Where are you..????

Where are you..????

If you’re living in India and you’ve inherited the habit of shifting your home sweet (?) home very often, you might have tackled this question to death. Do you have an address proof..??? Well, I can sense what most of the techno geeks would have imagined when I said address… But No…. I’m not talking about IP address..!!! It’s the residential address that I’m talking about. It’s a tragic irony that, in India, one can get your IP address more easily than your residential address. Kudos to India’s IT uprising..!!!!

You are almost nonexistent, if you do not have an address proof, in your name. You want a new SIM card, wanna buy a car/bike or open a bank account, or want to join driving school or least you travel in train, you need address proof. There are plenty of documents which you can use as address proof. Passport, Driving License, Voters card and any other Identity card issued to you by the government. I had all of them..!!! But the real twist in the tale began when I changed my residence. Read on.

It didn’t take much time to learn that to get my address changed, I need a proof. I first went to the Transport Department thinking it’s easy to get my Driving license details changed. But they said they wanted a proof that you’re living in current address. Oh man..!!! They seem to have forgotten that we cannot have a proof until they issue one.. What a Paradox..??

And getting my voters card changed was almost impossible because there were no elections at that time. (FYI, Election commission works only when there is an electionJ). Dejected, I went back to the transport department with one of my home phone bill I had. But again, my application was rejected. I almost fainted for the “compelling” reason they gave me this time. Since the phone was in my Dad’s name, they politely requested me to get a proof to say that the person on this bill is your “DAD”…!!!!!!

I had one last chance. The Big daddy of all the Identities. My Passport. But this time I did my home work properly. I checked over the internet for all the possible proofs that I could give them. Bank’s credit statement was one among them. This became my silver lining. Bank agreed to change my address in their database if I got an address change letter from my employer. This is the only proof I got without much efforts. BIG thanks to Accenture..!!!

I had to take an appointment online and wait for my turn to come. I eagerly waited for my “First Date” with the passport authority. The date arrived and I submitted my request. I reached home thinking I’m a legally certified resident of my HOME..!!! Yippieeeeee. I wanted to tell the world I have an address proof. I wanted to post it on Facebook..!!!

I came home with a huge, enormous grin on my face. With a great deal of enthusiasm, I stepped into dad’s room to tell what happened. No sooner had I opened my mouth to tell “Dad I got my addr…..” than I heard my dad say “Son, we are shifting to our own HOUSE, next week. Start packing your stuff…!!!!!

Needless to say, the rest is history.. !!!J J J. Well, every experience is a lesson and every loss is a gain. This is when it occurred to me

“Sometimes it’s more important to know where you are than who you are”