Delhi Airport
We struggled to find the entry point into one of the queues. I thought I had almost made it to the point where dividers were placed to create a serpentine queue that gave a sense of circuitous direction forward, when someone informed me that the queue was not for Air India but for Lufthansa passengers.
We moved forward and finally reached what was supposed to be the correct queue. Then we were confronted by a young man holding a bunch of A4-sized papers who was trying to manage the crowd and checking with everyone, “आप ने फार्म भर दिये हैं?” (Have you filled out the forms?)
“What form?” I asked.
Looking at me with a tense expression and a quizzical face, he did not answer but handed me two pages, saying, “पहले यह फार्म भर कर लाइये फिर लाइन में लगिये” (First fill out these forms and then come to the queue). I had a difficult time persuading others to let me step out of the queue so I could find a place to park my baggage trolley and look at the forms.
Fortunately, I had a pen with me. One paper had two sections with identical items on which information was requested, such as Name, Passport number, Address in India, Flight number, Address at Destination, and a few questions about my travels abroad in the last three months, including whether I had a fever, etc.
The second paper was a kind of indemnity declaration that made me responsible for anything that might go wrong. I filled out the form for my wife, and we both signed in three places on the two papers.
After rejoining the queue with some difficulty, I tried to hand the completed forms to the same person who had given them to me, but he refused to take my signed forms and waved his hands, indicating that I should move forward.
The serpentine queue, of which I was now a part, seemed endless. I was soaked in perspiration and worried about my wife’s condition after this ordeal, as she has problems with her back and knee.
After some time, I noticed that the luggage we were carrying was being screened. The process of placing luggage for screening and lifting it again to put back on the trolley by each passenger was causing delays. This was not security screening; rather, our luggage was being treated with ultraviolet rays to ensure its surface was bug-free.
Mercifully, this ordeal ended, and after about an hour, we found ourselves in a small open area, no longer restricted by pathways defined by ropes.
Some people were sitting on chairs while others were standing. One of them took our temperature with a remote thermometer. Another person took the paper, stamped it, tore it in two parts, kept one part, and handed the other stamped part to me.
He also took my signed indemnity declaration. His hands were full of papers, and the table had a huge bundle of papers. With the half-stamped paper, we were asked to move to the entry gate.
We showed the relevant pages of our passports, boarding passes, and the other half of the self-declaration by placing them against a transparent glass to the security personnel at the entry gate.
He asked us to remove our masks and compared our faces with the pictures on the passport pages. Satisfied, he allowed us to enter the airport.
It took us more than an hour and a half to reach inside the airport.
I was still worried, as there were still a little over two hours left before the departure of the aircraft.
Air India Counter and the Wheelchair Saga
Only two or three Air India counters were manned. There was not a long queue; however, the computers were working slowly, and the overworked staff was taking their time to clear passengers. It took about 45 minutes to drop off our baggage and get our boarding passes.
I had booked a wheelchair for my wife. I inquired about the wheelchair and was told to go to the information kiosk near gate 4, where the person in charge would guide us. Hesitatingly, we moved to gate 4, which we had passed earlier.
The person on duty asked us, “Which airline are you flying with?”“Air India,” we replied.“You then need to ask Air India for the wheelchair.”
Before I could say anything, Kiran angrily confronted the man, saying that Air India had directed us to meet him, and now he was asking us to go back to the Air India counter, along with much more.
The commotion caught the attention of the supervisor of the man on duty, whose job was to provide information and help passengers. At his supervisor’s bidding, the man finally moved his legs and walked with us to a corner where people who had booked wheelchairs were waiting.
Here, another gentleman with a register was making entries and assigning passengers to wheelchair attendants as they became available, so that the passengers could be taken in wheelchairs through immigration to the boarding gate.
There were about 10-15 senior citizens already sitting on chairs, waiting for the wheelchair attendants. The details of everyone who had booked a wheelchair were being duly recorded in a register. The person writing down the information would allot wheelchair attendants. Slowly, the crowd of wheelchair passengers increased. My wife’s number was called, and we noticed that the attendant was pushing two wheelchairs.
It took about 30 minutes to get the wheelchair. It was important for my wife to have the wheelchair, as the walk to the aircraft through immigration was long, and we had a long journey ahead.
Immigration and Boarding at Delhi
Once we got the wheelchair, it seemed our woes were over. The attendant was nice and chatted with us while pushing the two wheelchairs.
We finally reached the immigration counter. I thought the ordeal was over.
Well, no!
It was just the beginning of a frustrating, excruciatingly long wait. The immigration counter was crowded. Two counters were open, dedicated only to wheelchair passengers and those requiring special assistance.
There were at least 30-40 passengers in the two queues, which were moving very slowly. In between, the immigration officer would leave the counter and return after a while. If I remember correctly, we were 10th in line. It was taking 5-10 minutes for each passenger. Families were asked to present themselves together.
However, one elderly lady, a US green card holder (just ahead of us), was at the counter for over 20 minutes. We noticed the immigration officer asking her questions. I could hear him asking, “आप हिंदुस्तान कब आये थे?” (When did you come to India?). It was not clearly audible what the lady answered. Apparently, her passport had not been stamped at the immigration counter when she entered India some months ago. The immigration officer went out, probably to check with his superior, and the wait continued.
One “smart” wheelchair attendant tried to jump the queue and put his passenger ahead of us. There was an uproar of protests from people in our queue, and he had to take his passenger back to their original place.
Finally, the immigration officer returned, and after a brief conversation with the lady, reminding her that she must always check at any immigration counter to ensure her passport has been stamped, he stamped her passport and allowed her to proceed.
Now it was our turn!
