Reverberations

Vacations are always good, especially when you are going to a place that is warmer, has pristine beaches and has a laid back feel. So Kauai it was, for us. We were planning to go on a vacation for quite sometime and never actually did anything towards it and on the spur of the moment we booked everything which we thought was a good deal, at least we would like to believe so. Since we booked our trip a month and half in advance, we did quite a lot of browsing on what to do on our vacation. Jotted down many things and made a mental plan on what to do when. As with every plan, things can never go the perfect way as desired.

Soon the initial excitement fazed down and when we came closer to catching our flight, reality struck and we accepted the fact that we haven’t booked for any activity. Being the procrastinators that we are, we left to deal with it later. And soon we boarded our flight. We packed everything as noted down but left a pile of mess along. Our flight had a 5hr lay over at Honolulu, we assumed it to be fine but little did we realize that the airport was a virtual desert and we spent the hardest 5hrs ever. Atlast we made it to Kauai (hurray). It looked beautiful from the airplane and the weather appeared a bit gloomy (darn). We left to pick our luggage and it was no where to be seen and there ended the prospect of a happy vacation. Filed a formal complaint with the lady at the counter and she promised that she will call us and have the luggage delivered to our resort the moment our luggage comes in. Luckily, we packed some clothes at least for a day or two in our hand luggage (reading about others experience helps)

We were surprised that Kauai looked a lot like Kerala albeit a bit cleaner and noticed that there were so many hens and chicks (Baby hen - not the other kind) running about happily - thinking deeply if the airport ran a poultry farm. We upgraded to a convertible (what the heck it’s a vacation after all) and went on our way to the Resort.

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He says:

Another year rolled by me in a very short realizable time frame throwing out a lot of lessons. Few, I will keep and walk upon every day and a few, I will just store. After spending more than 25 years on mother earth, staying as the same happy go lucky person doesn’t seem to be prudent. So am trying to adapt myself. One gets better in life with these lessons that are narrated while traveling in axis of time.

Here’s one I realized this year. A new happy thing makes one extremely happy and that lasts for a few days. That happiness can overcome mountains of sorrow. At the same time, a new sad encounter hurts really bad and lasts several days too. Happy things can momentarily modify that train of thought, but this well programmed train will get back to its track in a few minutes. This is life for everybody and one has to cross this at some point in life. So no “God…Why just me?” any more. (more…)

Almost a year after losing this blog to some hacker, I have brought it back alive. Had a lot thoughts about changing the theme and making it look like a true web2.0 blog, but nostalgic thoughts over powered my wish to get to the cutting edge. Though I couldn’t rebuild everything as it was before, I have done my best to restore it. I have restored most of the posts, lost all the comments though. None of the posts that I wrote in Tamil now display properly, so still working on it.

Well…now that am married, will get some posts from my wife as well…

So, shortly…back alive

This post is something special because, to complete the dream evening my girl helped a lot. Here is how we did in part-2.

Me:
After an eventful evening, I rested my head on my pillows; my brain still didn’t stop working out the probability of mission marriage’s success. It felt as though my brain and mind went on a deadlock driving sleep out of earthly boundaries. Once in a while, I asked myself some unanswerable questions…”Why am I expecting an answer so quick, why am I so desperate?” I took my sweet time to make a decision just to pour out, so now was hers to make the choice. Unconsciously I dozed off, subconsciously still aggravating anxiety in myself.

