Durga puja at Houston Durga Bari Society

Being a Bengali I miss the Durga puja a lot here in the United States. The "kash phool" , "dhaker awaz" ,  new dresses and "pujobarshiki"......I miss every bit of it. Being surrounded by all non Bengali people, it is really hard to make them understand the craze of this five day long celebration. Long before the puja days, all my friends from West Bengal started to post puja related status in their Facebook pages and that made me more sad. I was remembering all the old good memories of puja. And then suddenly I came to know about the Houston Durga Bari Society. A temple of Goddess Durga. The location is quiet good, its not in a crowded area. The private road that leads to the temple has ample greenery and a lake. This lake is used for the "bisorjon" (immersion of the idol). The Society is a decade old one and many people are associated with it. This year they celebrated the Durga puja for public for four days from 25th October to 28th. I was there for two days over the weekend. They did  "sandhya arati", "dhaki", "balidaan", "puspanjali" ...everything!! The "balidaan" was a surprise for me as they cut five different vegetables instead of an animal. It was a really nice idea. And who can forget the delicious "bhog". The "khichudi" with "beguni" was the attraction on Saturday while the final day's menu was fried rice with mutton. In the auditorium section they had some cultural activities. To have a look at these programs and to eat the dinner/lunch you need some passes which you can buy online. The registration fee was around $250 for family which increased by $50 during the puja days.

 

After the Dashami puja all the married women played with "sindur" there. And then the "bisarjan" happened. Since it is USA we can not immerse the idol in the lake (it will cause water pollution), hence they immersed only a banana plant along with an earthen pot. Thus the Durga puja came to an end this year with a hope in our heart "Asche bochor abar hobe"!!

 

H1B and H4 Visa Interview Experiences

Its a nice warm evening here in Austin and I am writing a new post for my blog after a long time. The absence from the blog was inevitable. We got relocated to U.S. This post is all about the hassle of visa processing. Here it goes.

My husband's company applied for his H1B in the month of July,2011 through some premium process. It got approved in August and then started the Visa stamping procedure. We bought the HDFC green and white receipt for both of us (I was applying for H4 visa) and the rest of the procedure was same as in the B1 and B2 case. We took a joint interview schedule.

We reached at Chennai U.S consulate just 15 minutes before our interview time. There was no queue ( generally you will find the queue in the morning hours only). One thing you should be careful about is the photograph. Our photograph was not a recent one so we were asked to take new photographs from the consulate photographer. The charge was INR 100 per person. So do carry some money with you as you never know when you will need it. After the first documentation, we went to the next building and then the painful wait started. There were so many parents who went for their visa and most of them were rejected. All were sitting there with a gloomy face. The atmosphere was really frustrating. After almost 2 hours, we were called for our interview. Phew......all my confidence was gone by that time :P......We were the last people to be interviewed before the lunch time. The interviewer asked my husband about the work he has to do and whether he has been to U.S before , his would be salary. To me he asked when did I get married and where. My voice was shaky. And our visas were approved!! It was hardly a two minutes interview. We got the passports delivered within 3 working days.

The only document that was asked from us was his petition.So prepare well and be very precise and practice well before your interview.

Re-issue of Passport experience @ Bangalore PSK

I have already given you the detailed description of my passport experience. This is the experience of my husband who recently filed for his passport. This August , 2011, I had taken an appointment for his passport application. The online form submission was same as in my case , but the only difference was that this time we did not upload the documents with the application. 

There was another change in the slot booking. Now you can book only the next day's slot. It is mentioned in the website that the booking starts from 8:00 a.m. sharp. But my research (mind you...I did a lot of searching before this application) told me that the ideal time to get a slot is around 8:40 a.m. First day I just checked whether I can get a slot or not , and I logged in at 9:00 a.m. and I got the slots available from 9:45 a.m onwards. On the second day I logged in at around 8: 30 a.m. and got the 9:00 a.m. slot for him. Yuppie...

