R2I - Bangalore: Everyday commute options

Posted on June 24th, 2007 by Chitra

Before coming to the conclusion that cars are your only option for everyday commute after R2Iing, let us assess all the other available options. The only public transport that Bangalore has right now is the bus. There are a few kinds of buses for public transport; the absolutely basic blue-colored BMTC buses that you see in the pic below, the slightly better Pushpak buses, and the luxury Volvo buses. Unfortunately, the frequency of these buses and the rush of people in them will make you want to turn the other way when it comes to relying on them on a day-to-day basis. If you are a concerned citizen of the globe and want to really use public transport, you may have to wait for the Namma Metro project to complete. The Metro is made to seem like an all-in-all problem solver to our woes. Like always, I will wait and watch before getting too excited! Also, this project has recently kick-started, so we do have a long way to go.

Since there is almost no public transport option for now, you can consider relying on company provided transport for your commute to work. A lot of the companies provide real nice, comfy buses/vans for pick-up and drop-off. The only downside is that you will have to stick to their timings. But, I do know of people who are able to make this option work for them.

The next option would be a 2-wheeler. If you have been away from India for a while, riding a 2-wheeler may or may not be possible for you. Now, if you are going to be the dare-devil to try a 2-wheeler amidst this traffic, then the next deterrent is going to be the pollution levels, especially at peak hours. The smog will make you squirm on your 2-wheeler seat. My husband was one of those that considered a 2 wheeler for his regular office commute, mostly because he was going to be saving a little bit of time. Obviously, your ability to maneuver is far better on a narrow vehicle. Also you occupy much less space on an already crowded/narrow road, and in turn will help the insane traffic in your own small way. But after the initial few days of observing the traffic patterns, he just gave up the idea! :)
When I see all the bike guys halting at the red-light and balancing their 2-wheelers with their feet on the ground, I worry for the safety of their feet. One of my cousins was at the red light with her feet on the ground, and an auto just went over her right foot. Thankfully, the damage was minimal. Since all the vehicles are just inches away from you or your vehicle, the thought is scary. What if it was a bus that had gone over her foot? And of course, there are still others who have had many a fall from their 2-wheelers. Not to mention the inconvenience during the rains.

 

If you want to use the autos for your everyday commute, you will have to again cover your nose for the entire to and fro journey because of the vehicular exhausts. Whenever I take an auto, after a few kilometres I notice a fairly distinct smell in my hair; all the exhaust fumes taking their toll! The exhaust fumes also make me feel squeamish. The other factor of course is the meters - you may not want to see the auto meter reading all kinds of numbers, since most of the meters are rigged.

A sea of autos. Notice how our rear-view mirror is broken (bottom left corner of the pic).
A simple mishap when one of the other cars was very close to ours!

Your final option is the car. And because of the unbelievable traffic on the roads, owning a small sized car becomes a necessity as compared to owning a bigger one; your ability to maneuver on the already clogged Bangalore roads is a little better with a smaller one. And of course, you have the option of owning a 2nd, bigger, nicer, family car for your weekends and out-of-town drives since the freeways are quite good. Wouldn’t you agree about the small sized car? Or is there any other way to look at everyday commute? Would love to hear your thoughts, more so because I like to encourage a more public friendly commute.

On R2Iing, buying a car will be one of your crucial decisions. The good thing is, there is a fair amount of choice for cars in the market, and definitely so for small sized cars. ‘Cars‘ is an exhaustive topic and I will cover all the options available, over a period of time. I will write about the available small cars in the market when I write about cars next. I will also write about the available cars based on their sizes and their prices subsequently.

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An R2I Tip: The traffic is really bad; can’t stress enough. See pic below. If you are sure about your R2I plans, then the one thing you can already do is to slowly start losing your attachment to your cars/roads there. Things will not be the same here and preparing yourself for it in advance helps. And when you do get stuck in traffic here, you will have the choice of not letting it affect you. That way, YOU still have the power! And you can take that time to think about your true reasons for coming back. :)

Clogged traffic on Bangalore roads - A common sight

PS: If I sounded preachy in the last para, please excuse me. I hate sounding preachy!

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Filed under: commute, Public Transport, Road, traffic, Cars, 2-wheeler, R2I, auto, pollution, Bangalore

R2I - FRO/FRRO experiences (Part I)

Posted on June 8th, 2007 by Chitra

Our status: Hub and I are GC holders and the kids are American citizens.

