Thoughts @ Amit Gupta

Passport for minor in India

As promised I am back to lock horn again with the Passport office. Three years back I had a tough time to reissue passport after expiry of 10 years.

But this time its for my sweetheart little baby. She now has a Date of Birth Certificate , a Pan Card and a Postage Stamp of her own Next target to get her the passport. Though the best source for information on procedure, documents required, FAQs on the topic would be the Delhi passport office website but still here’s my personal experience which might be helpful for you guys.

Step 1 : Application form (29th May 2011)

I suggest you fill-up the online application form to ensure you have an appointment and can dodge the long queue outside the passport office in Delhi (BTW regional passport office in Delhi is situated at Bikaji Cama Place , Behind Hotel Hyatt). This is the easiest of all. Fill up the basic details of the minor.

You can also select the date and time of the appointment for submitting the application form. The time on the application is only indicative , applications are accepted on first come first serve basis. So no worries if you are late or early. Its better to be early just in case you missed out on any document and need a copy etc.

Documents for the passport for minor

a.  Print out of the online application (6 pages including 2 PP forms). There are multiple fields which need to be filled manually (No overwriting allowed) e.g. Passport details of parents, Date of birth in words etc

b. Paste 3 photographs (3.5cm X 3.5 cm) on the form. DO NOT SIGN (THUMB-PRINT) ON PHOTOS

c. Use blue or black ink for taking minor’s thumb impression on the form

Self Attested (Signed by parents) copies of the following :

a. Date of Birth certificate (Issued by local municipal corporation)

b. Marriage Certificate of Parents or Affidavit

c. Annexure H

d. Address proof

e. Copies of passport of parents (First and last four pages)

Passport Fee for Minor :

Fresh Passport for Minors (below 18 years of Age) of 5 years validity or till the minor attains the age of 18 which ever is earlier. Rs  600/-

Tatkal Passport Fee for Minor :

I opted to apply under tatkal scheme for issue of passport.  You would need couple of more documents and additional fees of Rs 1500.

You need to submit a application of plain paper to convert your application to the tatkal. There is no standard format for the application. I have used the following :

The PRO,

Passport Office , Delhi

This is to request you to process passport application of my daughter <Name> under tatkal scheme.

Regards

<Name> <Relation>

Additionally , “Annexure I” was required on a notarized affidavit non-judicial stamp paper of Rs. 10. That’s why you need to reach passport office early. No worries you can get the affidavit done from Notary sitting at bikaji Cama place building. I got it for Rs. 100. Also there is a photocopier guy right within the passport office building .

It is advised to carry a couple of pens, extra photocopies and plain A4 sheets with you just in case they ask for some application. Be careful with your originals , carry them all for verification.

At Passport Office (07th  June 2011)

a. We reached well in advance of a warm sunny and hot day. To top it all the queue is now shifted to open space behind the passport office building. There are two counter for passport application and one for miscellaneous service  counter. These are only for ONLINE applications.

b. Even though online application enable us to dodge some 200 non online applicants in serpant queue but the online queue was long enough. Be patient as every applicant takes some 10 mins at the counter.

c. On counter itself you can convert your application into the TATKAL. the officer at counter was very polite and helpful. He attached a white paper on top of documents and suggested to write an application and get “Annexure I”.

d. Thankfully we didn’t have to get again into the line and our application was stamped for verification by PRO (sitting at Misc service counter)

e. The queue at that counter was not very long and took 30 odd min. The PRO validated our passports and signed the application.

f. The signed application was again to be submitted to the original counter. Thankfully again we need not stand in line. We paid the total fee of (600 + 1500 = 2100).

g. We are issued a receipt with the  promise of delivery within a week.

Update 1. (09th  June 2011)

The passport status page is showing as “Application is pending for want of Police Report.”

You can also find the complete list of documents http://passport.gov.in

Update 2. (13th  June 2011)

Passport is delivered to our address through speed post. The status on site though still shows “Police verification pending”

The passport is issued for Five years and for once I need to admit this was a super smooth process. My Fairy now has a passport to FLY

Update 3. (26th  June 2011)

Police verification done for for my daughter

Update 4. (30th  June 2011)

Passport Status updated as passport dispatched on 10th of June 2011. Funny but it’s Okie.

IPL match @ Ferozshah Kotla

IPL season 4 …manoranjan ka baap

(Bhagwaan jab deta hai chappar faad kar deta hai)

Date : April 20, 2011

2:00 PM : Thinking of Cycle Agarbatti ??  Kya Bhagwaan hai

2:30 PM : @amitguptaz digging deep into excel sheets @indiatimes office

4:30 PM : @amitguptaz cheering for Delhi Daedevils from Super Hospitality Hill A South east stand of Ferozshah Kotla Stadium with 3  team members.

These complimentary passes for the match were sponsored by my office Times Internet Limited. I was among the lucky one along with Hemant , Naveen and Gagan to got these passes from our Business Head  Archana Vohra . Thanks a ton.  Have a look at the lovely envelop and the ticket to match below.

