Chennai Chennai aasai :))

The heat hit me on the face as soon as I was out of my 2nd AC Compartment. Sounds familiar? Its because this post is a rehash of a post 3 years ago. Yes, I'm talking about a visa interview in Chennai, the only difference being that I had Snuggles with me this time. But hold on, lets start at the beginning.

As you know already, I left my job last year in January (if you don't know, then it means you are new here and you might need to refer the archives on the right pane :-p). Well, leaving a job in US does not plain mean you are leaving a job. It involves a change in status. Hence my status changed from L1 to H4. We applied for the change of status immediately and it got approved fine. So as long as I was in the US, my status was valid. But if I left the country, then I had to get a H-4 visa stamped on my passport. My L-1 visa (got in Delhi 2 years back) wouldn't be valid anymore. All said and done, I had to travel to one of the US consulates in India to get a stamping. Why not our favourite Chennai? :-p.

So started my theerthayaathra. I call it that because each time we come to India, we somehow need to go to a US consulate and put namaskara and come back :-p. Anyways, my hubby, the typical planner that he is, booked the appointment at the consulate for 27th March 2008 at 9 AM, booked train tickets for the previous night and air tickets on Paramount airways for the 27th afternoon as I wanted to get back to Bangalore as fast as possible. I was worried pretty bad, as I'd be travelling just 2 days after landing in India. Sri assured me that we could cancel the appointment if I wasn't comfy (I was worried about Snuggles being not well/not adjusting to the weather here). Anyways, Snuggles was marellous on the planes and took to Bangalore pretty well. The only problem was that I couldn't sleep at all on the planes, as well as the next 2 days (hardly slept for 2 hours each day). My trouble point was that I not only had my jet lag, but Snuggles's jet lag to deal with. Though I would want to sleep at nights here, Snuggles would be totally up and hence I wouldn't get a wink of sleep :-p.

On 26th evening, the Paramount airways people called dad and informed us that the plane was cancelled! Dad gave them a nice scolding saying we booked tickets on their plane only because we have an infant travelling with us and we wanted to get back to Bangalore asap. The rep said she'd look for an earlier plane and would get back. So at around 9PM in the night, dad, Snuggles and I headed to the railway station in an auto. Travelling in an auto with a baby is an experience, I tell you, what with falling into potholes and jumping on speed bumps :-p. Anyways, we got to the train without problems. Snuggles was ok on the train except for a small fussy period (when dad held her (I know, I know, I'm really lucky to have such a sweet baby :-D). I was able to sleep for about 2 hours and thats it :(. Early morning at 4:30 AM we got to Chennai, only to discover that a new flyover is being built right next to the guest house in which we had a room reserved :-p. After quite a bit of walking we were able to get to the room.

I had previously decided to take Snuggles to the consulate. One of my close friends, Aarts, took her baby to the consulate in Nov 2007 and she suggested that it'd be simpler as ladies with children would be given preference. I had bought a sling specifically for that purpose. Handling a file full of papers would be difficult with a child in one hand. So I thought a sling would come in handy. The only problem was the security check - I was worried that they'd make me remove the sling (which'd be a hugge hassle what with removing the baby, then removing the sling, then putting on the sling and putting in the baby!).

We set off to the consulate at around 8:15 AM (dad brought breakfast from the nearby Saravana Bhavan) and reached there by 8:30 AM. I was able to go in without any trouble whatsoever. The security check as also a breeze as the lady didn't ask me to remove the sling and moreover since I carried only the file and the baby in the sling, there were no purses to check. But I'm somewhat surprised at the slack in security, I mean the lady just asked me if I had a cell phone. I said no and they didn't even have a way of making sure. I hope the Americans inside know about this (I'm more surprised because in US airports, they make us remove shoes and jackets and scan everything through).

Anyways after getting in, a security guy saw Snuggles's US passport and took me to the front of the line for the Indian officer/finger-prints queue. The man standing in the front of the line started protesting "I have a 10 AM appointment sir". I was flabbergasted. My FIL had complained about them letting in people of later appointments, but it was still 8:45 AM. I remember previously in Chennai consulate itself, they didn't allow me inside because I was half an hour early for my appointment! I said to the protesting guy "I have an appointment at 9 AM, so please don't worry" (I had half a mind to put out my tongue at him ;-) :-p) and was soon called on to present my papers. The whole thing was no problem except for the fact that the consulates have recently changed the dollar exchange rate and the DD I took wasn't enough. Thankfully, the cautious guy he is, Sri had warned me about this earlier and I had taken a couple of hundred bucks change. I was told to pay the same in a counter inside.

