Dasarathi gets Residency in Haryana and Ration Card in
Rajasthan
Debi Prasad Choudhary
Los Angeles, 1/8/2013
After spending a hot summer in Delhi in pursuit of an
opportunity to work in IIT Delhi, Dasrathi returned to University campus to
join M.Phil Degree. It was an exciting opportunity to work on a project related
to X-ray fluorescence funded by Department of Atomic Energy. Dasarathi was very
happy as this job promised him of 600 rupees per month. This is the first time
he will earn money, which is much more compared to 250 rupees he was receiving
from his father while studying for MSc degree. In fact, his father was earning
only about 1000 rupees at that time. Even though Dasrathi could not imagine the
magnitude of the money, he was happy since it was enough to save some money for
buying a cigarette that would cost one third of a rupee. After returning to
campus, he went a friend’s room with a full pack of cigarette in anticipation
of the job. Next morning he went to the admission office and found out that 75%
of the seats in MPhil are reserved for Haryana Domiciles. Being a resident of
Orissa, Dasarathi’s chance to join MPhil program was bleak, since there were
only 10 seats. Dasarathi was a bit nervous and went to the chair of department for
help.
The Department chair was always kind to him, who actually
offered MSc seat two years before. The chair advised him to get a domicile
certificate issued by the district magistrate. Since the magistrate was a
Sanskrit scholar, Dasrathi went to meet Shastriji, the chair of Sanskrit
Department. Shastriji immediately recognized Dasrathi, who was performing 1Ganesh
puja organized by 2odiya community. Since he was chanting Sankrit
Mantras, Shastriji enquired about his background. Learning him as a Physics
student, he was impressed. Shastriji was more than happy to help Dasrathi by
recommending his student to issue a domicile certificate. As Dasrathi arrived
at the residence of the magistrate, who was having evening tea, he heard him
taking to Shastriji by telephone. The magistrate was telling Shastriji, “Yes
Sir, I think he is here now. I shall do the needful. Your blessings Sir.”
Within few minutes, the magistrate signed the paperwork, as told Dasrathi that
Shastriji was praising him a lot.
The following morning a friend of Dasrathi, a Haryana
resident was also worrying for obtaining a domicile certificate. Dasrathi
proudly narrated his success and offered help. Both of them again went to the
resident of the magistrate around noon, which was generally a time for rest after
lunch. By this time the magistrate had forgotten Dasrathi’s connection with
Shastriji and asked to give the paperwork in the office in a rude manner.
Dasrathi was shocked recognizing his social worthlessness and returned with his
friend.
Many years later, Dasrathi needed a ration card to apply for
the passport of his son. Getting a voter identity card was easy, but that was
not of much importance. Ration card provided a root in the society. He went to
the magistrate’s office in Udaipur by his newly bought Hero Honda motorcycle
with a student and found a long line of applicants in a make shift office under
a banyan tree. After standing in the queue for about 30 minutes, he got a
chance to meet the officer to give his application. Before even looking at the
application, the officer asked: where is the previous ration card? Dasrathi
said, he never had a ration card. The officer told that the ration card
belonging to Dasrathi’s parents must contain his name, which must be removed
before a new card can be made. Dasrathi must get a document indicating this
removal. This was an impossible task, so he decided to return home to explore
other options.
Before riding the bike, Dasrathi’s student reminded him
about a friend Sitanath, who newly joined a sub-judicial magistrate. Sitanath
was a new IAS officer, a scholarly man from odiya community. Sitanath was very
interested in astrology. Since Dasrathi was also from odiya community and
practicing astronomer, they were family friends. Dasrathi located the office
Sitanath with the help of 3chaparasi and found that there were few
layers of officers before meeting the magistrate. After waiting few minutes on
a bench outside the office, Dasrathi proceeded to meet the magistrate passing a
dark room with a courtroom setting. Sitanath greeted him and offered tea with
biscuit. Dasrathi said it is so hard to obtain a ration card, that he will
appreciate some help. The magistrate asked his peon to call the officer dealing
with the ration card.
While waiting for the officer, Sitakanta engaged in
intellectual discussion for a change from his monotonous routine activity. He
said most officers are corrupt, but the political leaders actually like honest
officers. If some body in IAS cadre want to climb higher in the ladder, it is important
to remain honest. Sitanath was an honest man. Once some devotees of 4Sri
Aurovindo came to request him for favor to acquire a government plot for
constructing a center of spiritual discourse. They brought a set of are very
expensive Sri Aurovindo books as gift. Sitanath was a scholar and would love to
read these books but cannot effort to buy them. In this occasion, he refused to
accept the gift, but agreed to read them before returning. This honesty
elevated him as the personal secretary of the chief minister after few years.
Anyway, after a while the same officer under the banyan tree
came and greeted the magistrate saying “4hukum” (हुकुम् ). Sitanath told, can
you make a ration card quickly, to which the officer replied “hukum” (हुकुम् ). Dasrathi was delighted and said it is all
right to get the card in couple of days. Sitanath brought the card after few
days while visiting Dasrathi for a dinner. This was the first real world
exposure for Dasrathi, where he learned the importance of contacts at high
places.
1Ganesh puja: Worship to Sri Ganesh by student
community.
2odiya community: Community of students from the
state of Odisa.
3chaparasi: Peon
4Sri Aurovindo: An Indian saint.
4hukum: Give me order.
