They did a Musaddilal on ME

On Friday, I had submitted my passport and documents at the new passport office for address change. I was supposed to collect it today at the specified time, between 4.30 and 5.30 pm. There I was at 4.45 pm all innocent and hopeful a la Musaddilal. I handed the slip to the lady at the counter. She looked through the pile on her desk didn't find my passport so went around looking for it at other peoples desk. This should have triggered my panic button, but for some reason I continued to be innocent and hopeful.

The lady came, gave me my slip back, asked me to sit down and said she will call me in ten minutes. A different lady called me and asked me if I had an old passport. I said no, this is the only passport I have and its valid. So she said they have found records of a similar looking person and similar name, so was I sure if I never had any other passport. The panic button still didn't get triggered. I think I have lost the sense of detecting evil under disguise. Suddenly my dimag ki batti came on and I said the records must be my sisters. So she asked me their names, I gave her both their names. The lady all excited ran to the others screaming yes she has sisters, they are her sisters. Continuing with the same innocent and hopeful frame of mind I thought good now that the puzzle is solved, they will hand me over my passport.

But when were things easy for Musaddilal. After some discussion with their boss, they wanted to know where are my sisters based. I said one is here and the other is abroad. After some more discussion they wanted to know where does the one who is in India stay. I said in the same house with me. I think that did me in. The boss saw a lucrative opportunity of making money out of me. They asked me to get my sister and her passport along with me tomorrow morning. They will verify in person that two similar looking persons do exist. The lady at the counter got quiet sympathetic and she said it shouldn't be a problem we can go ahead and do the address change, but if "sahab" says no what to do.

I wasn't asked for money outrightly, but I am quite sure if I had offered their boss money I would have my passport with me now. When I was standing at the counter a couple passed me and I overheard the man telling the woman that he gave 3000 bucks in bribe and he pointed at the boss and said you see that specky (yeah specky, means the one who wears spectacles)guy, I couldn't hear anything more as they went out of earshot. Another thing, my sisters passport has our current residence address, if I had wanted a duplicate passport why in the world would I want to change the address on my passport to our current address. Logically, why will anybody with the intention to make duplicate passports want it on the same address. If I was an imposter I would at least have the sense of taking on an entirely different surname for myself and totally different names for the parents. Besides, there must be scores of sisters in the world who look alike. Does this happen to all of them? So circumstantial and logical evidence proves that the man just saw a chance to make money out of me. That didn't happen and it wont happen with my sisters cooperation :D. (I told her not to take offence that they think we look alike.)

But what might happen is, the man may get kidnapped, he may be forced to eat lots and lots and lots of jalebis and he may not be given even a drop of water to drink after that.