I went to the next building (I was familiar with this exercize as I had visited the consulate earlier) and was asked to sit and wait for a while. Snuggles who was quietly sleeping in the sling all this while, chose this time to slowly start fussing :-D. So I got up and started walking to and fro to calm her down. Soon a guy called me and noticing the DD, sent me to the paying counter. I added the extra money and was told to come back for the change. Later immediately I was taken to the front of the line in the Interview queue and soon interviewed by an American lady. Since I have the habit of putting up conversations, here it is:

Ms. American: Hello
Me: Hi, Good morning!
Ms. American: How long have you been staying in US?
Me: About 2.5 years.
Ms. American: How long has your husband been working for his current employer?
Me: 2 years.
Ms. American: {refering to the previous L1 on my passport}Are you still working for your employer?
Me: No, I resigned last year. We applied for change of status to H4 then.
Ms. American: So you are currently unemployed?
Me: Yes.
Ms. American: {refering to Snuggles} Was your daughter born in US?
Me: Yes.
Ms. American: Ok, your visa is issued, passport will be sent to your home. Bye.
Me: Thank you {smile}.

I hurried to the paying counter, only to find that the girl still didn't have the change ready. I was supposed to get 38 bucks back, but she had only 32 bucks, so I asked her to keep the change. I didn't want to wait, as we wanted to get to the airport asap. Only once I came out did I find out from dad that the rep from Paramount airways the previous day hadn't even registered our complaint. Crazzzzy, I tell you :-p. So dad had to repeat the whole problem to another rep who said that she'd get back (same old story!). He also mentioned that we'd be reaching the airport at about 10:30 AM and to look for flights leaving anytime after that. Meanwhile, we hurried back to the room, packed up and caught an auto to the airport. While in the auto, the rep called back and informed us that there was another 11:30 AM Air Deccan flight and that was cancelled as well. But there was a 2:55 PM Kingfisher flight available and would that be ok. My dad specifically asked her whether that was the earliest flight from Chennai to Bangalore. She confirmed and we said ok.

It was only when we reached the airport, we found out that there were 2 flights, a Jet and a Kingfisher leaving for Bangalore at 11:40 AM. But the reps at the Paramount airways counter said that since they had already booked the 2:55 PM flight, there was nothing that they could do. The Kingfisher people said that changing the tickets from 2:55 PM to 11:40 PM would entail a hugge rebooking fee as well as an addtion in fare charges. It was all very disappointing. I mean, I haven't travelled a single time in Paramount airways and I'm already sick of the way they treated us. Well, what could we do? We waited and caught the 2:55 PM flight. We did make use of the lounge that Paramount airways had in the airport though. But I repeat, I doubt I'll ever book another flight on Paramount :-p. Dad later was of the opinion that the difference in the fare rate might have been the reason they booked the later flght. Whatever, I'd have appreciated beng told the reason :-p.

The Kingfisher flight though a bit delayed, was a delight. The snacks were delicious and the air hostess very helpful. By the time we finished the snacks (the dessert - blueberry mascarpone cheesecake was totally yummy :-D), we landed in Bangalore. We caught an auto to home, during which I, who was totally zonked, handed the baby to dad and slept the whole way. Later at home too, I slept away only to have dinner/get up to feed the baby. Looks like I caught all my sleep in one go :-D.

The trip went a lot smoother than I expected it to. Snuggles was a boon throughout, though a bit fussy, maybe due to the Chennai weather. From then, she also went on to recover from her jet lag completely in about 2 days :-D. Guess the trip shocked the jet lag out of us :-D :)).

Ek Delhi ko dekha tho aisa laga :-D

Yup, this is part 2 of my original "Ek Chennai ko dekha tho aisa laga..." post. Its been more than an year since I went for a visa stamping to Chennai. This is sort of a rehash of the same, only this time I went to Delhi for my L1 work permit and Sri for his H1.

