Debt, Debt, Debt Everywhere

As many of my readers know, Dad is always behind the eight ball when it comes to Credit Card Debt. Many families break apart due to debt and for me, I’ve finally reached this breaking point.

I realize that unless my family goes into a total “lock down” mode with our credit card situation, we will drown (literally and figuratively) with our credit card debt.

I consider myself to be a pretty astute financial person, but  I’m resigned to the fact that I am not wining  the battle with the bad debt of plastic (Not to be mistaken with the battle of the bulge which is a topic for another day). Regardless of which strategy I employ, every time I zero out my credit cards, within a few months, my credit card balances balloon to unmanageable proportions.

The funny thing is that as a family we don’t live beyond our means. We don’t go out and buy diamond rings, new cars, new toys, new clothes.. Nor do we go out for eat out on a regular basis.. We just lead a middle class existance.. With this existence we are constantly fighting the demon of plastic debt.

I make a decent living for a large Telecom company and my wife works for a local bank (part-time).  Yet living on one income in NJ is almost an impossible task.. Unless of course you live in a cave and don’t own a home,  have children or don’t leave your house EVER.

Yes, New Jersey’s standard of living is high with it’s outrageous property taxes and taxes in general.

I’ve tried all of the techniques that I’ve read about on Oprah, Wisebread, Lifehacker, Get Rich Slowly and other excellent sites for managing and beating the credit card monster.

Here are some of my mistakes:

• Transferring Balances to zero % (and paying the 3% (Now 4%) balance transfer fees) and low interest cards. Doing this will impact your credit worthiness when you have way too much credit available.
• Using my Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) to pay credit card bills. Now you are substituting good debt for bad debt, but if your HELOC is a variable rate, your monthly payments will quickly balloon.
• Paying non-discretionary expenses by Credit card (Gas, Groceries).  My mistake here is that I didn’t pay off the balances and they continue to mushroom even as I try to pay off the balances.
• Selling stocks to try to reduce or address growing balances.  Only thing this does is to have a slight dent in the debt. As soon as you pay off the debt, another card’s balances are growing.
• Paying off Highest interest rate cards first, making minimum payments on all others. FYI this is the strategy that EVERYONE recommends!

There are only few answers to beat credit card debt and I finally realized this just a few days ago..

1. STOP USING PLASTIC - Refer back to my “Lock Down” remark. Until you pay off the debt, the revolving cycle of credit card will not cease, nor will you be able to pay off your debts
2. When you use Credit Card, Pay off purchases the same day of the purchase. For every $1 that you leave outstanding, this debt will mushroom to $100 very quickly
3. Use Debit Card (with caution to avoid overdraft) to pay.  Unless you have overdraft protection (another form of credit),  I would not recommend this strategy. Fortunately, I’m like a hawk when it comes to my bank balances.
4. Use Cash – This I think is the most right of all the solutions.  When all else fails, stow away all your credit cards except one emergency card and pay everything with Cash.

One of my tasks over the next few weeks is to do a line item balance sheet of income/expense analysis to determine where my income to debt ration is out of  proportion. Obviously, I’m doing something wrong..

I’m sure that the desperation in my writing will be apparent to many of my readers.  Let’s see how how I get out of this one..

Stay tuned as I try different strategies to dig out from this mess.. Hopefully, my readers will find the next few postings useful if they have struggles like I do with the “plastic demon”.

On an optimistic note.. I’m determined to find a lasting solution which will get me out of this plastic purgatory.. I hope.

Feel free to send me your suggestions.. Of course if I will not any posts which are SPAM from credit monitoring agencies of  “get out of debt” shysters…

iPhone and Mac – We are Family

I found this new site (for me) for the iPhone. Today’s iPhone has excellent application reviews, tips and videos.

As I’m typically the last one to know and utilize the true potential of  my iPhone, I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to try to understand how to use my iPhone better. I took the first step this weekend when I upgraded my 3GS to IOS 4.01

BTW, it’s official, my family is now officially a  Mac Family.. Apple related products outnumber any PC based laptop and desktops in my techno savvy home. I find that at least once or twice a week I’m at the Appleinsider site.

I’ve updated my side links for iPhone…

Even my wife who is/was a  techno-phobe,  is giddy with her Mac Pro. Now that my older daughter has her new Mac Pro, I’m the one that’s left back being a PC!

