Aadhaar

She is but a little girl, for the moment pretending to be a woman. She is pretty, the wheatish complexion of her oval face framed in a cascade of raven-dark tresses. She wears a white shirt with little yellow hearts on it and an ochre-coloured skirt to match. The belle’s on her feet are golden, as are the tiny bows on their tongue. She is pretty, for sure. And she knows it, as her proud smile can barely conceal.

He sits across the table from her, older in years but visibly enraptured by her effervescence. His awe at her charms does not go unnoticed by the bystanders. He regains his composure and in a voice befitting his stature, gently commands her to remove her spectacles.

She seems amused, perhaps amazed at his bidding. With the practised air of a lady, she pulls the eyepiece off her face and lays it on the table between them, only too aware of how enchanting she must look now. Yet, her face betrays no emotion, no conceit. Merely acquiescence in this game of maturity.

He knows that despite her pretended pride, she is unsure as to what happens next. So he plays his part, careful not to tread upon her esteem in the process. He leans across the table, cradles her cheeks in his hands and gently pulls her closer. Her eyes never leave his face as she yields to his directives and allows him to draw her further across the table.

When he senses that she is at the perfect spot, he reaches out and pulls the apparatus along the table till her chin nestles snugly on it. Within moments, her retina scan is complete, followed by a quick digital impression of her fingerprints. The mandatory paperwork takes another few minutes and with its completion, this little girl of ten joins the ranks of the teeming millions who have become part of India’s most ambitious demographic exercise till date.

Welcome to AADHAAR, the Multipurpose National Identity Card project of the Govt. Of India.