Now [not] serving number: 55

This was the token I was given when cashing some travellers cheques at the bank. We got there about 10 minutes before their 3pm closing time, and despite some reluctance on their part at having to handle 10 cheques, they started the process. One person received the cheques, checked my passport and had me fill in a form. Then a second person checked the first person's work, checked the cheques and returned my passport. Then I was given the token and told to wait. Five minutes passed, then ten. And then the computers went down.

By this stage it was about 3.15pm, and customers were still merrily sauntering into the bank. This didn't seem to bother the bank staff who, strangely, had all disappeared and the few that remained were literally napping on their desks. We waited, and waited. Eventually one of the staff seemed to get through to IT support, played around with a computer to no avail, and once again things ground to a halt.

About 20 minutes later our driver, Sajeev, came in looking for us, asking what was happening. He chatted to the bank staff and confirmed that the computers were indeed the problem. So the three of us patiently waited. And waited. And waited.

After a while Sajeev politely asked us if we wanted to cash the cheques tomorrow rather than wait? I explained that I'd already signed them, they'd stamped them and doubted we could get them back or cash them anywhere else! Oh, he said, you just need the money? Yup. And so he again chatted to the staff, first to one person, then another and another, all the while gesturing towards H&I. Sajeev managed to convince them and finally, computers or not, they reluctantly looked for my paperwork, took my token, and counted out 40,000 Rupees.

All in all it took over an hour to cash the travellers cheques – one of those frustrating situations where time is of the essence, but you're powerless to speed things up. Or so I thought. As we walked out Sajeev explained that the first person had already entered the travellers cheques into the computer and they didn't really need the computers after that, they just needed to hand me the cash! ARGH! Indian bureaucracy – if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And if it is, make-do.