Yes you read it right, each ticket was worth Rs 20,000 . This gives access to east hill section of the stadium ; which is most premium location and also have a hospitality section (will come to it later).

3:15 PM : Full speed ahead to Feroz Shah Kotla ground. I must have broken my own record of highway driving of 80KMPH ;p

4:00 PM : Got parking some 2 Km from stadium and we all rushed towards the stadium. Even took an Auto for a Kilometer of ride

4:30 PM : See below where were sitting, standing, roaming , dancing and cheering for the Devils

It was my first experience to watch match at the stadium and it can’t be bigger and better than this. It took us all some time for this feeling to sink (Some drinks obviously helped all of us).

The hospitality area was another experience. Watching the live match from air conditioned zone with refreshment and drinks on the house, took the experience to another level all together.

Back to cheering after the break. We were all loaded with merchandise of Delhi daredevils. And in true delhiwalla style we carried it all back with us. Anyone who want a piece raise your hand.

BTW the fans were spraying water to keep all enthusiastic fans like us. And few like me also took shelter in the hospitality zone to enjoy the match from cool zone.

And then like all good things the match also come to an end. We were all happy (may not be reflected in pic below ; ya I am fan of the loosing side) and super charged even after the match.

So match ho gaya after match abhi baaki hai. What next …

The moment we stepped out everyone from Star News to P7 wanted a byte from us about the match. Well literally Naveen and Gagan were in their best avataar as the sports analyst. Talking from team composition to batting technique of Virender Sehwag.

What a day !!!

My Stamp for my daughter

This is super cool. Better late than never. I was super excited by the anouncement of India Postal Department to launch My Stamp this year at INDIPEX 2011 (Held at Pragati Maidan, Delhi). The scene there was chaotic there with hundred of philatelic enthusiasts  wanting to grab chance of lifetime. So how could I miss it

So I went there on the first day of the exhibition. And here are the stamp sheets for Tisya.

love you facebook

Love the facebook’s tagging feature with face detection.  It identifies tisya and my face as one.

Birthday celebration

what a day… celebrations round the clock literally.  cakes ..yes three cakes , chocolate facial, party , outing and full dhammal and masti. This was one of the most memorable birthday celebration.

Thank you everyone for all your good wishes and making my birthday so special. Have look at the video featuring
Archana , Pushpinder , Varun , Manraj , Rahul (the cinematographer with his TamTung loaded with Android 2.2) and everyone from team communities.

Fast Tube by Casper

The celebration extended to well late into the day with Vikas, Neha , Priyanka, Vihaan , Tisya and My dear wify.

Some of the photos are uploaded here

bow to the god of cinema – Rajnikanth

A big bow to god of cinema – Rajnikant. Here’s the collection of trivia of Rajnikant (collected from across the web)

RAJNIKANTH’s next movie is going to be called ” TWITTER” …. He’s going to play all 140 characters in it !

Stats point that #Endhiran car parking collection is greater than Anjaana Anjaani’s box office collection!!

Rajanikanth makes onions cry

Rajanikanth can delete the Recycle Bin.

Ghosts are actually caused by Rajanikanth killing people faster than Death can process them.

Rajanikanth can build a snowman….. out of rain.

Rajanikanth can strangle you with a cordless phone.

Rajanikanth can drown a fish.

When Rajanikanth enters a room, he doesn’t turn the lights on,……… …. he turns the dark off.

When Rajanikanth looks in a mirror the mirror shatters, because not even glass is stupid enough to get in between Rajanikanth and Rajanikanth.

The last digit of pi is Rajanikanth. He is the end of all things.

Rajanikanth does not know where you live, but he knows where you will die.

When Rajnikant does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down. 

Bullets dodge Rajanikanth.

Rajnikant doesn’t wear a watch, HE decides what time it is.

Rajnikant can divide by zero.

Rajnikant doesn’t bowl strikes, he just knocks down one pin and the other nine faint.

Rajnikant is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.

Rajinikanth reverses Court judgements by making the ink run back into the Judge’s ballpen.

The Bermuda Triangle used to be the Bermuda Square, until Rajnikant kicked one of the corners off.

Rajinikanth once went to Jim Corbett National Park. After eight straight hours of snapping pictures, the tired tigers ran out of camera film.

Raincoats were developed to prevent raindrops from getting electrocuted on coming within 1oo metres of Rajinikanth.

Rajinikanth once dived into the sea from his Chennai condo. The next thing you know is that a tsunami has hit half the world.

The Chennai – Delhi Rajdhani Express once missed Rajinikanth. It ran as fast as it could but failed to catch him.

Viagra often needs Rajinikanth.

No one messes with Rajinikanth. Only Rajinikanth can mess with himself.

Parachutes were invented just to prevent the earth from getting shattered to pieces when hit by a falling Rajinikanth.

What colour is Rajinikanth’s blood? Haha! Trick question! Rajinikanth never bleeds!!

