I am (re)licensed to..

Today, I got my driving license renewed for another X years. (Sorry, mentioning X will reveal my age). It was a cool experience. My earlier feeling that RTO (Regional Transport Office, I think) in Yashwantpur, Bangalore is a corruption-free, efficient setup (based on some interactions, like International Driving License) got confirmed. Actually, being lazy, I bought the approrpriate forms in a shop downstairs (not costly - just Rs 2 or so) and filled them. There were a basic form (9), a form for the computerized plastic card (I had a paper license before that) and the Medical check-up form (Form 1A and 1). There are approved medical practitioners sitting in the cabins downstairs who will sign the medical form.

When I went up (2nd floor), there was a friendly person with several copies of all the forms neatly stacked near him at the entry to the office. He gave neat instructions, including the money involved, for each form to be filled. I filled the forms, went up to the third floor to pay the money, came down for an approval signature from an officer, went to the 'computer section' for the photograph, came to another officer to surrender the papers and get a numbered acknowledgement. The time I took for all these transactions is more or less the time you took to read these. (OK..OK...a little exaggeration. I have been told myself at least a million times not to exaggerate, but I keep doing so. Sorry about it.)

The license was promptly collected by my wife the next evening producing the acknowledgement. And, now I can carry the cute plastic license along with my credit cards. (Though it will not be accepted in an ATM or in a shop as substitute for money. I do not have plans or fortunately need to try it if it fetches money in a pawn shop).

So, my fellow country men, let us be optimistic - hamara Bharat Mahaan, still!