So get this our stash of apple products scattered all over my house:

• Multiple iPhones (2G and 3GS)
• 1 iTouch
• 1 Nano
• I iPod Classic
• Multiple Mac Pro Plus
• 1 iPod Shuffle
• 1 Video iPod (Dead)

Scary part of all this is that I’m envious of the girls with their Mac Pro’s that I know that sooner or later, I will be making the same leap and dumping my Dell and becoming an all Mac family. I guess, I’ll be making more frequent trips to the “happiest place in the world” (The Apple Store) .
I guess, if you can’t beat them… better to join them!

Lighting The Way To My Heritage – An Introduction

I’d like to present an unique opportunity for my readers to pre-order  a book and DVD on Hinduism. This book and DVD is a complete  “hands-on” instructional that parents can read and view with  their children on all facets of Hinduism.

This book and DVD will be available in Mid September of 2010 for purchase and has been authored by Ravi Gaonker and Padma Shandas.

Dad’s taxi is providing this introduction as a benefit to my South Asian readers and their families.

The Book: Provides  glimpses of India’s long and rich culture, history, philosophy and religions. There are discussions on the contributions of South Asians in the fields of Mathematics, Medicine, Literature, Music and the performing arts. Biographies  of notable personalities who have left their mark on the rich diversity of Indian culture are also discussed.

The FAQ’s and comprehensive glossary  on Hinduism is a must read! Both the FAQ’s and the glossary will provide insights into the Hindu culture that everyone will find insightful.

The DVD: This is a full instructional video of Shlokas in English with subtitles on various prayers and their meanings.  Every chapter of the DVD is enriching to everyone, regardless of their knowledge on practicing Hinduism in their daily life!

The DVD introduces the practice of prayers utilizing (39) Sanskrit Shlokas.

Announcing the publication of a Book + DVD combination in September of 2010!

“Lighting the Way to My Heritage”

• An Introduction to India’s Past, Traditions and Rituals

This is a first for this type of Book + DVD produced with a unique perspective!
• This Book + DVD combination will be a classic for you and your family for years to come!
• This Book + DVD will enable your children and future generations to understand their Indian cultural heritage!

A promotional video is available and ordering information. Please  go to the Rutusarang site  for further details.

If you are interested in ordering the Book and DVD, the author will apply an early order discount of 10% will be applied to all orders received by September 15, 2010.

Hope you enjoy this introduction to Hinduism for you and your family!

Disclosure: Dad’s taxi is providing this posting as a courtesy to the authors and their first venture into publishing!

thedealmap-Local deals and coupons using Google maps

I’ve added thedealmap to my side links for coupons. I found this site yesterday when I was reading Clark Howard’s column.

What I liked about this site, it visually tells you where the deals are for the city/state/zip you key in.

This site will grow in popularity. Check it out for yourself

Immigration and Little India – Joel Stein of Time

A few days ago I received an email from one of my colleagues at my work. He was deeply insulted by an article written by humorist Joel Stein in the July edition of Time Magazine. At first look I was agreeing with the “insult” that my colleague felt. By the way this colleague and I share the same first name..That is a story for another day…

Of course being reactive the way I am, I forwarded my colleague’s email to initiate an “official protest” to a few of my close friends who share my Indian heritage. By the way Mr. Stein’s article has spread like wildfire on the Web ..

After a few responses from my close friends I realized that I had grossly mis-interpreted the Joel Stein’s humor laced article in Time Magazine. Yet a part of me still wanted to send an email missile towards Mr. Stein.

What Mr. Stein writes about is valid. The Indian community has indeed taken over Oak Tree Road in every aspect. The 2 to 3 miles of strip malls that have been taken over by the Indian shopkeepers can indeed be intimidating to individuals of individuals that call themselves to be “true red, white and blue Americans”.  I have mixed emotions about the Edison, NJ version of “Little India“.

On one hand when I go to Oak Tree Road in Edison, NJ feel like I’m back in Mumbai or in New Delhi. Better yet where I grew up, in Jackson Heights, New York. Most of my formative years from high school was spent in similar environment on 74th street! Except for the parking problems,  “Little India” is a slice of my childhood. I feel at home, because of  my young adult life being raised amongst the stores and hustle and bustle of working in Jackson Heights!

