Passing the Buck

This week we discovered that in order to move money from our bank account in the US to our bank account in India, it has to be wired. (Transfers are not allowed.) To “complete the formalities” as they say here, we filled out the required form from our US bank. One of the blanks stated, “SWIFT (International Only).” What’s that? A phone call to a rep at our US bank told us we would have to get that eight digit code from our Indian bank. Okay… I emailed Indradeep Roy, who had worked with us at the beginning of our banking odyssey, asking for this code. His response: "Helen: It was great to hear from you. I would like to inform you that you need to get in touch with your Relationship Manager Mr. Uttam who is marked (cc'd) on the mail. Uttam, Request you to plz touch base with helen. Thanks and Regards, Roy." Next email: "Dear Ms Helen, Its my pleasure to inform you that I would be taking care of your a/c as the relationship manager. For any of the service requirements you too can get in touch with Ms Jayamangala who has been marked in the mail. Jaya, Pl provide the remittance details like the swift code." Now two people have passed the request on to a third. Jaya was the one who finally delivered it.

This is a never-ending story in India. In today’s The Times of India, an article about an illegal tree branch chopping appeared. A businessman hired workers to cut off a limb that was bothersome. A group of youths, volunteering for some environmental non-government organizations, protested. The volunteers lodged a complaint with the police, but “no FIR was filed.” “We could not file the FIR because it’s not a recognizable offense. It comes under the jurisdiction of the forest department.” The district forest officer said it did not fall under his jurisdiction. “This comes under the horticulture department,” he maintained. Tree officer Krishna said he was unable to initiate action due to want of staff. “The police should initiate action, not me. What can I do?” he asked. So where does the buck stop?