Education and Intelligence….

As the student of B.Tech C.S. I was told that in this industry people are sent abroad very frequently, so you must have a passport with you always. Now, I never was interested to go abroad thus I never care till the campus placement. I got campus placement in a very reputed organization providing services for banking domain in the mid of my final year in college. The company told me, while joining I will have to present my passport. So this time I had to apply for that and here comes the bad days……

I applied for it in January 2005 in Gaziabad. I live in Agra and from there only my education took place but while applying for passport I was told that I should go personally to submit my passport application in the zonal office Gaziabad otherwise the processing will never happen. So I went all the way from Agra to Gaziabad to submit my application and submitted it and I must say that was one of the most frustrating tasks to do but I thing passport department of India was determined to teach me a lesson and that was “Things can be worse”. After three months when I went to Passport office Gaziabad again to know the status (Believe me there was no other means to know that) I was told that the file has been sent to the Police Department of Agra for verification. Here starts my run where one department saying that the files has been sent to the other and other saying they have not received any. Finally after so many escalations in September, I found that my file was stuck there in Passport office. (thus I must congratulate them... they taught “the lesson” very successfully.) So after nine months the file was sent to Police department. Then the enquiry took place but by that time my job had started and I was posted in Mumbai. So they transferred the file to Mumbai. It took another two month.

Now I had to reapply for the Passport in Mumbai. The good thing was now I need not to give my Identity proof. After one month I got a summon stating that I disguise the information about my residence address So I will require to meet to the Public Relationship Officer (PRO) within 15 days or legal action will be taken against me. So one year had been past and instead of getting my passport I was being threaten for legal action. So I met the PRO and from here the blog title will make sense to the readers.(I know you must be wondering why the blog’s title is “Education and Intelligence….” The thing is this blog is not to crib about the system that we have in India or to the crib about Passport department working style. The thing is how people’s thinking gets changed with education. Which I realize after meeting this PRO and one other character.).
So I met the PRO.
PRO: what do you do?.
Me: As the Police reports say I work for a software company here in Mumbai.
PRO: Then you have to pay 5000 as penalty.
Me: why?
PRO: you disguise the information regarding your residential address.

Now that was annoying. I told him the whole story and told him “I have provided them information about my ‘born and brought up’ place and about ‘my first job location’ both and that much information is sufficient to write the whole ‘Janam Kundli’. Now Passport department can write my biography even. Then why can’t the passport be provided to me.

PRO: But at the present time you live in here in Mumbai while in application the residence is mentioned as Agra. Further you can afford that much money.
Me: But when I applied for passport I was in the same city and it is passport department who was making delays.
PRO: For that I can’t do any thing. I am here to serve the government not to question it.
Me: But if I have summoned to meet you then there must be a solution. Further you are “Public relationship officer”. Certainly ‘to maintain relation ship better with public’ is your job. There has to be a way. I shouldn’t be asked to pay for the mistake that department did.
PRO: But you can afford this money easily.
And that was it. I just understood that this guy belongs to that great Robin Hood family who thinks it is there right to rob those who have money. After all “they can afford it”.

I tried to convince him by many ways and the PRO went ruder and ruder. Finally I had to pay the ‘fine’. I was really annoyed now. I was not ready to accept that I paid to a department for the same department’s mistake and I paid just because through out my life I worked hard. I got good grades in my school. I spent more time in computer lab to get finest skills during my graduation. I got job through a very tough competition. Yet after all this hard work instead of rewards I was fined. Just because some one else did not do his work properly.

Frustrated and irritated I came out of the passport office went to Andheri where my office was, took an half day leave and then started for my place. Now on that day “auto drivers” were on strike. I was really upset and then I spotted one auto.

“Kandivali” I barked.

Sure…… The auto driver told and here we go.

Auto Driver: Sahab you work in that big building.
Me: Yeah…
Auto Driver: Do you belong to Mumbai.
Now I was already upset and this guy was enquiring about the same thing that was making me upset but anyways I always take a lot of care when I talk to any subordinate or a person below my social status. In my opinion one should not hurt such a person in any circumstances. So I half heartly answered “No, I belong to Agra UP.”

Thanks to our great politician and media, people from UP and Bihar are hate able ‘bhaiyas’ for ‘Mumbaikars’. So I expected the conversation will stop now by making that fact clear that I belong to species called ‘bhaiyas’.
But to my disappointment it did not happen. This guy was different.
Auto Driver: Ohh.. that is far.
Me: Hmmmmm
Auto Driver: alone?
Me: Yeah
Auto Driver: That’s pity. You must have studied hard, you must have worked hard, Now you have to come here in this city leaving you family there in Agra only.

I thought “yeah, and above it pay fine for all the hard work to some idiot Robin Hood follower”

Auto Driver: (With Some hesitation) How did you reach here? I mean what sort of course did you appear for?

Now this person was sounding interesting. I stated an NGO named “Srajan” in my college days which used to work for financially and socially backward people. The biggest challenge in that I faced was the lack of zeal of those people to come out of that. This guy was showing that zeal. Certainly his statement caught my interest in conversation.

