Reissue/Renewal of passport before expiry date in Bangalore:

If you have a valid visa in the old passport, you have to apply in the regional passport office. It is better to apply before your passport expires as tatkal is not allowed if you apply after it does.

Steps are very simple if you have all the proofs required.

Take an online appointment. This can be taken only between 9:30 am till 12:30 pm everyday for the next day. 150-180 tokens are given for a day. Follow the instructions for filling up the forms diligently.

While filling up the appointment letter, ensure that your name is filled up correctly. You can fill the full name 'fully' or fill up the first name and then fill up the surname in the next field. Other wise, you will have the surname repeated twice.

Similarly go through each and every field value properly before you submit. You can also correct those entries before paying at the last counter, but it is better to review it while applying to avoid any hassles.

Apart from the appointment letter (without this, you will not be let in), copy of first two and last two pages (include the ECNR stamping as well), application form, I had taken one copy of following documents along with original.

- BSNL bill for address proof.
- PAN Card
- Voters id - for checking if I can apply on tatkal
- Degree certificate

When you enter, you will be directed to counter #1 in the first floor for tagging. It is the righmost counter and you will always find a queue there. That person will check all the documents based on the type of application, staple it in order and will ask you fill up the form to be sent for police verification. I was asked to take another copy of all the documents. Photocopiers are available if you come out of the passport office, walk to your right for a few metres and cross the road. If the person at the tagging counter tells a correction, get back to the same counter after you correct, until it is given back to you with no comments.

Once tagging is done successfully, sit and wait for your turn in the next counter. Token numbers are called out and gets displayed in two or three places in the hall.

In this counter, all the originals are checked. If you want to apply in tatkal scheme, you need to inform the person at this counter and any corrections in the appointment letter also needs to be mentioned. If the application is in the normal scheme, i think you will be asked to pay the money in the next counter, and you will be done.

If it is tatkal, there is another person who checks everything once again, and you will be asked to meet the Assistant Passport Officer (APO) in room 11. She will tell you how much you need to pay and when your passport will be despatched. After that you will be sent to counter 8. When I went, the tatkal queue was longer - obviously as the time taken in tatkal is 3 days while the normal one takes 4-6 weeks!

Wait for your turn, pay the money, get the corrections done, and take the receipt that will have the file number.

Using the file number you can check the status online. If there are mistakes, even at that time, you have the option to correct the details as applicable. On the day stated by the APO, you will get your passport.

I had made a BIG mistake though it was just a letter change in the passport. When I filled up the online form, field capturing the Sex was having a default value of 'Male' and I had not changed it :(. So here goes how the correction needs to be done!

Correction in your passport:

For this also, fix an appointment. It is the same process, only in the 'type' you will select it as 'Misc services'. Check the faq for more details.

Fill up the form . Proofs differ based on the correction. Once the tagging was done, I was immediately sent to APO. I think it was mainly because that I applied in Tatkal and had got a correction to be done. APO sent me to the regional passport office who is in the second floor.

For my case, the seceratary called the correction officer. He had a chat with me to understand the correction, made me wait to get the original application, then gave me a slip saying that am supposed to come at 4 pm to the collection counter the next day.

I went there the next day and waited at the collection counter. There are no tokens/queue. You have to wait till your name is called. Names that were called first on that day were all those 'special' cases is my guess. None of the correction cases passport was with him . He then took the file numbers from our receipts/slips and went somewhere. Got a couple of them and distributed. It was like giving orders for hot samosa's and wait for it to be taken out of the pan to your plate... My turn came at 5:45 pm. I checked and rechecked and finally I had my passport! It is a reissue on the old application with this correction with no charges applied as it was in the tatkal scheme. Otherwise any mistake from the applicant side costs 500 Rs.

There was one corrected passport with entries smudged. That was re printed and given in a jiffy!

I hope the information is useful for people who are applying for passport. My first attempt through an agent costed me more than a years time when I gave up and tried and learnt the process myself and got the passport. I feel it is better you do it yourself as the process has been made much easier than it was before.

