A Trip To Heaven !

"Heaven" - its -" A condition or place of great happiness, delight, or pleasure" ,this is what the online search on www.Dictionary.com gives when supplied with the word "Heaven".

India is a developing country !! What is a developing country ? There are two answers -a political & the other technical. The technical first - any country where its peasants are still fighting for three meals a day, clean drinking water & where educations is not for all - I'm sure this suffices. The Political one now- any country which is not the part of G-4(One minus G-5 -China is also a developing nation,it brings lots of solace to Indians to see China struggling with us)is a developing country !! You might disagree , good if you don't.

There is no clear demarcation as to which country is a developing country & which is not .(There is even a worse category -the third world countries- I'll not talk about them . Are they worth talking ? )One can always argue that we all want to develop in some form or the other , we want more money , better cars , more salaries , more , more , more - so I'm sure there is no
scope left in the argument & we all agree that we wanna develop !! Any non takers ?

An Indian is a complex creature - with English as the second language we all compete to prove that its "kind-off" our first language. It's a social status to converse in English - the fluency is all that matters - talk crap - who cares !!

The United States Of America is like the "Promised Land" to many in the Developing & Third World countries . Many are born with that aim - they struggle - a few lucky ones make it -the rest die talking English. America is like a Heaven - why ? You better don't ask !!

A trip to the Heaven is an account of the experiences I had while obtaining the ticket to America.

The ticket is costly & since money is a rare commodity with me the only way I could leave my land was on a free ticket. The best way to obtain a free ticket is to join a software company. The next step after joining a software company is a to pretend that you've got fed up of the system & place & want a break . If the manager buys your argument (who cares if he doesn't) you might just find yourself in the Visa Consulate.

The American Visa Consulate is a fortress - lot of crooks can be figured outside the strong walls - don't be surprised if somebody approaches you any whispers " America janna hai kya ? "(Wanna go to America ?).

One needs to book a slot on the web - I had to report at 11 am. "Dress up well - wear a tie , take a good file cover ..." this is what my manager told me - I must admit I never wore a tie even while giving interviews (barring the first one).A serpentine queue greets everybody who enters. You'll find actors , students , engineers , workers all standing in the same queue , this never happens in India otherwise. The first sign that America is a a different land.

After spending some hours outside & still trying to keep tidy I managed to reach the door. The door opens - metal detectors & security guards frisk all . Everybody should carry two cheques - one of them is deposited at the first counter which also provides a token. Keep the second cheque with you & pray that its also accepted.Wait ! its not all that easy . Quite a number are struggling to fill the forms . A Sardarji from Punjab( All Sardars are from Punjab) is struggling to pronounce his name - he is too old & his voice breaks.

The token bears a number - read it. Stand in the queue whose window bears the number. All the marksheets , address proof , company details , photographs have to be submitted here. A number is given & we are then directed to a big hall. A hall where thousands wait . Many are sitting on the floor.

One needs to keep his/her ears open to locate the call. The call is sounded by an Indian who's pretending to be an American. Oh ! I hear my number. What another queue ? Yes ! the call was for another queue . After standing for another three hours I found that I was the next man.

There are many parallel queues , each queue leads to a window ,each window has an American Or somebody who's not an Indian is sitting. He stares at you , questions you , looks at your file & beware - don't go until you are called .

Many were enthusiastic enough to break the code & were herded back by the security guards.

Hey why is the man crying ? His visa is rejected . Yes I saw many sad faces , drooping shoulders , pleading parents who wanted to visit their children , folded hands ....

"Mr Rawat why do you wan't to go ?"

"Sir , I'm on a business trip to buy servers for my company in India "

" Mr Rawat what if you don't come back ?"

"Believe me Sir I'll come back !!"

"Are you married ?"

" No ! "

After the question and answer session was over I was asked to deposit the second cheque - a sign of acceptance.

Lies , lies & more lies . After all this lies I was successful, who cares. I've the ticket to fly now - to go to heaven .

A trip to Heaven is not easy , its full of hardships & hardships would be many. Isn't this what the saints have been saying for long . Yes they were right ,indeed they were !!