Bonafide Citizen of Delhi

Delhi has been the melting pot of cultures for centuries now and in modern day India it remains the same. People from the entire country call it their home. We are the migrant workers of all variety who flock to this mega metropolis in search of work, opportunities and a little bit of history (you would know if you are a little like me). For me the history is the most intriguing part. The coexistence of so many cultures and cosmopolitan India makes it all very exciting, the monuments in all nooks and crannies adds to the city's flavor.

But modern day Delhi is just not exciting it is quite complex too in its functioning, but the best part is I have been able to find scores of new friends and old in this city I love. When we went off to Kolkata in 1982 due to Dad's transferable job there was no need to have something called the electoral card and anyway I was too young to hold one. So my first card was issued in Kolkata in due course. Ever since I got back here in 2000 I wanted to revise that to Delhi address but it went on to become a moving target. As it is being a working couple who hardly stay home made it difficult as we would always be away when they came to check and staying in a rented establishment made things worse as our addresses will keep changing. Last year in December the Election Commission got to the work of revising the rolls (thank heavens that they did consider it important after all to capture the information regarding all the people who are milling here every day). So one Sunday early morning they knocked our door and boy was I happy or was I happy to find him standing outside my door. Well you might think what is so great about that? But for me it was close to a dream come true as I take my citizenry responsibilities very seriously. The gentleman told us we will be notified soon when we need to send in our documents etc etc. Well six months passed and there was no sign of the illusive notification. In the meantime our landlord of 3 years wanted an exorbitant hike in rent so we served him notice and found ourselves a new home close by. As soon as we had moved out of the old address our next door neighbour informed us that the illusive electoral commission call had come but as we had moved on to a newer address they had not given the letter to them no matter ow much they argued. We were completely heart broken at this point, honestly speaking I was more heart broken than my other half.

But our dear neighbours were again the ones who had come to our rescue and I shall be ever grateful to them. Yesterday we suddenly had a call from yet another neighbour who actually was able to convince the informant that we are bonafide citizens of Vasant Kunj Constituency and have just moved couple of blocks away to Pocket B-3 and it will be great injustice if our notification was not handed over to him. So Sunday morning and afternoon turned out to be quite like the days when we use to fill up forms for our exams in duplicates and self attest on various documents and so on. But eventually after 3 and a half hours of getting various documents photocopied, new passport photos (incidentally Sanju is looking quite like a tired and fatigued fundamentalist, which in a way prompted him to have a great hair & beard cut immediately thereafter, I owe this one to the election commission ha ha) we were home with our receipts and all now we have to do is wait for 45 more days to get our bonafide citizen proofs of Delhi. It feels like 8 years of running a marathon for no fault of ours, anyway I hope the worst is over in this entire scheme of things of being or not being bonafide Indian!

Comments

Srobona RC said…
Hm....that story reminds me of all the running we did after the Voters Id cards. Even though my voters id card from Kolkata had my name spelled wrong and pronounced me a man, it had served its purpose for almost three years until I shifted to Hyderabad. Of course, this took another three years of waiting before someone finally turned up at our flat. Since my hubby was in UK by then, we gave one of his passpost photos and got ours taken. Now almost 7 months later, the cards finally have reached our house and I have been told that only my hubby looks decent in the cards thanks to the passport photo. Both me and my mom-in-law look like refugees from Somalia.
illusions said…
What I don't get is the fact that as a citizen of India if universal franchise is my birth right then why is it so difficult to get the same? Should it not be made easily achievable by just producing a few facts such as dob and place of residence at a designated place and expect a voters id card in less than 7 working days? What and how does this round about harrassing game help the cause of upholding one's citizenship I wonder. Now for whatever reason this time they seem to be taking it more seriously and are taking the trouble of actually finiding the people across Delhi...can't say its a great beginning, but let's look at it as at least its a beginning! Why should it be so illusive beats me!
Srobona RC said…
I remember a time where you had no existence without a ration card. My brother used to say (I am translating here as the original will be unprintable!) that we will need a ration card to go to the toilet!

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