It was supposed to be a routine errand: a trip to the Mohammadpur Regional Passport Office so my mother could renew her passport. Instead, it became a frustrating masterclass in institutional bureaucracy. She arrived with every document listed on the official form, only to be met with shifting demands. First it was one paper, then another. Finally, they insisted on a utility bill for our house. My mother returned with a copy of our water bill, but that too was arbitrarily rejected. Yet, right outside the office doors, a network of middlemen operated in plain sight. Their proposition was simple: pay 2000 taka, and the very same paperwork that was just turned away would suddenly be sufficient.