Visa Interview is one of its kind experience that anyone who has faced it will agree. Visa interview of the US is considered to be the toughest and getting successfully through it is considered no less than an achievement. I also got a chance to experience the same. My husband and I got our date for the visa interview at the Chennai center. We were excited and nervous at the same time. The interview preparation, documents arrangement and, research work started. The plan was to spend 2 days in Chennai so after the interview was over we had the full day to explore the city. The task to book hotels in Chennai and the must-visit places in Chennai was assigned to me and husband was taking care of the other arrangements. This post is not a guide to crack the interview, it is about our experience. Everything was going as per the plan and we never thought that Chennai will welcome us with a surprise ????
Day 1 in Chennai :
We had an afternoon flight to catch from Mumbai to Chennai. The flight was on time and reached Chennai at the estimated time. Unaware of the surprise that was awaiting us. We were waiting for our luggage to arrive and we waited and waited and guess what, our luggage didn't arrive. We obviously panicked, wondering how we will attend the interview without the essential stuff. Luckily the documents were with us, but still can't go for the interview in that tee and shorts. The airways staff told that because there was a power bank in our check- in luggage they didn't pass our luggage in security. Yes, it was a mistake from our end, but the airways staff was also not that vigilant to ask about it like they do these days. We requested the staff to get the luggage as soon as possible and told about the interview. They said the luggage will only be able to reach at 5 am the next day.
We started thinking about the backup plan and decided to shop the clothes and basic essential things be presentable and appear for the interview. The cab driver took us to T Nagar for shopping. After shopping, we were a little relieved. We came back to our hotel Courtyard by Marriott and kept praying that we get our luggage in the morning. This is how we ended the adventerous and stressful Day 1 of Chennai.
Day 2 in Chennai:
The main interview day was here. The doorbell rang at 5 am and yes, our very own luggage arrived. We were relieved and happily started getting ready for the interview. Our hotel was very close to the interview center. And I will advice to book hotels in Chennai that are close to the interview center. After, a quick breakfast we left for the interview center. After completing the formalities, and waiting nervously for our turn, we were finally standing in front of the interviewer. Long story short, our visa got approved and out of happiness we totally forgot about our Day 1. We came back to the hotel all excited and left to explore the city.
San Thomas Church, Chennai (Pic Credit: Google)
After having delicious South Indian lunch with strong filter coffee at Savarna Bhawan. We visited the historic Kapaleeshwarar Temple. The next place on our list was San Thomas Church, locally called as Santhome built by the British in 1893. After that, the plan was to visit Marina Beach and spend the evening watching the sunset and enjoying the calming sea breeze at this very famous beach.
Marina Beach, Chennai
So, this is all about our 48 hours in Chennai. We had our return flight the next day at 10 am and after boarding the flight we starting planning about our US Trip and kept reminding each other to take special precaution about handling the Power Bank and not to keep it in the Check-in luggage ???? and I guess after this experience we will never ever repeat this mistake ????