Random Musings

Today was a great day. A fantastic day. I will write this on my blog to commemorate the occasion. Mark this day well. Mark it very well.

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Got my feet up on the coffee table. It’s that time of the year in Delhi when it’s sweltering. And I have little to do, so I sit with my feet up on the coffee table, listening to Greenday singing ditties about the last of the american girls, or something like that.

The last few months have been all interesting. Lots of paperwork to complete, lots of things to get through. Now, though, it’s all done. I’m flying in a month to Logan Airport, Boston. Yup, Boston, the home of the bean and the cod. Where the Lowells speak only to the Cabots. And the Cabots speak only to God. Ah, the old feudal system. Just like home, then.

I’m going there to attempt to get an MBA. I know, I know, long time readers of this journal are currently wide-eyed. I’m full of surprises, I am. You can send incredulous emails to the usual address.

So it’s another transitory month. My expectation levels are about at par with what they were when I went to law school, and from law school to Bangalore. And I had a nice time at both places, so this should be alright as well. Naturally, I’m going to freeze to bits, but on the bright side, I can make a snowman!

However, there’s still some time before I leave. I’m spending that month in peaceful contemplation, mostly. The World Cup is over (SPAAAAAAIN), so there’s a large, football shaped, void in my life now.

I have decided to be less anti social on Facebook now. I’ve actually opened my wall for comments! and even allowed people to see where I’ve worked. I still have only 66 friends though. And no, there are no scandalous pictures of me. Not just aren’t there any on Facebook, they just don’t exist. I don’t do scandalous things.

I’ll give you a minute to stop smirking nastily.

Done? Good.

So, moving on, where are we now? Ah yes, if you’re expecting explanations for the previous few cryptic posts, forget about it. Those are sentences stripped of context, sadly alone, with no story attached to them.

If there’s anyone in Delhi who’s reading this and wants to hang out before I’m off, email me. I’m going to go and read about octopuses now.

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Here’s a different take on the myriad visa interview guides.
—-
Naturally, most of this guide is only valid for Indian students, but I 
do believe that the interview questions should be pretty much 
universal, hm?

Right, with that done, let’s begin.

I’ve divided this into three sections – Before you get your Sevis/I-20 
and after that, and the actual interview.

Before you get your SEVIS ID and I-20
1. First, make sure your  passport is valid for at least six months 
from the date of the interview.. Even ONE day can make a difference, 
don’t think that it won’t. If your passport expires even one day prior 
to six months, you will not be given a visa.

2. Go to the HDFC Bank and pay the US Visa fee. Most cities will 
have a designated branch which takes this fee. You can call up and ask 
them. In Jaipur, where I’m from, the HDFC Bank on Ashok Marg is the 
place to go.
You only need to take a photocopy of your passport with you. You do 
not need anything else. The bank does not need your I-20 or anything 
else.
I paid Rs. 7196. It may change if the dollar rate changes.

The reason to get the receipt early is that it usually takes two days 
for the bar-code on the receipt to be activated on the VFS system. So, 
if you wait till you get your SEVIS ID, you’re going to have to wait 
another couple of days–not a good idea at this late date.

3. You will need a decent photo of yours for the DS-160. This must be 
a digital version, and there are various size and dimension 
requirements that you can get here
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/frvi_3877.html

Don’t worry if this seems complicated. Any halfway decent color lab 
will know what to do and what sort of photo you need. Make sure you 
get it on a USB (thumb) drive, since you don’t need the printed 
copies.

After you get your SEVIS ID/ I20

1. The US F-1 Student Visa process begins with two things:
a) The SEVIS ID 
b) The I-20 Form
The I-20 form has your SEVIS ID on it, but usually you’ll get an email 
quite a few days before Fed-Ex rings the doorbell.

2. Pay the SEVIS Fee. 
As soon as you have the SEVIS ID, go to the SEVIS website and pay the 
fee.
https://www.fmjfee.com/i901fee/

The fee is $200. If you choose to have the receipt fedexed to you, you 
need to pay an additional $35. It’s not necessary to do this, you can 
print out the receipt after you pay the fee. I paid the extra fee, just for 
kicks.