Once a cobra bit Rajanikanth’ leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.

When Rajanikanth gives you the finger, he’s telling you how many seconds you have left to live.

Rajanikanth can kill two stones with one bird.

Rajanikanth has a deep and abiding respect for human life… unless it gets in his way.

It takes Rajanikanth 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.

Rajanikanth once shot down a German fighter plane with his finger, by yelling, “Bang!”

Rajanikanth got his drivers license at the age of 18 Seconds.

Rajnikant counted to infinity – twice.

With the rising cost of gasoline, Rajanikanth is beginning to worry about his drinking habit.

The square root of Rajanikanth is pain. Do not try to square Rajanikanth, the result is death.

When you say “no one’s perfect”, Rajanikanth takes this as a personal insult.

My personal favorite :

Endhiran (Robot) releases. Rajnikanth gives Times of India 3 stars.

Some dialogues from Rajni’s film

“I will do what I say, I will also do what I don’t say.”

“If i say it once, I’ve said it a hundred times.”

“When I will arrive, or how I will arrive, nobody will know, but I will arrive when I ought to.”

“My way is a unique way.”

“The past is past.”

“Say the name ‘Ekambaram’ and even an unborn child will shut its mouth and hush up.”

“God proposes…Arunachalam disposes…”

“I will hit you so hard, even Google will not be able to find you!”

Pan Card for Tisya

Tisya got her Pan Card issued on  at the age of Four Month and Nine Days (09 June 210).

By far this has has been the most wonderful experience of mine dealing with any government agency or should I say the only agency which offered a truly world class service experience.

I applied pan card for my four month old daughter (Tisya Singhal) online through NSDL. The form seems to be very simple and self explanatory. As my daughter is minor Pan was applied on her behalf by representative (her mother)

The fee for the pan card is Rs 94 . You have the option to pay through Credit or Debit Card / DD  /Cheque. The best mode of payment is Credit/Debit card as this beside expediting the process also give online status of your application using a 12 digit acknowledgement number issued on successful transaction.

A printout of acknowledgement need to be send to NSDL Pune with photograph and address proof within 30 days.

National Securities Depository Limited
3rd Floor, Sapphire Chambers
Near Baner Telephone Exchange
Baner, Pune – 411 045.

In case of any queries you can also call up NSDL call center at Pune (020 – 2721 8080) . I called them up twice , once while filling application and again checking the status of the application. The staff was extremely polite and helpful on both the occasions.

I received a SMS from NSDL on receipt of the application and again on confirmation of issue of the pan Card (whole process took less than 15 days) . Today the update on NSDL site shows that the PAN has been dispatched to our  mailing address through overnite courier.

A quick check on ovenite courier website says the courier has reached Delhi on 14th July from Mumbai. So hopefully We’ll get the Pan Card for Tisya tomorrow.

Next on agenda is to get a Passport for Tisya and that thought sends a shiver down my spine. To know why read my experience in getting my passport reissued

Update (July 13, 2011) : I applied for passport for my minor daughter under Tatkal and got it within 4 working days.

Birth certificate for minor in Gurgaon

The Cradle provided a birth certificate for my daughter. Little did I realized that it only has a emotional and ornamental value and no legal validity. So we got it framed it nicely (Thanks to Tushina) and it occupies a place of pride in our bedroom.

I was told that as a procedure hospital has already send the notification to the municipal authorities about child birth. The birth certificate can be collected after 21 days from the MCD office, Gurgaon situated opposite civil hospital Gurgaon (See Map Below).

View Larger Map

I went there after  2 months to collect the certificate. I was told to submit an application again on plain paper (hospital has already send in the notification) and collect the certificate 21 days post that. The application has a simple format capturing Name of child , parents, date and place of birth, address and number of copies of certificate required. Not so simple…

The application format was pasted outside the clerk window in both English and Hindi, but he would accept the application only filled in Hindi and that too without child’s name. Once a certificate without name is issued then  a affidavit needs to be submitted stating that child name will not be changed in future to get a birth certificate with child’s name. I tried to convince him that we had already spend two months in finalizing the daughter name  as Tisya and have no intention to change it.

I got the birth certificate without child’s name and wrong address. On inquiring I was told the birth certificate will carry details as shared by hospital and can’t be changed  (I thanked heaven they have only put in wrong address and not wrong parents name).

On my next visit I submitted the affidavit for the child’s name, Birth certificate (without name) and the same stupid application (remember they would only print details as shared by hospital) and fee of Rs 17 (+Rs 52 for additional 4 copies). I was asked to come again in 7-8 days to check the spelling on certificate before printing.  They issued the certificate this time with name but in Hindi. Every action of theirs is covered under one blanket statement ‘yehi process hai’.

Now as a final step, I have again submitted the application (same futile details) and attached a copy of certificate (hindi) and fee of Rs 17 (+Rs 52 for additional 4 copies) for a new certificate. I have to visit the municipal office again to ensure the name is punched in right before the printing of the certificate.