today i had the privilege of visiting the one office i’ve avoided my entire time here in india. the FRRO - foreigners regional registration officer. registration isn’t required for those on tourist visas whose stay doesn’t exceed the maximum 180 days in a single visit. so thankfully by going to the uk halfway through the year, i avoided having my own nightmare story to tell about waiting for hours in line, then getting the run around. having the wrong documents. or not enough copies of the right ones. missing signatures from important people on the other side of town. so on and so forth.

i returned to india may 25 to start my second half of the year and a brand new set of 180 days. but for some reason, amidst illnesses and nationwide jaunts i seemed to have forgotten what day i actually entered. in my head i thought, oh somewhere around the end of may, which i then concretely decided was may 29 for no reason at all. of course, this could have all been cleared up by actually looking in my passport, which is always within reach and within view. but in my mind nothing needed to be cleared up. so i never did.

as i recovered from my lung infection and realized going home at the end of november was the best option, i naturally and smartly remembered that i had to leave before november 29. i considered the 27th and 28th, then realized it was thanksgiving weekend, so opted for the 25th instead. i didn’t want to be sleeping at the dinner table while casseroles were passed in front of me. so i chose one day before. then i confidently booked my return flight with american and paid the $250 change fee. all set. good to go.

it wasn’t until this weekend that i casually decided to open my passport. and look at my visa. and notice the stamped date of my last entry. may 25. now, you may be counting in your head like everyone at the FRRO. may, june, july, august…november. exactly 6 months to the day! problem kya hai? why yes it is exactly 6 months. and for that coincidence i was lucky. but as we all know, 30 days has september, april, june, and november. all the rest have 31. and mind you, the majority of those with 31 came during my second 180 days. meaning, november 25 is day 183. oops.

now oops doesn’t really work with governments. you can imagine how the u.s. immigration office would respond to oops i overstayed my visa. its really no different here. so my options became, go to nepal or thailand or sri lanka in the next 10 days and spend money you should save in order to go out and reenter, thereby starting a third set of 180 days. go home even earlier, meaning next week, which would require another $250 change fee that i’m sure american would gladly accept. or three, finally make that visit to the FRRO and collect content for my blog while begging for a 3 day extension.

i chose the third option. my chase checking account demanded it. i did my homework. i made calls. i made photocopies. i had all the papers ready and in hand. i set my alarm for 8am to beat the monday morning foreign rush, and after waking up at 10:30am, finally was on my way to the FRRO. my saving grace turned out to be a by chance phone call i had with a mr. singh just before i left home. he was the head of the entire office and i have no idea how i got through to him. i just called the general number listed on the website. who knew the key to unlocking the FRRO bureaucracy was shamelessly posted online for everyone to see. genius.

and while after reaching i was told at the reception to take all of my paperwork to another office on the other side of town. and i did have to stand in line. then sit. then stand. then wait. then be told i was at the wrong counter. then stand and wait some more. in the end, it was the the blessing of mr. singh and my having spoken with him in the morning that eventually resulted in a stamp in my passport and a 10 day extension. a miracle really. one visit. to only one office. and i wasn’t charged a single rupee. yet they saved me thousands. and a headache i didn’t even know i had 48 hours before.

on my way out as i looked around at the mostly afghani and iranian crowd who you’d have guessed had been standing in line for weeks, if not months, maybe years. i felt relieved to have come and gone so easily with only enough content for a single blog entry. i will sing the praises of the FRRO and mr. singh. but i dread the day i have to return. happy thanksgiving mr. singh. it was nice meeting you.

it is 3:00am. i went to bed hours ago. but the mosquitoes won’t let me sleep. and neither will my mind. the buzzing in my ears matches the buzzing in my head. i cannot rest. and i’m tired.

it was not a great day. i realized another pending visa problem due to nothing more than careless oversight on my part. i got stuck with a fake rs. 500 note, which happens with some frequency here. no one will take it. my loss. the dogs are barking like they do every night, going on and on. the donkeys are probably back. they always show up late at night on the main road and the dogs can’t stand them. and now i feel a sore throat coming on again. yes, again. everyone in delhi is sick. the suffocating blanket of smog that has trapped us and our emissions the past couple of weeks has left everyone gasping for air.

but more than all of this reentry has begun. and that consumes my mind most. i feel completely lost even though i know exactly where i am. i am a sojourner. i do not belong here. i do not belong there. i have seen too much. i have experienced too little. i have spread myself thin. parts of me lie scattered across various continents. in cities around the world. it happens. its no surprise. i’m pretty sure this will be my life. and i’m usually content living it. but right now i’m in the middle of a transition. and i’ve never been fond of transitions. my mother will tell you. i prefer to skip straight to the new order. or return to the old. without having to phase one in while the other fades out.

where am i taking all my stuff? where am i taking myself? i don’t know exactly. and why take it all home if i hope to come back? because i don’t know exactly. i don’t know where i’m going or for how long. i don’t know exactly when i’ll return. and therein lies my problem. this isn’t my usual reluctant transition. i could be headed for months of transition. no longer just a single action, but a continuity of the state. which would require the use of a perfect participle. and i do not want to use a perfect participle when describing my transition. i want to use only short and quick adjectives that describe a past and completed action. or better yet a hypothetical action. a state of transition sounds depressing. and makes me feel a little blah too. क्या करें ?