So it was a fine Thursday morning and I kept all the documents in order the night before. i forgot to take a photocopy of my resume and thought I can get it on my way. appointment time being 9:45AM and consulate at about 40mins of drive on bike, I planned to leave around 8:45. guess what...it starts to rain all of a sudden. now what! I dont have a car and not enough time to think of anything other than hiring an auto.
dressed formally with my cap on and shyly carrying the umbrella over my head, I walk to the main road. dont forget that its now only a week that i came to my home city and I am still in the 'cursing and complaining' mode. I curse the ditches on the way and walk carefully. I ask an auto driver if he is ready to drive to the consulate and he demands rs. 100. believe me, hiring an auto is the most toughest job on earth for me. i didnt bargain as that amount seemed reasonable but I couldn't understand the reason why he wouldn't put the meter on. he disagreed on putting the meter and i went my way to find another. fortunately after 2mins i got another auto that agreed on my conditions :) well i felt that i would definitely be late if something silly happens on the way. and hell yeah...it was bound to happen!
I asked the driver to stop near shadan college and searched for any printing store to get my resume printed. 9 o clock was too early for the shopkeepers. i thought i would just go without resume and when asked will pretend as if i misplaced it somewhere in my file.:P
going about 100 metres I find that the auto is slowing down. the drivers takes it over the side and completely halts and says the clutch wire has broken and he will have to put a new one. I asked him how much time will that take, so that i can hire someone else. he said just 2mins! oh yea, 2 mins and keep counting...
anyways, he fixed it under 10mins and we headed again. i have been to begumpet several times but didnt exactly know where this consulate is gonna be. doesnt mean i was so unplanned for the big day. i was well planned and everything would have happened in peace if i went on my bike. but things werent in my favor since the inception. we asked some guy and he headed us to the wrong way...after going about 1/2 km we made a U turn, came back to same spot, wasting 5 valuable minutes. then drove a little more and asked another guy. he knew it well and said its right across the road where we were. i asked the auto driver to stop right away and i can cross the road and go myself.
time to pay for the ride! no gain or no loss, as I had to pay him rs.100 :). it was 9:40 and the moment i reached the gate the guy was calling all who had there appointment at 9:45. i cannot take anything inside the gate except the documents file. i had to throw my bag, cap and cell phone inside it on the footpath underneath an umbrella beside the gate and rush in. i was lucky to find them safe when i returned.
all well that ends well. who knew that the passport i left behind in the consulate would come back to me after 6 months. nevertheless, i am happy for it now..!
