INDIAN BUREAUCRACY
Again and again over the years I have run into Indian Bureaucracy, whether writing down all my computers when I entered India to make sure I took them out again or refusing on the last trip to India to allow me entry into the airport without a printed out ticket when every other airport would accept a passport.
I expected no bureaucracy this time because all I was doing was coming into Mumbai Airport on KLM and, without leaving the airport, departing immediately on Sri Lankan Airlines.
But even before I ran into bureaucracy I was surprised when coming down the ramp from the KLM flight. A driver of one of those airport carts whisking people around the airport pulled me aside and said he would take me anywhere I wanted to go. This was after KLM, having promised me a cart in Amsterdam, reneged. This time I didn‘t even ask.
Once dropped at a Sri Lankan desk I was informed that since I didn‘t get my Sri Lankan boarding pass on line that I would have to go through customs and immigration and show my Indian visa to get to the SriLankan Airlines departure desk and after that would have to go through security and immigration again before I could get on the flight.
Actually none of this was explained in advance although I realized that this would have taken me several hours of standing in lines if I had attempted it on my own. Suddenly Vanitha Nadar left her desk and told me she would guide me through the process. And she did. Hurry, she said, Hurry. I raced after her. Every line we came to that I needed to go through she went straight to the front and smiled and showed her employee pass. With policemen guarding an entrance who had always intimidated me, she smiled and we went right through. Security was not a problem because of the long line, I was next and sailed through.
Finally when she skipped another line and got me my boarding pass, we were done. She thoughtfully asked me if I needed the washroom, I did, and took guided me to the right gate. The entire time I had no idea what was going on, I just followed along.
Then she went off to find if I needed to get a visa in Sri Lanka, no they said, but I did. While she was gone I remembered that a travel site had said to be sure to tip the person who pushes your wheel chair. She had spent a half hour with me at top speed so I offered her $10 for dinner. She laughed and wouldn’t take it. Instead she asked me when I was boarding the flight to Paris from Mumbai on March 2 and said that she would be sure to be there to help me.
Indian Bureaucracy, twice, saved the day or I would still be in Mumbai.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 