Narrative writing about a story someone else told me

Khush Munshi

English 100-015

Sept. 26, 2022

Longer Writing Pt. 6: Developing the interpretation

It was my third, technically second attempt to get my passport renewed on time before the US Student Visa slots were full. Renewing one’s passport is one of the simplest and easiest tasks for a person. My luck was so bad that it took me nearly 2 months to get it renewed. I had to visit the passport office three times for it. Technically only twice because the first time I went to the passport office, I read the appointment date as 13th April while it was 13th May. Standing outside the passport office realizing that it was 13th May instead of 13th April made me regret my existence.

I started the renewal process on 7th April. My first given appointment was on the 13th of May. When I realized it wasn’t the 13th of April, I went back home and changed the appointment date to the 4th of May. It was the earliest possible date, but the only problem was that it was in a different city which was around 150 miles away from my city. I accepted my fate and decided to drive that far to get it renewed. It was finally the 4th of May, and since my appointment was at 3 PM I woke up early and moved all the way to the other city 150 miles away. I went there on time and when I went near the security to ask whether I can go inside, he said that the servers were down and I would have to wait for a few hours before I could go inside. I waited for 3 hours outside the office while the temperature was 85F. At 6 PM the passport officer comes outside and tells me that the server was back online but the office hours were done. After waiting for so many hours, I was very frustrated but couldn’t do anything about it. The next possible appointment was on the 26th of May. LITERALLY 3 WEEKS LATER. I was already very late for getting a visa slot. I again accepted my fate and waited till the 26th of May.

Finally, after waiting for 3 weeks, I went to the passport office again. This time I went to a temple and prayed before going to the passport office. It was my last attempt to get my passport renewed. If anything wrong would have happened that day, I would never be able to do my undergrad at UW Madison. I took every document required. I even took our property documents in case something went wrong with address verification. I reached the office 30 minutes before the given appointment time. The security outside the office did not let me enter the building until the given time, so I again had to wait outside the building. This time it was even hotter outside. I was sweating profusely and was so scared and frustrated. I was a literal hot fireball standing outside. I was very angry at the Indian Government because, for a simple passport renewal, the waiting time was so much. I applied for the passport renewal on the 7th of April. It was the 26th of May, and I still did not have a passport. All my Visa tasks were on hold and even my I-20 couldn’t be verified because there was no valid passport on file. I was thinking to myself that my dreams of studying abroad could be destroyed because of the lack of efficiency of the Indian Government.

While I was standing outside, there was an old man who was standing next to me. He looked like a typical south Indian. He was wearing a Dhoti(A traditional South Indian Cloth that old people wear). He looked like a very kind person and later after getting to know about him, I could verify that he was confirmed, a very kind and warm-hearted man. Looking at him, I felt a sense of warmth and comfort. He looked like one of those old people who are kind and helpful to people. By the look on my face, one could tell that I was frustrated and very stressed. Looking at me panicking, the old man approached me and started talking to me. His voice was so soft and sweet. He asked me whether I was waiting for my passport to get renewed. I told him that I was trying to get it renewed but my luck had other plans for me. He started laughing and asked me what had happened.

I started opening up and told him how I had been trying to get my passport renewed for 7 weeks but the Indian government was so slow that I still did not have a renewed passport. He again laughed for a while and asked what was the emergency and why I needed a passport immediately. I told him that I was accepted at UW Madison and was currently applying for a US Student Visa. Most Indians when they hear that a student is going to pursue undergraduate studies abroad, they think that the student is either very rich or hates India. The old man was the first person I had met in India, who congratulated me for getting accepted into such a prestigious university. He was genuinely happy for me and said that I must’ve worked very hard to get into such a university. I was touched by his words and had already felt relaxed.

He asked me why it was taking so long and I laughed and said that the Government hated me and kept delaying my appointment dates. I told him how it got delayed the previous time because the stupid servers were down. After patiently listening to me rant about the Government, the old man laughed and said, “I don’t think you know how impossible getting a passport was during the old days.”

The old man said, “Let me tell you what a horrible experience I had when I was your age.” I was surprised thinking about what could be worse than my situation. He said, “Back in the 80s I was just like you, ambitious, hard-working, and had a dream to study abroad. I was accepted to the London School of Economics, where I wanted to pursue my Master’s degree in Economics. Before I get into my story, I’ll tell you how bad the passport renewal process was back then.” I was shocked to know that he was accepted to LSE because I had a lot of friends who wanted to study there but couldn’t get in. Even during those old days, when a basic education in India was considered a gift, the old man managed to get into LSE. He started telling about the passport situation back then. He said, “There were only 3 locations across India where one could get his passport issued. People from all across India traveled to these 3 locations to get it renewed. India had a population of 1.2 billion people back then, so it took over six months, just to get an appointment date, and another 2-3 months for the passport to be verified and issued. Getting a passport on time back then was considered a blessing. We used to travel hundreds of kilometers to reach the office, then we had to wait in lines that took hours to clear. Back then, the offices used to function for just 7-8 hours a day, so if we missed the timeslot even by a few minutes, we were doomed.” I was so surprised that I just stood in front of him looking at my appointment letter, thinking to myself how lucky I was to not face such problems. The old man continued, “If you think that you are in the worst situation right now, let me tell you what happened to me. After getting accepted to LSE, I needed a Visa to go to the UK, but before that, just like you, I needed to get a passport issued. I waited for over 6 months to get an appointment. When I finally got one, the process wasn’t that bad until it got to the Police Verification. I had exactly 3 weeks to get my passport on time, so even a small delay would result in me not being able to go to the UK. My home address needed to be verified physically by a police officer. We had just one Chief Police Inspector in our region. With just one person in charge of an entire district, verifying each and every passport seemed like an impossible task. When it was my turn to get the address verified, the police officer fell sick. My verification got delayed, and the visa slots were full by the time I got my passport. After all that hard work and waiting, I could see my dreams getting crushed due to the lack of police force in my district.” Listening to him, I was on the verge of tears, but I controlled myself so that I wouldn’t look bad in the passport picture. He said, ”Stop worrying about your passport, the Government has improved a lot now, and the process is much faster. Even if it gets delayed you have something called emergency visas, which prioritize your application. But what is even more important than you going abroad, is that you should be happy with what you have in life. I couldn’t go to LSE, but I did complete my studies at another college in India and I am happy with my current situation. Not being able to go to the US isn’t the end of the world for you, but I am sure that you will go there without any problems.” I felt so relieved as I heard him say that. After a while, his daughter came outside smiling because her passport was issued. Finally, it was my turn to go inside and get my passport issued. While I was going inside, the old man said “Just believe in yourself, and everything will be fine.” I went inside and the passport renewal process went so smoothly. In less than an hour, my passport was issued and within a few days, the passport was delivered. Surprisingly, every process after that finished successfully with no problems.

After listening to the old man, I realized how lucky I am. I was complaining and getting frustrated over a few weeks of waiting time, while people used to wait for months just to get an appointment. I feel lucky to finally be here in the US, but at the same time, I feel bad for those who had dreams of going abroad for their education but couldn’t because of problems they are not responsible for. Talking to the old man while I was so stressed made me feel like it was my destiny to meet him. Since then I always feel happy with what I have because there are so many people who wish to have the life that I have.