Identity Crisis!

We face this identity crisis often. The situations vary- may be, you need a new passport or a new bank account or renew the Driver’s License. You carefully go through the list of identity-proofs. The options are many- Voter’s Id, Aadhaar card, PAN card and Driver’s License. Most lists require 2 photocopies of each document (both front and back) and 2 recent passport-size photographs.

You rummage through the cupboard looking for these proofs. Call it Murphey’s Law, each time you spot the back of an Aadhaar card, you expectantly turn it over, but the photograph shows a different family member! You wonder whether you left the original the last time you went to the bank several months ago, or maybe at the airport. After a feverish search during which you have emptied out the shelves from all the cupboards and the entire room is littered with documents, you finally find your clutch of identity-proofs.

But the battle has just begun. Two photocopies are required for each document. It does not matter how many times you have photocopied these documents in the past and stashed them away for safekeeping. When you need them, there are none. You decide to end the futile search and get a fresh set of photocopies. And yes, this time, you plan to get 10 copies of the same document (both front and back) so that these repeated trips can be avoided. As far as passport photographs are concerned, less said, the better. None of them are ever recent. They belong to an earlier avatar when you had a moustache, floppy hair hanging over the ears and a silly grin. Those are the only ones you can find. The most recent photograph is a single copy that cannot be paired with the moustache one. There is no choice. It requires a trip to the photo-studio and this time, you swear to take more photographs than you will ever need in life.

It is now the moment of reckoning. You are at the counter with all the identity-proofs and their respective photocopies neatly stored in a plastic pouch. Till then, you were just fine and relaxed. Call it nerves or a sudden attack of panic, you fumble to find the correct document just when you are asked for it. The man at the counter has no time for the likes of you. Behind you, the line snakes till the door and beyond. It is as if, he has placed a revolver on your forehead and in flat 30 seconds, you need to fish out all the documents and their respective photocopies or tough luck, you just have to make way for the next person! Somehow, you manage to submit the documents. In a trice, he returns two out of the three documents as invalid. In one, he has spotted an anomaly in the spelling. The surname has an extra “A” that is not matching with the other two. As far as the second document is concerned, the home-address is not the current one. With an air of irritation, he dismisses you off- you need to get a Rental Agreement as address-proof or a recent Electricity Bill with your name on it. He does not like your passport photograph either, since it is not against a white background. You cannot argue or furnish an alternative document from the pouch. Your time is up and you have been elbowed out of the line by the person behind you.

There has to be way out of this crisis. We require an out-of-the-box thinking- perhaps, a garland that can be worn. Strung to the garland will be all the documents- a passport hanging off it, a driver’s license, a PAN card and their respective photocopies. It will make it easier for everyone. Like the security check at the airport, you simply lift your arms and submit yourself at the counter. The person can go around you and pluck whichever document he needs and their respective photocopies. It is also time we re-evaluated the basic necessities in life. Along with food, clothing and shelter, we need to add the 4th basic necessity in every home- a photo-copying machine!