Renewing X Visa in Bangalore

Hello friends and readers. First of all, apologies for the lack of updated stories on this blog. As some of you may have heard, I’ve been busy getting married (more on that later). I know what’s going through your mind right now – I have no right to this blog title anymore or that I should change it to something like 30s, married in India, but I disagree and you can’t make me change it!

This blog post I hope is more helpful than not to some foreigners residing in Bangalore on X visas. Or if you’re not in that category and can’t relate, maybe you can um, enjoy it anyway. ☺

Nobody told me that it was going to be this painful getting my X visa renewed in Bangalore. If I haven’t convinced you by the end of this post, then maybe I’m just a whiner. But seriously, if you have a choice to renew your visas in your own country, do it! But if you don’t, and want to experience “Amazing Race” Bangalore-style, this is what you have to do (the procedure below is of course, subject to change at any given time). I’ve also included suggestions on how to keep your sanity “normal”.

1. Drop by the FRRO office to pick-up the latest forms and checklist of requirements.
Note: Requirements on the checklist may not be up to date, so make sure to ask if they have any new rules.

2. New Rule (also depend on whether or not your visa has expired). Visit your local police station to get a piece of printed WORD document indicating you have no criminal records. If you go during teatime, the police officer might offer you a little plastic cup of (overly sweetened but delicious) chai.
Bring along: photocopies of your registration paper, passport, spouse’s passport & PAN card and a passport size photo of yourself.

3. Old Rule but New Venue. Visit one of the bigger post offices to get a non-judicial stamp paper (aka e-stamp). Pick up the form from the post office and on the form fill out Party #1 as you, and Party #2 as the FRRO. The stamp paper is worth Rs100 (plus a Rs10 fee) and the whole purpose of this exercise is so your promise to the FRRO to not take any jobs or do any businesses in India while you’re on an X visa is stated on piece of paper. Why and how the postal people are going to enforce this promise of yours, I don’t know.

Post office. Note: According to the postal person, the new way of making an e-stamp is through a website which is only available on weekdays between 9am-2pm but keep in mind it's lunchtime between 1pm-1:30pm, so to avoid standing on a queue that wraps around the block, go at 9am.

4. Photocopy all your documents. If you’re unsure if you should include a certain document, include it anyway. I’m on an X visa because I’m married to an Indian so I had to bring copies of my husband’s passport, his PAN card, my FIL’s PAN card, and the list goes on). Organize your documents in order of the checklist or they’ll make you do it at the Scrutinized Counter (this will make more sense later).

5. Submission of Application.

• Step One: Wake up bright and early (because the officers have lunch at exactly 1:30 pm-2 pm and you want to try to get through as many officers as possible before lunchtime). Have a big, healthy (and happy) breakfast. Before you leave home, look over your checklist and docs to make sure you have all your copies (and originals). Bring a bottle of water, a good book to read and your passport.
• Step Two: Go to the FRRO and get a token. Wait.
• Step Three: When your token number is called, go up to the counter and get your documents checked. You may proceed to the level above. Wait.
• Step Four: Wait at close to the Scrutinized Counter (While you’re waiting, feel free to walk up to the scrutinizer officer once in a while and ask when is your number going to be called. I noticed many people jumping queue and the officers were more than willing to scrutinize them first before you, even though their numbers were much higher and should come after you. I’m not suggesting you should jump queue, I’m asking you to remind the officers, who seems to forget, they should be following the numbers as well.) When your token number is called, walk up to the counter with your documents.
• Step Five: You can now proceed to the lady sitting under the “IO/ISH” sign so your documents can be checked/scrutinized for the third time.
• Step Six: Go over to the Immigration Service Centers (other side of the room from the “IO/ISH” lady) so someone can receive your scrutinized documents and hand you your next assignment.
• Step Seven: Go to the nearest bank to get a Demand Draft (DD). Make sure to make the draft in favor of the exact name on the small piece of paper that was handed to you on Step Six. My father-in-law wrote a check to get me the DD, so I’m unsure here if you can pay cash. Make a copy of the DD.
• Step Eight: Back to the FRRO. Drop off your DD at Counter 1 and the photocopy of the DD at Counter 2 or 3. Wait (this time, someone will tell you how long your wait will be). When your time is up, your passport with an X Visa extension stamp as well as your Registration Paper should be ready for collection.

