A day in US embassy - II

-Vidhya Krishnan

Just after few minutes I stood in the queue, it started pouring like anything. Everyone wondered what to do as all their bags are not with them. Suddenly from no where a guy came in an auto with many umbrellas. I thought to myself, how kind is he! He started distributing the umbrellas and got 200 bucks for each. I understood how kind he really is! Suddenly a funny thought came and looked to check if my umbrella was one among the distributed ones. Thank god, I couldn’t find it. It should be safe in my bag in the tea stall!

Finally the queue was allowed to enter the embassy and there wasn’t even space to move around inside. Everyone has to go to many counters to clarify and take their finger prints. I entered the embassy around 10 a.m. and finally when I got to the interview queue it was around 12 pm. I was quite exhausted but it was interesting to talk to different people to find out the different types of visas they have come for. Since it was lunch time, the embassy people in the interview counters disappeared for lunch. The people who need to be interviewed were starving and tired.

After a short break (but looked longer for me), interviews began and all sorts of questions were asked. Some were rejected and some got the visas. It was my turn and was simply asked which company and what we do. How come I have applied for visa before I complete a year in the company. I answered them to my satisfaction. But obviously got rejected saying less than a year experience with the company.

Anyway, the thanked the interviewer and came out. It was still pouring heavily. I rushed to the tea stall and got my bag and checked if everything was alright. Fortunately everything was fine. I paid some bucks to the tea stall guy after a bit of bargaining.

Now it was the turn of smart auto drivers. Many surrounded me and almost pushed me into their auto asking for a fortune. I could see the local transport beating the inter city transports. Finally, I managed to find a better (better among the worst!) and reached the airport. I was desperate to get out of the flooded city.

As I was traveling out of Chennai, I was wondering how there were people who made use of the opportunities to make their living!