This was written originally on 19th January 2007, Re-published after obtaining permissions from the great writer : Satya Prasad Nemana (he he , thats me)
====================================================
THE PASSPORT
====================================================
This is a real life story..
Fakes will look more dramatic..
My company and my name are not mentioned for obvious reasons..
I was badly looking for a job change.....
Then suddenly got this call from this MNC.
The interview went fine and got through the job. I was told that I will be sent
to France in the month of Jan for about 3 weeks for training.
Felt quite thrilled.
Had the interview at the same time my son was born also.
Finally joined the company.
And after one month....landed in Grenoble, France.
This place has quite some good places near by.
The first weekend came and we went to see some snow mountains nearby.
I never saw snow in my life till now.
It was a 1 hr journey and the ride itself was very good.
When we got down..we were on the mountains.
The first site was tremendous...I always miss my wife at these times
but still felt it to be very good.
The trip was very good and the weekend finished..
The following weekend we decided to visit a place called Lyon which is very close to
Grenoble.
Being a foreigner, always carry the passport in the laptop to office..
Weekdays I would have the passport with me from dawn to dusk..but the weekends were different.
Never felt the need to carry the passport in Grenoble since we never did when we were there in Plano, Texas also
last year..
Being Indians and being vegetarian, I wanted a hotel where I could do some cooking.
We found a very good one in Grenoble luckily and everything was very good.... till this day...
As we got up late on saturday, we could not get enough time to go to Lyon..
So my colleague did some R&D to know where to take the bus to Lyon.
Also we were planning to go to Paris also the next weekend..
So started searching web-sites for tickets.
The SCNF which runs high speed trains from Grenoble to Paris had a very good site.. but everything
in French...
So after 3 Hrs of hard fight and a bit of help from Google in translating the French pages to English..
we were still not able to find the correct place to book tickets...
So decided to go to the station and get the tickets....
There are trams which take you to the station and the tram station is about 5 min walk
from the hotel.
We went in the evng to the Station and booked the tickets to Paris..
And while coming back.. felt that we could take tickets to Lyon also for the next day..
The lady did a lot of help since she could speak only little english.
Got the tickets and went back to the hotel at 9..
We got out of the lift and we found that the entire way in our floor the lights are gone..
either fused off or switched off accidentally.....
Once the lift closes... there is nothing that can lead you to the room although the room is
straight.. it was still difficult..
With little help from the ligts sneaking out of some of the rooms, we could reach our rooms..
Since we were exhausted, we had some food and slept..
Next day morning.. we got ready and stepped outside to found the same state...
No light in the corridor.
But now after closing the rooms, the job was much tougher to reach the other end..
It took 5 minutes to get to the lift which would otherwise take 10 seconds.
Bad luck..
Already getting late.
Went to the station..
Next tram is after 6 min.
Suddenly I remembered..
Forgot to bring my passport along.
I told my friend that I forgot my passport and I am going back.
If we miss this tram, the next train to Lyon is at 9 and it will be 10:30 before we go to Lyon..
so it will be late...
Moreover he told me that since the entire corridor was dark it takes 5 min alone to go to the room..
He told me that he is carrying his passport and there will not be any problem...
Thought for a second and thought it is ok....after we dont look like rouges...
We took the train to the station.
The train is at 8:01 and we had exactly 10 seconds to run and catch the train..
Just made in the nick of time..
Oooooooooooooooooh we felt ..
9:30 : We were in Lyon...
As usual for the regular Indian.. even a US county will look like a totally puzzling puzzle.
And Lyon is the second biggest city in France.
At the airport, we took one exit and went to one end of the station.
After some R&D there, we felt that it is very tough and went again into the station towards the other
exit..
After 10 min.. decided to again go to the other exit....
After 10 min again landed up at the other exit....
During the second time we were going.. I observed that there is a Police Chowki inside the staiton.
And some policemen are staring at us....
why ?
One obvious reason : We have black hair
2nd reason : We are not fair.
3rd reason : We are going this side and that side twice in the last 10 min.
Finally found one girl who could speak enough english and got the route for our bus..
Visited all the palces where our feet could take us.
Finally at 5:30 landed back at the station to take the return train to Grenoble.
I was feeling very hungry especially after climbing a small cliff at Lyon.
The next train is at 6 so.. were searching for some vending machine which could get me
some coke....
Found one...
And also found a host of other drinks..
Saw that there is one more next to it.
but it was also having the same drinks.
I finally decide to turn back and loooooooooooo
There are around 10 police men right in front of us..
Goooooooooooooood...
I knew the question..
****************************************
** Can we see your passport Sir? ***
** ***
****************************************
God.. This is one question for which I did not have an answer.
I tried showing him all the id cards I have, all the Six bank credit cards..
But I knew deep in my mind.. These wont work..
Then they asked me to come inside the room.
There I tried to explain them that I was having the VISA ..but they wanted that right then..
What am I to do?
God..
My colleague was explaining but they will not listen.. it took time for us to convince
that he has the VISA after showing them the page also.. they looked sooo dumb..
And they cant talk english also.
There were some 4 men and a woman.
