11th June 2010 - FRRO

Passport, passport sized photos x4 each, copy job contract x4 each, copy visa x4 each, hotel bill x4 each - check - now you are ready to pop down to the FRRO and become a legal resident of India. Event free drive down to the office in the South of Mumbai, office located in a dodgy backstreet, took a while to find but arrived at 9.05am which wasn't too bad.
First job to do, sign all of us into a massive book downstairs, already some other have arrived, Germans, South Africans, Dutch and English people. Pop upstairs to check whether we can start the process whilst we wait for Capita rep to join us as she has all of our paperwork. As I step out of the lift I see a large desk straight in front of me so approach to ask my question. I'm waved away to a queuing system to the right which was out of sight...and happened to contain NOBODY waiting to be seen. Okay, so I get the measure of what we are about to experience, keep calm, do what you are told and hope that the people with the power today are feeling in a good mood!
Fill out forms on computer x4, 'helped' by cross assistant as were inconveniencing her by asking questions like 'where has my printing disappeared too'. It took me so long that my number had been called and the lady who was to check my papers and make up my file came looking for me. Thankfully she turned out to be a very helpful and pleasant person, maybe aided by the fact that her brother had worked for Capita in the UK! Still a few steps - leave interview room and purchase small blue registration books x4, receipt hand written and carbon paper used to create duplicates, back into the room to complete paperwork and then simply wait for the little books to be created - end to end 3.5 hours, not bad by all accounts.
To celebrate our residency we had lunch in the Taj Hotel overlooking the Gateway of India - very opulent indeed, hard to imagine the gun attack that happened there a few years back, couldn't help thinking about it and the hundred or so people who were killed - RIP.