Am here at office now, all fit and fine and without much trouble.
I had a few unfair remarks, and a couple of not-so-good gestures passed at me at the immigration by the officer, but to be fair to them all, I had expected it.
But few freshers who had come from different companies were shocked at the reactions and had a long face by the end of it all.
Reached Bangalore Airport with wife and parents, and while checking in, got the shock that I was allowed only one checkin baggage in BA. Well, I think the fault is mine since I should have checked earlier. If I had checked, I wouldnt have taken BA.
Anyway, dad had taken passes for getting into the airport, and parents and wife were at the first floor overlooking the immigration. I checked in my suitcase and quickly took the backpack and laptop bag upstairs. Emptied some stuff from the backpack and handed it over to wife, and put my laptop bag into that and now had only one big heavy bag. It exceeded the cabbin weight limit by far, but no one noticed! So I took it in and went to boarding, to find that my ticket number was not printed! Rushed to the staff and they sent me directly inside, and went to the staff outside the plane-door, and got a seat number. Then rushed in, gladly avoiding a long queue for boarding. Economy was a 3+3+3 seater and I got the center seat in row 31. Duh! Thankfully the guys on either side of me were lean and quite friendly too. So, didnt have much trouble. The display for movies was a letdown and I didnt have a good choice of movies either. Bore!
Reached Heathrow, and found an irritatingly long queue at immigration. When my turn came, I was shown to the Health Control. I had no X-Ray report, and had to take one there. Another 20 mins. The lady was very sweet and though she was having a tough time handling so many people, most of whom didnt know the language, she was very pleasant. And funny too. I was asked to go topless, and so were a couple of women who were waiting with me. We were in different rooms during the procedure ofcourse, but I could hear the Indian woman letting the nurse know that she was not very comfortable with it. So was the gulf woman. But in the end they had to oblige.
When they came out, there was obvious discomfort when they faced me, coz they knew I could hear. They avoided looking at me, while they had smiled at me before they entered the X-Ray rooms. Anyway, came out and got through immigration finally and went to the cab. The driver had 10 years of IT experience and hence had a pleasant conversation. Was wondering if he was making more money than a normal IT pro in UK.
He wouldnt have switched so confidently otherwise, isnt it.
Checked into Ramada @ Hatfield, and was greeted into the room by the sweet news that Kimi won! And then switched to Wimbledon. Was wondering while in flight, that I would have passed directly above them, atleast, Federer would have noticed my flight :) It was a treat to watch the match. I had to try and be awake, coz I was dead beat by now. Two cups of coffee and two mugs of warm water helped me.
Fed won, and it was a sweet day indeed after all the tiring events. Relaxed in the tub, and crashed after that. I hadnt felt that tired in a long time. Not even in the road trip.
Back at office, and it was a pleasant welcome. Though cant say that about work. They all seemed to be waiting for me! I've had atleast 15 calls from India so far, and now its getting on my nerves.
Planning to explore Galeria tonight, and get some currency charge for my mobile. And close the evening early.
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