Good luck!

The FRRO in Indiranagar

Leaving New York City

It took me a while but I think I have finally come to terms with the fact that I have moved out of New York City and the United States altogether. It wasn't easy for obvious reasons; I've spent most of my adult life in New York and it is the place where I was most comfortable and energized yet most confused, anxious and restless. It has shaped me into the person I am today. In India, when people ask me where I came from I’d reply “Malaysia” but at the back of my mind I’d say “New York City”.

Sappiness aside, I had three months in the USA to pack up my things and play tourist in my “own” city. Here are some highlights of my last trip to NYC and the rest of USA.

Californian Horse Ranch

“A”’s uncle and his wife own this ranch that's about an hours drive from San Francisco. It was amazing observing these creatures. They were so huge, proud and intelligent. One of them unlatched the door using its massive teeth, so it can come nearer to me for some extra horse-y snacks I had in my palm.

(My first) Camping Trip in the Redwoods

Many, many thanks to Mr. + Mrs. Shadley who graciously drove us to the Redwoods and showed me everything I needed to know about camping - "modern" camping, that is. Needless to say, I was dirty by the end of the weekend, but I had a blast exploring the quiet forest surrounded by nothing but these giant ancient trees. Why would anyone put a hole in a 2400 year old tree?

An Indian Wedding in Kentucky

Congratulations Nisha & Rob!

Roadtrip from the Midwest to the East Coast

Here's the scenery from our drive in Charleston, West Virginia.

Washington, DC

The Washington Monument, standing so very proudly.

Half-day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Jassy


Cheese! She was so excited when "A" and I picked her up from her school, she couldn't stop bouncing. She wore her favorite tutu and the necklace and Indian bangles I gave her. We had a great time learning about mummies, pyramids and Christian art, thanks to Uncle A(l)mit.

September 11, Ten Years Later


Pretty mesmerizing. Brought back memories of what happened on the actual day.

Ice-skating at Wollman Rink, Central Park

This is how excited my sister got when she finally tore herself away from her clingy kids and skated for like five minutes.

Halloween - Kiddy Style

I haven’t been to anywhere else in the world where people celebrated Halloween as seriously as the New Yorkers do.

Thanksgiving Once More

Two full days of cooking with my sister and one of the best dinners we've made together. We were too exhausted to eat during dinner time, but it was worth every achy feet. Possibly my last one in the USA because it’ll be strange to celebrate Thanksgiving in India, no?

My Farewell Party

One of the many in the past few years. This one organized by a very good friend, N.

Saying goodbyes were never easy for me. If I had a choice, I’d give up goodbyes eternally. I recalled being surprisingly calm when I shut the door for the very last time to my little 100-year-old tenement apartment on Mott Street, which I’ve lived independently for more than 3 years.


The living room window which is often blocked by my 18" flatscreen TV. Right outside the window is a tired-looking fire escape, weakly attached to the building walls which has a signboard that says something along the line of “if you get caught standing here, you’ll be fined $5”.


My unforgettable kitchen, dining and bathroom.

When it was time to say goodbye, I recalled it being a bit tough to hug everyone while putting on a fake "I'm alright" smile and holding back sobs. I was told life goes on, and you just have to go with it. I’m looking forward to my new home (it should be ready any day now...) and a new chapter but needless to say, I’ll be missing New York, especially the people in it.

Jules, the latest edition to my family.

A Muslim Wedding in Ooty

I can safely say that I have attended more Indian weddings than any other types of weddings. If the last Indian wedding I went to in Goa was way too hot, this Indian wedding in Ooty was slightly too cold. Nonetheless, it was beautiful and a lot of fun, despite catching a bad cold. It was a good excuse not to drink shots.

Ooty, where the air is crisp and the skies are (occasionally) blue.

Day 1: The Sangeet

A nicely choreographed Bollywood-style dance by the bride's good friends.



