Finally Home: Home Sweet Home

Have you ever felt helpless? To the point where this helplessness turns into anger?

So here's the background: PASSPORT saga! This Diary Game is about my children's and my passports, which I applied for 14 days ago using the fast-track portal. This service is supposed to be even quicker than the urgent service. I should have received these passports within two working days. I should have also received a notification via SMS to come and collect them.

Okay, delays happen, no problem. Maybe initially it was an issue with the paper used, and now it might be a problem with the ink. I understand that in a developing country, such issues can arise.

To some extent, we stay mentally prepared for these problems and challenges. For example, last night we had a two-hour unannounced power outage. The heat is unbearable, but what's worse is the anxiety of wondering if the electricity will stay off all night.

So, we’ve been dealing with this kind of anxiety for the past 10 days. Every morning, I check my phone to see if a message has come about passport collection. Especially on Fridays, I set an alarm to avoid being late and missing the opportunity to pick up the passport due to the half working day.

But no message came this Friday too...

Now the bigger concern is that we might have to wait through the weekend as well, because it looks like this will now be pushed to Monday.

And now Monday has arrived. I have to get back home on Monday by any means, as I can't extend my stay even for a day longer. I need to use public transport, but I can’t make the booking. Why?

What if I still don’t get the passports on Monday?

Anyway, we decided that whether we get a message on Monday or not, we will go to the office to find out, because there’s no other way to get information. There’s no phone number, no online assistance…

So, we’ll have to go to this executive office on the other side of the city, but it’s ten times more difficult without my husband’s help.

Anyhow, accompanied by my son and father-in-law, we went to the office at 9 in the morning. We prayed all the way that we would finally get the passports today. So far, we haven't received any SMS. When we arrived at the door, we saw a large notice posted that read:

انک کی عدم دستیابی کی وجہ سے پاسپورٹ بنانے کا عمل رکا ہوا ہے۔ تکلیف کے لیے معذرت خواہ ہیں۔

"Due to the unavailability of ink, the passport-making process is on hold. We apologize for the inconvenience."

No, I didn't take any picture of the notice board. Was there any picture worth taking?

I went straight to the counter and said that I had come to collect the passport. I handed over the tokens, which needed to be submitted to receive the passport.

My heart was beating a thousand times a minute. The man at the counter took the tokens from me, and I was more than sure he would say that they were not ready yet and that I should wait longer. But to my surprise, he turned to his cabinet, took out four passports, asked me to sign for confirmation, and handed them over to me.

I took this picture right there and immediately sent it to my husband.

On the way back, I called a few more people to inform them that, yes, it’s done.

Then we went to the bus stop to get tickets for the 2 o'clock bus. After returning to my in-laws' house, we quickly packed, gave the kids a snack, and at 1:15, we left again for the bus stop.

The journey back was quite comfortable. I watched a Punjabi comedy movie while it rained outside. At the bus stop, the dearest one was already there, waiting to receive us. Seeing him instantly erased all my worries. He is like a shady tree in the scorching sun of life. The beauty of my life.

But these feelings are not easily expressed.

There were puddles of rainwater at the bus stop, so I made him reverse and maneuver the car in such a way that my feet wouldn't get dirty. He gave me that look from inside the car, which I conveniently ignored. As soon as I got in the car, he said,

"I forgot to roll out the red carpet for Princess My Highness."

His sarcastic tone was at its peak, and I smiled my widest smile. I'm writing this post sitting comfortably on my bed in my bedroom, thinking repeatedly... Home sweet home.