On the other hand, I dread going to Edison, NJ and partaking and contributing to the economy of Woodbridge, NJ. The racism that prevails with the Woodbridge Police against the Indian Community in this town is notorious. I’ve been gifted with a ticket or two during my visit to Oak Tree Road for parking violations as well! You are guaranteed a “dirty look” welcome by the non south-asian residents whose homes line the road that is called Oak Tree Road.

Even being a naturalized “Desi”,  I am intimidated by the choice and the community that is known globally as “Little India”.  I can imagine the thoughts of someone that grew up in this community and coming back after 10 years what his/her perspective might be!

Additionally, some of the storekeepers and their employees barely speak the English Language and act like they are back in their respective cities, towns, and villages that they originated from.

Everywhere you look, all you will find tastes (literally and figuratively) of  Mumbai, New Delhi, and all parts of  the India diaspora right here! From Carom Boards,  Indian clothes, jewelry, food, restaurants, dry cleaning, there is nothing is nothing you can’t find here that you are looking.  I can find print copies of local news papers from India here with within 24 hours of publication in any language that you call your native tongue from India!.  Anything you want that’s India based can be found with multiple varieties and choice within a 3 mile strip of road.

All the deities that Mr. Stein mentions in his article can be found in abundance at any of the multiple grocery stores on Oak Tree Road. If you go to MetroPark Train station in Edison,  any Non-South Asian  is a minority at the train station between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM. As a matter of fact, Metropark is the defacto premier  stop of the “desi express”  North-East Corridor of New Jersey Transit that stop in Metropark, Metuchen, Edison, New Brunswick and all the way to Princeton

At Metro Park, you see an abundance of advertising by the Bollywood mega icon Amitabh Bachhan and all the stores that line Oak Tree Road.

When my family first immigrated from NY to NJ in the early 1980′s to Edison, NJ, Oak tree road was just in it’s infancy.  There was an abundance of the stores and establishments like “Pizza Hut” that Mr. Stein mentions. Unfortunately, all I remember is the Bars and shuttered stores that littered Oak Tree Road and it’s various strip malls that have now been made alive and vibrant by the Indian merchants.  I remember I used to go the Famous Pizza  on Oak Tree road for “special occasions” and having only a handful of stores, where I could get my desi groceries.

So when I read Mr Stein’s article, I was at first astonished at the outright racism expressed in his words. Yes both Time and Mr. Stein did apologize for his words. After absorbing the context of his article, I do not think Mr. Stein needs to apologize for his humor.  I have to  admit every word he says in his article does hold true. The assimilation of the Indo-American culture  is so visible in Woodbridge, NJ and Little India, that  it is very difficult to determine where the Indian culture ends and the American culture begins.

As a matter of fact, many of the kids that have gone to J.P Stevens High School in Edison have been my older daughter’s best friends.  My daughter has spent many years of her young life amongst the citizens of Woodbridge, NJ that she is most at home in that community. Both my daughters have performed at the annual Independence day festivities in Oak Tree Road as well as ride on the floats that go down the main avenue of Oak Tree Road.

So I do applaud Mr. Stein for his article and I know that many will find his words offensive (similar to my colleague from work who asked for an “official protest” of this article).

You know what, I am going to do to appease the masses that will protest Mr. Steins humor in his article? I’m going to officially protest my own blog posting as an Indian Born Confused Desi’s  (IBCD) response being an member of the Indian community that is known as Little India!

“Prison Break” Addiction

Last week my nephew Ryan got me hooked on “Prison Break“. Let me forewarn you, if you ever want to waste hours and hours of your time and lose sleep, this is the show for you to watch.

This show ran for about 5 years on Fox.. I never saw it, as I was too busy watching “24″. Well to make a long story short, now, I’m catching up on this fast paced, juggernaut show via Netflix (my other newest addiction) streaming on the Wii.

Best way to describe “Prison Break” is “24″ on hype steroids. It’s taken me about 2 weeks of late nights but I’m in the midst of Season 3. You know your addiction is really bad, when you plan your next TV watching session around how many episodes you can get in before you MUST go to sleep.

Many of my readers will know that I often write about my addiction, but this one has within the past few weeks gone to number one on my list of obsessions.

Thanks Ryan you really have made my life more complicated.. Next one up after this series is Dexter..

Summer Starts:Six Flags today

The Summer of 2010 kicked off in high gear this week at our home this week. First week the kids are home and we are kicking off the summer by having an outing at Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ!

