A month ago I ended my article
feeling sanguine about my friend’s passport prospects. To recap for readers
with a weak memory and other readers who, to their great regret of course, missed
the article completely, my friend had, after three unsuccessful attempts to
submit his application for a fresh passport, finally collected all the required
documents, in the right format, texture and sequence. He now had to go back
online, submit a fresh application, seek a fresh appointment and pay up a fresh
`2,000.
“All the best,” I had said to him
on the phone and added a tennis analogy, as I often do in life’s crisis moments,
“Serve well and keep your eye on the ball.”
The good man followed my advice. He
went back to the passport office, having practised his serve and his forehand,
determined to win this tournament. When he saw that his previous nemesis had
been replaced with a new clerk at the desk, he took it was a positive sign that
he had been handed an easy draw. But, watching her as she pored over his
documents, he realized that this new player was a seasoned member of the
circuit. Soon she looked up and said, “This passport was issued in a different
city. You can’t renew in tatkaal!”
But it was a weak ball. Like Sampras at the net, my friend dispatched it
gleefully: “Doesn’t matter. Old clerk said it was okay. Also, the passport
instruction booklet carries no mention of this rule if I provide annexure F, which
I have.” She was flummoxed. Quietly, she proceeded to examine annexure F before
finally accepting defeat by handing the documents to him and asking him to get
them signed by the officer before coming come back to her for a token.
My friend then swiftly proceeded to
the officer as directed, confident but not complacent. He knew that a first
round victory is a far cry from winning the Wimbledon trophy and that this
officer was a top-ranked player, a veteran of the tour. So he handed the papers over to this champion,
who immediately began examining them closely – making a tick here and a mark
there. My friend waited, prancing on his toes, preparing for a strong service
to be fired at him.