3. The DS-160
As soon as you have your I-20, go and fill the DS-160. 
https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/

Use the photo you have ready.

The DS-160 is easy, but tedious. Use the save button often. I saved 
every page. At least eight times the request timed out and I would 
have had to start from the beginning if I hadn’t saved my progress. I 
chose the option to download the save file, and would just upload that 
and continue.

Save often. Trust me.

Print the confirmation form at the end on a decent (laser, preferably) 
printer. The barcode is what’s important. Make sure it’s not smudged 
by an inkjet printer. You don’t need a color printout, just a sharp, 
clear barcode.

4. Apply for an interview. The VFS website is where you go.
 https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/USIndia/Index.html

Don’t worry if there are no dates available. Keep on 
checking every day, every hour or so. VFS opens dates up randomly, you 
never know when they will appear. Also check the emergency appointment 
dates if you qualify.

Take a printout of your appointment letter.

The Interview

1. Ignore what they say about getting to the embassy only 15 minutes 
before your interview time. It’s first come first served once you get 
to the embassy. I had a scheduled interview at 9:30 AM. I got there at 
8:10 AM, and was given token number 53. The guards usually let you in 
around two hours before your interview time. If you come earlier than 
that, you will be asked to wait, and there’s no place to sit or 
anything, you have to wait on the sidewalk. So don’t be too early 
either.

Do not carry any electronics or unnecessary items. No phone, no car 
key fob, nothing. Just a wallet and a handkerchief and your papers. 
Nothing else.

2. Make sure you have your passport, DS-160 Receipt, HDFC Fee Receipt, 
SEVIS (I-901) fee receipt, I-20 and visa appointment letter with you. 
Keep these right on top of your file. As soon as you enter the embassy 
premises, you will be asked for these, and the SEVIS receipt, I-20, 
and DS-160 will be stapled onto the last page of your passport. You 
will then be given a paper slip with a number on it. This is your 
token number.

3. At first, you will sit for a while in their outdoor waiting area. 
There’s a water fountain and restrooms, and a small snack bar where 
you can get a coke and stuff like that. Everyone around you will have 
the same nervous look on their face that you have on yours. Very few 
people talk. Mostly you look straight ahead and try not to conjure up 
disaster scenarios.

Now this is actually pretty important. While I was there, I saw this 
girl who practically had a panic attack. She was sitting a few rows 
away. Her hands were shaking, she was sweating, and she basically 
looked like she was going to faint. If you are of a nervous 
disposition, bring along a magazine in your file and read that. Or 
watch TV. Don’t let your imagination run riot. I was sitting outside 
for about 15 minutes. They have screens which update with token 
numbers, like a fast food joint. Also, the lady there will call out 
numbers and ask them to enter the building from time to time, usually 
in batches of five.

4. After some time, you will be asked to enter the embassy building. 
Once you’re in, you’ll see a photographer taking Rs.100 for photos. 
You do not need to get a photo taken unless your DS-160 has a very bad 
picture on it. I ignored this. Then you stand in line for a bit (about 
six minutes for me)

5. Up next is initial document check. Your number will be called and 
you’ll go to a window. Here, someone, usually an Indian, will do a 
basic check. He’ll look through your passport and the documents 
stapled to that (DS-160, Sevis, I-20). He may ask a few questions. I 
was asked my full name, date of birth, and city of residence. He then 
asked me where I was going and why.
At this stage they are not interested in long answers. This is just a 
basic documentation check. He is NOT the visa officer, just someone to 
make sure you’re not lying about your passport details etc.

This takes less than a minute.

6. Then you go join the biometric line. This is usually pretty long, 
but moves fast. When you get to the window, they’ll take your 
passport, and then your fingerprints on a scanner. There is a lady 
there to help you with placing your hand on the scanner and all that.

If you have some sort of finger injury, please contact VFS well before 
the interview and ask them what to do.

Post-fingerprinting, you get your passport back, and you go and sit 
down.

7. Now, you’re where you can see the actual consular officers 
conducting the interviews. You can even hear them, since you’re right 
there. It’s a little like a bank, with a bunch of counters with chairs 
about 10 feet away. Of course, the counters have bulletproof glass.

