The so called NRIs and the Indian airline assistance guys
My grandmother's health and mother's yearning affection to see her daughter saw me traveling on the next flight to India. Since it was a last minute decision, I could not be a chooser and had to take any airline that afforded the lowest cost to travel. So there I was traveling all around the world to reach my hometown.
My port of entry to India was Hyderabad. The touch down convinced me how much I had missed India :) It was a spiritual experience to realize that I was finally in India to be among the ones I loved. So I carry my smiling face along to the baggage claim area and patiently wait for the slow moving carousel to fetch my bags. The wait turns out to be 45 minutes and I had not received my bags. I see the other NRIs yelling at the airline guys for not getting their bags, for having to wait so long, for the darn slow service and all the rest. I still have hope of getting my bags since the airline guys said there was one more van bringing in bags. The last one arrives and I don’t get my bags. While I ponder over my luck and the reason for my bags not making it to India, I became witness to the NRI anger on the poor Indian airline guys. The NRIs were convinced that the only way to satiate their anger was to yell at the Indian guys for their non-efficiency in not getting their bags. The 50 odd NRIs had no time to realize that they were late to board the plane to India in Amsterdam since their plane from London arrived late and hence their bags were not transferred. The NRIs went on with how bad the service was and how the local airline service would never want to improve.
But poor me.. Why was my bags not transferred? I had a full 4 hours before I could board the flight the India in Amsterdam. What went wrong? So I drag myself to the baggage loss complaint office which was already crowed by the NRIs. I say that I am to board a connecting flight to my hometown and that I would like to file the complaint at the earliest. One guy takes pity and picks up my passport and fills out a complaint form. I was then asked to go to counter number X to get a signature on the form. I say - Why can't you do it here? He says - No madam we don't have the authority, you have to get it from him. I say - Then get that guy here since they are 50 odd people who would want the same signature. He says - No madam, he is also responsible for signing other customs form, so he has to stay there. I realized there was nothing I would achieve by asking him all my questions that were obviously stupid for him. So I slide to counter number X.
To my astonishment counter X had 5 guys. Where do I start? I go the guy who is free and tell him I want this form signed. He says - Not me, go to the last guy. So I go to the last guy who is busy convincing the NRI that he should be paid more dollars if the NRI has to be allowed to bring in all the XXXX goods into the country. The haggle went on while I stand smiling at the NRI husband, wife and the officer. Finally the NRI gives in and shells out more dollars. Both parties happy they part ways. I go next to the counter and ask for the form to be signed. I also put in that I have no goods that I am illegally getting in and that I am only carrying my laptop for personal use. He grins from ear to ear, signs my form, stamps a seal and says you are ready. Next I zip back to the complaint counter where I get hold of the guy who was filing my complaint and hand him my signed form. He writes again in several places and says - Wait here while your copied passport comes back. I'm like zapped. Darn! Where was my passport making travels? Why didn’t they have a copier there? Hopefully my passport does not get lost. All possible fears make their trip in my head. My eyes sees a lady coming with a bunch of passports and I pray that mine is in that lot. The Gods heard my prayer and the first one on the stack held by the lady was my passport. With the passport back in my hands the guy approves of the finalization of my complaint, writes out a number I have to call up regarding my bags and says you are good to go!! Phew!! I step back and just stand there to take in the moment and myself. I see the same thing being uttered to all and the same contact number being hand written out to all :) Next thought that came to me was - Hey, what am I to wear for the next few days until my bags arrive?? The clever me had checked in all bags and was carrying only my backpack with books :D So I scan around to find some airline guy/gal who might be free. I catch one and run to her and say - Excuse me, I lost my bags and have filed a complaint. What about compensation? I do not have anything to wear expect this until my bags arrive. She says - Are you a permanent resident of US? I say - No. She says - Then you get no compensation. I'm like - How does it matter whether I am a resident of US or not I have to clothe myself. She says - No use you will have to fend for yourself. You will not get any compensation. There was no point in standing there listening to her repeat the same thing and so I made my way to the domestic airport to catch my flight to hometown. A nice spiritual experience I must say at the end of the flight :)
FYI.. I waited a whole week before I could get my bags. Everyday I called the airline guys in Hyderabad it was the same answer I got - Madam we have one of your bags, we are waiting for the other one to come and we will ship both to you. I wasted close to Rs.500 on all the STD calls and local calls; another Rs.500 on clothes. Thanks to my friends and family who donated their clothes for one week.