Our other kid Zeta, who is a labrador. She came to our house when she was 39 days old. She has completed one year today...

On this occasion, here is a poem that my husband learnt when he was small and remembered suddenly last week. Thanks to the net, we got the full poem.

My Dog

Have you seen a little dog anywhere about?
A raggy dog, a shaggy dog, who's always looking out
For some fresh mischief which he thinks he really ought to do.
He's very likely at this minute biting on someone's shoe.

If you see that little dog, his tail up in the air,
A whirly tail, a curly tail, a dog who doesn't care
For any other dog he meets, not even for himself,
Then hides your mats, and put your meat upon the top-most shelf.

If you see that little dog, barking at the cars,
A raggy dog, a shaggy dog, with eyes like twinkling stars,
Just let me know, for though he's bad, as bad as bad can be,
I wouldn't change that dog for all the treasures of the sea.

- Emily Lewis

Watched a few TEDtalks @TEDIndia that is happening in Mysore. I used the livestream by indiatimes. It seems that they are doing the live stream only on the first day and last day. I hope with today's response they change their mind and do it for the other sessions as well. Speed was pretty decent.

Facebook had a provision of updating status there, which several people used it like chat window and asusual there were some spammers. Attitude of some of the people who were commenting there was really bad. So after sometime I stopped looking at it. Anything anyone says people had negative comments immediately. They were commenting about their looks, their accent - it almost seemed like people were not listening to what the content or what the speaker was arriving at, but were there just for the heck of it.

Some of the comments indicated that these videos will be uploaded in ted.com by mid December.

I watched sessions starting from Pranav Mistry. I had watched the TEDTalk by Pattie Maes in TED.com about sixth sense, but when you hear it from the guy who has done it, it was a proud moment for every Indian. When he finished his talk, there was the first standing ovation of the afternoon @TEDIndia. What he told in the short interview later is that though several companies approached him, he has decided that sixth sense should reach all the masses and anyone should be able to make their sixth sense and hence he is going to make the software available as opensource in a months time. Thats going to be some kind of revolution. Information anywhere, anytime, and just about anything using any gadget you possess... Wow.

There was a second standing ovation, this time for Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev(Isha foundation), who was introduced as the 'Mystic' man. I've some respect for the yogi's, but somehow, all these gurus of this generation fail to impress me. This is my personal opinion :). One thing to be told - Speeches they make really are TOO good. He could hold interst of a well educated audience for 18 minutes. And he was humorous - "In a contest of Divine Vs Dosa, Dosa wins hands down" and the likes...

The last one was music - wonders it can do to people by Anil Srinivasan who is trained in Western Classical and his friend Sikkhil Gurucharan who is a trained carnatic vocalist. The presentation was not very great though the message was good, but when they let their music do the talking, it was just amazing. Gurucharan sang 'Aasai Mugam Maradhu Poche' a song by Bharthiyar. (Anil was saying this is about the yearning of the poet when his mom passed away - he says "why do I have eyes if I cannot see the one thing that i want to see"- I'm yet to figure out the complete lyrics and see if it indeed means that) and the next piece was 'Sheerabdi thanya kagu Srimahalakshmi kini' an Annamacharya Krithi. I never thought a carnatic song would sound so divine with piano. Gurucharan's voice was so soothing and the piano in background was just right and I was glad that I chose to spend that 18 mts online. Very very nice finish.

I clogged all the groups I access through my gmail when I tried to send invite to all my 'friends' in orkut to facebook!

This is what happened. I was in one of my vetti moods and I saw a link in facebook that said that you can get in touch with all your orkut friends. Off late, I seem to be more active in facebook - even though, from my point, orkut is simple to understand and work with! - I thought why not try this to get all contacts here.

Followed the steps that were given in the link

- Logged into orkut
- Clicked on 'Friends'
- clicked 'Export to csv'
- It gave me the standard 'donut' message - should have stopped here, but i think it was my fate that I should go through this :(
- Repeated the 2nd and 3rd step
- File got saved

Accessed that file from facebook.