Past week has been very hectic with my “two graduates”.  I have my twin niece/nephew over and I’ve been getting a daily beating in Pool volleyball from the girls. Who would think that 2 on 1 volleyball in the pool would be this difficult to win against “tweens”.

Last night we went to Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk and beach to get our dosage of the crowds and the sand.  We went in the after 4:00 PM so the crowds had thinned out, so we were able to go see the masses leave as we were just entering.. We could have stayed longer on the beach, if we had remembered to bring a blanket and/or some beach chairs.  As my hero Homer Simpson would say: Doh!

Today should be interesting, as the national employee resource group that I’m a Veep for is hosting a barbecue at Six Flags in the afternoon. This should reduce the $200+ expense of food that normally occurs at Six Flags.

Of course Six flags is not just the cost of admission. When you add up Parking, Admission and “Flash Pass”  this can easily set you back $100 per person.

Tip of the Day: RetailmeNot has some great deals on how to reduce this cost.

Two “Graduates” in 2010

So this is the end of the school year for both my kids. Amazingly, both are taking the next step in both of their educational life in 2010.

One is graduating from High School and the younger one is “graduating” from the 5th grade to the 6th grade this fall.

My baby took me to her ceremony at her school yesterday and observed a truly touching ceremony for the 5th grade “graduates”. The school and the PTO put together a fantastic pictoral presentation of the kids as they progressed from Kindergarten to the 5th grade. A few kids made some excellent speeches. What I liked most was that every parent was given a wonderful flower as a gift from the school. Each child was given a “certificate of completion” and CD of the slide show that was presented.

Honestly, I was truly amazed at the difference these days compared to what I experienced in NYC when I progressed from the 6th grade to the 7th grade!

The presentation gives the kids a sense of accomplishment that was truly lacking when I was growing up in the public school system of NYC in Queens.

For many of us who were pre-teens in the early 70′s ,   it’s just a minor memory of going from the security of elementary schools to the perils of Junior High school (Grades 7 – 9).  Today’s kids have the opportunity to create  a long lasting “time capsule” of all their accomplishments during their steps through the educationaol system from kindergarten through high school graduation. I think this is fantastic! I’m kind of envious that we didn’t have this opportunity when we were growing up.

Of course my older one’s High School Graduation is within the next few weeks and her celebration started a few weeks ago with the Senior Prom. Even the Prom  was well orchestrated by the school. They made the kids sign a “contract” before they sold them any tickets to the prom. In addition, they actually took the kids by bus to the mall where they spent the night partying with their friends. The school system created a safe environment for the kids to celebrate. When I was growing up, I didn’t have the opportunity to go to my High School Prom. I guess that’s the result of being  so “uncool” when I was growing up!

I’m truly proud of both my kids for the steps they are taking this year in their education. One is leaving the security of  “High School life” and entering the independence of the college life. The other is expanding her horizons by leaving the structure of elementary school for the “chaos” of Middle School.

I wish both my girls success in their steps that they are taking this year. Of course what this means is that Dads taxi has less of one child to drive around and more of the other! I guess this is part of the growing up process for me as well!

Dad

OCI Update: Still waiting

So after my wife went to the embassy for the second time, we finally have submitted our “family” application for an OCI card from the Indian government. We have to figure out how to get back the extra $350 we payed for the surrender certifcate stamp.

I asked my wife to be a guest blogger to relate to everyone her experience, but thus far she’s has not obliged.

Next step is to escalate to get a refund of our $350… we will see if that happens

OCI – Overseas Citizen of India follies

8/2/2010: Here’s an update on my OCI situation.. I was of course rejected by the Indian Government in my application for the OCI card,  as I could not provide a Naturalization certificate.

BTW, this will cost me an additional $380 to be paid to the the homeland security team in the US. So my total cost for an OCI in the end will be about $810.

• $275 (fee) + $175 (surrender certificate) + $380 (Replacement Naturalization certificate).

In addition, the $350 we had to pay to the Indian Government is gone.. with no hopes of getting that back.

My wife and kids are now approved for their OCI which they will get in the next few weeks.

I gotta tell you this whole experience has left me shaking my head in disbelief at the ineptitude of the Indian politicians that want our dollars, but make is to difficult for anyone to get an OCI. For the worlds largest democracy, this whole experience has left a bad taste in my craw..