He actually applied for the damaged passport , because his passport had some problem with the visibility of his picture. He was asked by the immigration officers whenever he had traveled outside India , to change his passport. So we collected the documents required for the damaged passport re-issue case. The list of the documents are :

1. Old passport 

2. Address proof ( he took bank statement and letter from the bank)

3. Age proof ( his board certificate)

4. Affidavit in the format of Annexure L.

5. Appointment letter

Apart from this he took his degree certificate , my passport (as it already had the Bangalore address) and phone bill.

He reached there 8:15 a.m. and found out that 9:00 a.m is no more the first slot of the day , it is 8:30 a.m.!! But when the government officers (the GO and VO) don't come to the office before 10:30 a.m. why do they keep slots so early!! He was lucky as he was allowed to go inside passport office with the 8:30 a.m. slot. There were 3 to 4 counters where you will have to hand over the documents that they will ask. They will keep those documents in the file and give it to you. In that counter he was told that his passport does not fall under damage category as nothing was damaged according to them. So they asked him to apply for a new passport for address change and spouse name addition. So he did not submit the affidavit. As the bank statement was quite huge , they told him to give xerox copy of the first and the last page only. No age proof was required. Only the marriage certificate was asked to be given.

After that counter he had to go to the A counter which was again the same as in my case. All these were done at around 9:00 a.m. , then began the endless wait for the verification and granting officers. This time there was a change. There were 4 VO counters and 3 to 4 GO counters ( in my case there were only 2 VO and 1 GO....you can imagine the long queues at that time ). The VO officers started coming after 9:30 a.m and the GO came after 10:30 a.m. So it took 3 hours to finish everything. He was free by 11:20 a.m.
The next day onwards the website showed that his passport has been granted on that day and will be dispatched soon , but after 2 to 3 days , the status message changed as the date of the passport grant changed. I got a little worried but waited patiently. And on the 10th day after his application being submitted , the passport was dispatched by speed post and it was in my hand on the 11th day. He was in the office so I collected it from the postman showing him the old passport of his. I think the passport seva kendra is getting better day by day.

U.S. Business Visa (B1) Experience

The documents that my husband carried for his B1 interview are :

1. Port of entry letter
2. HR letter (cover letter)
3. Passport
4. IT return of 3 years
5. Salary account statements (6 months)
6. Salary slips (3 months)
7. PAN card
8. Social security number card (not necessary but in case if you have this then carry it with you)
9. Travel itinerary
10. Visa interview letter , HDFC blue receipt , confirmation page

His interview was very short. He was asked about his company name and what did the company do , where did he go in the U.S. when he was given J1 visa and he was issued his B1 visa!!

For a more detailed procedure from the visa application stage to interview please check here: US Tourist Visa (B2) Experience

Do check out our H1B and H4 visa experiences.

U.S. Tourist Visa (B2) Experience at Chennai Consulate

Before going for my U.S. tourist visa interview at Chennai Consulate I was going through different interview experiences of people , but I could not find a detailed description of the whole process anywhere, like from filling up the form to the interview stage. Hence, I am writing the details of my  experience here. First, I went to the HDFC bank and deposited the visa fee (in my case it was INR 6960, including HDFC service charges) by cash (one can pay by DD/cheque also) at the visa counter and filled the receipt ( Do carry xerox of your passport as you will need to submit it ). The bank returned me 2  receipts , one pink and one blue receipt with bar codes pasted on them.  Then, after two business days which is the activation time taken after depositing  visa fee, I filled form D-160 online through the U. S. visa website www.vfs-usa.co.in. At the end I printed my application form and the confirmation page. Next I took my appointment online and printed the appointment letter.

