A SHARED SLICE

In the grand over-stamped, tea-smeared opera that is Indian bureaucracy, there reigns a sovereign deity: the Aadhaar card!

- RENÉE RANCHAN

Part identification, part amulet, entirely inescapable. Lose it, and one might as well lose one's citizenship, social standing, and access to a piping hot breakfast. Not quite a week back I had thought of taking a look at a much-talked of University, that was literally a stone's throw from my house, and the really funny matter was that after all these years and years of living here, I remained simply oblivious of its existence! Well, shan't dive into what brought me there since it's too circuitous a story, and so not worth the while. Yes, so far, the hottest day of June reported the Met department — as if one needed to know that it was 50 degrees! The puddles of sweat where one stood, despite the parasol, partially shielding me from the raging sun was enough proof...And there I was walking towards the mile-long gate of this notable university, when I was stopped by a rather belligerent security guard! Sure, he was simply doing his job, I explained to myself, but whyever so, did he have to take on the job of a Rottweiler, right down to the biting sneer of his mouth that seemed an inch away from tearing out your face! Then he transformed into the gatekeeper of the realm, demanding my credentials while in the same breath pursing a steel whistle into his condescending lips, as if I was seeking entry into a fortress! (Was he going to blow the whistle on me—what in heaven's had I done?!)