I tried convincing them that the passport is in my hotel room and I can show it to them but who
will go to Grenoble believing me?
He took my name and called up some one.. but most probably got a reply that was -ve..
They said that my friend was free to go but I have to go with them for a verification.\
They told me that if required, he can come along with me..
I knew that this is not good ... whatever is happening
We came out of the station.
They did not handcuff me.
Two were in front of me and the rest were at my back.
They took us both to a big van.
We were made to sit at the back.
After driving for 5 min, we reached a place.. very isolated...
While travelling there were lot of things in mind.
1. What if these guyz want to implicate me in some false case.. I have no doc right now....
2. What if they kill us both? Even if my colleague did not come with me.. there would have been some thing
he could have told...
but now there are no chances.....
We got out and there was one guy who looked just like Vandamme and about 7 feet tall..
These guyz told him something and he told something which sounded like
"what is the passport doing in Grenoble? Laying eggs?"
The lady and some of the guyz took out a cigarette each.. and no one looked like they are
going to verify anything.. they mostly looked like they are going to shoot.
Then they led me inside the building.
They took me inside and made me to wait in a room which looked like shit.
There was one senior who could speak very little English but seemed very respectable one.
I was waiting for more than 3o min .......and then the senior guy came to me...
He asked me for my passport number, my date of birth and my place of birth....
I gave him all the details..
Then after 20 min some one came...
he told me that I have a VISA that is not valid....
Gooooooooood...!!!!!!!!!!1
What is this...
I told him very clearly that I have VISA till the 2nd of Feb.
He said -ve.. He said I was only in France for verification and that my VISA Is not valid..
The senior guy came again..
I tried to explain him that I am working for this MNC...and gave him my Visiting Card.
He asked me if I was the director of the company.. this is very clear that he does know
the company...
I also gave him my hotel card and phone number where we were staying in Grenoble..
I was waiting there... and the senior guy kept coming every 1o min.. only telling me to wait more...
I was feeling very thirsty..
I asked one of the guy for water...
He took me inside the toilet where two urinals were and one horribly looking sink...
He told me to drink from there...
I cant say NO ( I was not in such a good postion...)
I acted as if I was drinking.. but actually didnot...
After 20 min the senior guy came again.. and he did not seem to bring good news...
He asked me to follow him....and took me somewhere....
I could see some people waiting there..
And one among them was my colleague....
Goooood..
He told me that I am free to go...
I was soo happy that I shook hands with him and gave him a hug..................
This was like a second life for me.............
Just cant explain what all I felf during those two hours at the station....
Today.. I am going to Paris..but this time.. very careful to take all the documents...
including the PASSPORT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
====================================================
THE PASSPORT
====================================================
This is a real life story..
Fakes will look more dramatic..
My company and my name are not mentioned for obvious reasons..
I was badly looking for a job change.....
Then suddenly got this call from this MNC.
The interview went fine and got through the job. I was told that I will be sent
to France in the month of Jan for about 3 weeks for training.
Felt quite thrilled.
Had the interview at the same time my son was born also.
Finally joined the company.
And after one month....landed in Grenoble, France.
This place has quite some good places near by.
The first weekend came and we went to see some snow mountains nearby.
I never saw snow in my life till now.
It was a 1 hr journey and the ride itself was very good.
When we got down..we were on the mountains.
The first site was tremendous...I always miss my wife at these times
but still felt it to be very good.
The trip was very good and the weekend finished..
The following weekend we decided to visit a place called Lyon which is very close to
Grenoble.
Being a foreigner, always carry the passport in the laptop to office..
Weekdays I would have the passport with me from dawn to dusk..but the weekends were different.
Never felt the need to carry the passport in Grenoble since we never did when we were there in Plano, Texas also
last year..
Being Indians and being vegetarian, I wanted a hotel where I could do some cooking.
We found a very good one in Grenoble luckily and everything was very good.... till this day...
As we got up late on saturday, we could not get enough time to go to Lyon..
So my colleague did some R&D to know where to take the bus to Lyon.
Also we were planning to go to Paris also the next weekend..
So started searching web-sites for tickets.
The SCNF which runs high speed trains from Grenoble to Paris had a very good site.. but everything
in French...
So after 3 Hrs of hard fight and a bit of help from Google in translating the French pages to English..
we were still not able to find the correct place to book tickets...
So decided to go to the station and get the tickets....
There are trams which take you to the station and the tram station is about 5 min walk
from the hotel.
We went in the evng to the Station and booked the tickets to Paris..
And while coming back.. felt that we could take tickets to Lyon also for the next day..
The lady did a lot of help since she could speak only little english.
Got the tickets and went back to the hotel at 9..
We got out of the lift and we found that the entire way in our floor the lights are gone..
either fused off or switched off accidentally.....
Once the lift closes... there is nothing that can lead you to the room although the room is
straight.. it was still difficult..
With little help from the ligts sneaking out of some of the rooms, we could reach our rooms..
Since we were exhausted, we had some food and slept..
Next day morning.. we got ready and stepped outside to found the same state...
No light in the corridor.
But now after closing the rooms, the job was much tougher to reach the other end..