As I applied for a tourist visa and my purpose to visit U.S. was to accompany my husband while he was going for a business trip, I carried the following documents with me on the interview date :

1. Husband's B1 visa copy
2. Flight itinerary
3. My passport and husband's passport
4. Marriage certificate , wedding album , wedding invitation card
5. 6 months Bank statement
6. Acknowledgment letter and confirmation letter of interview
7. HDFC bank blue receipt (pink as well although that was not needed)
8. Educational certificates
9. Declaration letter from my husband stating that he will bear all my expenses
10.Husband's port of entry letter , company's HR letter , salary slips (6 months) , salary account statements

This is just a small list. You should carry every possible documents to support your visa application.

On the interview date I reached the consulate at 8:30 am, half an hour before my scheduled interview. I stood in a queue for another 30 minutes and then was issued a token at the entrance. After security check I entered in a hall where many people were waiting for their documents verification. I waited for another  20 minutes and then my token number was called at a counter. There I gave my passport, HDFC blue receipt, interview letter and confirmation letter. All these documents were kept in a pouch and I was asked to go to another counter where I gave my finger prints. Next I was directed to go to the adjacent building. There was a big hall with lots of sitting arrangements and few counters. When my token was called , I went to the specific counter and greeted the interviewer with a smile. I was asked for my husband's visa copy. Then the rest of the interview questions were like : purpose of visit, name of husband's company, when we got married , have I traveled outside India before, any child or job etc etc. No other documents were asked to be shown !!  And I was told that for some rules and regulations I was not given the visa :(( On my insistence the interviewer told me that she could not find enough ties in India for which I would come back (though I wasn't asked anything about my ties and I told her in the beginning that I am a housewife and dependant on my husband)!!  I thanked her and came back. Later, we realized that it might be the case that my husband has returned from the U. S. just 15 days before (after a month long trip) and again we are traveling for another 2 weeks , which made her suspicious that my husband might be working in U. S. or is in search of a job there for which I am going with him. God knows whatever is the reason but one thing is for sure these interviewers are very moody and its mere luck if your visa application is accepted or rejected.

My husband applied for B1 visa and he got it easily. Read his list of documents and interview questions here :

U.S. B1 visa experience.

Do check out our  H1B and H4 visa experiences.

Bangalore Call Taxi Review

Meru cab :

I always rely blindly on Meru Cab Service, Bangalore for call taxi service, until December 4, 2010. Though they charge INR 50 extra for phone booking, I was ready to pay that extra amount for the trust. I had an important examination on 5th December and for that I called Meru on 3rd night to book a cab. They informed me that they can not book a cab before 24 hours. Hence they asked me to call the next day. I was requesting them because I did not want to miss the cab service next day. They assured me that the booking would be done next day without any problem. But the next day there was no cab available when I called in the morning!!

Another instance of Meru cab service's negligence : I booked a cab for railway station drop in the morning for a 5:00 p.m. slot. I called again in the afternoon to check the status of my cab and was told its booked and the driver's details would be sent at 4:30 p.m. But at around 4:45 p.m. when the details did not reach to me I called back only to know that no car was available at that area at that point of time. They could provide a cab only after 2 hours!! It was very disgusting.....the last moment rush. I must say Meru cabs used to be a good cab service provider but now it has become very disgusting.

Garden city cab service : With no other option left with me, I booked a cab from this service provider on 4th December, 2010. And they assured the cab will come well before time so that there would not be any problem in finding my examination hall. And it did!! The driver was polite and came 10 minutes before time.

For the railway station drop I called Garden city cab and was given a cab within 30 minutes!! A really trustworthy cab service.

Rules for Domestic passengers @ BIAL

If you are planning to catch your domestic flight early in the morning from Bengaluru International Airport and for that if you are thinking to stay overnight at the airport, think again. The security allow only international passengers at night to enter at the airport. Domestic passengers are allowed only 2 hours before the flight time!! Even in the month of January when the outside weather is chilling, they will not listen to your pleas.