Me: I did B.Tech. After Matriculation a person can do that. He must have Science and Mathematics as the subject in Matriculation. By the way why are you asking that? (Now it was my turn for questions)

Auto Driver: Nahi…just like that..
Me: I don’t think so there must be some reason. Do you have some relative who is just of my age or something.
Auto Driver: No, Actually My son is in sixth standard and I am worried about his future. I tried to study during my childhood but could not do it. Lack of resources and lack of awareness pushed me out of study but I want my son to study and get a good job.

I was impressed and even more interested now.
Me: Take my word he will go even further then me if you keep on supporting him like this.
Auto Driver: Hmmm
I was disappointed by this answer now. I wanted to keep this conversation going, I wanted to know what’s going on in his mind.
Me: How many children do you have?
Auto Driver: I am blessed with two sons.
Me: ok. How old is your second son.
Auto Driver: He is in Second standard.
Me: Is your elder son doing well in his class. I mean, is he getting good marks and grades?
Auto Driver: Ya, leaving English. He was bit weak in English and Mathematics. Now I knew that these are important subjects so I got the tutor for that. In mathematics he has improved but with English he finds it very difficult to cope with.

Now I was really impressed that not only this buy sent his children into school and cared about their study he got a tutor for them also. During my work with “Srajan” I saw fathers not caring about their children. They didn’t bother to send them school or they never checked whether their son is attending the class regularly or not. Their lack of zeal to come out of that backwardness was the biggest obstacle in their growth. And here I was sitting with a person with a Giant’s heart. So with some hesitation I proposed

“You can send him to me. I will teach him if you want.”

I knew that will be difficult for me. I worked for a service based software company and my work timing were not fixed. After long office hour to get some time for that kid would have been difficult but I would have been really unfair to my self if I did not made that offer. Through out my tenure with “Srajan” I felt that lack of zeal is the biggest obstacle in the goal of the NGO and now I was having a person full of that zeal. So I made that offer. I was careful not to be too generous with him. I could tell him “I can come to teach him if you want.” But I did not. I knew if anything people get too easily they don’t care about it.


Auto Driver: That is very nice of you but I don’t want the other tutor. That one is fine. The problem is my Son says “I don’t understand anything in English.” Tomorrow, it is his exam for English literature and he will get enough marks but the thing is he just does not understand anything in the subject. My second son is in an English Medium school and there I saw the teaching pattern is better there. He understands the things. He has no problem with English but my elder son does have that.

Me: Ok, I will help him in that too. I also studied from an Hindi medium school and I also used to find English as the most difficult subject but I coped up with that through bit of guidance and hard work. I am sure your son will be able to cope up with this too. Just ask him to read some thing loudly from an English news paper daily and send him to me regularly. Infect you don’t need to give him news paper I will give that to him but send him to me regularly.

Auto Driver: Sir, I live far away in suburbs of Mumbai and it is not possible for either me or you to come daily there. On Sundays we can manage that but my point is when I am already having a tutor for him and he is good then why to bother you. I just want the guidance from you. I am looking for the path you followed so that my son can traced it. Further whenever the need will be there certainly I will bring him to you. I am really obliged for your offer ..Sir….

(He brought his son only twice-thrice to me. His son was sharp and was slowly but surely improving. His biggest problem was the lack of environment but still I saw him improving in English and growing in confidence.)

And by that time we have reached to my place. I asked him to stop near by a bench in front of the apartment I live. The ambience around that apartment is very posh and the meter was showing 130 rs. I knew that this was much more then it should be. (It should have been round about 100). Though I was not supporting his this way of earning money I decided not to question him about that false meter and gave him 130 rs. He told me “Sir, you should pay me 100 only. You are a nice person 100 is good enough.” I told him “ It doesn’t matter. If meter says 130 I will pay that much only.” He told me “Sir, You came here from Agra. You must have fight against a lot of odds. You deserve not to be cheated. It is your hard earned money and I just can’t accept more then hundred.” I told him “Take it. Other wise I will waste it in Drinking” (By the way I am a teetotaler….well almost) . But I found him to be too stubborn. He went away 100 rs only.

He went away but I was more puzzled now. His words “You must have fought against a lot of odds. You deserve not to be cheated. It is your hard earned money and I just can’t accept more then hundred” were echoing in my ears. And the other sound that was echoing in my ears was of that PRO’s voice saying “But you can afford this money easily.” I was not able to understand how come a very little educated auto driver and that highly educated PRO were so different. Sitting there on bench in front of my apartment puzzled I saw a really pretty girl dressed in a way you find girls dressed in posh areas and my eyes went ‘there’ on her T-shirt.. No, No you are getting me wrong…it was not that underneath her T-shirt, that caught my attention instead it was the slogan written on her T-shirt just ‘there’ which was making me stare ‘there’. The slogan was

“I was Born Intelligent
Education ruined me!!!’