My port of entry to India was Hyderabad. The touch down convinced me how much I had missed India :) It was a spiritual experience to realize that I was finally in India to be among the ones I loved. So I carry my smiling face along to the baggage claim area and patiently wait for the slow moving carousel to fetch my bags. The wait turns out to be 45 minutes and I had not received my bags. I see the other NRIs yelling at the airline guys for not getting their bags, for having to wait so long, for the darn slow service and all the rest. I still have hope of getting my bags since the airline guys said there was one more van bringing in bags. The last one arrives and I don’t get my bags. While I ponder over my luck and the reason for my bags not making it to India, I became witness to the NRI anger on the poor Indian airline guys. The NRIs were convinced that the only way to satiate their anger was to yell at the Indian guys for their non-efficiency in not getting their bags. The 50 odd NRIs had no time to realize that they were late to board the plane to India in Amsterdam since their plane from London arrived late and hence their bags were not transferred. The NRIs went on with how bad the service was and how the local airline service would never want to improve.
But poor me.. Why was my bags not transferred? I had a full 4 hours before I could board the flight the India in Amsterdam. What went wrong? So I drag myself to the baggage loss complaint office which was already crowed by the NRIs. I say that I am to board a connecting flight to my hometown and that I would like to file the complaint at the earliest. One guy takes pity and picks up my passport and fills out a complaint form. I was then asked to go to counter number X to get a signature on the form. I say - Why can't you do it here? He says - No madam we don't have the authority, you have to get it from him. I say - Then get that guy here since they are 50 odd people who would want the same signature. He says - No madam, he is also responsible for signing other customs form, so he has to stay there. I realized there was nothing I would achieve by asking him all my questions that were obviously stupid for him. So I slide to counter number X.
To my astonishment counter X had 5 guys. Where do I start? I go the guy who is free and tell him I want this form signed. He says - Not me, go to the last guy. So I go to the last guy who is busy convincing the NRI that he should be paid more dollars if the NRI has to be allowed to bring in all the XXXX goods into the country. The haggle went on while I stand smiling at the NRI husband, wife and the officer. Finally the NRI gives in and shells out more dollars. Both parties happy they part ways. I go next to the counter and ask for the form to be signed. I also put in that I have no goods that I am illegally getting in and that I am only carrying my laptop for personal use. He grins from ear to ear, signs my form, stamps a seal and says you are ready. Next I zip back to the complaint counter where I get hold of the guy who was filing my complaint and hand him my signed form. He writes again in several places and says - Wait here while your copied passport comes back. I'm like zapped. Darn! Where was my passport making travels? Why didn’t they have a copier there? Hopefully my passport does not get lost. All possible fears make their trip in my head. My eyes sees a lady coming with a bunch of passports and I pray that mine is in that lot. The Gods heard my prayer and the first one on the stack held by the lady was my passport. With the passport back in my hands the guy approves of the finalization of my complaint, writes out a number I have to call up regarding my bags and says you are good to go!! Phew!! I step back and just stand there to take in the moment and myself. I see the same thing being uttered to all and the same contact number being hand written out to all :) Next thought that came to me was - Hey, what am I to wear for the next few days until my bags arrive?? The clever me had checked in all bags and was carrying only my backpack with books :D So I scan around to find some airline guy/gal who might be free. I catch one and run to her and say - Excuse me, I lost my bags and have filed a complaint. What about compensation? I do not have anything to wear expect this until my bags arrive. She says - Are you a permanent resident of US? I say - No. She says - Then you get no compensation. I'm like - How does it matter whether I am a resident of US or not I have to clothe myself. She says - No use you will have to fend for yourself. You will not get any compensation. There was no point in standing there listening to her repeat the same thing and so I made my way to the domestic airport to catch my flight to hometown. A nice spiritual experience I must say at the end of the flight :)
FYI.. I waited a whole week before I could get my bags. Everyday I called the airline guys in Hyderabad it was the same answer I got - Madam we have one of your bags, we are waiting for the other one to come and we will ship both to you. I wasted close to Rs.500 on all the STD calls and local calls; another Rs.500 on clothes. Thanks to my friends and family who donated their clothes for one week.
posted by Rashmy at 7:14 AM
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