I am writing this today after spending one whole day at the Mumbai University Campus, Kalina running from pillar to post under the reigns of a higly Bureaucratic structure, just to get a simple correction done on an official document! Also the need for that correction arose from an error of the University officials themselves! But unless you are someone famous or rich, you cannot really expect to bring forth any malpractises in any governmental system in India. The Constitution of India and the remedial measures it talks of,that common citizens of this country can avail of, are merely theoritical.
Point in case, I was mislead about the procedure on very first visit. I lost two months where i was just waiting for some letter to arrive at my residence. The letter never reachedits destination. I make a visit again. I am told that my application hit a dead end the day i submitted it because i filled the wrong form!! Then i am sent from one floor to another, one department to another, one person to another..trying to figure out what the right process would be and where i would find the right form! In the Big rusty offices on each floor, filled with the smell of old paper and whose lofts were stacked with millions of bundles( of answer sheets, forms,etc), i went from one official to another, all grumpy and bored (of i dont know what)!
I was told , in every room, that the previous person who guided me was the wrong person to ask! " This is not our department's job", "Go to room so and so and ask them", "Who sent you here?", And in every room i went " No we have no idea" was how i was greeted!
Imagine my plight! The desperation and the frustration, all combined!! The rooms were hot and stuffy and adding to that i was, apparently the only young female in that place who was dressed in jeans n shirt, ensured i got ample stares from all men there! I soon reached my melting point. I asked one man sitting in a room, who the Chief/head of the whole building was sitting! I said i want to meet him and complain to him about allhis employees and the state of affairs in that place! I dont know what went through his mind, but aftr a 2 second pause, he asked me what the matter was, thought and then told me what should be done! He was then joined by another good fella who, please NOTE, went on record to say that IT was sad the way the officials treated this issue and that inspite of it being the fault of University in first place, the behavior of officials was disgraceful! Thank God for him , it re-affirmed my faith in Goodness and humanity!
Then i followed what i was told by those God-sent angels but still i had to visit the next day to submit an application and now i am again awaiting a letter to arrive at my resisdence!
This experience made me think. About those who could be so blunt. About those who misguided me. About those who stared. About those who helped. And about me.
Point in case, I was mislead about the procedure on very first visit. I lost two months where i was just waiting for some letter to arrive at my residence. The letter never reachedits destination. I make a visit again. I am told that my application hit a dead end the day i submitted it because i filled the wrong form!! Then i am sent from one floor to another, one department to another, one person to another..trying to figure out what the right process would be and where i would find the right form! In the Big rusty offices on each floor, filled with the smell of old paper and whose lofts were stacked with millions of bundles( of answer sheets, forms,etc), i went from one official to another, all grumpy and bored (of i dont know what)!
I was told , in every room, that the previous person who guided me was the wrong person to ask! " This is not our department's job", "Go to room so and so and ask them", "Who sent you here?", And in every room i went " No we have no idea" was how i was greeted!
Imagine my plight! The desperation and the frustration, all combined!! The rooms were hot and stuffy and adding to that i was, apparently the only young female in that place who was dressed in jeans n shirt, ensured i got ample stares from all men there! I soon reached my melting point. I asked one man sitting in a room, who the Chief/head of the whole building was sitting! I said i want to meet him and complain to him about allhis employees and the state of affairs in that place! I dont know what went through his mind, but aftr a 2 second pause, he asked me what the matter was, thought and then told me what should be done! He was then joined by another good fella who, please NOTE, went on record to say that IT was sad the way the officials treated this issue and that inspite of it being the fault of University in first place, the behavior of officials was disgraceful! Thank God for him , it re-affirmed my faith in Goodness and humanity!
Then i followed what i was told by those God-sent angels but still i had to visit the next day to submit an application and now i am again awaiting a letter to arrive at my resisdence!
This experience made me think. About those who could be so blunt. About those who misguided me. About those who stared. About those who helped. And about me.