Unforgetable Tours... Nagpur to USA

Finally had a chat with mom and those free 10 mins from www.zaptel.com were worth billions for me. USA is aweso.... oops wait lets start it all from the beginning...

14th dec... 10:00 PM -- INDIA

"Have I taken all the required documents??" twentieth time I asked that to myself and still this time also, was not getting the confident YES from inside. I knew I had taken everything, that too, in excess but u know it happens when u r leaving for abroad. Within 5 mins relatives would start coming and I won’t get time to rethink over this, was my only concern. And so it happened. People rushed in and I was lost in the moment. Around 12 of them, all with jackets and mufflers, as it was a chilling night in December, rushed in to congratulate me, bless me for my future endeavors. It was nice to feel yourself important for the moment.

11.30 PM (IST)
Lieutenant Abhishek Lakhe (One from my Best Friends gang) came to meet me.. He kept his promise, made 2 months back and I wish Indian Army should get few more like him. I was extremely happy to receive him and we had a great laugh for an hour.. Lakha left at 12.40 am and we all went back to our last hour emotional drama. I offered my prayers to god and took blessings from mom dad and wishes from cousin sis appu...

1:30 AM (IST)
We reached airport and got all formalities done by 3. Shared my last waves with mom and dad and there I was, all alone waiting to hug a new life.

4.30AM --- Nagpur to Doha QR 289
"Good morning Sir", the beautiful flying queen of QATAR AIRWAYS greeted me as I entered the huge aircraft. It was really big and spacious. Many a times before, I had been in domestic flights but believe me there's a different charm in an international flight. I got seated in "12A", the window seat which my father forcefully got booked for me. As the flight took off, a sudden cold gripped me with anxiety about the unpredictable nature of my first international journey........

In The AIR.....

5:00 AM..
No sooner the plane took off the beautiful flying queens were on a roll. After seeing there charm, I realized why these airways charge you so much. .hehe.. It was 5 'o clock in the morning and I was not even yawning, such was the magic of that night. All international people from various countries were a part of my first overseas journey.. I enjoyed this diversity with excellent breakfast provided by the queens throughout the journey. It was a four and half hours travel to Doha. There's a small TV connected to the back of every chair with a varied collection of movies, songs, games and what not.. Once you are well settled in the aircraft this helps you to forget all the odds boggling your mind.


6.30 AM (QATAR TIMINGS...)
"Please fasten your seat belts. We are about to land on Qatar International Airport. Outside temperature 5 degrees above zero." The scenario inside the aircraft changed instantly as everyone followed the announcements. We landed safely and were moved inside the airport by special travel caravans. I heaved a sigh of relief as one third of my journey was successfully completed.

7:00 AM.. Doha International Airport
There were two subways, one for transfer flights and other leading to the normal exit. Mine was a transfer/connecting flight for Washington DC. With hundreds of terminals on the airport, it was extremely difficult to find the only desk where the check-in was going on for flight to Washington DC.A CHINKY (Young Chinese girl) helped me out for my way to the required check-in desk. Now I was standing on foreign land with INDIAN Nationality on my passport. Every official started eying me with suspicious looks as if am a bloody terrorist. And believe me it happens especially if you are an Indian / Pakistani. Having 3 hrs for my next flight I started exploring the airport once done with the required formalities and issuing a boarding pass for myself. I was hungry but was not having any Riyal's with me ("Riyal" - Doha's currency).Finally I heard .. "All the passengers going to Washington DC are requested to board QR 051 via gate no. 15E"

10:10 AM (QATAR TIMINGS...) Doha-Washington DC QR 051..
This one was even bigger and brighter with all most all non-desi’s (Americans) around. Early proceedings started with all the monotonous instructions which the queens made interesting with their exotic gestures. As always I was having the window seat (thanks dad..) with a 25+ lady sitting next to me. One thing I noticed bout Americans that these people will smilingly wave their hands at perfect strangers. I felt a bit uncomfortable when she started talking as I was not able to get whether she’s talking with herself or with me, though I reacted with “ah-hhh” each time I didn’t get her accent. She was busy with all adjustments: adjusting chair, placing pillows, positioning overhead light and fan.. in short, getting cozy and relaxed for a steady 14 hrs flight, while I was .. Yeah good guess!!! Simply watching her.. Hehe.. The flight was full. And then a series of events followed. Queens with usual starters, chocolates, warm facial cloths; People, a bit relaxed by now, demanding their choices; Few straightly in washroom queues, others doing R & D with front screens. One thing is sure, you can very well make out who are regular travelers and who are the maiden ones. Started last night around 12 am from home, I was deprived of my sleep and so thought of sleeping the entire journey till Washington DC. But didn’t sleep for a sec also, I don’t know if that was my anxiety or I was too excited for the sudden take-off in my life…

In the AIR…
2:30 PM (Don’t know which time zone..)
“Casino Royale” ended but Bond looses his girl. I thought every movie he gets a new one so what’s THE BIG DEAL HUH!!! After that watched several other movies…Mere Baap Pehle Aap.. Dark Knight.. De Taali.. and still 7 hrs were remaining for a safe landing in USA. There’s a software which shows you the exact position of your plane with respect to altitude, location, angles, estimated distance remaining, estimated speed, and the entire path its gonna traverse before reaching the destination. It was good to track yourself 40000 ft above sea level.. Long live Engineers…Had lunch (Bread, butter, poha, fruit plate, curds, salad, orange juice).The taste was not that good but the presentation was fabulous. Had a chat with the next lady regarding few odd things going around the globe, mostly India, as she was really interested to know about the country with a questionnaire bank in her mind. I satisfied herJ.. I mean cleared her doubts and got to know many things from her about my new land of opportunities.

