On Indian bereaucracy, Kenya Airways and being offloaded

Bombay, 12:23 PM

I'm writing this in an antihistamine induced haze (I finally succumbed to drugs to help me get over my jetlag - allergies were driving me crazy!!!!). So apparently passports for minors have this thing at the back of thier passports called "emigration check required" (I haven't had a new passport made since I was a minor) - and its exempt for countries in North America and EU - so, whenever we're travelling outside of India to any country, special permission is required. In anycase, this is a formality and takes literally half an hour. But of course the travel agents overlooked this while handling my passport and so here I am in Bombay (The immigration official couldn't be bribed - the travel agents tried - which I'm kind of happy about in a way because it showsthat things are shaping up well - but had that been a possibility things would've gone ahead much easier).
I'm not too pissed off about being offloaded - I mean it's happened before once (when we were flying to Bangkok), but it didn't happen when we went to Seoul (which was also with a group of shrinks like this one) so I figured that my US Visa exempted me from it (obviously not). In anycase, I'm flying out tonight - and the travel agent will get everything organized.

What I was really pissed off about was Kenya Airways - ok so first of all, this is the 21st century. The guys took forever to check people in (I'd say 20 minutes per traveller) and had MAJORLY overbooked the flight - like half the line (pretty much whoever showed up late outside the group) got offloaded because of KA's screw up (at least 5 people started screaming and shouting and there was all drama and all). Also, the guy who checked in the baggage was supposed to have checked out the emigration thing and not allowed us to check in. My parents have emigration check thing cleared - so they could've flown last night, but they didn't because it was a family vacation. So since the baggage was checked in, things became more complicated. The whole process of un-checking us in, which, had it been any other airline wouldve taken us an hour max, took us 4 hours!! WTF!! I hate the power games that the stupid Indian airport staff likes to play - God knows how Kenya Airways survives in today's day and age - and AAAARRGHH!!! I will be so thrilled when the airport is privatized - no more paan-spit stains all over the airport (i was so grossed out when I had to go ID our bags) - and hopefully more organized staff. There were 6 people there to 'help' me ID my baggage - and they were so fricking disorganized - i had to explain to them that the baggage was tagged and that we could easily ID the baggage based on the way they've put it in. And then of course, all 6 of them had to consult with each other - then try and play their own power games trying to decide who had the most authority amongst the 6 of them (since they were all at the same level) - and then of course, the airport security had to get involved offering their own suggestions. Finally, an hour later, they agreed my suggestion was the best (looking up the bags by the baggage claim code) - and got the bags out - in 15 minutes flat. Then there was the issue of allowing me to go back from the baggage claim to the check in - which is literally just walking - but he had to meet the 'right boss' to tell him that I've ID-ed my bags and everyone in the immigration office was shuttling the guy who took me to the claim to each other, as they do in usual government offices. AAARRGH!!!!

Anyway, I'm not too bummed - we were to spend the day in Nairobi today and dad had his conference - so there was nothing major planned on the schedule. Tomorrow afternoon we leave for Lake Nakuru, which is when the real touristy stuff begins - so I'm still charged. Besides, it's not really a true Indian holiday if there aren't hiccups like these.

On the bright side, thanks to the antihistamine, I finally got a good nights sleep. So my dark circles are removing themselves. Going to have lunch with Shekhu and Kavita and then spending the rest of the day at phoenix mills (shopping complex in central bombay).