Jai Maharashtra

The other day while discussing something related to tax and state of economy, my dad brought out and proudly flashed his new smart card license. I was happy to see that, finally, the Government of Maharashtra had decided to go global by issuing sleek plastic cards with a chip embedded inside. At that moment, I removed my driving license from the back zipper in my wallet and examined it. It was in a pretty bad shape. I owned the older book style version of a driving license which had almost come apart inside my wallet. I saw that it was held together by a thin string of plastic that I had used to wrap my license in. I realized that I must have removed it after more than a year. I don’t own a vehicle in Bangalore and thankfully I haven’t had to produce my license, to the kapus or Karnataka police, on the few occasions when I drove my friends’ bike.
One other thing I noticed was that the address registered on my license was the older address, which meant that my license could no longer be used as a permanent address proof, which I needed to provide to ‘Airtel’ back in Bangalore. It was very obvious than that I decided to have my address changed and also get a new license like my dads’.

So, the task I took up was not too strenuous. I just had to go to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) – Mumbai (East) situated in Wadala and file an application for a change of address and issue of a new driving license. But the horrors of my last visit there kept haunting me!!
I still remember that I had decided to do everything on my own. I asked around for details on the procedure that had to be followed, filled the form, got all necessary documents for proof and myself stood in line to get it checked. But I realized than that a horde of drivers who had come through some driving school and a local agent got preference over me in the line before the inspector who was in charge of verifying all documents. After a few hours, when my turn finally came, the inspector went through my document and asked me

Ins: “Ration Card kuthe aahe?” (where is the ration card?)
Me: “Majha kadhe nahi aahe” (I don’t have one)
Ins: “Asa nahi chalnar, thamb side la!!” (This won’t do, wait aside)

A constable standing near by approached me and after a small negotiation, I had to produce a Rs 50 note. Suddenly, my form was pushed back on top of the pile, signed by the inspector and sent for further processing. This is where I saw how a small note issued by the Government, took far more precedence over another document of national importance, also issued by the Government. It re-iterated the fact I had written about, a few blogs back “Democracy – The rule of people’s money”. My endeavor to have my address changed back than had taken me 2 whole days and a litre of precious fluids from my body.

I got back to thinking what all I would have to go through now. One important fact that had changed from my last visit was that I was now a ‘N.R.M’ which meant I didn’t have time on my hand to do all the running around.

OK…Here I need to introduce my definition of ‘N.R.M’ or ‘Non-Resident Mumbaikar’ – it refers to the group of individuals who hail from the great city, but have been living out of it for a few years now. Some of the properties common to all N.R.M’s is listed below:

1. He lives like guests in his own home – he needs his sister’s permission to enter his own room and sleep on his own bed.

2. He has to live out of his suitcase since, what was formerly his wardrobe is now full of his sister’s stuffed toys and spare clothes.

3. He lives like the President of India and enjoys special privileges from his mom. Privileges which cannot be availed by his sister and his father during his stay there.

4. He complains of the crowd in Mumbai trains and goes out and proudly boasts of the same fact.

5. He speaks broken Marathi and can’t help using the Mumbai lingo in the world outside – “Aye Ganpat…chal rasam la!!”

6. He complains to his friends saying “How do you guys bear this heat!!” after himself going through the same for 24 years of his life!!

Getting back to the blog… considering that I was now a N.R.M and didn’t want to go through the same hassle in R.T.O office, I was wondering what to do. That’s when my dad picked up his mobile and dialed a person who works as a manager in his friends company. That gentleman gave us the reference of a R.T.O inspector who used to sit at Wadala. On contacting this gentleman, we were told that he has now been transferred to Worli, he was however kind enough to give us the reference of another inspector who had recently been posted to Wadala. On contacting this new inspector, we were told to approach an agent with direct reference of the inspector in Worli……phewwww

The agent however was quite good. I explained him what I wanted to do. He informed me that the documents I had on me wouldn’t be enough, but told me not to worry. He produced two forms which I had to fill up. He took all the papers, made two senior inspectors sign and verify the document and filed it. The procedure to make the smart card would normally take 8 – 10 days, but I was told to call him in 3 days time and check on the status. Right on cue, my new license was ready in 3 days. I was even shocked when he told me that he wouldn’t charge me anything this time!! …………WOW

I spent only 'one eight' of my NRM time at the RTO office and didn’t need to spend an extra dime to have all my work done. I am not too proud of the fact that I had taken the easier route, but in the end what matters is that I am now the owner of a brand new smart card license with my latest address, a smart chip embedded inside that stores my left thumb impression and my criminal record (which surprisingly is still NIL) and my photo on the upper right corner which bears my face with a wry smile on what had just transpired. :)

JAI MAHARASHTRA!!!