A Tale of Little 'Zing' - Part 1

It is a story of a little girl, say 'Zing' who was born in a small town of eastern India in late '80 s. When her mom was going to the hospital before her delivery, her elder sister told her mom that she wanted a brother to play with, not a sister. When her mom asked if you had a sister then? She blatantly told " I will flush her in our toilet". God was amazed with this statement and gifted the mom a baby girl......'Zing'. Thankfully she was not flushed and was warmly welcomed in the family.

Little Zing was an 'angel' to her mother as she did not cry much to disturb her mom's daily routine, Zing never made her mom run after her for food. Zing was happy with her little pillow and her left thumb (yes.....it was her candy...and she was so much addicted towards the thumb that even at the age of 10 she could not get rid of that habit......and how she came out of it is another story which I will tell you later). Her  elder sister who was just 6 years older than her, became a little responsible as she was learning to do her works on her own.

When Zing turned 5, she showed her love for one food called "chi chi".......it was fish. But poor Zing , her dad was out of the town for his job at that time and mom was too busy handling the house and the two daughters. She could not manage a fish every time. So her mom came up with an idea......she used to fool her with fried brinjal saying that it was "chi chi". God knows whether Zing could catch the bait or not....but after a few years she started disliking fish like hell!!

In Zing's neighborhood there was a family of 5 people... the granny, grandpa and their 3 children all were at the age of 30's. Zing was their favorite toy......whenever she used to go to their house they used to give her one chocolate in her hand. And in the name of Zing, grandpa also used to eat a few chocolates. They were the 'bestest' friends of Zing. Here are few instances of how much they loved Zing: 

When she was very young and could not walk, one day she fell from her bed and she rolled beneath the bed. Unable to come out of that place poor Zing cried loudly and started banging her head against the wooden leg of the bed. Her mom was in the bathroom, so she could not come out and was trying to soothe her from the bathroom just by singing and some consoling words. Soon Zing's cry turned into scream and her granny came running to her house to see whether every thing was alright. Granny knocked the door madly, and then Zing's mom  had to come out of bathroom and they finally saved little Zing. After that on her granny's insistence, Zing's mom used to keep Zing at the granny's house whenever she used to be busy with her work.

On another day her mom was feeding her milk and rice. Zing ,being a naughty girl , kept on running all around their yard. She was running up and down the staircase without listening to her mom...... one of her uncles was present in their house at that time. Suddenly she stumbled and missed a step. She came rolling down the staircase crying all the way. Her uncle rushed quickly to hold her but could not stop her. Here again,  came the granny and her daughter.....they put some sugar on Zing's lips as it was bleeding. Zing was crying badly but soon she calmed down as she got busy in licking her sweet lips..

One thing was for sure that Zing was mastering the art of rolling!!

DTDC courier service

Few years back it was the postal service which people used for sending letters, gifts or any other articles, but now as the time has become dearer to us, we are ready to bear extra expenses to get our work done in time. Hence people like me, who stay away from their families, must know how much we depend on courier services nowadays to send/receive gifts or important articles. 

I have been using DTDC courier service for the past one year though they charge a little extra and the reason behind that is the location I send the couriers to, has only DTDC as service provider.I have no problem with that extra charge only if the couriers reach in time!! Yes I am saying that from my past experiences......First time (on August 3rd,2010)  when I sent a courier I was surprised that the status of my consignment was not getting updated in the DTDC website ( www.dtdc.in)  even after 5 days of sending it. I immediately called up the customer care at Bangalore who told me that they have lost the track record of my consignment and asked me to wait for 24 hours so that they could resolve the matter. Though I was annoyed I had no other option but to keep mum. And after few hours I received a call from DTDC that they have asked the courier boy to deliver the consignment to the address and they did.