Again, this wait (about 15 minutes for me) can be a stressful time. 
You will see people getting rejected. You will see someone making a 
scene (WHY NO VISA??) or crying when they are denied. There is an air 
of nervousness in the room. Try and remain calm. There is a snack bar, 
and I think there are restrooms too, but I’m not sure about that.

Eventually, your number will come up on one of the counters. It’s 
random, so you have no idea which officer you’re going to get. I got a 
blonde lady who had been giving people a hard time.

I stepped up and did the usual good morning routine. She asked for my 
passport. Then the following (This is verbatim, as far as I can 
remember):

Q: Why do you want to go the USA?

A: I want to do my MBA from Hult Business School in Boston.

Q: What is your current degree?

A: I’m a lawyer with an honours degree in international trade law.

Q: You’re a lawyer? Why do you want to do an MBA, then?

A: I want to move into senior management. Doing that with just a legal 
degree is tough, but law plus an MBA is a pretty strong combination.

Q. Hmm. What is your current level of work experience?

A: After getting out from law school, I worked for two years as a 
Senior Technical Analyst with the International Data Group, for the 
magazine PC World (she nodded when I said that, she recognized it). 
Essentially I was a technology journalist, dong the usual things – 
reviews, features, interviews, stuff like that. I then quit and was 
asked to set up the New Delhi office of an Bangalore based IT company. 
That’s what I’m doing right now.
(Halfway through my answer, she stopped listening and was reading 
something on the computer. I’m guessing it was my Ds-160, and she was 
tallying what I said with what I’d written in that. She nodded as I 
took names, as you do when you’re checking something)

Q. Why did you choose Hult?

A. Three reasons. One, it has a very diverse student body; there are 
people there from all over the world, and I like that. Two, it’s in 
Boston, next door to some of the best universities in the world, 
Harvard, MIT, places like that. I’ll be meeting so many smart people, 
not just from my college, but from all the others too. Three, it’s a 
one year program. After five years of law school and three years 
working, I want to get back to work ASAP.

Q. What is your plan for the future?

A. I want to come back to India and use the skills I learn in my MBA 
combined with the skills I already have to get a job with a good 
technology company like RIM, HP or IBM. I’m interested in tech, and I 
believe I’d do well in this field.
(Again, the minute I said I want to come back, she stopped listening)

Q. How do you plan to pay for this? 

A. (She is looking at my I-20) Well, I have a scholarship plus a loan 
from Hult for XX thousand dollars. I also have a bank loan from an 
Indian national bank for XX thousand dollars. Besides that, I also 
have personal savings that amount to XX thousand. Also, my family have 
pledged to help me out if I need something over and above this, but I 
don’t think that will be necessary.
(As I was saying this, she was obviously checking it with what was 
written on my I-20. My loan plus scholarship plus saving were well 
above what Hult has estimated for one year)

Q. OK, everything looks in order, you’ll get your passport by 
courier.

A. That’s it? Thank you.

At no point was I asked for any documents. Three days later I got my 
five year, F-1 visa.

A few things:
1. Talk normally and face the officer. Don’t try and talk into the 
speaker box.. make eye contact. They can hear you fine, the microphone 
picks it up. You will be standing through the interview, and there is 
a ledge where you can put your file.

2. Don’t panic.

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Everything is new. Not all is good, no certainly not. Things are changing. I should be away on distant shores soon, seeing things that I’ve read about. I’m mostly happy about it, but some things are a little sad.

Oh well.

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Nuff Said.

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Rumbling through the countryside towards Jaipur at, variously, 30 km/h, 105 km/h 15 km/h and even sometimes, when the cows are crossing the tracks, and the railways magnanimously decide not to make McAaloo beefburgers, 2 km/h.

Why am I in the train, and not in the usual bus to Jaipur, you might wonder about this time. No, it’s nothing very complicated or philosophical; I haven’t decided to suddenly find the true soul of India, or my soul, or the TTE’s soul or any such crap. The roads to Jaipur are dug up something fierce, and a journey that was a pleasant hop, skip and jump in the car is now the triathlon. In a thong. Not fun, that.

