04/27 -- 10 am IST

The biggest challenge of this visit -- visa stamping... Last night while seeing the IPL, i figured out that I am missing one very important document... I logged in on to the VFS website and could not retrieve that document... So had to wait until next morning 9 am to find out whether that letter is actually neccessary... He confirmed that it is not necessary...

Went to the lounge... This lounge is a service offered by the Mumbai consulate where they prescreen your document, ensure them for validity and sequencing, give you a coffee, cold water, a sandwich and let you sit in a ac room which also plays a local hindi film songs channel and relax until its time for your interview... When its your time for interview, they take you to the consulate in their own bus... Its a good service, especially in Mumbai where there is hardly any place for you to stand outside in peace on a tense day...

Dad came along, we reached there way ahead of time... So we were subjected to a 1.5 hour torture of those hindi songs... But atleast we were sitting in a warm room... Yes the AC was on, but its so hot in Mumbai that ACs actually make a room warm and bearable... Outside, its HOT and unbearable...

When it was my turn to go to the consulate, we went into the bus, and into the consulate... Security and 2 long queues afterwards, I had my fingers printed... I got my sequence number which was atleast 80 odd numbers after the current number being processed... I thought that I had another 1-2 hours of meditation to do when my number was called in less than 5 minutes... I went to the window, gave my passport in... And the reply was -- mr Raikar, you are all set... you will get your visa in 2 business days... it will be sent to your address by courier...

Thats it... all the chaos and confusion and document collection was useless again... Last time in Chennai, they atleast asked me where I worked and for how long... This time, it was a thorough happy disappointment... Not that I would mind it when I get my GC... I would love such experiences, again and again and again...

Came home after a 1 hour ride in a "warm" cool cab... A bottle of nimbu paani at home and we were set to go out for Mom's bday celebration... BIL and Sis took us out to Saffron and Spice in MIDC... Its a very very good and expensive place... Food was awesome... The moment when they played BDay background score and mom cut the cake, was all worth it... Absolutely... This is the moment of my visit... Giving her one breath taking moment of her life... She will remember this for the rest of her life...

Sanat (my nephew) had the entire soup and noodles, all by himself... It was the first time I saw my nephew eat by himself and it was such a happy and a proud moment for all of us... He is very choosy in food, but as long as he eats the right stuff, aal is well...

After a drive back, crashed in less than 10 minutes... 10 hours later, I woke up to realize that I had overslept and S must be sleeping as well... I could not talk to her and am feeling so so guilty... She is all alone there and the only thing she wants is me spend an hour with her every day... I didnt do that today -- so so sorry and torn...

Morning activities all done plus amazing breakfast (poha) and tea... life has never been better...

On another note -- Mumbai is HOT... Its so hot that water from the taps is hot... The only sign of a AC room or a cab is that it is warm... One realizes that he/she is in an ac room only when they come out of it... The most profitable and most difficult business today in Mumbai is selling cold water... profitable is because there is so much cold water sold and difficult because ice melts so fast that its so difficult to keep the water cold... thankfully, they have enough uninterrupted power supply in my area, so we can atleast have the fan running continuously... Cross ventilation done by the architect 40 years ago still works and we have a breeze blowing which makes things less devilish inside the house... Within 15 minutes of taking a bath, I am sweating and sticky all over again...

Okay, enough of sulking and whining... Now is the time to reach out to near and dear ones and schedule a "date" with them... A visit to Siddhivinayak becons later in the day... Till then, ciao....

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