My girl:
Although it was the end of another eventful day, it still wasn’t time for me to sleep. After hearing something that was totally unexpected and which shocked me to the core, I guess sleep evading me that night was rightly expected. Zillion thoughts went on my tiny head, never knew my brain could handle so much. Decisions decisions decisions…..how I hate it really bad and here I was - all alone lying on my bed trying to make one more, which also happens to be the most important one - coincidence eh?. Thoughts, after-thoughts, re-thoughts and what not went on for a long time. I could hear my senses screaming that it’s overworking itself but I am still trying to figure out things. Somewhere between the time when Sun God has signaled to show his mighty self and when my eyes were wanting to close a bit, I realized my mind was thinking clear. Guess its time for the curtains to be raised again (more…)

For over a year I have said that decision to marry is not quantifiable. There is no way on earth to know if you are truly in love or if the marriage will workout. I don’t have that much belief neither in the astrological predictions of future nor in the statistical projections of psychological traits. What if I end up with someone totally incompatible? What can I find about a person just by talking for a few days after an arranged marriage interview date? These drove me to the decision less road that glorifies enjoying life as single.

She wasn’t a pretty doll. Definitely not the kind of face that would tangle your vision in the middle of the road, making your eyes follow her trail and your mind pleading her to stop and turn around once again. But there, in front of one of the most beautiful beaches, amidst all the beach walkers, she looked serene and striking. A clear blemishless face, large expressive eyes, thin wide lips with a natural mild pout let my brain capture every pixel of the priceless face and persist it to eternity.

Sitting besides her, gazing at the sky searching for moving stars “Hey…look isn’t that star shining too bright; may be it is Mercury” I completed with a grin. “No way, can’t you see that moving fast” the reply came in a flash and I was smiling like an idiot. Never a quiet moment; either of us had something to talk. A few lip twisting smiles, a few wide mouthed laughs and the clock was ticking in an unprecedented speed. Many evenings, I’ve stood in the same place waiting for the sun god to hide under the endless mighty waters of the Pacific, but that day I wanted him to stay still just kissing the cold blue waters. (more…)

I started from home with Shankar and Satish. They dropped me in the airport almost on time. The self check-in machine wanted to read my passport in vain. The poor old Indian passport was devoid of the magnetic stripe. I had to wait for a representative to get my stuff checked in. Flight was as usual, wait time in O’Hare was painful. Thanks to the wi-fi. I hopped on the network and did some chatting :-), read some blogs, caught up on the news…usual stuff… “expedition to discover the end of the internet”…that how I term non-subjective web surfing.

The new and comfy Air Canada flight landed in Toronto on time. The airport was pretty good too. I was reading the signs in French and was acquainting myself with common words on the way to immigration. Once I got my immigration cleared, I headed towards the rental car location. Guess what, the customer service representative was Mr.Kugan talking to me in Tamil. That just made me very happy. (more…)

My parents got their VISA stamped in Chennai this month. The procedure on the day of VISA interview is the same as any other VISA (refer to my previous post about my VISA stamping for details about what happens on that day). The documents they carried were

Documents from Sponsorer

• Form I-797 + I-129 + LCA Copy
• Passport Copy + I-94 Copy
• Form I-134 for Dad
• Form I-134 for Mom
• Invitation letter to parents
• VISA Request letter to Consulate
• Bank Statements (last 6 months)
• Bank Account Verification letter
• Employment Verification Letter - Current Employer
• Paystubs (last 6)
• Utility bills (past 3 months)
• W2 Forms (all until now)
• Offer Letter Copy
• Drivers License Copy
• Rental Agreement Copy
• Birth Certificate

Common Documents

• HDFC Receipt Original
• Ration Card

Documents for Dad

• Passport Original
• Affidavit (Notarized)
• Property & Income Evaluation (from Ch. Acct.)
• All Degree certificates
• Proof of experience and pension
• Property papers (all mentioned) Orig/Copy
• Bank Statements
• Voters Id
• Drivers License

Documents for Mom

• Passport Original
• Affidavit (Notarized)
• Property & Income Evaluation (from Ch. Acct.)
• All Degree certificates
• Property papers (all mentioned) Orig/Copy
• Bank Statements
• Voters Id
• Drivers License

Questions they were asked by the interviewer

My mom was not asked any questions. My dad was asked the following questions

1. How many kids do you have? (He gave a genuine answer and said that both kids are in the US)
2. Why did you retire early and when was that?
3. What are you doing now? (Dad takes care of our agriculture business now, so following related questions)
4. How many acres of land you own?
5. What crops do you plant?
6. Do you have any other property besides you agricultural land?