Still In AIR…
4:45 PM (USA Time zone..)
15 mins before the landing, we were given Form I-94 Immigration Form, which needs to be filled by all the passengers entering USA. Along with it, a customs form was attached in which we were required to declare all the valuable things which we brought in USA like laptops and cash, if more that $10000. I filled both the forms and kept them ready with my passport, which was all the way hanging over my neck, inside all clothes I was wearing.

5:02 PM.. Washington DC International Airport, USA
Flight landed but mentally I was still in air. I enacted SRK with his typical Yash Raj Movies style at the time of coming out of the aircraft, though unknowingly, but I did realize that later. And there I was.. in US of A….

5:30 PM.. Washington DC.. First port of entry…
One of the busiest and most confusing is the Washington DC airport. I felt like am back again on CST station in Mumbai. Initially we had to go through a small interview for our immigration processing where they actually decide for how many years we can stay in USA. For that there was a queue of more than 400 passengers. At a time multiple international flights land there and so that’s the cumulative figure which keeps growing. It took almost an hour for me to get that cleared, moving ahead for collecting my luggage. That’s another task which gets onto your nerves. There are almost 50 conveyor belts on which big baggages keep flowing. Finding the right conveyor and then your luggage requires daily experience or LUCK.. God blessed and I got my 2 huge bags out of the belts. My next flight to Atlanta was 2 hrs from that moment and with that I started making my way to the domestic airport.”1st floor to your right sir. Have a great flight”
Carrying the luggage around half a km was surely not on my list when I initially started. Finally I got the check-in for Atlanta. ”Call me when you reach Washington DC” was the instruction from my big bro, Anurag. So now I was in a search for telephone booth. Decided to ask a BABAN (Blacks in America are call BABAN’S) for a booth, he offered me his cell phone immediately. I called my bro and told him about my whereabouts. It was almost 25 hrs of sleepless time but still that thought didn’t come to my mind even once. Watching the sign boards, I made my way to boarding area for UA 7266.

9:35 PM – Security check for UA 7266
U get a feel of being a terrorist every time these officials check u, in and out. I was made to remove all the things except basic clothing and was checked thoroughly. Cabin Bags, Laptop, belt, shoes, inner pouch everything was checked twice.. Till this time I was made to stand in a glass cage.. Yes it was a cage only, where the officials were giving me a third degree treatment. It’s really the worst part of the journey and am sure many, those who have been through, would agree with me on this. Anyways, ”this is all for our own safety in the flight” I said and went forward. Hardly had any time left I was seated in the executive waiting lounge near my main exit door. I got a 6$ Margareta pizza for myself and was waiting for final announcement. I could see many Desi’s, students, newly married couples around. An American lady with a 1 yr baby boy came and sat next to me. He was totally pink. These American kids are so beautiful, which am sure none of the writers have the power to pen down. You just cant resist playing with them. This time it felt so unusual to know that actually I was more interested in playing with the kid rather than his mom.. haha..

10:10 PM . UA 7266 Washington DC – Atlanta.
A normal 60 setter flight looked like a baby to me in front of those international bullies. This time it was an airhostess on-job rather than my international flying queens. I missed them.. No need to mention about my window seat, I was 60F. After traveling through the smooth international aircraft, I found this one very frightful with lots of initial jerks and constant bumps throughout the journey. It was a 1hrs 30 mins journey in which I slept for almost an hour and twenty mins. Seriously I don’t even remember who was seated next to me or when the airhostess buzzed me for starters. The final announcements roared in my ears and unwillingly or so I straighten my chair for a safe landing. Atlanta looked extremely beautiful from sky as we landed safely..

12:00 AM (Atlanta Time Zone).
Again had to do all the formalities of passport verification and related stuffs and was waiting near the conveyor belt for my bags. Mr. Nazareli (a desi) was the one whom I asked for, for a local call. Called up my brother and asked him to come to North 3A gate.
And within 15 mins, there Anurag was, with his car. Twenty eight hours of tiresome journey flew out of my mind when I saw him waiting for me across the street. I hugged him and an inner voice said “Welcome to AMERICA”…




Special Thanks To:

Sayli Deshmukh – Cousin Sis/Current Landlord/Current Mother/My Editor
Mom, Dad and Anurag dada – For every possible reason.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Technorati Profile

Add to Technorati Favorites