This morning, after a bowl of corn flakes and a cooked egg, my host mother and I left the apartment to go to the Commissioner's office here in Coimbatore. The office is located at the main local police station, and we were planning to meet my host father there. For the past few weeks, my host father and I have been putting together a packet of papers- information including copies of my passport, visa, my height, eye color, flight information, etc. The office also required five passport size photos. I had taken some at home, but when I went looking through my things to find them, I couldn't. So, on the way to the office, my host mother and I stopped at a photo shop where we paid 65 rs. (a little more than a dollar) for six photos in five minutes! (Of course as soon as we got in the car and I took out my passport pack to put the photos inside I found a few of mine....oh well, I'm sure I'll need those for something else!)
We had to go to the Commissioner's office to "officially" confirm that I AM here in India. We had to submit all of the paperwork to the police so that if anything should happen, I have record of being here. I guess we also have to clear all of my travel with them too...which is a little strange.
We spent about an hour in a dark office that looked like a writer's attic- there was papers and files stacked EVERYWHERE! Every desk in the office was buried, along with more piles stacked high above our heads on top of file cabinets. I almost felt like I was drowning in paperwork...I can't even imagine trying to organize all of it!
When we were leaving, I took out my camera to take some photos of the building- before I could click the photo, everyone around me jumped and said "no!" I was confused, and my host father was kind enough to explain that if I took a photo, someone might think that I was taking it to place a bomb somewhere...well, that's good to know! That could have been a bad situation...:)
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Ha ha ha.... Rob got yelled at once for taking a picture inside a bank, back in the days when banks had piles of paper on every desk. He actually "clicked" it before anyone could stop him. The flash went off, and everyone hollered and glared! (Ooooops!!!) We had no idea it was a no-no.
I think it may even be illegal to take photos of official government buildings, inside or out — even railway stations. :( We've learned to ask first, click later.
Indians do live with the very real threat of terrorism, much more so than we do in the U.S., even after 9/11. For them, it's even scarier. because their prospective terrorists are generally people who look just like Indians.
So, they do tend to go easier on us bumbling, obviously western tourists. Which is probably why our camera has never been confiscated for our many mistakes...
Don't even think of taking photos at the airport. :D
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