Oh, I will get my OCI later than sooner, but after this I do hope I never have to deal the process that ties you up in knots when you are trying to do a good thing for both your family and yourself.

6/2/2010:

So today I found out that the Indian Government does have some level of common sense. The famous Mrs. Pushpa Kumar of the Indian Consulate of New York sent me an email saying the Indian government had rescinded the regulation on the requirement of the attestation rule.  Whoo, Whoo, Happy days..

I guess the hundreds and thousands of petitions that were submitted by frustrated people to the Indian government did have an impact. Unfortunately for me, I’m still out the $350 that I had to pay for a piece paper which enforced an regulation that never should have been enforced in the first place. So now they want us to resubmit our applications so they can continue to reconsider our application.  Let’s see how far we get this time when we resubmit our application. ..

Dear Sir/Madam,

A large number of OCI cards received from New Delhi have not been collected by the applicants. Applicants are requested to check the status of their application online: http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp and if their documents are at the Consulate, they should arrange collection of their OCI card and ‘U’ visa. Detailed procedure is given at: http://indiacgny.org/php/showContent.php?linkid=177&partid=100&sub=sub6.

The documents required for the purpose are: (i) US passport in original; (ii) a print out of the online status which can be obtained by hooking on to the above mentioned site; (iii) return mailing charges of US$20 (if not already paid) by way of money order/bankers’ check (if the documents are required by mail). The OCI applicants who have valid Indian passports or whose passports have expired but not cancelled may kindly ensure that they also send their Indian passports so that these can be cancelled by the Consulate.

Due to a recent requirement of surrender certificate, some OCI applications were returned to the applicants with a request to furnish the surrender certificate with the application. This requirement has now been withdrawn. If your application was returned, you may wish to resubmit your application. Before sending the application, kindly ensure that it is complete in all respects (details may be seen on our website: www.indiacgny.org) and the application and supporting documents are in duplicate.

With regards,

Consulate General of India, New York

Here’s an update on the worldwide uproar on the strict enforcement of the surrender of Indian Passports as it relates to getting an OCI card;

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/05/28/2010-05-28_india_nationals_irate_over_new_rules_for_visas_and_passports.html

Basically, this new rule makes the people that want to visit India, unable to visit, due to the complex and bureaucratic enforcement of a rule that was never really enforced.. As they say in India.. Welcome!

Over the past month since my return from my vacation, my wife and I have been going through the process of getting our Overseas Citizen Of India Cards (OCI) for our family. Well let me tell you something, if you want to taste frustration in all its glory of dealing with the Indian government and it’s processes, you need to experience this process at least once in your life.

In the past (Only a few months ago!),  I  it was very easy to get the OCI card.  You filled out the necessary paper work, paid the $275 per person and within a few months voila you had the OCI card!

Well someone in the Indian government decided that hey, let’s make this as difficult as possible for ANYONE of Indian descent to get the OCI card. Well they succeeded!

Here’s some of the exasperating scenarios my wife and I faced:

• After following the myriad of requirements for applying for a family of four, we submitted our application as per the on-line instructions using the completed  downloaded applications. Wow ain’t technology grand.  This was the easiest part (at least I thought so initially).
• AFTER we submitted our application about a month ago, the Indian Government and it’s agency the Consulate General of India in NYC decided that they wanted to make things difficult and miserable for all applicants of Indian Descent (of course if you were born in the US, you were spared the misery – at least this is  good news for my U.S. Born children!)
  • Without prior notification on May 7th, the Indian Gov’t changed the rules!
  • Now they wanted in addition to their original paperwork, they wanted US naturalized citizens (of which my wife and I am), to submit a “Surrender of Indian Citizenship Attestation Form” (SICA)which has to be notarized with an additional fee of $175 per person.
  • US Citizens have to submit a “COPY of their Naturalization Certificate“, their Indian Passport and a copy of their respective US Naturalization certificate.
    • For those who don’t know, copying a naturalization certificate is against United States Government and Immigration Rules! This rule is clearly stated on the naturalization certificate.

• In order to  get our attention, we received  a cryptic email from the consulate general (initially I thought this was a phishing scam), saying you need to fill out the SICA in order for our application to be processed.
• The email that I got from “Mrs. Pushpa Kumar” is sampled below.

Dear Applicant,

Please refer to your application(s) for the OCI status which has been received in the Consulate recently.