And that’s why I’m rumbling to Jpr in the train. Not much rumbling happening right now, since we’ve been bumped off the main line to make way for the Garib Rath (the Poor Express). Yes, you got that right, they have reservation in the railways. Arrgh, that’s such a terrible terrible pun. I blame it on being up all night. Couldn’t sleep since it was MY duty to wake up my co-passenger, and she, being a very old pal of my mother, would be none to pleased to be told that we’d missed the train, and that we’re going to have an adventure! yay! trying to catch the next train. So i stayed up all night, and now I’m jittery with sleep poisons racing around in my bloodstream.

The guy sitting next to me has no such problems. He’s fast asleep, gently snoring ever so often. I can’t hear him, I’ve got my headphones on, but his floppy hair falls over his mouth (he’s leaning forward over the little table) and I can see it waving in the breeze. Interestingly, this gentleman made a phone call the second he sat down in the train. This was at 0550 hrs. He calls up, and instead of the customary hello, or maybe a topical good morning, he says (in Hindi), “Is your mouth still open?”.

??

I mean, hey, I’m as cool as the next guy (obviously not in this particular case), but WTF?!? I sat there, my benumbed brain trying to process that, and trying to tell myself that I imagined that. No such luck however, I hadn’t imagined it. Obviously someone else had stayed up at night, having more fun than I was.

Nevermind, I’m not petty. Moving right along. Looking around the compartment, I see that most people are sleeping. Except for this one chap, who’s obviously pleading with his girlfriend who seems to be wanting to dump him. How do I know this? A combination of factors: whiney voice, glistening eyes, changes in vocal register, but most importantly, he got out his charger and plugged it in.. without missing a syllable! You ONLY do that when you’re talking to a woman. And not your mother.

I’m now going to upload this post. Right from the train. I <3 the Railways.

Ok, I was kidding, it’s through my phone. I <3 geek talk.

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It was back in 2006 that I’d last mentioned Asterisk, the geeky IP-PBX system that you, as a normal red-blooded male (or woman, I’m not sexist) don’t give two hoots about.

I finally got around to fiddling with it. Spent all of today sitting at home and getting it to work. And you know, it did work. And then I was bored. Now that I’ve figured it out, the rest is just details. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind details, but it’s detail for detail’s sake that I absolutely detest.

It’s like this. Now, I know how to setup a VoIP-PBX for a mid-sized business, with voicemail, extensions, IVR, the works. Sure, there’s a lot I don’t know, but I’ve got the basics, and given a real-world problem, I’ll stick with it till I’ve figured it out. The operative words are “real-world”. Give me something to fix, and I’ll fix it.

It was fun figuring it out though. Pretty damn arcane, too.

Anyway, I see your eyes glaze over, so I’ll stop with the discussion on geeky punctuation marks.

It’s terribly hot. Naturally, this is placeholder text so that I can cleverly segue into talking about the World Cup. The football world cup. oh me oh my.. I do love watching that, and this time promises to be a whole lot of fun. The competition is wide open, and there’s a certain Lionel whatisname that has shown some smattering of talent. And oh yes, today I was discussing apartment plans. Hopefully (fingers crossed) in a four months I shall be freezing in a distant land. No, I don’t come from a land down under, but I sure as hell come from a land where the men plunder. Plunder is the middle name of the average Delhi denizen. Everyone seems to be walking around with but one thought uppermost in their minds: how do I get the better of the guy in front of/behind/beside/under/yet-to-be-born/me. While this is a laudable sentiment and leads to many great inventions (such as the world cheapest method of radioactive waste disposal.. cheap? hah, we actually made a PROFIT on it.) it does get a little tiresome all day every day. The city is constantly on edge, and tempers are never far from the surface. In fact, most people here are so ready to fight, they get disappointed when you apologise. The other day, I almost missed an exit, and swung across a lane of traffic to make it. I narrowly missed wiping out a stolid father of four (that’s a guess) going home on his scooter. It was entirely my fault, and he was well within his rights to be quite angry. He came up next to my car (I’d stopped) and yelled something at me. I couldn’t quite make it out, since he was mostly yelling inside his helmet, but it wasn’t complimentary. As he paused for breath, I told him that I agreed with him, and that I was sorry, and that I’d take more care in the future.

