Stamp Paper

I don't know why I'm adding this word, it makes me angry to even hear it. If I am told I need to get one more thing typed on stamp paper, I might well blow a fuse. Lease agreement? Please get it on stamp paper. Want to renew passport? Please provide a letter on stamp paper. You're a man who needs to use the ladies bathroom because it is coming urgently? Please submit the request on stamp paper...

Ok, now that I've vented. Stamp paper is a legal document that you can buy from designated government outlets like the GPO (General Post Office) or a particular branch of Mysore Bank and no other. It lends a certain trusted officiousness to the document in question and will subsequently be notarised, say in the basement of the high court. Now that the government has 50 rupees (or 20, or 100, or 500) from you for the stamp paper, and the public notary has anywhere from 20 to 200 rupees from you depending on how much you were foolish enough to pay, your document has the national seal of approval and will stand its ground in the eyes of any party interested enough to read it.

No one usually does. At the most, the top part of the document will be glanced at to verify that the "stamp" of the stamp paper is present. Then the entire stack will be filed away somewhere never to see light of day again.