It all started a long time ago, (well, not that long :-p), when we decided that we'll get our visas stamped in India rather than going out to Mexico or Canada. Which was why our trip got delayed again, again and again :-p. Finally, when Sri shifted his job and got his work permit transferred, we decided that we had to visit India and that was when we had to have our visas stamped. One good thing was that as an Indian citizen resident in US, we had the advantage of going to any of the 4 US consulates in India. We looked for appointments, but sadly, the earliest available was May 2nd 2006 in the New Delhi consulate. So, very obviously, the whole trip to India was planned such that we could finish the stamping as a first priority :).

And so, just after a day of landing in good, old, beloved Bangalore (:-D), we were off on a flight (again!!!) to Delhi on 1st May 2006 noon. God!! I had been on so many flights recently that I dreamt of flights and airports whenever I slept :-p. Anyways, this time we took a Sahara flight and yup, they served us lunch again :-D, though thankfuly, it was oil-free this time :).

Delhi airport was a rude shock! Its literally like an air-conditioned railway station. Bad stench, flies, stained seats, yuck!! I am not comparing it to international airports but Bangalore airport is oh-so-much-better man :). But I guess things should improve with the airport privatization. The heat outside was very bad (above 46 degree celcius!!!), but somehow we did manage to crawl into a pre-paid taxi and ride on to our hotel in SouthEx, which is very near to the US embassy in Delhi.

The infamous jet lag prevailed in both of us, so we were flat as soon as we reached the hotel room. By the time we got up, it was time for dinner already. We went out and roamed quite a bit, finding no restaurants whatsoever except a MacDonalds. Look at our luck :-p. But the US MacDonalds doesn't have a Veggie burger which we finally ended up having for dinner. Wonder whether they'll ever try to market it in US..

On the D-day, we both got ready early (were looking very smart in suits :-D), had breakfast at the hotel and left for the embassy at about 8:30 AM itself, though the appointment was at 9:45 AM. We reached the embassy at about 9 AM and I was wondering whether they would allow us inside (as in Chennai last year, they had allowed me only 15 min before the actual appointment time). But here they did. After showing our appointment print-outs and first round of security checks, we stood in the non-immigrant queue. The heat was still bearable, thankfully, as the sun was still low in the sky.

We both had a single appointment, so went to the first counter together. The first counter has Indians who do a preliminary check of your documents. Sri was wearing his sun glasses and was rudely remonstrated by the guy in the counter!! Wearing sun glasses was not right as they cannot see the comparison between the photo and the real person, but the guy could have been polite :-p. Well, nevertheless we were polite and smiled and apologized :-p. He also asked us to enter local addresses and proceed. And so the first hurdle was crossed :-D.

Next we faced another round of security checks and were let in into the room where we would be taking our visa interview together. But before the actual interview, we did have to give our index fingerprints which is a standard procedure. We had no trouble at all in the same and later were guided to the visa interview queue.

There were very less number of people in front of us and hence in no time, one of the consulate officers called us. Again her name I know not, so I will refer to her as Ms. American :). The conversation that ensued is as follows:

Ms. American: Hello
Us both: Hi, Good morning!
Ms. American: One of your petition is for H1 and another for L1 is it?
Us both: Yes.
Ms. American: {refering to me} Yours is the L1 right?
Me: Yes.
Ms. American: So what kind of work are you doing in US?
Me: The same as I was doing here in India. {I provide a brief description of my work}. Also, since my husband was posted in US, I got an option of working there.
Ms. American: {refering to Sri} And what do you do sir?
Sri: {States his role}.
Ms. American: And what does that mean?
Sri: {Gives a brief description of his role and duties associated}.
Ms. American: {refering to me} I see here that you went to US on a H4. So did you get a job there?
Me: No, I was already on job here and went to us on H4. Later my L1 work permit was processed and I got my L1. Until I got my permit, I was on leave which was for about 1.5 months. (This was an expected question and I had the leave papers also ready, but she didn't ask for those :-D).
Ms. American: {refering to Sri} Was your visa refused anytime? Maybe once?
Sri: No, but I was asked some extra documents, maybe payslips one time. But it was a long time back {grins}.
Ms. American: Not that long back {smiles}. {Refers to me} You have had only one visa stamped?
Me: Yes.
Ms. American: {refering to Sri} Where did you get your Masters degree?
Sri: In Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi.
Ms. American: Where are you staying in US currently?
Us both: Lexington, Kentucky.
Ms. American: Ok everything looks alright. I am going to keep all these. All the best to both of you in your careers {smiles}.
Us both: Thanks and good bye {smile}.

