india

I’ve been to the German Bakery with old friends many times over the course of my time in Pune. I haven’t been there recently but I drive past it virtually every day. Yesterday terrorists planted a bomb there and it killed (at last count) 8 people, and injured several more. So, this is terrorism close to home. Reactions from the social networks (which always have the drama dialed up a couple of notches) are along the lines of “I can’t believe this would happen in my city” or “The cops failed miserably”.

Really? This is the reality of living in the world today. While you’re not so likely to be killed by, oh I don’t know, the Bubonic Plague, you could be attacked by a terrorist. If you expect the police to catch every terror plot that some sick mind dreams up, you would live in a police state. You would lose the freedoms you hold dear and the same people clamoring for the police to do more would be the ones screaming that they have too much power. The balance between security and freedom is precarious and swings both ways. I think we (India) do a pretty good job of balancing those two ideals. The cops were there quickly and seem to be far better prepared than we give them credit for. The government has moved swiftly and clearly the lessons of the Taj have not been forgotten. I call that progress.

Any place in the world worth living in is a place worth targeting. The reason these places are worth living in is because they value an individual’s freedoms. Removing those freedoms makes the people sad and hands victory to the terrorists.

The other prevalent sentiment in everything I have read on the TwitBook (or Faceter, if you prefer) is one of helplessness. “Is there anything we can do besides post empty words on social networks?”. Yeah, you could go out and celebrate Valentine’s Day. If you genuinely want to help defeat terror and terrorism the answer is simple. Don’t get terrorized. For a terrorist to succeed, he must deliver terror. If you don’t get scared he is impotent. By being afraid we are all willing contributors to terrorism.

The likelihood of dying (especially in Pune) from a road accident is several orders of magnitude higher than getting blown up by a bomb. One could even argue that a few bus drivers have malicious intent. Yet we don’t call them terrorists, because we don’t get terrorized. The unfortunate truth is that if you’re unlucky enough to be there when this sort of thing happens, you will die. Is your need for safety greater than your need to enjoy your life?

A life you don’t live is still lost.

I recently attended the first show of Them Clones’ promo tour for the launch of their debut CD. The band have a bunch of great songs that they’ve been massaging carefully for a very long time. The result is a polished set of tracks and a really strong and tight live show. Everything went great at the Hard Rock, Pune and I have a feeling the show would have continued for at least another hour if it wasn’t for the ridiculous 11pm closing time imposed by the Maharashtra government.

After the show was wrapped I overheard a guy complaining to the bartender. Let me break it down for you. This guy is the quintessential (read cliché) Indian rocker, complete with a goatee, long hair, Sepultura t-shirt, dirty jeans, the works. His rant is probably painfully familiar to the band members (and managers) of any Indian rock band.

It went something like this (I’m paraphrasing because I was several beers in at this point): “What was that shit, man? How can I get into the music when I don’t know any of the songs? When they play big places like this they should only play covers”. That statement right there encapsulates everything that is wrong with your average Indian “Rock Fan”.

Our asshat at the bar there showed up for a free show, promoting an album and expected to hear covers. He has no respect for artists trying to create instead of regurgitate. He has no feeling of pride or ownership for local talent. He has no concept of the fundamental building blocks of good rock and roll: A band cannot survive, let alone grow, without its fans (even if it’s your 2 friends from school).

In any part of the world where great rock music happens it begins with the local fans: The small core audience that cheers, adores and provides sexual favors and drugs to the aspiring rock Gods. That entire culture is missing completely in the Indian rock scene from what I can tell. Until that happens bands will become great despite being from India rather than because they’re from India.

Much to my surprise the Indian Passport Office has been completely overhauled. Application forms are filled out online, appointments handed out from the web site (15 minute time increments with a specific date), PDF printouts with most of the fields filled in, it’s all very organized. Until you get there. And then you figure out a couple of things that they really should have made plain on the site. This post is really just a reminder for me so I don’t screw up next time around. Maybe it will help some poor soul and save them some time in a queue. 

First things first, while filling out the form you will find them constantly referring to the Passport Information Booklet. This hallowed tome is in fact available on the Indian Passport website but is cleverly disguised as Passport Rules rather than Passport Information Booklet. Download it here. Bear in mind that it is in fact ~30 megabytes. This is because it is just a scanned version of the real handbook. If anyone has an OCR’ed version of this I’d love to have a copy.

The PDF will tell you what documents you need in excruciating detail. It also has a bunch of annexures at the end that will need to be used depending on the type of passport service needed. For instance, I had to use Annexure ‘H’ to get a passport for my kid. So, hopefully you’ve rounded up the relevant documents and are ready to fill up the form. Here is the checklist when filling it up:

1. Fill up ALL fields. Don’t leave anything empty, if it doesn’t apply write “N/A”. The Information Booklet refers to fields as columns. Go figure.
2. Make sure you have 3 copies of all documents you’re submitting. The way I think this works is 2 copies is enough unless you have lived in more than one place in the last year. You need to add one more set for each place you stayed in. Better to take 3 copies just in case and add an additional copy for every place you stayed at. 
3. Make sure you have originals of all documents you’re submitting. They won’t take them but you need to show them at the counter.
4. If you have lived in more than one place in the last year you have to provide 2 Personal Particulars forms for each place you stayed at.
5. Don’t forget to sign the photo you stick on every Personal Particulars form.

And the checklist for when you’re at the passport office:

1. Make sure you’re in the right line. Sometimes the cop at the entrance makes a mistake. There are different lines (at the Pune Office at least) for Fresh Passports, Renewals, Minors, Government Officials and Senior Citizens. The list of people/services the line handles are stuck on the glass at the counter. Go read it and ensure you’re at the right window. 
2. If you travel a lot pick up the Jumbo Passport. It has 60 pages instead of 36 and costs Rs. 500 more. I still had 4 years to go on my passport but ran out of pages and needed a new one. Tell the guy at the counter you want a Jumbo so he files it correctly. I crossed out the amount mentioned at the top of the PDF (Rs. 1000) and wrote Rs. 1500 in it’s place. 
3. Make sure you have exact change for the passport payment. Don’t bother with a Demand Draft, they take Cash over the counter just as happily. 

That’s all I can think of. Hopefully I won’t have to go back there for another 10 years.