TAL cleared

phew, we got the visa in-hand today. About 6 weeks with consulate, out of which 2 week approval process at DOS. Vinney & kripa should God-willing be traveling this thursday. I hear kripa has zoomed past in her verbal skills since I saw her last on Aug7.

still waiting

well, it is 4+ week and we all are waiting & praying for visa process to come through. Oh the official lawyer casually mentioned that all you can do is just wait, unless you know any senator or congressman.

Here's another group waiting for rain to stop

.Borivili National Park, Mumbai 

pear here, pear gone

brand new couple

Presenting dear Gijo & Divya, the brand new couple

wishing them a blessed road ahead

unlikely toys

a real Bell

This is the first toy (after BabyEinstein from infant days), where sound is capturing her attention

K is all for it

and finally the lip service

I was playing with this MamaBear in '80. Courtesy of mom.  

morning school routine

.Mumbai suburb

Took a morning walk along the neighborhood, mostly dense colonies. Witnessed the morning school rush under a drizzling rain: dads dropping the kid, mom and kid waiting at bus stops; uniforms, umbrellas, raincoats..

kids taking leisure walk to school

Super heavy school bags (30+ percent of their body weight) are a staple sight. 

 Bags over 10-15% body weight, have been documented to causes back pains, vertebrae disk pressure, posture issues ...

here Mom is helping out with the bag

A two kid team saw me with camera & showed curiosity. 

Even before I asked their names, they were posing for photo. Sagar & Raj. 

Sagar wanted snaps in front of the mandir (temple). 

When asked "Which standard (class) are you in?" both could not agree if they are in same class or not. 

Raj, holding the umbrella, likes being in his Gaon (village). He says in mumbai he doesn't have open fields to play in. True.

TAL pending

Updates from Mumbai:
We came to India to attending Gijo bro's wedding in Kerala. It went very well by Gods Grace.

Tomorrow, Wed. 3rd Aug was supposed to be the day of our travel back to Boston, but we had to cancel mine and Kripa's tickets as I'm still awaiting clearance for my work visa.

Typically getting the work visa approved takes less than a week's time. At the interview, the officer mentioned that since I'm in a technical field, the approval would require additional processing and clearance from the Dept. of State in Washington. It is pending on TAL (Technology Alert List) check which consulate says, take 8-10weeks. The biotech field is one of the threat technologies & internet forum says average verification time runs around 35-45 days. So much for a vacation...

I was shocked and felt so helpless to hear this. I'm hoping things will move faster.