….
….
…..

Silence. Then a mumbled “yes, good, ok, bye” and he staggered off. He didn’t know what to say. It was quite funny.

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Flying around.

Nice song, that.

Short post this will be. Cryptic, even.

Bills arrive. Will ID and other such official documents follow?

The green gets denser, but there’s still a ways to go till we have saturation.

Steak with the French, yes? Oui.

Sick? Check.
Cloud? Check.
Atlas? Perhaps.

Seas of shifty shrimp.

How ARE those doors made?

Purple in Patagonia? or Blue in Baluchistan.. Red in Riyaadh is even better. All round and round it goes.

Watch.

Bye

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Seriously, sometimes my life is so funny, it’s not even funny. Just in December I was all dull and grey, at a low ebb, even. Things weren’t really looking up, and I was grappling with all sorts of existential questions. You know, the sorts you think of when you have Rs.732.36 in the bank, no job, no admission anywhere, and the prospect of living on home food for a long while. (Hang on, home food?? that’s not so bad.. strike that.. but the rest counts!). I simply refused to face facts, and be all mature. This decision of mine was helped by the presence in Jaipur, after many long years in the hinterlands of that tiny little unimportant country where they play a pansy ass game all padded up and call it football, of TR and Nish-boy.

These two personages shall not be identified further, since I have a sneaking suspicion that one day both of ‘em are going to be Very Important®, and we don’t want biographers coming across this post then, mmmm-kay? Good. Anyway, so here we all were, the awesome threesome, reunited again. So what did we do? Did we talk about our careers? The future? Getting married, maybe? (Not to each other, dumbass, don’t bother reading further if you’re going to be cracking silly ones like that.) Perhaps investment advice??

Heh.

Here’s what we actually did, in no particular order:

1. Ate till we couldn’t walk.
2. Played Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 all night long.
3. Bought a cricket kit. With pads, gloves, leather ball, the whole enchilada. And then proceeded to use it.
4. Flew kites till our fingers bled and our hearts were gladdened.
5. Bought 500 kites for Makar Sankranti, only managed to fly about a hundred of them, since we’re all such extreme experts at kite flying. (yes, even Nish-B)
6. Laughed at each other’s plans, with no thought of offering support and/or consolation.
7. Drove to Nahargarh at 1 AM
8. Drove to Ramgarh at 2 AM
9. Saw mysterious men with torches coming towards us at Ramgarh, panicked and ran.
10. Possibly imbibed minor amounts of various alcoholic substances in a safe, and sober manner, with absolutely no silly behavior whatsoever.

Lest they be mortally offended, let me not forget the others who were there. Again, in no particular order, there was Manu “I ONLY WEAR CLOTHES THAT HAVE FMS EMBLAZONED ON THEM” B and Pu-Wa the amazing margarita drinker and all around cutie. Besides these two, there were a host of minor players, Zo-Wa, Bu-B, and so on, who had small, but poignant, roles to play.

So yes, like I was saying December was a month of doom and gloom. Nevertheless, I kept the stiff upper lip, and soldiered on.

Imagine my relief, then, when I learnt that I’ve actually been accepted to a decent B-school. Finance fell into place, and life looked up. However, I was still home, and pretty much broke. I might have had a little more than 732.36 (poetic license, don’t ya know??), but not a whole lot more.

And then, out of the blue, I was offered a job. And not just ANY job, no-siree. I don’t do normal, apparently. I was asked to head the Delhi operations of a firm that was about to open it’s office in Delhi. And not some teensy-weensy mom and pop joint, a pretty decently sized one. So here I am in Delhi, renting office space, hiring people, talking to vendors, and generally learning that running an office is pretty damn tough! Sigh, I even have to keep track of the law! Dukan Aur Vanijya Adhishthan Adhiniyam,1962, anyone??

So that’s me. It’s all good and getting better, and that’s how it always should be, is it not? And THAT, my friend, is what keeps me looking like a twenty two year old…

Weeeellll, maybe not 22. Might have exaggerated a smidgen there. More like 25. That’s still alrighty!

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