|
|
Ramblings
For the Sake of Laws
by Aruni Mukherjee
“Shout ...
Soft ... Borders".
Worryingly I went near the closed toilet door at Nuneaton railway
station. On close examination, I discovered that the phrase had
originally been “Out of Order”, referring to the toilet. I
attributed the rather creative- albeit disturbing- additions to the
supporters of the British Nationalist Party or the UK Independence
Party, both of whom use xenophobia against immigration as staple diet in
their political propaganda.
The threat of terrorism, along with the resident fear of a deluge of
immigrants flooding the country and the vexed issue of multiculturalism
has dogged Britain of late. Just recently the Church of England had been
complaining about the supposed biased approach of the Labor government
towards the Muslim minorities. Jack Straw’s pot shot at the niqab
(burkha) only added fuel to the fire. All the three major
political parties are falling over each other to appear tough on
immigration control.
The stern immigration officer at the end of the usual mile-long queue at
London’s Heathrow airport was something new. Compared to a
Chinese-American officer who took terrible offence because I couldn’t
understand his accent at New York’s John F Kennedy airport, I found
British immigration officials generally friendly enough. This time
though, I was curtly asked a few questions about my trip and then asked
to go stand in another massive queue, apparently for a health check-up.
I could see where our bureaucratic babus in India get their lethargy
from. I had no chest x-ray plates (probably because the visa issuing
office never told me) and no doctor’s report. I walked up and I handed
her my passport. Instead of hustling me to the adjacent medical room, I
was just let through. What a check-up!
For this hour-long exercise in standing in a queue, I missed my bus.
When asked at the counter the reason for my delay, I mentioned the
excesses at immigration. “About time too!”, guffawed the man behind the
counter. If only these security procedures were actually implemented,
and then targeted not at the mundane traveler, my world as an average
individual would be so much more hassle-free.
Nowhere have I seen security stickers being stuck at the keyholes of
suitcases. But it happens at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
airport. Who dare tell these people that they’re a nightmare to take off
later, and are not effective in any case? I guess they’re better than
the plastic rope they used to tie up the luggage with though! Oh, and
how irritating is it for us Indians to fill out lengthy arrival and
departure cards in our own country. Is it not enough that we’re being
blacklisted overseas? All this information going into the immigration
system in India’s airports can be safely labeled in computer lingo as
GIGO (garbage in, garbage out).
I paid Rs. 16,000 for 10 kilograms of excess luggage while taking the
flight to London. For any average middle class Joe like me, that’s gotta
pinch! There were a few American girls in front of me in the queue at
the check-in counter. I could tell that their luggage was hopelessly
overweight. To my bewilderment (I was too shocked to be angry), they
casually ripped off their security tags (the precious security tags!),
opened their suitcases, took out some of their stuff, weighed it (and it
came under the allowance level), opened them again, shoved in the stuff
they had taken out, and threw it on the conveyer belt. No one raised an
eyebrow.
“The next stop is Leicester”, called the train driver, and I realized I
had dozed off. Feeling the apprehensive gaze of an elderly white woman,
I got off the train and headed to work.
October 29,
2006
Top
|
Ramblings
The Week of October 29, 2006
Will the PM Abet Corruption? by Rajinder Puri
US Elections and the Hell Shaped Curve by Gaurang
Bhatt, MD
United States Neurotic Obsessions
with
Pakistan's General Musharraf by Dr. Subhash Kapila
India's New Defence Minister:
The Dilemma of Honesty or Efficiency by Col.
Rahul K. Bhonsle
Criminal Freedom versus Civil Thralldom by V.
Sundaram
Is England Becoming 'Little England'? by V.
Sundaram
Do They Speak ... These Statues? by Pradip
Bhattacharya
Death – An amazing phenomenon! by Pradeep
Joshi
Beware! The Land Slides by VK Joshi
Home, Home On the (Nuclear) Range by Stephanie
Hiller
James Rennell: The Father of Indian Geography
by Kumud Biswas
Michael Schumacher – the man and the champion
by Yamini Ayyagari
Parenting with Love by Atasi Sen
Love: A Pleasurable Pain by Julia Dutta
The Best of Both Worlds by Vikram Karve
Chega Tchega Sega! by Naiya Sivaraj
The Witty Side by Melvin Durai
America's Weakness by William R. Stimson
The Global Village Is Tilted in America’s Favor
by Glory Sasikala Franklin
I Want to be a Drop-out by Prakash Pathre
For the Sake of Laws by Aruni Mukherjee
Would Gandhi Win Today? by Rita Manchanda
The State of Saffron by Elsa Sherin Mathews
Don't Stop the Flow by Gagandeep Kaur
Bringing Health to their Doorstep by Sushmita
Malaviya
'I had an Abortion at Home' by Michelle R
Bayaua
Mother's Recipe for Quality Schools by Malvika
Kaul
|
|