That was it!! Phew!! She didn't ask for any of the other documents that Sri had painfully put together. And we were out by 9:45 AM :-D. We both were grinning and gave hi-fives as we came out :). Went back to the hotel and called up both sets of parents to inform them the news :). Since our flight to Bangalore was after 8 PM in the night, Sri wanted to go sight-seeing. I wasn't really into it due to the heat. Also, since I didn't foresee the sight-seeing aspect, I had left the camera behind in Bangalore :(. After cribbing for sometime about the sad-no-camera situation, I finally agreed to go. We booked an air-conditioned Indica and checked out of the hotel.

Our first stop was the India Gate. It had been more than 8 years since I visited Delhi and I was stuck by how beautiful the monument is and how vast the grounds surrounding it are. Despite the fact that it was a Tuesday, the crowd thronged the place. The sun was terribly hot, yet we stayed there for sometime, roaming around the monument and reading some of the names of the soldiers who died in wars. Later we returned to the cool car to see the Rastrapathi bhavan, the Lok and Rajya Sabhas and the Parliament. Again, I chided myself for not bringing the camera along :(. Meanwhile, I was surprised at the similarity of the Government buildings of India and US. In Washington, the Washington monument is surrounded by the Official buildings, whereas in Delhi the India Gate is in the centre :). Wonder who copied who :-D.

It had already crossed noon and hence we headed towards AP bhavan to have a delicious Andhra style lunch. After lunch, we stopped at Paalika bazaar as I wanted to buy a marble masher, which has a bowl and a mashing rod and is useful for mashing elaichis etc. We didn't find what I wanted, but we did end up picking up some gifts for Sri's colleagues from the Cottage Emporium. Next we went to Jantar Mantar. The structures there are amazing and it seems one of them can measure the time, the accuracy being within half a second!! I wanted to know more but the information provided next to the structures just wasn't enough. Anyways, thank God, there's the internet :-p. I was able to satisfy some of my curiosity later through the Delhi Tourism website.

Next on the agenda was to see if our visa-stamped passports were available at a place mentioned in the US Consulate website. If they are available, you can collect them there itself for Rs. 50 each and avoid the hassles of courier services. Since we were leaving for Udupi almost immediately, we wanted to collect them. But sadly the passports hadn't yet arrived there in the shipping office at Nehru place and we were told that they will be available the next day, which was of no use to us. We were disappointed, but hey, we tried :-p. Since Nehru place is also the home to the famous Bahai Lotus temple, that became our next tourist destination.

One thing I forgot to mention was that, the previous day when we were about to land in Delhi, we were able to see the Lotus temple from the flight :). I remembered the temple as this very peaceful, beautiful place I had visited last time. The temple is still as beautiful but somehow the peace and quiet is gone. Despite being warned many times to be quiet and not make any noise inside the temple and to control their children, people were making some amount of noise which made the temple visit not quite nice. The crowd was also too big, maybe due to the summer vacation for the children. Some things and feelings cannot be helped, I guess..

Lastly we visited the Qutub Minar. I really wished for the umpteenth time that the Minar was open to public for climbing and that I could climb it, but the government has had to restrict the access to avoid further deterioration. We enjoyed the sights of the surrounding ruins and the Iron pillar. Just as we were about to leave, a sand storm hit the area. My God!! Dust everywhere, in eyes and in hair :-p. Its terrible when you are standing somewhere and are stuck because you just can't see anything and hence cannot move. Thankfully in matter of minutes (which actually seemed like an hour :-p), the winds subsided and we were able to return to the car. Heat and dust is an amazing combination. You should really try it sometime :-p.

That was Delhi for us. We left for the airport immediately and had to wait for a couple of hours for our Air Deccan flight in the sad (again) airport. It was the time for our jet lag to set in and so we both slept in the plane without even a single blink. By the time we reached Bangalore, it was about 11 PM and that was it.

The only thing we missed is the Taj Mahal. Agra is about 2.5 hours from Delhi and there was no way we could have seen it as we had not planned for it. It would have been our first visit together there, but, well, there's always another time. Had it been this time, I'd have regretted it my whole life that I didn't have a camera with me ;-). Looks like all the things are well-planned by someone way above us ;-) :-D.

