Planning a trip to America – part 3 - Pay before you apply

While visiting other countries in the world, all we need is valid passport, a booked ticket and photographs, but visiting America needs lots of planning and no agent can do it for you. You have to self-apply for the visa and that too online.

First things first…you have to pay before you apply for a visa. Yeah right! Did I hear some one asking ‘What if they don’t give you visa?’ Hahahaa…!!! Your money is gone down the drain, and it is not a small amount, mind you, it is rupees seven thousand plus….I am told that they refuse many applicants per day and swallow up their hard earned money to pay the salary of those insensitive people at the consulate.

Well. I went to HDFC bank to pay for the visa, no, not any HDFC branch, (there are so many HDFC branches in Bandra area, but none were authorized to accept the payments for the visa) the nearest HDFC bank was more than 10 kms away and during rush hour, it takes more than forty minutes to reach that bank.

In hot sun, I took auto and reached the bank. I was directed to a desk that was manned by two people stationed for this purpose (yawning away). I showed them the photocopy of my passport and they made a ‘USA MRV VISA FEE DEPOSIT SLIP’ (three copies) that had barcode sticker.

This is the barcode number that we are suppose to use to book our appointment online

Three hours wasted for just paying for the visa. (For someone who opts to use public transport in Mumbai city, the time wasted will be more than that)

to be continued……

Planning a trip to America - part 2 - The hassle

“You will get American visa easily” said my cousin, “You own a property, you have visited USA before and you have clean record. You shall have no trouble.”

“They normally don’t issue visa to person who is single,” said my other cousin “You might have problem there. They are very strict”

So, how come there are so many illegal immigrants in America??

I fail to understand why there is such a fuss about acquiring American visa (in India). What is the counsulate officer thinking while issuing visa?

America is the land of immigrants, According to the statistics, the United States accepts more immigrants than any other country; in 2007, its population included 38.1 million foreign-born persons (that is appr. 12.6 % of the total population.) and yet, there is so much hue and cry over this visa. People eagerly ask you the questions that are asked during the interview.

Some months ago, my friend had applied for tourist visa and she had received Visa for ten years. There was celebration in the house, there were smiling visitors, non stop phone calls, all eager to congratulate and learn the details of the interview that was held behind the closed doors.

Everybody who has applied for this visa has a story to tell, be it of acceptance or of refusal. There is a mourning period if there is refusal, and a day to celebrate on acceptance.

No other country in the world makes such a fuss over issuing a tourist visa like America (consulate in India). Not that I know of.

Planning a trip to America – Part 1- The party

My cousins and I have made plans to make a road trip from Chicago to Texas to Mexico border. We plan to rent out a caravan and drive through different cities, exploring each town, tasting the local cuisine, visiting the places of interest and above all, to spend some quality time together in a foreign land.

Now, the next part is to apply for US visa. While my cousins, who stay in different parts of the world, have no difficulty in getting visa, in India, it is a long and painful experience. I have previously applied twice from Surinam (when I lived there) and then from Spain (another home) and have already visited America without any discomfort. But now, since I am back in India, I need to apply for Visa from here but I have come to realize that the visa issued in other countries is much easier than getting one from India.

Tea Party for Seniors Only

My friends and I organized and hosted a ‘tea party’ for senior members of my society today.

Every evening, I see few senior ladies of my building sit in the compound chit chatting. They discuss TV programs, news and all the gossip in the building. On the days when I am too lazy to go for my evening walk to a park near Linking Road or by the sea-shore at promenades, I opt for a casual walk around my building, but within ten minutes of my walking, these women start inviting me to sit down with them and join into their discussions. Their topics are interesting, no doubt, but nothing creative. During one of those meanderings, I decided to do my bit of adding some spice to their evening meeting and thus the idea of tea party popped into my mind.

I discussed it with other members of my society and younger group seemed interested to go by my plan. Together, we planned menu and games and the guest list.

They arrived, sharp at 6pm, smartly dressed.

We played two games, housie and passing the parcel and I must say, they were quite cooperative and sporty. The most entertaining part was the punishments like reciting two times table, ranting complains, talking about their anecdotes in their 20’s, and we were surprised to hear their stories. They talked animatedly, relating in details the stories of their youth and were very happy to find such enthusiastic listeners. They danced, sang old songs and were so very cheerful when they received gifts. Their eyes brightened up, thanking us for making them feel so special and wanted such parties planned regularly, some even suggested a picnic to some park.

The party was a great success with home cooked snacks like patties, sandwiches, cakes, dhoklas and vadis. There was cold drinks and tea. There was no pressure/obligations on who contributes what, everybody volunteered freely and there was even a take-away-gift for everyone.

And the happiness overflowed, such is the joy I received today in my building compound

Slow coach

Traveling by a public bus in the city of Mumbai is always amusing but injurious to the health, especially if you are suffering from BP. It takes lot of tolerance and patience to combat Mumbai traffic and frequent signals.


But, I always prefer bus to taxi for two reasons, one, that taxi is sheer waste of money if you are traveling alone for a longer distance and two, you get to see all kinds of people in the bus and some of them are really interesting.

Today I decided to take a bus from Bandra to Breach Candy, which should not take me more than twenty minutes to reach my destination if there is no traffic congestion on the road. The bus was empty and I got a window seat. After buying a ticket of Rs10 only (I was saving Rs120- taxi fare) I sat by the window reading a magazine.

In twenty minutes, the bus had reached Dadar, which is half way distance to breach Candy. A Senior Person (SP) in the bus was getting impatient and kept looking at his watch. Finally, he got up and started abusing the driver.

SP said, “You drivers are very inefficient, even when there is no traffic, you drive so slow, can’t you drive faster?”

Driver says “This is the speed I normally drive,”

SP-“You need a good driving practice, there is no traffic today and the roads are empty, why are you driving so slow, stop the bus, get up from that seat and let me teach you how to drive.”

And the argument went on and on with SP abusing him all the time, but the driver kept his cool and continued to drive at his own speed. Finally SP realized that he was wasting his time, he alighted the bus when he could take this slow speed no more.

I realized then that the bus was going too slow indeed. Well, what do we expect, for Rs10? Speed at Rs10? Not possible! I looked at my watch. Forty five minutes and only two-third of the distance covered.

Now I was getting impatient too. At the speed that he was driving, it would take me more than one hour to reach my destination.

Feeling helpless, I alight from the bus and take taxi for the rest of the distance.

Tranquility restored with little bit of extra cash for taxi fare.