Next time (i.e. on October 8th) I did not want to take any chance, so sent the courier well before the date it must reach the place. It showed in the website that the consignment had reached there on 9th,so I was a bit relaxed that time. But it did not get delivered even on 10th. Again  I followed the same procedure......this time the customer care assured me that the courier would be delivered on 10 th only. I even managed to get the number of the branch which had the consignment with it and called them on that day. They apologized for the delay and said it would be done the next morning. This time I thought of registering an official complaint against that particular branch of DTDC. And I did that through filling up the complaint form of DTDC provided in their website. But nothing happened.....after one month I received a mail from some other branch of DTDC giving me a detailed status of my consignment i.e. its date of delivery, address of recipient which I already knew!! That was the only reply I got for the complaint I made!!

Third time it happened just 2 days back, on 24th November. My dad sent me an urgent courier which weighed at around 700 grams. The DTDC branch told him to do it through their Metro Plus category as it was super fast service and the courier would reach the next day or they would return the money. Dad paid INR 450 /- for that service. But again it did not reach on 25th. When my dad inquired about it in the DTDC branch they told him that the consignment was with Bangalore branch but they did not deliver it...but they assured it would get delivered on 26th morning. It did!! But my point is if you are charging for a better service then please provide that or do not cheat public. Lets see now whether they would really keep their promise to return the money or not. But to me DTDC courier service is not worthy enough for the price they charge.



P.S. DTDC has not returned the money as they claim the train got delayed after the flight as if we are responsible for that!!!

Experience @ Vodafone Store,Koramangala

Recently due to some government rules all the mobile phone customers are being asked (by SMS or call) to resubmit their identity documents. The same happened with me also. I got an SMS to do the same for my two Vodafone connections on 11/11/2010. I did not delay it because I did not want any disruption in my connection. So I reached my nearest Vodafone store that is at Koramangala, Bangalore, on 13/11/2010. It was around 12:30 p.m. As I told one Vodafone store representative about my purpose to visit the store, he gave me a token number and asked me to wait for my turn to talk to one of the customer care representatives. My token number was 103 and at that time the token which was been called, was 69!! As it was going to be a long waiting period for me so I went out to do some other work and returned there at around 2 p.m. After half an hour wait, my token was called. As soon as I explained my purpose, the representative asked me to stand in a queue where I would have to submit all the documents. It was the same Vodafone person (who gave me the token) who was giving forms to everyone standing in the queue. He did the same mistake with 2 other people who were asked to wait with their token and then sent directly to that line. I was getting annoyed for that wastage of my time. Then I collected two forms fro him saying that I need forms for my post paid connection. He gave me two of them. In a hurry I filled up them as the queue was getting longer and there was rush. When I submitted the forms and gave my address and ID proof, they took my originals to get them xeroxed. It was another wait of 15 minutes......phew!!

Now after signing the documents I realized that the forms were for prepaid connections!!! I immediately told that to the representative. He asked me to fill up two fresh forms for post paid connections.....to this I got agitated and said it was their fault as they provided me the wrong forms though I mentioned that I need forms for post paid connection. As he could realize their fault, he hurriedly gave me two fresh forms and asked me just to fill up the present address and sign it. He said rest will be done. But I did not want to take any risk and filled all the required boxes in both the forms and attached two photos and signed all the documents. Then while checking my forms another representative asked me to add two lines in the present address as its mentioned in the address proof. To which I showed him that the address he was referring was my bank's address!! It took time for him to get what I was talking about!! After everything was done one person asked me whether I have my mobile with me or not.....to which I said yes. And he promptly asked me to check the SIM card number and write it down in a specific box. Though it was their duty to check their system and find out the SIM number, just due to lethargy they did not. So it is my personal opinion to avoid any hassle please carry your SIM card with you. 

The whole process got over at around 3:30 p.m!! So whenever you go to Vodafone store keep enough time in your hand to go through n number of hurdles. Also it would be better if you carry more than one document as they rejected a few ID proofs saying that they were invalid. For ID they prefer Government issued ID cards ( such as Voter ID , PAN, Passport,  Driving license, Government employee ID card etc etc.) and for address proof  ( bank pass book, letter from the HR of your company, Electricity or telephone bill etc etc.). Also carry 2 passport sized colored photographs with you.

