I hate to blame the system to use the failure of the system as a curtain to conceal our unpreparedness. But sometimes the systems in place are so bad and inefficient that they just don't allow me to remain silent. 

Today something of this kind happened. I want to take my bike from my home in Malappuram, Kerala to Pallavaram, Chennai, the place where I live and work.  It's a 15-20 minutes walk from my Chennai home to office, and of late I have been thinking on this idea of getting a bike so that commuting to office and other travel in the city will be easy. The bike, a 100cc TVS make, is in average condition now and is used now only when my brother (he lives in Cochin, doing his B. Tech Mech Engg) or I am home.I don't want to spend too much to buy a new bike either, and this mostly rarely used bike at home is the best option I have. The bike will get a lifeline, its condition will better once I start using it regularly.

Now I need to get an NOC (No Objection Certificate) issued from the RTO (Road Transport Office) or Joint RTO under the sphere of which my locality falls. [As per rules this is not required - NOC is to be produced only if the registration number of the vehicle needs to be changed to another area, especially another state. I have a temporary plan only - I will use the bike in Chennai for another 7-8 months, after which I will send it back to Kerala, as my whereabouts after that time is uncertain!]. But to make myself equipped with all documents in case any traffic police wished to stop me, ask me to pull over to the side and expected cash to cover up any missing document, I thought I will obtain this NOC as well. 

I went to JRTO Perinthalmanna, as my residence is in Perinthalmanna Taluk. Now at the outside the JRTO, which is on the second floor of a yet-to-be-furnished building, there was a man behind a desk that had a small board on it which read 'Help Desk'. I was surprised and happy about this people-friendly arrangement. There was a very small queue in front of the desk - around four people. This was a proof for the efficiency of the man behind the desk, I thought. 

But it was not to be..

When I reached the head of the queue, a person came from behind - he was panting probably after a long walk in the sun. He too had come to get an NOC to use his vehicle in Kannur, and from his conversation with the 'helper' man I found that NOC form was not available in any nearby shops, forget at the JRTO. The 'helper', after learning from me that I wanted an NOC too to use my bike in Chennai, he asked me if I could get a form from a printing press a bit far away. I walked all the way just to find out that the press did not have any NOC forms. So I returned back to the 'helper' and described to him the situation. He then took out from an old file a filled copy of the form, and asked me to get a photocopy of that after hiding all written stuff using white paper. I went downstairs, went to a photocopy shop and got a couple of copies. An important thing was that the cash collection counter inside the JRTO would close at 1 o'clock and if I did not go in time, I would not be able to get the NOC before I start for Chennai tomorrow evening. And tomorrow and the day after are off-days for the JRTO. Finally, at about 12:45, with a lot of confusion the 'helper' finally helped me fill up the form, pasted a Rs. 5 stamp on it, attached the originals of my RC book, Insurance Certificate, Smoke Test Certificate, and asked me to submit it together at a counter inside. And from that counter I understood that the form I used was a wrong one, and that there was a separate form for NOCs outside Kerala. That was called Form 28. Furious, I wet out and asked the help-desk person about this confusion. He acted as if he did not know anything, and as if I was the one who got things wrong by hurrying things up, blah blah blah. And then he said that he had copies of Form 28!!! I shouted at him for not giving the correct information earlier, and then I saw that my watch, which runs 5 minutes fast, showed 1:10 PM. I walked away from the help-desk, showering my anger on the 'helper'. 

Now I cannot take my bike to Chennai tomorrow, for doing so would end me up emptying my purses to the Chennai traffic police. No wonder people make fun of people at government offices working in a sluggish manner.