My BSNL experience... A test of patience

You must have immense patience and time when you enter a public sector office. It’s a kind of test to measure how much time you take to get irritated and loose your cool. And trust me it gives a real measure. If a person comes back from a public sector office without cribbing and without a complain, you should understand the person should be rewarded for his immense patience.
I went to the BSNL office about a year back for getting a broadband connection. I had downloaded the request form from the internet and had it filled for submitting . I was expecting it would take maximum half an hour. But once you enter a public sector office you should not keep any expectations for your exit time,. Before entering you should be aware you are not supposed to have any other urgent work for next three to four hours.
When I entered the office it was Saturday (12.40 pm). There was a queue for form submission. With 3 people in front of me, I stood in that queue hoping to get my turn soon. After about 1 hour 15 mins when I reached the counter. I saw the the wooden window being shut down right on my face, with a fading voice in my ears “Its lunch time Madam. Wait for half an hour”. Before I could say that there were 5 mins left for the lunch hour , the lady had already exited the door. I waited for 45 mins for someone to open the mercilessly shut wooden window. Finally the lady came back and asked for my form. Now starts the main game. Even though you have filled the entire information in clear capital Bold letters you are supposed to reiterate each entry word by word with detailed spellings. She starts whats your name? You are not supposed to tell it in one go. Spell it slowly because as you tell your name you will find the person on the other side of the counter struggling to find the characters on the keyboard. The letters are lost. May be they hire people suffering from dyslexia, letters on the keyboard seem to be dancing for them and it’s a tough job to fill the form when you have to struggle to get the letters settle down. Anyhow after struggling for about fourty mins with her I needed water as my throat was getting dry reiteraring each entry so many times. I thought once she gives a receipt I would rush down for a mineral water bottle. But hold on its not just the people who are slow. She clicks the button to print the receipt and guess what its an age old dot matrix printer and you can see each letter being printed one after the other. It took almost 5 mins to get the print out. Finally a relief. I was almost feeling tired by then. I asked her politely “Mam how much time will it take to get the connection”. She replies back “If you want to get it done in 2-3 weeks. You are supposed to go to the other office and file a complain after 10 days that you still have not got the connection. After you file the complain people will come and install the phone connection and modem and it should start working a week after that”. Did you notice filing a complain is a part of the procedure for getting the conncetion. If you do not do that you may keep waiting for 2-3 months. Its your mistake you should have gone the 10th day itself for launching a complain.

After about 1 year completely frustrated as the connection was down for almost 3 months , I took an Airtel broadband and went to the BSNL office for getting the connetion disconnected. I reached the office at 9 a.m Saturday morning and was the first person in the queue for surrendering the connection. I did not have the form so enquired with the lady at the counter “Mam where can I get the form for surrendering my landline and broadband connection.” After staring me blankly for a minute , without answering my question she opened her purse and started searching for something, After 2 more minutes she took out a small folded piece of paper almost 1 inch by 1 inch in size and started unfolding it. I was getting out of my mind. What the hell is she trying to do.I said "Excuse me" but she kept quiet until she unfolded the paper completely. And then she handed it to me saying “Get this xeroxed”. I was stunned she had only one copy of the form which she gave to me. I took the form and went out in search of a photo copy shop. Got 4 copies of the form ,filled it and went back to the counter for submitting it. I gave the lady the extra three copies and asked her to keep it. She took the form attested the acknowledgment part and gave it to me. “After 2-3 days go to the other BSNL office in 11th Main and submit your phone instrument and modem” she said.
I was surprised I asked her “Mam are your people not supposed to come and collect it”. She replied”If you wait for them keep waiting for 2-3 months and you will have to pay the bill for the next 3 months”. How dare I asked the question “I told myself “ and then told the lady “ Sure Mam, I will return the instrument this weekend . Thanks a lot”