Meeting Uncle Sam

As the day dawns tomorrow over the Eastern sky in India, I will be up and ready for yet another challenge in life. As the sun begins to fill the sky, I will be up and ready and probably in a car driving along the Eastern Express towards Downtown Mumbai. The occasion is important and the stakes are high. Its an Interview with the guys from the American Consulate for a chance to visit Uncle Sams country. The stakes are pretty high as I have applied for an Emergency Business Visa which means that I have escaped the queue. However, the onus is now on me to prove it to them. Prove it to them that it is indeed an emergency that warrants my travel at the earliest.

To a large extent, it is an emergency. I have to travel in March...and the interview dates that are available are only in May! By which time, the chocolates would have long been eaten and digested! The problem is that the decision to grant the visa is totally the prerogative of the executive over at the Consulate. More so in this case where the requirement is an out of turn one.
It is at times like these that you have the proverbial butterflies in your stomach. You always think that an interview that is an interview is an interview. And yet one cannot ignore the inherent palpable anxiousness that surrounds the entire exercise! An uneasy calm which makes you wonder whether it is the sign of an impending storm.
Well...it wouldnt be a storm in my life. But it would definitely be a significant step towards the intoxicating feeling of vertigo. Maybe a small step, but a momentous one nevertheless!
In more ways than one, it means something totally different from what it would mean to most of my fellow software brethren.
I pray to The One Above to wish me luck! And to ensure that I don't need any of it!
Next Stop! US Consulate, Downtown Mumbai!