Ek Chennai ko dekha tho aisa laga...

The heat hit me on the face as soon as I was out of my 2nd AC Compartment. Didn't need any more proof at all that I was in Chennai ;-) I haven't been to Chennai for years. I don't even remember when I went last. This 1-day trip was not a vacation but was due to the fact that I need a visa to join my Sri and the only way to get it was to attack the US consulate in Chennai ;-)

The first thing I noticed about the city was obviously the heat. But the heat I'm used to, as a native of Udupi. The sun there I feel is hotter :-D But the weather sure was sultry. The other thing which I noticed (had to!!) and which bothered me was the smell. The smell was definitely not the like-able sort, but it wasn't the I-have-to-hold-my-nose kind either. This smell lingered in most of the roads there. Most of the roads were unclean too, but I guess that's a standard thing everywhere in India. No point in complaining about that :-D The thing that stuck me the most was the lack of bright faces. The crowds of people everywhere looked tired, most of them looked like the why-are-we-alive kinds, or I'm-too-bogged-down-by-work kinds. Cheerfulness of any kind was totally missing. I don't know whether it was due to the middle-of-the week syndrome :) What I liked though was the transport - the buses though old and were the surely-will-get-flooded-if-it-rains type, were open and airy. The autos though, were like hoards of cockroaches crawling everywhere. They didn't have any meter and the drivers seemed to ask crazy amounts to travel a single Km :-p What I loved were the tender coconuts, had 3 in only 1 day!!! It was basically to avoid dehydration :) We (me and dad) had lunch and dinner in Sharavana Bhavan. The food was good but the prices seemed atrocious :-p Ok the people in Chennai have money after all, even though they don't look like it :-p (Now I'm being nasty :-D)

At one point of time, I suddenly felt very sad. I was walking along one of the roads, when I remembered the Dec-27th Tsunami disaster. Wonder if there was a visitor like me who was walking on the road and was swept away before he/she realized what was happening. I know death has to happen but sometimes life's too cruel. There were kids playing along the beach that fateful day who drowned. And they wouldn't even have learnt what's life all about. Hmm I wonder whether that's good in one way...

Ok now the U.S consulate. Felt totally like a prison from outside as well as inside :( There were guards standing all over the place as if we are just waiting to attack the Americans inside :-p I went there to basically get H4 dependent visa stamped (will be writing in detail about the whole thing in my next post). After security and pre-verify formalities, I was sent into a bank-locker kind of a building. I say bank locker because the doors were all heavy, iron doors which I had to struggle to push/pull! There were 11-12 counter with Americans interviewing all sorts of Indians from all sorts of places. There were lots of people waiting for their turn and I joined them. Fortunately/Unfortunately (later turned out to be fortunate ;-) ) I was the first person to be called into a counter. The guy there (I don't even know his name, so from now on he'll be referred to as Mr. American) checked out my papers and took the fingerprints of my left and right index fingers. I was afraid they'd object to my working status and the first question was exactly that!

Mr. American: "How long have you been working in ............?"
Me: One and a half years.
Mr. American: And what will you be doing in U.S?
Me: Nothing as of now
(Immediately I wished I hadn't said "as of now" :-p)
Mr. American {raises his eyebrows}: And you are looking forward to that?
Me: Yeah, am really looking forward to a break!!
and I grin.
Mr. American {smiles}: Ok Your visa will be stamped. Please pay up the DD in counter 1.

That was it!!! He didn't ask me anything about my marriage, nothing about Sri and where he's staying, didn't see my marriage photos/certificate, didn't ask for a No-objection letter I had painfully taken from my work-place, didn't ask for anything extra like photos et cetera. With all due respect to Mr. American, I have to exclaim "Crazy Americans!!!" :-p Anyways I was grinning ear-to-ear by the time I was out of there :-D Didn't even mind the sweat drenching my clothes (though there was no sun)!! Chennai looked brighter all of a sudden ;-)

But hey Bangalore is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better man! When I landed here today morning, I noticed all the little things I had probably been ignoring for years. The roads are definitely cleaner and definitely no smell :-D The weather is cool and lovely. The people are more enthusiastic, active and cheerful! Love Bangalore :)

Sad that I may not be here after 2 weeks :(