Nope, I am not gonna talk about the JP Dutta film.
Since last few days I have been trying to answer few questions in my mind. Why do we have borders? Why cannot the mankind move around this beautiful world freely? Why do we have visas? It is truly said that sometimes you cannot realize the pain of others until you yourself do not suffer through that.
I went to the Police prefecture (the administrative department that handles the visa issues) in Paris to know if it is possible for me to go to Netherlands to meet uncle and his family.
It was really amazing to see that to meet my near and dear ones, I need the permission of police, but that’s life. The present visa for France doesn’t permit me to move out of France (visa office fears that if they let me move out, I might start working outside France. Why the heck???). Also I cannot apply for Schengen visa since I cannot have another Schengen visa if I already have visa from a Schengen country. So, the only option left for me, as suggested by Dutch Embassy in Paris, was to request the police to provide me the document saying that I am going there just for holidays and would return back.
But administrative people often make you realize that you’re not the master of your destiny; be it India or France, doesn’t make a difference. I was totally knocked for six when the prefecture refused to not even provide me the document. What kind of rule is this? Cannot go out of the country on the current visa and cannot even apply for a new visa.
Suddenly I was able to realize the pain of the families who were separated during the partition. I recalled the news item, broadcasted several years ago, showing long queue of people for visa to Pakistan when the bus service between Delhi and Lahore was started. The borders can separate the two countries but it cannot separate hearts. The pain of partition cannot be compared to this situation. It’s far more painful and unfortunate.
Since last few days I have been trying to answer few questions in my mind. Why do we have borders? Why cannot the mankind move around this beautiful world freely? Why do we have visas? It is truly said that sometimes you cannot realize the pain of others until you yourself do not suffer through that.
I went to the Police prefecture (the administrative department that handles the visa issues) in Paris to know if it is possible for me to go to Netherlands to meet uncle and his family.
It was really amazing to see that to meet my near and dear ones, I need the permission of police, but that’s life. The present visa for France doesn’t permit me to move out of France (visa office fears that if they let me move out, I might start working outside France. Why the heck???). Also I cannot apply for Schengen visa since I cannot have another Schengen visa if I already have visa from a Schengen country. So, the only option left for me, as suggested by Dutch Embassy in Paris, was to request the police to provide me the document saying that I am going there just for holidays and would return back.
But administrative people often make you realize that you’re not the master of your destiny; be it India or France, doesn’t make a difference. I was totally knocked for six when the prefecture refused to not even provide me the document. What kind of rule is this? Cannot go out of the country on the current visa and cannot even apply for a new visa.
Suddenly I was able to realize the pain of the families who were separated during the partition. I recalled the news item, broadcasted several years ago, showing long queue of people for visa to Pakistan when the bus service between Delhi and Lahore was started. The borders can separate the two countries but it cannot separate hearts. The pain of partition cannot be compared to this situation. It’s far more painful and unfortunate.
No comments:
Post a Comment