation in an important meeting and suddenly A..A..A..A……AACCCHHUUUUUUUU. excuse me. snooooorrrpppp. snoooorrrpppp.

Whats the 1^st thing that strikes your mind? Your boss? Of course not. That square insignificant piece of cloth comes out as a sigh of great relief and is quickly smuggled back into the pocket.

Newspaper supplements are filled with hot recipes, sweaters and jackets are a business. Welcome 2012 ,welcome winters. My motivation to write this article comes from another very insignificant incident which happened to me last night. I was at my Uncle's house with this Dam like nostrils trying their shear best to contain the “fluid” behind them, and keep me sober and civilized. But alas they gave up in the midst of the night making me fumble for a rescue from this embarrassment. And yes this “insignificantly small” piece took all my dirt with its own insignificant humble way.

Our life fiddles around with some of the greatest and most important things. Skipping a meal or two is not a boo, as it shows how busy we are in our own little world. Owning a smart phone with funky apps is now a show business. And the terms like “fulltoo masti” have become part of youth dictionary. And why not! We have been programmed to perform anytime and anywhere. In this ever-changing and blitzkrieg scenario we have forgot to observe. Ever had a look at the waiter when you visit a restaurant? Of course we will, when he spills the curry on to us! We expect a great ambiance, we expect the food to be delivered fresh and quickly, we even expect the delicacies to be served well as if we have a moral right to be. A rational guy will say thats all fine as its a part of the job and so true, we reward him with a tip. But we never say thanks with a little smile. Maybe we are ashamed of our own modesty. Nevertheless we come across so many such “insignificant” creatures in our day-to-day life but we seldom acknowledge them for their virtues. Its not because we are loosing mankind, rather we are busy and engrossed in our important activities. 

A Humble Request: Next time when you come across such characters, please do give a concern, as it just takes a little heart and nothing else. 

After all, its not just a piece of cloth.

Happy New Year:-)

My Autograph: a movie review

Disclaimer/caution: firstly its a kannada movie so i guess many will retard after reading this phrase (kinda optimizing your time u know:-)).......secondly am a semi-literate/illiterate in kannada and i dint get the opportunity to watch this movie with subtitles (so pls don't blame me if the review goes obsolete:-?)....

its a story about a person called shankar.....starts with a flashback of him narrating his experiences in life in the  past (basically his love life:-)) before "finally" getting married (the girl being kept as a suspense).....the movie is based on his chemistry with 3 characters......the 1st one is a girl named Kamli who is his classmate.....shankar develops an infatuation with this girl but gets hammered by her dad and eventually she gets married to some other guy (a usual one....not a big deal right:-/).....life goes on and he lands up in kerala.....there he finds his 2nd love Lat"h"ika (i wont call it infatuation this time:-))....the actor nicely adapts himself with his new destination and the drama goes well with some hilarious moments thanks to his struggle with a new language in "god's own country".....amidst this he "unintentionally" conveys his feelings to lathika who plays around a bit but finally falls in pit (love is blind....dumb and deaf as well).....tragedy strikes again, with the local "well wishers" of the girl blasting the hero and his family.....he then decides to leave this business and goes to bangalore (strange:-??).....but, the two anecdotes keep rumbling in his mind until he meets the third character Divya(serendipity:-))....this girl settles him with a job and things go as expected.....bad luck seems to be in symbiosis with shankar as Divya seals their relationship with a mark of friendship forever.....poor guy!
finally the story ends in an unconventional way with shankar getting married to a "guest appearance".....

my views:

• i felt the story was quite unique:-)

• hats off to the writer for intricately dealing with the concept of relationships and due credits to the director and actors for playing their part well...
• i express my sincere gratitude to the directors for adequately filtering those silly "one-to-many" fighting scenes:-)
• a must watch for all those heart-broken Devdases:-/

Bombay rains Bombay girls!

just finished reading this book.......and it has got close to my heart:-)
the story starts with "shy" Adi joining his 1st yr medicine in Bombay.....first half of the book sees a monotonous series of events of a fresher starting with his college life.....ragging, girls, trouble with teachers, hangouts, exams, casual and serious chat with friends about just anything etc etc etc....but hats off to the writer who plays with words beautifully (a good book to learn good English) and this makes the reader curiously glued to the book to hunt for the future happenings and gets duly rewarded  for it in the second half.......he makes few good friends interesting one of them being Pheru who screws up his pharmacology exams every time and looks completely lost in his life:-(.....the rose day adds special glamor to the first half......Adi dedicates a rose to a "Bombay girl" Renuka only finding him in personal jeopardy:-(... in return he gets a white:-( (which means a friend just close to a stranger)....this marks a series of confusive thoughts both in Adi's mind and in the reader's as well. Renuka interestingly mingles and jingles with Adi's thoughts for quiet some time...slowly things fall in place and he finds his real love i.e Isha....the second half starts with a few romantic and thoughtful moments mostly in the Cama hospital....they two actually get to spend time with each other (alone) thanks to the strike laid down by the resident doctors there:-)....and in the "car" where the chemistry begins!....as the intensity of feelings grows the author cleverly diverts the story giving it a new direction wherein Toshi, a young friend of Adi from Nagaland, dies in an unfortunate plane crash:-(....Adi again finds himself in dilemma between exploring and strengthening his newly "born" relationship with Isha or to go to Toshi's hometown for his funeral finally the latter winning the bet.....but Isha understands it "understandably" well:-)....a long and hectic journey starts, leaving Adi and his friends humble-fumble....the journey throws some light on the plight of "poor" Indian Railways while Adi still in deep thoughts writing some quick letters here and there to his beloved......after the final rites of Toshi the author again quickly turns back and packs up with a silly gamble which proves a chance for Pheru to "finally" clear his 2nd MB......meanwhile Adi finds Isha's love when he opens the envelop given to him while leaving.....happy ending as it seemed, the author has nicely portrayed the life of a doctor, life of a student, life in Bombay!

my personal opinion:
i liked the artistic bunch of words extensively used by the author and a good knack of beautifully describing every bit so well......i imagined the story with good clarity.....on the whole a good "love" story:-)
Great Done Anirban!