In the last week or so I have been dealing with some serious Indian bureaucracy. It goes something like this:
I wish I was here: Agonda Beach, Goa
Find out what documents you need for a specific purpose (in my case, registering with the local police commissioner because I have a student visa for yoga studies). Spend several days getting those documents, because it takes at least a whole day to get one single piece of paper, regardless of what that paper is. Take several photocopies of each document and proudly deliver your pile of papers to the office in question. Get told you have brought the wrong documents and/or there is a mistake in one of the papers, and you will have to bring lots of new ones. This could because 1) you didn’t understand what documents you should bring, 2) you were told to bring the wrong documents, 3) someone in another office gave you some wrong papers, or 4) because while you were chasing the papers you were told to bring in the first place, someone changed their mind about which papers you will need. Start all over again. Repeat several times over several days, or weeks.
Here are some tips for dealing with bureaucracy in India:
1. Never lose your temper, especially if dealing with the police or other officials. It’s not going to help. (However, it CAN help to lose your temper in a shop, a bank or any other less official place, if you are not getting served simply because you are a white girl without a husband to do things for you, and if everyone else at the counter is elbowing you into the ribs).
2. It helps to bring three photocopies of everything.
3. Many requirements may seem completely arbitrary. That is because very often they are.
4. Whenever visiting an office in India, for whatever purpose, bring a bottle of water, some snacks and a good book. Whatever it is, it will take a long time, and you are going to get very hungry and very bored.
5. It may help if you think about it as a learning experience. I now know how to buy an official stamp duty paper, how to create a rental agreement in India and how to get a document notarized.
6. Convince yourself that it will all work out in the end and you just need to be patient. It may not be true, but it helps in the process.
7. If it does not kill you, it will make you stronger.
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[...] Note: you will now need a “yoga visa” to study yoga in Mysore. Depending on your local embassy, this can mean a student visa or an entry visa. Depending on the length of your visa, you may also have to register with the local police commissioner when you arrive in Mysore. Short-term visas (less than 3 months) usually don’t require registration, unless they have been stamped with “registration required” by an over-enthusiastic official. The situation and the registration requirements (such as which documents you’ll need to register) change all the time, so get up to date advice when you arrive in Mysore. Read also my post about Dealing with Bureaucracy in India. [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Shanti Travel, James Ferguson. James Ferguson said: Dealing with Bureaucracy in India – http://cot.ag/b7H2mc – so frustrating, but so true in many countries! #travel [...]