a random Wednesday
I woke up today feeling annoyed.
Not because it was only the middle of the week or because I was woken to consciousness by a single ray of sunlight that had found its way through a sliver of gap between the two halves of my dark purple curtain. The heat from that one ray hit my face with such passion that I wondered whether it was the Gods cursing me for soundlessly sleeping till nine o’clock. But that wasn’t the reason for my annoyance. What annoyed me from the moment I blinked my eyes open and cursed the Gods for the miracle that was the sun was the simple realization that I had to go to the Department of Passport today.
There comes a time in every person’s life, once every ten years when they have to maneuver the administrative hurdle of renewing their passports. I was in the middle of that hurdle, bouncing along the unevenness of the path and being pushed by my parents to do it quickly, lest I suffer later. So, I had submitted my documents already a few days ago, I just had to go collect my new passport. Sorry, scratch that, my new “e-passport”. I wonder what the “e” in “e-passport” truly means. It’s definitely not electronic as the prefix would generally suggest because nothing in the entire administrative process is actually electronic. Fine, you fill the form online and the automatic bot gives you a date and a time to visit the office. But what happens when you reach the office at the mandated date and time? You mill in front of the newly-built gate of the newly-built building as a few sub-inspectors from Nepal Police open one quarter of the big gate and ask the people to show their printed application form so that you enter the premises for the reasons related to the word ‘passport’ and not for anything else. I wonder if such selected admission is really necessary. I wonder who thinks, ‘Let’s go hang out at the Department of Passport today!’ or ask someone ‘Do you want to go on a date? I know the perfect place. It’s the Department of Passport.’
I wasn’t on a date, as much as I wanted to, but somehow with the people around me, men and women, old and young, who wanted to enter the premises as much as I did, it felt like I was on a date. The girl standing beside me feathered soft touches across the back of my hands as she leaned closer to me and whispered in my ears, ‘Is this where you come to make the passport?’ The man behind me pushed against my back and I thought to myself, ‘This is too close for a first date.’ But that didn’t last long because a second later the blue gate opened wide and I was pushed to its other side against my will. My black helmet that I had kept close to my body for protection from strangers hit two innocent bystanders.
Half an hour later, I walked out of the building, the purpose of my visit unfulfilled, my work undone. My annoyance reached its apex and I drove my scooter angrily, stopping at Java for an Iced Americano that seemed to freeze my brain and to feel a mild but constant state of annoyance. I’m sure the annoyance would fade away in a couple of hours if I consume one or four cups of coffee. But the gridlock of the administrative system of this country will persist for a while. And there’ll be more stories on the news and otherwise of people showing their frustration and playing Ludo while standing restlessly on the long queues trying to circumvent that frustration. But there’ll also be more stories of people finding other people amidst those long queues and crowds, of the joy of hearing your name being called to finally come forward and fetch your passport. And the smile on your friends’ faces, who were only strangers a couple of hours ago that you get to go home now. Yes, annoyance is a consequence of such a deadlock, but so is optimism.