It told me that I'm connected to some of them, not connected to some of them.
I happily sent invite to all those who are part of facebook and not connected.

So far, so good.

Then it told me that some of them are not part of facebook and I should invite. I did not bother to check the ids (obviously because I'm supposed to have exported only contacts from orkut and not from gmail as it turned out :(), happily clicked on invite all...

THen I see mails flying everywhere - official mail id, my husband's office id, groups that I've subscribed to... Bah! so much for trying out something new!!!!!!!!

I tried sending apologies for couple of the group ids as initially I could not understand what happened. Then I ditched.

If you are part of one of those groups, please forgive me. My sincere apologies for spamming your mail box...

I only wish I had a better profile photo ;)

Feeling bad about couple of things...

one - Kim is ignoring me completely...Rejection from your kid is the worst feeling even if it is momentary.. I should actually be feeling good that I can do something that I want in that time I would have spent with her. But heart doesnot listen - asusual. Am just telling myself I should not shout at anyone as a result. this too shall pass and I will better tomorrow (she will also)

second - she did not get through Deens. first lot of names is out, and hers is not there. Looks like it is becuase that she did not speak a word. That day morning she was pretty ok. We told her that she should answer if anyone asks her questions, but it was a long wait, we ourselves got irritated. by the time we entered the Principal's room, she was all hungry and sleepy. I just hope she will get admission elsewhere.

Hope it is a better day tomorrow.

Heard about two deaths in office. Somehow it upset me so much, am still thinking about them...

One guy's mother passed away a month back after struggling with cancer. Yesterday his sister's (she is younger to him) husband met with an accident and passed away in the morning. They have been married only for a year now.

Other one - this girl, her parents and her younger sister went along with the other doctors(around 15 of them) who work with her dad (who also is a doctor) went to an amusement park, dad had an heart attack - unfortunately none of the other doctors where around to administer a CPR - passed away. How tragic! He had been healthy and the family had least expected this..

May their souls rest in peace and May God give enough strength to both the families to handle this.

My paternal grandmother is once again in hospital, this time specifically for the blood transfusion. Her first one happened in August when we went to emergency becuase she was having fever and breathlessness which we associated with her asthmatic condition. It turned out that her haemoglobin was as low as 6 and the reason after a bone marrow test was found out as leukamia. She was there in the hospital for 8 days, had three units of blood transfused and got discharged.

My husband, my brother and I were told by the doctor that the condition will detoriate very fast because of her age (She is 84) and if she wants to make any trips we should get that done in the next twenty days :(. He said she cannot be treated with intense chemo as she may not react very well becuase of her age and also that we should not put her through major pains. "All we can do is to make it less painful and easy for her" he stated. We all are grown ups, have some level of maturity, know that our grandmothers are getting older and they will die one day, but someone is predicting it, it is REALLY REALLY HARD to digest. Breaking the news to my dad was my job. I had to take a day to digest what was told and then told him as well. It was shocking for everyone at home in the beginning, but we all came to terms with the news as days passed. We treated her as normally as possible and did not tell her about this. Maternal grandmother's heart attack, her hospitalisation and her coming to stay with us also helped in a way as the focus shifted.

Just after a month after her last transfusion, on Thursday, from 12.1 haemoglobin count has come down to 7.1. We have admitted her yesterday for the blood transfusion again. Even though we all are trying to joke about it, I can feel the tension at home. I myself, am feeling afraid. I am trying to tell myself she should be ok. But my head tells me that she wont last long. On one hand I want her to live, on the other I dont want her to suffer too much. As my husband says "The greatest gift that you can get from God is that you are living normally one day and just pass away the next. It might be painful for the near and dear ones, but for the person who dies, thats the best that can happen". I agree with this completely, thats why most part of me is now thinking, that she should pass away without suffering. Whenever that happens, may God give us the strength to handle it.