In a previous post, I wrote about how we arranged money to buy the farm. It was a long and arduous process as it tested our patience. However, we later found out that the pain we have to go through and the patience required is just the beginning :). Anyway, I ended the previous post with us asking our real estate agent Mr. J to start the registration process. He has been very helpful in getting all the documents prepared and visiting the taluk office etc. After a few failed dates for registration, he finally fixed one date that worked for us. He gave us all the instructions and explained the process involved and said it would all be done in a few hours. We won’t even have to step into the office until the signature time. I was feeling upbeat about the registration.


So we got the cash, cheques, challans etc prepared in Bangalore. Obviously, when you deal with any government office, there are “service charges” involved, especially so with real estate related transactions. So we got some extra cash for that too. Finally we made the 4 hour journey the next day to the Taluk office. When we reached there it was 11 am. After some discussions we found out that the challans we prepared were not sufficient, so we went to a local bank and got another one. Then the waiting game began. We waited and waited for our time to come. We finished lunch, then went walking in a park right next to the taluk office. Still nothing. Eventually at 5 pm Mr J tells us that there is some problem with the servers and we cannot get the work done that day.


Our daughter was super tired of all the waiting and we did not have the heart to make her sit through the 4 hour journey home and again return back the next day. Moreover, Mr. J said that the registration will happen first thing in the morning so we did not want to be late. On the other hand, we were totally unprepared for this turn of event. We did not have extra clothes, no toothbrushes, nothing. We decided to check in at a hotel for the night, but this being a village and surrounded by several villages, we had to travel some 45 mins to the closest town for a decent hotel. Or so we thought.


Unfortunately for us, the road that leads to the hotel had major road repair work happening. We had to take detour after detour and Google Maps got confused and led us on a wild goose chase. We eventually called the hotel and asked for directions and finally landed at the hotel after more than an hour since we started the journey. Remember, we were woefully unprepared for this unexpected overnight stay. So had to get brushes, toothpaste etc from the hotel service. Next day, we started early to the taluk office and were there by 10 am.


We were hoping that the work will finish soon, but again no luck. We waited and waited while Mr. J was running from one office to the next and to the Xerox shop and then back again. Getting EC and talking to people. It was lunch time for the taluk office and we also decided to eat at a near by place. All this while, our daughter was getting super bored of just sitting for 2 days straight. Eventually after lunch, things started to move faster. We were called into the office along with the party that was selling the land. After a bunch of signatures and moving from one office to the next, we finally got the registration work done by around 3:30 pm.


What a day that was. We were worried that it might take another day. And the next day was Saturday, so things would move slower and then Sunday is a holiday. So worst case it might drag up to Monday. Thankfully, none of that happened and we eventually went home by nightfall, very tired. Finally mission accomplished! We have a farm, or should I say, barren land, on our name. We were super happy and partied the next day.


Yup, still barren land! Only the pond in the distance makes it special.


Of course the problems just got started and we had no idea about what is coming :). Until then we are in blissful ignorance. More on that in my next post.