Indians are generally considered a peaceful lot. Well, holds true by and large despite the occasional spats of intolerant behaviour. Then again our rants are directed toward our own or our neighbour.
So when this peace loving, law abiding, tax paying Indian citizen wants to travel, he thinks the world would welcome him. Little does he realise that the seeds of this beanstalk called "travel pains" are first sown at home. Passport. The all familiar ordeal of getting one in India is just the beginning. Then comes the real fight with the giant on top of the beanstalk, visa applications. While some countries have sensible documentation requirements, there are others that are so unreasonable, it's as though they are determined to keep us out of their land.
Hello, I'm from India, my country doesn't have a history of attacking any nation, ever! Now if we pass through some airports like London en route to our destination, that only adds to the woes. We need a visa even for an hour's layover. We might think, it's a transit visa. Must be a simple application. No, it isn't. An application of immigration to Canada might turn out simpler than some of these transit visa applications. Try navigating the maze of UK visa website.
It seems all worth it once we reach our holiday destination. Nothing dampens our spirits. Explore, we will! The only exception, not finding Indian food. We might genuinely enjoy our newfound love for Italian food or survive (or pretend to relish) other cuisines all we want, but the moment our eyes sight a food joint with murals of peacocks, elephants or other gaudy decor, we cannot resist crawling in. While sitting within the comfort zone of an Indian restaurant, we express our heart's other desire, "Yaar, kab aayenge woh 'ache din' jab humko kahi jaane ke liye visa ki zaroorat nahi padegi" Some day!
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