Everything had gone well. I bid adieu to my relatives, friends, colleagues, neighbours and my mother. It was perfect and i could not have asked for more. I stepped at the Air France check-in counter at the airport. I was taking the flight to Paris and then a connecting flight to Rio De Janeiro, my final destination.
The airline representative went through my passport over and over again. I sensed something wasn´t right. On enquiring, he threw a flurry of questions at me. Where are you travelling to? Do you have a Schengen or an Airport transit visa for Paris? Do you have a visa to any other country like the US, UK, etc?
I was not too sure what to make of it and i told him that i only had a visa for Brazil and Argentina. He then started talking to his senior- a bald, dark, affable looking man who talked to me in the sweetest yet most matter of fact tone.
He said, ¨ Indian passport holders need a valid Schengen visa or at least an airport transit visa even to take a connecting flight from any airport in Europe. If you do not have this then at least you must have a valid visa to any of the countries such as UK, US or any country in Europe. Your passport has none. So, i am sorry you cannot fly tonight.¨
It was as if someone was playing a dirty joke on me and i could not believe this was happening to me. It seemed like a nightmare. I tried talking but there was no way out. I would have to skip this flight and apply for a French airport transit visa. After the visa was procured i would have to take the next available flight after paying a penalty. All this could take multiple days and i could not wait that long. I had a friend who was all alone waiting for me in Rio.
All this because my travel agent had told me that i do not need a visa in Paris. I had applied and procured all the other visas on my own.
After a frustrated few hours at the airport i made my way back home not knowing how to react to this entire situation. But i had to prepare myself for the herculean task of procuring the visa at the earliest and then trying to get on the next available flight.
My friend Marie, with whom i was to travel was sure that i would take many days to reach Rio De Janeiro, the city where we were supposed to meet and start our trip. Since she was already in Rio, she started comtemplating travelling to Argentina and meeting me there whenever i reach. This is not what i wanted. I wanted us to be toghether from Rio itself.
The next day would be one of the most memorable days of my life. Friends, Clients or rather clients who are friends got together to do everything they could to get me my visa and then the next possible flight.
This was one day i appreciated all that i had in life- my job, my friends and the support from my mother and family. Thanks to my job i was called directly for an interview at the French consulate at ´Hoechst House´in Nariman Point. One of my long standing clients had used her good contacts to get me through without having to go through the long procedure of submitting documents and waiting for an appointment. So what would normally take a few hours was achieved for me in a matter of few hours. I was called for an interview at 4.30 in the evening and i walked away with the visa in a couple of hours.
Also, unexpectedly it was not just an airport transit visa but a proper Schengen transit visa which allowed me to travel through France or other European states for five days everytime i was in transit for the next three months.
But that was not the end of my ordeal. Parallelly, there was another story developing. All Air France flights to Paris over the next few days were overbooked. The only available tickets were too expensive for me to afford.
Just like with the visa with the flight too it was a friendo working with Air France who came to the rescue. Actually, it was a friendo of a friendo, who suggested i take a chance by going to the airport that night. In the hope that some of the booked ticket holders wouldnt show up allowing me to get to Paris on that night´s flight. He had also spoken to the Air France staff at the airport about me who had promised to do everything to help me.
So, i left my house at 10.30pm for a flight at 2.45am not knowing whether i would be allowed to take it or not. Also, if i did get on the flight i would have to spend the entire day in Paris alter landing as the morning flight to Rio had been cancelled and the flight alter that was at 11.30pm(Paris time). That was least of my problems. In fact visiting Paris would have been like a dream after this nightmare.
So there i was at the airport next to the Air France counter spending one anxious minute after another, praying that enough people would find a reason not to the take the Air France flight to Paris that night. That was the only way i could be on my way to Paris 24 hours later than planned. I spoke to a charming Air France supervisor named Ralph at 1.20am about whether he thought i could get on the flight. He replied, ¨It looks good as of now but it is very close. Just pray that no one else turns up.¨ The Check in counter was to be closed at 1.45am exactly an hour before the flight´s scheduled take off.
My wait was marked by the nervous paces across the check in counters and if there was ever a time that i prayed my heart out, this was it. And then the moment arrived, it was 1.45am and Ralph instructed all his colleagues to close their counters and he yelled, ¨Sachin, come on, you are flying to Paris tonight!¨.
My joy knew no bounds. I punched the air and thanked everyone who was close to me and helped me get on the flight after i recieved the shocker of a news.
As i made my way to the immigration and then to flight, i realised that the trip had probably taught me the most important lesson even before it had started. That if you want something really badly, you can get it. Even if it seems impossible.
I said to myself, ¨South America, here i come!!!!¨.
You can view slide show of some pictures from the trip till now here at( cant place them directly on the blog for some reason):
here
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