Diwali...My way

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a blast today. Wish you all a very happy and prosperous Diwali. Before I go ahead with how I celebrated my Diwali this year, I would like to tell you more about the festival, Diwali.

In Sanskrit Diwali means a row of lamps. The traditional way of celebrating Diwali is to light diyas in rows in your house everywhere. It is told that by lighting each corner of the house we actually get rid of the bad power of darkness and welcome the positive side in us. Goddess Laxmi is being worshiped on this day in most of the places. But in Bengal people worship goddess Kali on this occasion.

On this day we make rangoli at the entrance  of our house with lots of colors and some people draw laxmi footprints with the help of rice flour to welcome Laxmiji. We celebrate this occasion with sweets, foods, crackers and lots of love and wishes for our near ones. Also buying gold and silver is also an important part of this puja.

Today I tried to follow the tradition of Diwali as much as possible and made a rangoli with the help of color and flower as you can see in the pictures. Also I lighted lamps (diyas or deepaks) inside and outside my house.

                                                  
There's my house at the third floor lightened with diyas. Apart from these we had performed a small puja for Laxmiji. And we celebrated this auspicious day in a vegetarian way. The menu included soya-subz pulao, butter paneer, chilly babycorn, mixed raita and besan ke laddoo. All these recipes you will find in my blog posts.

In the evening, at around 7:30 p.m. we went down to our apartment premises, where all the families of other flats had gathered with their collection of crackers. We had a great fun bursting those crackers. Though I was always afraid of them, this year I gathered courage and burst few of them like charki, pencil, fuljhari and anaar. There were people bursting rockets also. The whole premise was full of smoke, noise and colorful lights. As the time passed by, it  started getting cold outside so we came back to our flat.

Since, Diwali is meant for celebrating with your close ones, we called our relatives and parents to take their blessings and wish them happiness and prosperity. Thus our Diwali ended on a happy note.

It was a nice Diwali for us. Hope you all had a safe and cheerful Diwali.

Domino's 30 minutes or free!!

Though I am a dedicated lover of  Domino's Pizza, I can't stop myself from sharing this bitter experience of Domino's  with you. As you all know the marketing funda behind Domino's popularity is their offer " 30 minutes warna free!!(as the ad says)". I  ordered for two medium size pizza on some Sunday afternoon and the bill came more than five hundred bucks. Even after 30 mins when the delivery boy did not come, I called up the Domino's store and asked the person whether I will have any offer for this delay or not. The person checked the system and informed me that I would get an off of three hundred rupees!! In the mean time the delivery boy rang the bell and the person instructed him over the phone to collect the rest of the bill amount. After 5 mins I received a call from the store and this time the person who had taken my order was at the other end. He was rude and impatient while talking to me. He simply argued that the time guarantee was till the security check,not after that and told em to return the money.Though I tried to make him understand that see I did not force you people for the three hundred rupees off,it was from your side only!! And now how can you be so aggressive about the miscommunication among your stuffs?

But he was adamant which annoyed me a lot and I refused to return the money as he did not accept it was their fault!He threatened me that he would make sure that no order will be taken from my phone number(as he will mark my number with bad comment),to which I told him that in that case I would drop a mail to Domino's customer care.Which I actually did that night!I wrote the whole thing with the billing details and the very next day morning I received a call from Domino's regretting about the incident. They apologized for the misbehavior and even asked me if I want the person to come to my house to say sorry personally.But I denied that and just told them what I need is a polite behavior from them now onwards.Thus things were sorted out.

So if you have ever faced any such problem don't just let it be like that use the option of feedback forms or customer care numbers.Sometimes they really work wonder like this!!

