THE EXPERIENCE OF GETTING A US VISA - 20
Self and wife were seeking a VISA to the US for attending the Upanayanam of my Son in law s nephew at Los Angeles in Aug 2016 . Our plan was to go to the US from Regina in Canada where we had planned our usual annual stay .
All the lengthy but necessary paper work were completed at the VFS and we were asked to present ourselves before the Officer at the US Consulate in Chennai at 11.30 AM on a particular day . By oversight i had mentioned the Language of Interview as Tamil . Now , my prowess in Tamil is nothing much to write home about and is very basic in reading and very poor in the writing skills. To more than make up for this shortfall is my wife who holds a Masters Degree in Tamil and a Tamil Language Teacher all her working life .
We had rehearsed the answers to the likely questions that might be asked and were ready for our Interview .
As bad luck would have it , it was a rainy day and we had to make use of an Umbrella. There was already a heavy queue for the 11.30 AM slot and after the perfunctory security check where there were issues regarding the umbrella and a CD we carried as part of our document , we were finally let in to the consulate .
There was a kiosk for those choosing Tamil as the languge of Interview and it was a young White woman smartly clad in a Black Business Suit at the counter . We presented our papers and she asked a few questions regarding the reason for our visit not in English but in Tamil . My replies in English were overlooked and she asked my wife .
" Neengal Aasiriryar velai paarkirirkalaa "
" ungalukku velai pidittirkaa "
" neengal evalovu naatkal US il thanga pogirirgal "
My wife answered these questions and she said
" innum irandu natkalil VFS il ungalodaya passportii petru koolungal , ungladoya US payanam inimayamaha amaya ennoduya vazhtukkal ."
My teacher wife was equally flummoxed and remarked to the officer " neengal romba azhagaha Tamizh pesugirirgal ,
Oru aasiriyar muraiyil ungalukku engalodu vaazhtukkal "
We were spellbound by her Chaste Tamil , not a single word of English was used .
We got our 10 year US Visa stamped passport just as mentioned in 2 days .
ABOUT THE ACTUAL US VISIT , I WILL ELABORATE IN MY NEXT BLOG.
All the lengthy but necessary paper work were completed at the VFS and we were asked to present ourselves before the Officer at the US Consulate in Chennai at 11.30 AM on a particular day . By oversight i had mentioned the Language of Interview as Tamil . Now , my prowess in Tamil is nothing much to write home about and is very basic in reading and very poor in the writing skills. To more than make up for this shortfall is my wife who holds a Masters Degree in Tamil and a Tamil Language Teacher all her working life .
We had rehearsed the answers to the likely questions that might be asked and were ready for our Interview .
As bad luck would have it , it was a rainy day and we had to make use of an Umbrella. There was already a heavy queue for the 11.30 AM slot and after the perfunctory security check where there were issues regarding the umbrella and a CD we carried as part of our document , we were finally let in to the consulate .
There was a kiosk for those choosing Tamil as the languge of Interview and it was a young White woman smartly clad in a Black Business Suit at the counter . We presented our papers and she asked a few questions regarding the reason for our visit not in English but in Tamil . My replies in English were overlooked and she asked my wife .
" Neengal Aasiriryar velai paarkirirkalaa "
" ungalukku velai pidittirkaa "
" neengal evalovu naatkal US il thanga pogirirgal "
My wife answered these questions and she said
" innum irandu natkalil VFS il ungalodaya passportii petru koolungal , ungladoya US payanam inimayamaha amaya ennoduya vazhtukkal ."
My teacher wife was equally flummoxed and remarked to the officer " neengal romba azhagaha Tamizh pesugirirgal ,
Oru aasiriyar muraiyil ungalukku engalodu vaazhtukkal "
We were spellbound by her Chaste Tamil , not a single word of English was used .
We got our 10 year US Visa stamped passport just as mentioned in 2 days .
ABOUT THE ACTUAL US VISIT , I WILL ELABORATE IN MY NEXT BLOG.
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