We submitted our passports, boarding cards, PR cards for Canada, and half of the stamped health declaration, which included my address in India, destination in Canada, and other details such as date of birth, all written and signed by me. The immigration officer was not happy because I had only provided my Canada address in the address column. However, I had also written my India address on the back of the page. Once I explained this, he was okay with it and started typing the data from my self-declaration stamped paper. I think he kept that paper with him as well.
I wondered why they created so much bureaucratic form-filling. I was worried about missing the flight, as it was getting late.
Finally, when our passports were stamped, there was an announcement for final boarding for flight AI 172 to Chicago.
I was unsure if the duty-free shops were open. Fortunately, they were, and I was in two minds about whether to buy something or not, but the fear of getting late made me move on. At the boarding gate, we were given a kit containing a mask, a plastic face cover, etc.
We finally boarded the aircraft.
On Board Flight AI 172
Our seats were towards the rear of the aircraft, and we had to pass through many rows. Finally, when I reached my aisle seat, I found a plastic bundle on it. The middle-row passenger was sleeping with his mask and plastic cover on. I thought he had placed his bag on my seat. I woke him up. “Excuse me, this is my seat.” He looked visibly upset at being woken up at 2 AM. “आपकी ही है तो बैठ जाओ न” (If it is your seat, why don’t you sit?). His question made me look carefully, and I realized that it was a bundle of food packets that had been placed on my seat. When I opened it, I found a lather roll, sandwiches, wafers, pastry, cake, an assortment of savories, soft drinks, fruit juice in a tetra pack, water, gloves, etc., all nicely bundled inside a plastic bag.
We were in no mood to eat, and after a soft drink and water, we tried to settle down. The flight took off on time, and I was relieved when the announcement was made that we would reach Chicago in 14 hours instead of 15 hours and 20 minutes. That gave me one extra hour in Chicago to change planes, I thought.
The flight was uneventful. I watched a couple of movies on my iPad with headphones on, tried to sleep, and managed to doze off. The washroom was clean throughout.
People woke up, and there was a lot of activity, as many elderly passengers liked to walk in the aisle. Kids were also running around. We had a sandwich and part of a kati roll, along with some snacks. No tea or coffee! Only one bag of food was opened between the two of us. We left the other bag behind in the aircraft. From the opened bag, a lot of goodies were left over, as we took a couple of sandwiches for our onward journey.
Disposing of the food bags was a huge problem. Passengers left the bags in the galley despite announcements by the crew that we needed to keep them under our seats. There was no space to keep things under the seat.
The crew, all dressed in protective suits from head to toe, were making only announcements and performing necessary safety procedures. No service was provided; no pillows or blankets were available. Our neighbor, who worked for Air India, had informed us about this. We had small blankets and pillows which came in very handy for this long journey.
Immigration and Check-in for Air Canada Flight at Chicago
We had to walk a lot to reach the immigration area. I struggled with the automated machines to ensure my fingerprints were read, my US visa was recognized, and my picture was taken. We noticed a lady who was assisting passengers. She helped us, and thanks to her, the process went smoothly.
The immigration officer asked us for our final destination and did not even look at our boarding passes for the connecting Chicago-Toronto Air Canada flight, simply waving us to move on.
We then proceeded to baggage collection. We finally got our luggage loaded onto free trolleys and moved out to wait for a bus to take us to Terminal 2 for our Air Canada flight. The wait was not long, and the bus was practically empty, with only a couple of passengers besides us.
There was a problem at Terminal 2, as trolleys were not free. I needed six dollars each for two trolleys. The machine would not accept my dollar bills. Finally, I used my credit card and added twelve dollars to the American GDP, put our luggage on the trolley, and presented ourselves at the Air Canada counter.
Here, the process was also smooth. Besides our passports and boarding passes, the only other document requested was our PR card.
We ended up arriving quite early for the flight to Toronto. We waited near a McDonald’s counter. I bought breakfast for seven dollars, which included coffee, and together with the Air India sandwiches, we had our breakfast at Chicago airport while waiting for the flight announcement.
There was enough time, so I moved around and made some duty-free purchases.
Air Canada Flight to Toronto and Immigration
Finally, the flight was announced, and we boarded. The flight was less than half full. Immigration at Toronto was also smooth, but it took a while since only two counters were operating.
As we felt we were nearing our final destination, a strange sense of self-satisfaction filled us. The hassles at Delhi airport and the tense, unusual 14-plus hours on the flight to Chicago were all forgotten and had become part of stories to be narrated later.
Like this story that I share with you…
My friend Madhav Rao commented after reading this blog, “If one is rooted in Indian resilience, he or she forgets the ordeal once the end is achieved! This is precisely the reason our services don’t improve; we surrender rather than protest! We are a peace-loving country in the sense that we take it all… The last lines killed the power of the story!”
I tend to agree with him. But that is the fact. I should have perhaps added that we were eager to meet our granddaughter in Toronto, and once the journey was nearing its end, it was the prospect of meeting her that made us forget the ordeal.
5 replies on “International travel in Corona times!”
it is nice to watch your experience . It is India.
wish you a happy days stay at Canada with your grand daughter
All your problems were due to your western dress. They took you as young traveller. You should have kept your traditional “Dhoti Kurta” dress and Mrs should have adorned herself in “Sari”. I bet you would have gained priority at all points and your travel would have been that of a “Neta ji”. Try next time.
If one is rooted in Indian resilience, he or she forgets the ordeal, when once end is achieved!
This is precisely the reason that our services don’t improve for we surrender than protest!
We are a peace loving country in the sense we take it all…….
The last lines killed the power of the story!
Terrible experience sir
Quite an experience! Delhi part is enough for anyone to freak out.