Though it has been 8 months since we R2Ied, hub and I had only casually broached upon the topic of registration at the Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO)/Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO). And today, at last, I went to the FRO’s office in Bangalore to check what we needed to do about our kids’ registrations. Now obviously, hub and I are not foreigners here and do not need to register. However, there has been a lot of confusion about the kids. Most of the returned NRIs we know have children with American citizenship. Most of us thought that kids under 16 years of age do not have to be registered or that if the kids have Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card, then the registration is not necessary. However, all of this is wrong info. One must register at the FRO, if one is not an Indian national. Period. And even if there are exemptions, it is always better to go to the FRO’s office in person and check.

The one exemption I know for a fact is that American kids with a PIO card do not have to register if they are staying in India for less than 6 months. Apparently, the PIO card says so! I am yet to check this.

Before going, I called up the FRO’s office to check if the kids must be registered. I was told that the kids should have been registered within 6 months of arrival. The office offers a grace period of a month after the first 6 months. And, if we still haven’t registered by then, we have to pay a fine of $30 per person and then register. Either way, I had decided to go to their office in person. So, I went.

Now, the FRO’s office is also the office of the Commissioner of Police here in Bangalore. It is this nice old colonial building on Infantry road, and still retains a lot of the old-world aura. I will provide the co-ordinates at the end of this post*.

On going to the office, one must first sign-in at the reception, where a couple of cops sit. The person you must then talk to will be available at the ‘Single Window‘ counter, and will answer all your questions. He was helpful and gave me clear instructions. He gave the necessary forms that we need for the kids and he also told me that we have to pay no money either as fees or as fine!!! I am not surprised at having heard otherwise over the phone earlier. He also told that the registration must be done only once during the validity of a visa irrespective of the number of times the foreigner leaves/re-enters India. Only if he/she enters India on a new visa will he/she be required to register again.

We must present all of the following at the FRO’s office for seeking residential permit for children below 16 years of age:
(He gives you a sheet that lists the specifics for your particular case)

  1. Our (foreign) kids
  2. A single copy of the Reporting Form. See pic to the right
  3. 3 passport size photos per child
  4. Copy of passport visa page or PIO card page
  5. Proof of local residence
  6. Bonafide certificate from the educational institutions for students admitted to schools. (He asked me how old my kids were. I said 4 and 2+. He then asked me to skip the school certificate.)
  7. Copies of birth certificate if the children were born in India (not applicable for us)
  8. Letter of guardianship (again, not applicable for us)
  9. Copies of parents’ Indian passports (if parents are foreigners themselves, then they must present their RC and RP. No clue what RC and RP stand for)
  10. Financial Guarantee Certificate (see pic and details below) issued by an Indian on a document sheet attested by a Notary + a copy of Indian Passport/Voter’s Identity Card/Ration Card of the financial guarantor

The FRO’s office gives a copy of the Financial Guarantee Affidavit. We must get the contents typed out on a Document sheet with franking of Rs. 20/- denomination. Apparently, you get these at the State Bank of Mysore. We must then have these attested by a Notary. Also, you can get a single affidavit done for all your children combined.

So far, I have the info. That’s why I call the post Part I. When we actually get done with the registration itself, I will post the developments here. I have been told that the FRO’s office works well and makes the whole thing fairly easy for you. Will update from experience.

*The Commissioner of Police, Bangalore City is the Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) for Bangalore City.

Deputy Commissioner of Police - Intelligence, Bangalore is authorised to perform the duties of Foreigners Registration Officer in Bangalore City and his office is located in the premises of the office of the Commissioner of Police.

Commissioner of Police
Infantry Road, Bangalore - 560051
Phone : +91-80 - 2294 2186
Fax : +91-80 - 22200920

Here’s the map (I got this shot from Yahoo! Maps, erased the irrelevant details, and inserted the FRO’s office location locally)

Click to see larger image

Jun 14 ‘07: Adding commenters’ inputs:

  1. American citizens who have the OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) card do not have to register with the FRO’s office.
  2. On a tourist visa, you do not have to register with the FRO’s office as long as you leave the country at least once every 180 days.

Aug 25th 2008 - My 2nd post on how no FRO/FRRO registration maybe required for kids under 16 yrs of age.

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Filed under: FRRO, FRO, Citizenship, Children, R2I

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