WE MUST BE THE CHANGE WE WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD



 

Ten years seem to be a long, long time!

Today, I had been to the Passport office for my renewal of Passport. Ten years ago, everything happened at the famous Worli Passport office. Getting the work done, then, was a real torture.

Now, after ten years, things have changed drastically… and, for good. Mine was Tatkal. The agent had done the initial spade-work. So, in exactly one-and-half hours, I was out. “You will receive by post the Passport within four working days, sir,” I was told at the exit. My wife had been there for the same work in April. Probably, due to the holiday season, it took relatively more time for her to come out. But, she received the Passport within two days! I, too, may…

Efficiency in service is the key to customer satisfaction. Elderly, sick, small children and, even just-born babies are brought to the Passport office… The authorities have done a great job by outsourcing almost the entire Passport-issue process to smart private agencies… I was happy with the speed the four-layer process moved today…

I do not know if it was everyone’s experience. But, I was very pleased as I was comparing today’s experience to the treatment I had received ten years ago, when I had been there for the first time.



Well, when the world around you changes, you have no option but to change. Else, be prepared to be wiped off… The map of Lower Parel, once the famous textile-mills area, has changed beyond recognition. What was once known for clusters of our Mumbai chawls, now is a Manhattan-like hot property… The Passport office, which I had to report to, is situated inside one of the sprawling commercial-complexes. So, whether you sell real-estate or jeans, or whether you sell news or Passports, you better sell them well… You better change… Or, as I said, be prepared to be wiped off!

As I stood in the Tatkal queue, my eyes fell on the attractive backdrop, which spread itself behind the service counter. On it, written:




“We must be the change we wish to see 

in the world.” 


– Mahatma Gandhi




“How true,” I smiled in my heart…

Everything has changed in a span of ten years… and, it shall change even more in the next ten … and, hopefully, for the better…

As far as the service to customer is concerned, the basics will, always, remain the same: He is the ‘Lord’… our bread-giver…

“Annadata, sukhibhava!”



GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Gloria Pinto






Comments

Anonymous said…
So simple and yet so profound! Loved it... Jaya
August 26, 2013 at 5:56 PM
Tanish Khanna said…
Change is the only permanent thing, as it is said; lovely post.
------- Tanish
August 26, 2013 at 6:50 PM
Vishal Agarwal said…
"Annadata sukhibhava!!!!!!" Vishal
August 26, 2013 at 7:19 PM
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