Divine Hand in Getting Visa to India - November 13, 2014

After spending 24 hours the night before singing the glory of our beloved swami (Satya Sai Baba) for the akhand bhajans which took place in East Brunswick, New Jersey, we received a phone call in the early morning at 2AM with news that my father-in-law had an accident. He had fallen off of a chair and broke his hip for the second time.

They had gone on a vacation to Coimbatore from Chennai for a week. Within a few days of arriving he did what should not have been attempted. He stood on a chair trying to adjust the clock. The maintenance personnel was going to come and adjust it on Monday morning but he just could not wait because he wanted to fix it right away. The only problem he had was that he had the same surgery a few years back but just on the opposite hip. He was struck by a motorcycle while visiting Madurai. 

Our friends parents came to their aid in getting an ambulance from Coimbatore to Chennai. After 12 gruesome hours of suffering from the unbearable and intense pain he finally arrived in Chennai where he underwent the same surgery that he had a few years back. 

Now the children had to scramble in taking care of elderly parents that were away from home. My wife's job would not allow her to take time off. My sister-in-law managed to take ten days from the school she's teaching at and left a fortnight ago. I had opted to go to India but the only problem was that I had applied for OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) and because that was in the process I was not permitted to leave the country. My current visa was only valid until February 20, 2015 and my in-laws were unsure of whether or not they would be able to travel on or before that date. Therefore I had to apply for an extension on that Visa. I gathered all the requirement paperwork and documents and went to the Indian consulate myself in New York City.

It's safe to assume that all government agencies are similar because they treat you like animals. When I walked into the office there was no one to greet me, no information booth, and nothing was marked as to what services were rendered where. Behind the booth there were two ladies pretending not to hear anything that the customers were saying. We were all asking questions but to no avail were our questions answered. There was no assistance for women with infants when it came to feeding or changing. The elderly were not being tended to either. 

With all that being said, here is my experience. 

I had all the necessary and required documents except for a doctors' certificate which is a must primarily because without that they cannot issue you an emergency visa.  We had contacted the surgeon who was performing the procedure on my father-in-law. The doctors are not at all prompt or have the sense of urgency in secretarial duties and claimed to not have my document on file while my turn came up. Exactly at the time the e-mail came in but the consulate demanded that they receive a hard copy.  The application drop off was from 9AM to 12PM and the pickup was from 4PM to 6PM. 
The time now was 10:30AM and there was no facility in sight to print out this document anywhere except for a mile away where I had to walk through the hustling and bustling city streets. It was much easier to walk in the city as opposed to taking and relying on public transportation. I have personal limitations with both of my legs and they do not function as well as they used to. On top of this setback I had a certain time to be back otherwise I would lose the whole day. I, with great difficulty, was able to make it back by 11:30AM and stood in line yet again and approached the counter. She asked "have I seen you before?" "No" I replied. She looked at all of my documents and asked if I was flying today and I casually answered yes. She then replied with "we can only give the visa for 3 months." I said "that will not help me as there is no guarantee my father-in-law will be able to travel within that time frame." She said "why don't you go ahead and get yourself a cup of coffee and I will have your passport and visa ready for you."  She called my name at 11:50AM and said "I have approved your visa for 6 months. You may pick up your passport approved with emergency visa travel." 
All of the other customers in line waiting were so shocked and surprised. "How did you get the visa in just 20 minutes? Whereas, all of us have to wait between 4 and 6PM. What exactly did you say to her? 

I knew that this was a true display of DIVINE INTERVENTION and the grace of the lords without whom it would not be possible. 

My wife called me at 12:10AM asking how I am progressing and dealing with the bureaucracy. When I mentioned to her that it has all been finalized she too was in complete shock in how I got the visa in record time.  I spent the remainder of the day with a divine soul who, with the instructions of Swami, has painted well over 500 very unique paintings of various lords, saints, sages, and sri chakras.  

OM SRI SAI RAM