My Passport Experience

On a sad note I applied for re-issue of my passport. You must be surprised why sad?? Before applying I was going through the reviews about the passport related issues that people are facing for a long time. But as it was important to change my surname after marriage and  add my spouse name, I was left with no other option.

Then I came to know about Bangalore Passport Seva Kendra (in short PSK),where I learnt that the passport application procedure has become simple and hassle free. Here is the detailed description of how I finally got my passport in my hand:

First of all, on 26/09/2010 I applied online through http://passportindia.gov.in website. There I filled up the form and submitted it . Also I scanned and uploaded four relevant documents(only four documents can be uploaded for one application and the size of each of the document must not be more than 1 MB). As I wanted to change my surname due to marriage and also my old passport was issued in some other place, so I provided

                      a. Address proof : one year bank statement and a letter from the bank manager

                      b. Old Passport copy : the front two pages and the back two pages with the ECNR

                           page(as my old passport had the ECNR page)   

                      c. Husband's Passport copy : same as above

                      d. Marriage certificate

In the next step, I scheduled an appointment(Important : from August the rule has been changed and now only online appointment are accepted in PSK, no one can  just walk in  without any prior appointment)to go to the PSK and I chose 9:00 to 9:45 a.m session on 12/10/2010. I went there well before time to avoid any queue but to my surprise there was none at the PSK till 8:00 a.m!! Anyways around 8:45 a.m I collected my token from the desk showing them my appointment paper. After entering the PSK center two persons were sitting near the gate and checking whether everyone had the proper documents or not. 

  

Then next I went to a counter where I showed my token and they asked a few documents and directed me to go inside. There was a guard who checked the token and asked to sign on it and then let me go inside.There was a waiting room with a display screen showing the token numbers and the respective counters where we have to go. But as it was the first session of the day(around 9: 05 a.m),there was no crowd and I was directly asked to go to counter no. A12 where a TCS person filled my form and checked my documents and also took a snap for the passport(now a days you don't have to carry with you photos as they click it over the counter :)) .Next I was asked for my finger prints. It took around 15 minutes as the person had to scan all my documents and my form and then he made a file with all my documents and asked for the payment.I paid One thousand rupees in cash and was given an acknowledgment.

Next I took the file with me and went towards counter B where the Verification officer was verifying documents.I had to wait for few minutes as there were only two VO counters open. At this counter it took only 2 mins as he just went through my marriage certificate.He told me the police verification will take place within 10 days and if I was in hurry,I could directly go to the police station with my file after 3 working days of submission.

Now there was a little crowd for counter no. C(Granting Officer counter)as only one C counter was open. After 15 mins or so my token number was called and they just took the file from me and canceled my old passport and returned it to me. I went to the exit door, with the  receipt  of  my application,where a person was giving the acknowledgment letter.I collected it and came out of PSK at 9: 45 a.m !!!! And also to my surprise I found that there is no pre-police verification required for my case,that means I will directly get the passport!!! :))

Now the endless wait for the passport began. I checked the website where in the status it was shown that I would receive a mail/sms once the passport is dispatched. I called the PSK customer care on 18/10/2010 asking for the status and also inquired for the delay of the passport(as it was mentioned in the website that the post police verification passports will be dispatched after 3rd working days of the submission of the passport,which means I should have received it on 18/10/2010). I was asked to wait. i was nervous as I knew it could take months to get a passport so I kept on calling the customer care daily and also emailed them stating my urgency to get the passport on time. Then I registered a complaint online regarding the delay.

I completely lost the hope of getting my passport within a month. But on 28/10/2010  at 6:00 p.m I received an sms  and a mail mentioning my passport number and the speed post number through which the passport has been sent. And the very next day that is on 29/10/2010 at around 3:00 p.m I got my passport in my hand! :)

Now I truly believe All's well that ends well ........cheers to Bangalore PSK system.

Hope my story would help you. Feel free to share your experience regarding passport application.

Read more about the recent passport experience of my husband here.