That was it and the VISA was granted.

Note: This happened in Nov 2006. But the list of documents are still the same from what I heard from my friends.

I wanted to blog about this ‘cos I spent a lot of time collecting information regarding requirements and process of stamping. I had a successful VISA stamping in Chennai this month. It was really cool and nothing scary.

Following are the documents I took.

• Original receipt of VISA fee payment
• Interview appointment letter
• Photographs (per specs)
• DD for the specified amount (2400) - VISA Issuance fee
• Passport
• DS-156
• DS-157
• Form I-797
• Form I-129, I-129 W
• LCA (Comes with the H1B packet)
• Offer Letter - Current Employer
• Employment Verification Letter - Current Employer
• Paystubs (last 6)
• Experience Letter - Previous Employers
• Bank Statements (last 6 months)
• Account verification letter from bank
• Tax Return papers (all until now)
• W2 Forms (all until now)
• Cellphone bills (past 3 months)
• Utility bills (past 3 months)
• Rental Agreement
• Birth Certificate (English Version)
• All certificates (Degree, School)
• Educational Evaluation Certificate
• Updated Resume (Include Qualcomm Experience)
• Photos of the Company + Self Inside the Company
• SSN Card
• Driver’s License

But I was not asked for a single document in addition to those we provide initially. Just one question. Did you switch to <my current employer> when you were on your L visa? I said yes. He looked at the H1-B papers (less than a minute). That was it. Then for the sake of asking he asked me the salary. By the time he had decided to give the stamping.

Here’s the typical stamping day

1. Went to stand in line outside the embassy approx 2 hrs before my appointment (11.45 AM). I was allowed inside 1.5 hrs before my appointment time. (Talking to the security in Tamil really worked)
2. After entry there was a simple security check and was seated in a hall. (Remember sealed envelopes are not allowed in Chennai)
3. People were sent to the next line in groups and I was sent in one. That line is to get into to the next building where they get the required documents (Passport, DD, DS-156, DS-157, I-797 packet). Once they accept the document I was sent to the VISA lobby where the interviews happen. (Now I heard the DD has been waived. Not sure though)
4. I was waiting there for 30 mins for my file to arrive (After collecting the documents, they arrange it in a file, do some data entry and give the file back for the interview)
5. After 30 mins hounding the assistance staff helped (Thanks to Srilekha for teaching me how tohound people). One guy went and got my file ‘cos I asked him twice. With the file, I went to counter 1 for finger printing.
6. After finger printing I was waiting to pick a counter and the same assistance staff put me in a counter where there was less crowd.
7. Interview happened as I mentioned before and I was out of the embassy at 1.00 PM

Collecting the passport

VFS mails passports using BLUEDART. Unfortunately BLUEDART doesnt cover our small village. So I gave a hold location in Chennai. Just to see if I get the passport the next day I waited in Chennai and checked with the VFS folks in vain. I came back after 5 days and collected my passport from the BLUEDART hold location in Egmore.

Hope this helps people trying to get their VISA stamped in Chennai.

Note: This happened on Nov 2006. But still the list of documents seems to be a comprehensive one.

Being a big fan of speed and heart thumping sounds, I went to MCAS Miramar to watch the Blue Angels. No matter how many times you see, that’s something that’ll bring your hands together any day. Well, there were other good ones too, the alpha angle flight of FA-18(Hornet) and the low altitude flyby of the F-16, the minimum radius turn of the F-16, vertical landing and take off of some navy fighter jet (forgot the name) and acrobatics of one of the great show pilots, Sean Tucker, in his custom built challenger aircraft (This year his flight was called Oracle challenger ‘cos Oracle had sponsored that event). Trust me nothing beats the Blue Angels. The professionalism, the speed, the precision, it just beats them all. It was a cloudy day and it was going to be a low-show and here’s how the show was.

