READER’SDIGEST
So,onwewent.
Shehandedmea pieceofpaper
andaskedmetoreadit outloud.It
wasa half-pageoftextinGerman.I
startedreadingit,butsheinterrupted
me,saying,“Pleasereadit all...
includingtheplaceanddate.”SoI
startedagain,stumblinginexplicably
overwordsI knewwell.Itwasan
oathI wasreading,swearingtobe
loyaltothiscountryandtoobserve
allthedutiesofa citizen.
Then,handingmeherpen,she
said,“Signhere,”tappingonthe
bottomofthepageI’djustread.
Andso,withonestrokeofherpen,
I signedmyoldnationalityaway.
Myeyesweretoofulloftearsto
readthecitizenshipcertificateshe
handedme.Weshookhandstoseal
thedeal.Thatwasalltheceremony
therewastoit.Nophotograph,no
fanfare– justa dryhandshake.Trying
toexplainmytearsI said,it wasa
hugeschritt(step)inmylifeand,at
thesametime,a terribleschnitt(cut).
Theladylookedsurprised
atthat,butagreedthatit wasa
veryimportantstep.“Youmust
bewillingtogivesomethingup
togetsomethingelse,”shesaid
sanctimoniously.
I watchedsadlyasshetookmyold
Indianpassportawayandslippedit
intoa plasticenvelopetobesentto
theIndianconsulateinMunich.
“CanI getit backafterit’sbeen
cancelled?”I asked.
“That’ssomething you’ll have to
asktheIndianconsulate,”shesaid.
“It’stheirproperty,notours.And
certainlynotyours!”Thislastbit
wassaidwitha certainamountof
vehemence.
Earlier,I hadtakenmyIndian
passportoutofmybagonelasttime
andrunmyfingersoverthegolden
emblemembossedonthedarkblue
coverandflippedthroughthemuch-
stampedpages,curlingslightlyatthe
edges.AllthecountriesI’dbeento- theUS,Switzerland,SouthAfrica,
Lesotho,Bhutan,Mexico– allwith
theirownvisas,entryanddeparture
stampsindifferentcolours.
Thispassporthadconfirmedmy
identityasanIndiannational.It’s
whatI’dheldinmyhandswhenI’d
stoodinvariousconsulatelinesto
getvisas,inlinesatairports,while
Germans,Americans,Britishcitizens,
justwalkedthroughwiththebreezy
confidenceof‘first-world’citizens.
Therewouldbenoneofthat
anymore,nowthatI hadjoined
theirranks.Likethem,I couldlive
inGermanyindefinitely,vote,goin
andoutofEuropeandtraveltomost
countriesaroundtheworldwithout
needinga visa.I,too,hadbecomea
first-worldcitizen!
Whythen,instead of rejoicing, did
I feel so sad?
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