I'm going to India during the winter holiday. One of my best friends from IHE, Bin, has returned home and I shall visit him. I need a visa for India. Apparently everyone needs a visa for India. I know this because I googled it. I also found the application online, as well as the address and list of fees. It should be easy. But, of course, it is not.
Giorgia came with me to Den Haag. She had some documents of Bin's that needed to be certified by the Dutch foreign office, as well as the Indian Embassy. We left Delft at 9AM. The foreign office was simple, very Dutch. An orderly line, a simple fee schedule, and done in 10 minutes. Then we walked to the Indian Embassy. Once we found it we followed the signs and arrow that read "Passports and Visas" to a small basement office. There, I was informed that, no, in fact they do not process visas there, but that had outsourced it! The Indians are outsourcing now. Anyway, the visa office was down the street, about a 10 minute walk. I left Giorgia at the embassy to get her documents stamped.
I went to the visa service office, took a number, and waited my turn. When I got to the desk and my application had been approved, I was informed that the fee would be €90! But the form says €50? Well, she explained, the normal fee is €50 for the visa, but for Americans it is €75, plus a €15 service fee. I asked why that was not noted, she replied that it was noted online. I disagreed, and said that the form online was the exact same form as in the office that showed both the wrong address and the wrong fee and that if the current information had been accessible online that I would have found it. What other explanation did I have for showing up at the visa office with only €85!
Yes, I was €5 short. I've been waiting on a tuition refund from the institute that is still yet to come and I did not take out extra cash besides the €50 that I had assumed the visa would cost. So I had to wait for Giorgia. She was having her own problems with the embassy, they needed document copies and the copy guy wanted to be paid above and beyond the €50 it was costing to get the documents stamped. She said some choice Italian words to him and got the copies made and met me at the visa office minutes before it closed for the morning. Once I paid, I was informed that I had to return at 4:30PM to pick up the visa.
So Giorgia and I spent the afternoon in a cafe. Well, I spent the afternoon there and Giorgia left for a short while to meet her professor at the train station. I have no idea why they decided to meet at the train station in Den Haag, but apparently it was a useful meeting. The afternoon was much more relaxing, Giorgia was able to pick up her documents from the embassy early and I was able to get my visa without anymore hassle. And we were back in Delft by about 5PM. Only 8 hours to get the visa.
Epilogue
I was lucky to get my visa so easily. A Brazilian friend waited all day in Den Haag then found out the misspelled her name in the visa and had to return the next day for the corrected copy. Her boyfriend didn't fare much better, since he will be going to India for a three day conference, plus two weeks of tourism, he was informed that he could not get a tourist visa, but needed a business visa, thus a letter of invitation. I was lucky.
In Calcutta we stayed with Bin's parents. They had just moved there from Shillong. I was also able to meet Bin's sister and her husband, as well as many friends of his. The brother of one friend was getting married, so we were invited to the wedding. We did not attend the ceremony, but the following day there was a New Year's Eve party at the house of the groom's family. The way the house was decorated made me think I was in a movie. There were flowers everywhere and the view from the rooftop was superb. There was a Rajastani band that played throughout the evening, and we drank and socialized until the early morning.
The next day was the wedding reception. Bin's cousin helped me pick out a sari the day before and the mother of a friend of Bin's dressed me. I felt like I was getting a bed sheet wrapped around me for a toga party (granted, it was a very luxurious and elegant bed sheet). After 20 minutes of folding and tucking I emerged.
The reception was nice, we only got to briefly congratulate the couple. Most time was spent eating. The food was excellent with a buffet of dozens of types of foods, including a curried lobster. The desserts were delightfully sweet and after dinner, instead of an aperitif, I tasted some paan. Paan is a digestive. It is a betel nut paste and some spices enclosed in a betel leaf. One is supposed to eat the whole thing at once, but I was forced to bite it into pieces and chew and suck (the leaf is huge). The party was fantastic, though I was happy to shed my sari when we got home due to my excessive fear of spilling something on it through the entire evening (try to delicately deshell curried lobster without making a mess...it's near impossible).