As you are aware, Consulate General of India, New York, receives a very large number of applications for OCI status. In order to deal with the heavy rush of applications in the past few months, we had constituted a task force and put in extra efforts to clear the applications. In fact, all OCI applications, which were received in the Consulate till April 30, 2010 and found to be complete, have been processed.

Meanwhile, the Consulate has received instructions from the Government of India that applicants for all services, including OCI/PIO applications (including those whose applications are under process or whose OCI documents have not yet been delivered) are required to submit a Surrender Certificate for cancellation of the Indian passport and renunciation of the Indian citizenship. Details are posted on our website: www.indiacgny.org. Kindly note that submission of Surrender Certificate is a mandatory requirement and the OCI/PIO applications can not be processed nor can OCI documents be issued without the aforementioned certificate. This is not applicable to the foreign-born children who never held Indian passports. However, their parents held the Indian citizenship in the past and they are advised to obtain the Surrender Certificate for future reference.

Kindly furnish the Surrender Certificate urgently so that further action on your OCI application/OCI documents can be taken by the Consulate.

We regret the inconvenience caused.

Assuring you of our best considerations.

With regards,

Consulate General of India, New York

• Of course if you call the consulate in NYC or you reply to the cryptic email, you will not have no luck as the consulate does not believe in picking up the phone or replying to emails! The line that really made me snicker was  “Assuring you of our best considerations“.
• When we originally applied in April, this rule was not in play, so post application we were the lucky recipients of this new ruling by the Indian Government!

We scanned the OCI site and it’s associated FAQ site and both pages contradicted each other on the NEW requirements to get the OCI ! The only consistency was the need for the Surrender certificate!

So we filled out the surrender form, got the bank check for the extra $350 and we figured we were on the right path! Wrong!

My wife Mady went to NYC to the consulate on her day off to expedite the revised process and what she saw there was total chaos.  Lines out the door, nasty information clerk who was yelling at, other people that were in the same boat we were in, and just general arguing and mini fights were breaking out on the huge lines (at least 75 deep), and overall it was just an unbelievable scene. Keep in mind, many of these people came from out of state so they could address this new rule.

If you have ever gone to the Indian Consulate in NYC, you can empathize with what I wrote about above.  Even though you are in NYC, you are on Indian Soil and as the natives say in India:  “This is India”. Basic consideration for customer service does not apply. Clerks can walk away from their station and “disappear” for extended periods, lunch time is lunch time, and of course the courtesy factor or lack therefore of

So Mady was (understandably) frustrated/exhausted/fed-up by mid-afternoon and came home without accomplishing her goal.

So today, Mady went back for the second time in two weeks, to the consulate in NYC  first thing in the morning, hoping to submit our application with our surrender notification.  She went through multiple gyrations, because of my missing naturalization certificate and the fact that the consulate insisted on having an Indian Passport of an Naturalized US citizen.. When we both were naturalized over 20 years ago, we both had surrendered our passport to the US government, as was the rules at that time!

What she told me she saw at the consulate was beyond belief. Crying infants, adults, and just chaos in general.

I have to hand it to Mady for her patience and diligence. She ran around uptown Manhattan trying to notarize mutiple  handwritten notes saying both of us were denouncing our Indian Citizen ship so we can continue the process to get the OCI card!

Her first effort with the hand written notorized note was rejected by the consulate for being “too sloppy”. So she had to rewrite the note and get it re-notorized. This of course meant, she had to go out and get the revised “neat” note notarized.

After spending all day in NYC at the consulate,  Mady was finally able to re-submit our forms for OCI consideration.

I have to give Mady a big thumbs up for being courageous enough to walk through the valley of stupidity that is so rampant in the Indian consulate. Now, I’m not usually this passionate about my views, but for any government agency to have customer facing people so rude and insensitive, there is something really wrong with this picture.

Like I said, it’s a good thing I was not there, otherwise, I’d have been arrested for being the cause of the riot that would have taken place. The level of incompetence is just beyond belief at this consulate. Doesn’t the consul general care about what is going on here?

Of course now the cost for this process has gone up to almost $400 for each of us! I guess, it’s priceless this experience (Similar to the American Express Commercial).

Let’s see what happens over the next few weeks.  If the stars align and our fortunes are lucky, we should not have any additional issues.

Yet, my gut instinct says that as I write this Ms. Pushpa Kumar has some more emails she would like to send to me!