It took 5 minutes to get to the lift which would otherwise take 10 seconds.
Bad luck..
Already getting late.
Went to the station..
Next tram is after 6 min.
Suddenly I remembered..
Forgot to bring my passport along.
I told my friend that I forgot my passport and I am going back.
If we miss this tram, the next train to Lyon is at 9 and it will be 10:30 before we go to Lyon..
so it will be late...
Moreover he told me that since the entire corridor was dark it takes 5 min alone to go to the room..
He told me that he is carrying his passport and there will not be any problem...
Thought for a second and thought it is ok....after we dont look like rouges...
We took the train to the station.
The train is at 8:01 and we had exactly 10 seconds to run and catch the train..
Just made in the nick of time..
Oooooooooooooooooh we felt ..
9:30 : We were in Lyon...
As usual for the regular Indian.. even a US county will look like a totally puzzling puzzle.
And Lyon is the second biggest city in France.
At the airport, we took one exit and went to one end of the station.
After some R&D there, we felt that it is very tough and went again into the station towards the other
exit..
After 10 min.. decided to again go to the other exit....
After 10 min again landed up at the other exit....
During the second time we were going.. I observed that there is a Police Chowki inside the staiton.
And some policemen are staring at us....
why ?
One obvious reason : We have black hair
2nd reason : We are not fair.
3rd reason : We are going this side and that side twice in the last 10 min.
Finally found one girl who could speak enough english and got the route for our bus..
Visited all the palces where our feet could take us.
Finally at 5:30 landed back at the station to take the return train to Grenoble.
I was feeling very hungry especially after climbing a small cliff at Lyon.
The next train is at 6 so.. were searching for some vending machine which could get me
some coke....
Found one...
And also found a host of other drinks..
Saw that there is one more next to it.
but it was also having the same drinks.
I finally decide to turn back and loooooooooooo
There are around 10 police men right in front of us..
Goooooooooooooood...
I knew the question..
****************************************
** Can we see your passport Sir? ***
** ***
****************************************
God.. This is one question for which I did not have an answer.
I tried showing him all the id cards I have, all the Six bank credit cards..
But I knew deep in my mind.. These wont work..
Then they asked me to come inside the room.
There I tried to explain them that I was having the VISA ..but they wanted that right then..
What am I to do?
God..
My colleague was explaining but they will not listen.. it took time for us to convince
that he has the VISA after showing them the page also.. they looked sooo dumb..
And they cant talk english also.
There were some 4 men and a woman.
I tried convincing them that the passport is in my hotel room and I can show it to them but who
will go to Grenoble believing me?
He took my name and called up some one.. but most probably got a reply that was -ve..
They said that my friend was free to go but I have to go with them for a verification.\
They told me that if required, he can come along with me..
I knew that this is not good ... whatever is happening
We came out of the station.
They did not handcuff me.
Two were in front of me and the rest were at my back.
They took us both to a big van.
We were made to sit at the back.
After driving for 5 min, we reached a place.. very isolated...
While travelling there were lot of things in mind.
1. What if these guyz want to implicate me in some false case.. I have no doc right now....
2. What if they kill us both? Even if my colleague did not come with me.. there would have been some thing
he could have told...
but now there are no chances.....
We got out and there was one guy who looked just like Vandamme and about 7 feet tall..
These guyz told him something and he told something which sounded like
"what is the passport doing in Grenoble? Laying eggs?"
The lady and some of the guyz took out a cigarette each.. and no one looked like they are
going to verify anything.. they mostly looked like they are going to shoot.
Then they led me inside the building.
They took me inside and made me to wait in a room which looked like shit.
There was one senior who could speak very little English but seemed very respectable one.
I was waiting for more than 3o min .......and then the senior guy came to me...
He asked me for my passport number, my date of birth and my place of birth....
I gave him all the details..
Then after 20 min some one came...
he told me that I have a VISA that is not valid....
Gooooooooood...!!!!!!!!!!1
What is this...
I told him very clearly that I have VISA till the 2nd of Feb.
He said -ve.. He said I was only in France for verification and that my VISA Is not valid..
The senior guy came again..
I tried to explain him that I am working for this MNC...and gave him my Visiting Card.
He asked me if I was the director of the company.. this is very clear that he does know
the company...
I also gave him my hotel card and phone number where we were staying in Grenoble..
I was waiting there... and the senior guy kept coming every 1o min.. only telling me to wait more...
I was feeling very thirsty..
I asked one of the guy for water...
He took me inside the toilet where two urinals were and one horribly looking sink...
He told me to drink from there...
I cant say NO ( I was not in such a good postion...)
I acted as if I was drinking.. but actually didnot...
After 20 min the senior guy came again.. and he did not seem to bring good news...
He asked me to follow him....and took me somewhere....
I could see some people waiting there..
And one among them was my colleague....
Goooood..
He told me that I am free to go...
I was soo happy that I shook hands with him and gave him a hug..................
This was like a second life for me.............
Just cant explain what all I felf during those two hours at the station....
Today.. I am going to Paris..but this time.. very careful to take all the documents...
including the PASSPORT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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