The DangerZone music from TopGun stars and the entire crowd is on the feet. The stalls get empty and the rails are packed. The smoke is on and all the extra long telescopic lenses in various hands start focusing. 5 angels go towards right and the last (#6) goes to the left. Four of them (1,2,3,4) form the classic diamond formation with 18 inch separation between them. The first sight of the Blue Diamond formation, all the heads make a quick turn from right to left in a second or two and all the hands go up and togehter enjoying the rumble with excitement.

After some amazing heroics from blue angels, loads of others perform but still that just stays in your mind…and it  did stay in my mind until now. Now I have a blue engels deskpiece on my table for inspiration. (If you claim to be a slow pilot on fighter jets, you’ve to be a blue angel. Any less is one in a million)

If you think you can’t fly, try skydiving. It shows the limits of liberty one can get up in the sky. I had wanted to skydive for a year but somehow it didn’t happen until I heard a lady reminisce her first jump. I definitely needed that adrenaline rush and I registered for the very next day.

On my first jump day, my brother-in-law accompanied me. He also decided to take his first jump the same day. Both of us did the huge paperwork that had release of liability clauses in almost every single page and it required at least 25 signatures. Just the paperwork is enough to scare a person who’s ready for a first dive.

After registration comes the classroom session where a jump master (skydive instructor) describes postures and explains safety measures and stuff like that. Unfortunately, we had to wait a long time after the session and that is the worst part of all. I was scared to bones while waiting for our turn. After almost 2 hours, our names were called and we went inside to get ready for the jump.

First is the gear-up part. A jump master assits in getting geared and the harness fit is verified by another jump master. In a few minutes, we were all geared and everyone was assigned a dive-master and a cameraman. The twin engine double otter aircraft was approaching us. Donned in skydiving gear, I was standing worried and excited. Mixture of those two feelings is an exclusive experience you get only in your first jump:-). The aircraft was pretty big; it could seat at least 20 divers. All the members of the diving crew boarded. I was seated in between 2 professional skydivers and straight opposite to my cameraman.

The jump masters were asking me questions about my feelings. I could say nothing other than “I am pretty excited” with a big artificial smile. Actually, I was extremely worried too, but I didn’t say that (I could see fear inadvertently pouring through my eyes when I watched the video later). The aircraft was now at 12,000 feet and we were getting ready for the jump. I got hooked up with one jump master. Another jump master double checked the harness and the hook.

It was almost 15,000 feet and we started walking towards the door of the aircraft. At that point, I almost felt my heartbeat…Two more steps and I was at the edge. My cameraman jumped first and in the next 2-3 seconds, all I heard was 1…2….3 and we go….I was out of the aircraft and was flying like a bird at 15,000 feet. That AFF (accelerated free fall) is the most amazing experience I’ve ever had in any sport. I felt as though I am bird flying up in the sky. It feels as though I was in the air defying gravity. I could not even feel that I am approaching the ground at ~120mph. The air resistance gives the feeling of flight. In a few seconds, I was looking around and enjoying the lush green Oregon. I could see all the way from Mounthood to Portland. Oh! Boy, Oregon is really green and is extremely beautiful. (Not the east though, it is all desert. I happened to see those deserts while rafting in Deschutes river)

Before I could realize the altitude we had covered, we were at ~5000 ft and it was time to open the parachute. (It didn’t give any problems:-)).My jump master asked me if I enjoy rollercoaster rides. I said, I love’em and then the fun started. My jump master was maneuvering the parachute and we were going around the place for a few minutes. Finally it was time to land, but I didn’t feel like….

We landed nicely and the very moment I got unhooked from my jump master I was jumping in excitement……It was an incredible experience and I would say anybody who loves the feel of adrenaline rushing through the spine should try that once.