After a very pleasant two days in Fort Cochin, I was about to leave Cochin, Kerala in India for Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
I handed my passport to the middle aged immigration agent, who was thumbing through the multiple stamps with no particular interest and in no great hurry.
What is the purpose of your visit to Cochin?, he asked.
What shall I say, I wondered for a few seconds, I am here to eat, I told the immigration agent whose face now has turned to a quizzical dullness.
You came to India for two days to eat? Do you not know food in your country?
We do have food in our country but not this tasty, like the Angamally Fish Curry I had at Bristows Bistro.
These officers, despite many years in service, are in an automatic mode and when confronted with an answer they were not expecting, they call the supervisor.
Here comes the supervisor, In the last few months you have been here three times, where do you stay? At the same hotel, Bristows Old Light House Hotel facing the Arabian Sea in Fort Cochin.
I could see that I could have been talking Mandarin to these people, they were puzzled but knew that I was harmless.
He handed me back my passport while the older man still wrinkled his forehead in puzzlement..I will be back in a few days time and I expect to have a good dinner, I reminded him as I entered the Departure Lounge.
Like the republican lawmakers in the USA, they grow older in their conservativeness and become incapable of independent thinking.
Always choose a younger agent at the Immigration, someone who knows about Internet and applications, so that you wouldnt be asked such mind boggling questions as was asked of me by Kerala Immigration Officers at Cochin International Airport.
Do you have the telephone number of the hotel ? (so that they can enter that information in the space provided regardless of their utility)
No I dont have it.
Then how do you make the reservation at the hotel if you dont have the telephone number?
I refused to answer the question, remained silent.
I felt very happy as I walked past them. I had restrained transparency I thought and showed respect to the agents..
I was not lying.. here is the proof.. in the 48 hours that i spent in Fort Cochin, i had splendid food, in the company of my friends..
Bristow's Bistro
Farmers Cafe
Krishna Cafe
Francis, the cafe at Hotel Niyati
Spice Villa
I handed my passport to the middle aged immigration agent, who was thumbing through the multiple stamps with no particular interest and in no great hurry.
What is the purpose of your visit to Cochin?, he asked.
What shall I say, I wondered for a few seconds, I am here to eat, I told the immigration agent whose face now has turned to a quizzical dullness.
You came to India for two days to eat? Do you not know food in your country?
We do have food in our country but not this tasty, like the Angamally Fish Curry I had at Bristows Bistro.
These officers, despite many years in service, are in an automatic mode and when confronted with an answer they were not expecting, they call the supervisor.
Here comes the supervisor, In the last few months you have been here three times, where do you stay? At the same hotel, Bristows Old Light House Hotel facing the Arabian Sea in Fort Cochin.
I could see that I could have been talking Mandarin to these people, they were puzzled but knew that I was harmless.
He handed me back my passport while the older man still wrinkled his forehead in puzzlement..I will be back in a few days time and I expect to have a good dinner, I reminded him as I entered the Departure Lounge.
Like the republican lawmakers in the USA, they grow older in their conservativeness and become incapable of independent thinking.
Always choose a younger agent at the Immigration, someone who knows about Internet and applications, so that you wouldnt be asked such mind boggling questions as was asked of me by Kerala Immigration Officers at Cochin International Airport.
Do you have the telephone number of the hotel ? (so that they can enter that information in the space provided regardless of their utility)
No I dont have it.
Then how do you make the reservation at the hotel if you dont have the telephone number?
I refused to answer the question, remained silent.
I felt very happy as I walked past them. I had restrained transparency I thought and showed respect to the agents..
I was not lying.. here is the proof.. in the 48 hours that i spent in Fort Cochin, i had splendid food, in the company of my friends..
Bristow's Bistro
Farmers Cafe
Krishna Cafe
Francis, the cafe at Hotel Niyati
Spice Villa