Day 2: The Brunch & The Manjha Ceremony

At brunch.


Bride in a beautiful white saree.


Live band at brunch. This is "A"'s dad singing a Louis Armstrong song.


Manjha ceremony area. Manjha ceremony is when the bride is smeared all over with haldi (turmeric) paste usually provided by the groom's family. I think this is also when the bride gets all the wonderful gifts from him and his family.

Day 3: The Nikah (Wedding Ceremony)

The bride and her entourage.


Traditionally, the women and men are to be seated separately, but we didn't do that at this wedding. The bride has to stay under the veil until her husband unveils her.


Bride taking a peek from under her veil, for a group photo.


And finally, the happy newly weds.

For more photographs on the wedding, click here.

Note: To drive from Bangalore to Ooty, if you leave by 6 a.m, it will take about seven hours. Any later than that, with the bad traffic, your journey, like ours, will be an additional two hours or more. If you are prone to car sickness, like me, you should take a motion sickness pill before the start of your journey. Or if time is not an issue, I highly recommend you stop and spend a night at one of the resorts in Masinagudi (a forest reserve in Tamil Nadu). If you're lucky, you might spot a wild animal or two.


A wild elephant at Masinagudi


Jungle Retreat at Masinagudi. Click here for their website.

Ladakh: Lamayuru

(Here's another overdue post)

"A"'s parents and brother had gone back to Bangalore and it was only the two of us left on this majestic mountain range. We spent a couple of days doing absolutely nothing in Leh except slowly inhaling the insufficient mountain oxygen and reading. On our third day, we decided to go towards the West, to Lamayuru.

Lamayuru is about 125 km from Leh, 8 hours by car. Legend has it that this place was once the bottom of a deep lake but a Buddhist scholar prayed and caused the lake to drain. He then built a monastery here which housed the oldest gompa in Ladakh. Sounds like a fairy tale, but it's not all untrue. This place does look as if a lake has vanished and left a bizarre moonscape of rock formations.


The legend carved in stone.


The vanished lake and moonscape of Lamayuru.


Trekking on the moonscape. It's just as you thought it'd be; the surface under our feet was like semi-solid sand cakes. I was so certain there was going to be a landslide or I would step into quicksand because occasionally, I'd come across a hole in the ground and when I'd peep into it, all I would see was darkness.


Moonscape up close. Looks like a dried-up mixture of powdered sand and mud.


Inside the Lamayuru monastery.


An elderly lady who was hanging out at the monastery busily spinning a prayer wheel.


Sunset at Lamayuru.


Blackbirds chilling out on the top of the ancient gompa.


"A" exploring the moonscape caves. Some of these caves are manmade and are homes to the locals.


A tiny door to a sturdy home.


Doors that lead to no where.

The many colors of the Himalaya.

The scary yet amazing view on our drive.


Apart from trekking, you could also do some stone-carving at the "shop" attached to the monastery's guesthouse. "A" had the great idea of carving our names in Tibetan, on a slab of stone, but that stone remains unfinished to this day and is now collecting dust somewhere in my closet. There were some curious young monks around.

There are not too many choices for accommodation. We stayed at the guesthouse run by the monastery that has basic amenities, hot water and pretty good food. We requested the room that's on the terrace and our view was simply amazing.

"A" doing the moonwalk in front of the moonscape.

Click here for more pictures of Lamayuru.

Ladakh: Home stay in Ang

While the rest of India is rapidly developing, westernizing and modernizing, Ladakh has managed to preserved its traditional, eco-friendly, and almost ancient way of life. Unfortunately, change is coming quickly to this Himalayan utopia mainly due of tourism and global warming. Yes, I am equally guilty but I tried to do my part and left as little impact as possible.

"A" and I stayed at a home stay in a small village called Ang.


Ang village.


A Buddhist monk walking through the farms in Ang village.


We stayed with Tundup, who fortunately spoke Hindi so "A" (and occasionally I) connected well with him. Here is his traditional mud-brick house and farm. All vegetables and fruits grown here are done organically because that's the only way he knows how to.


A bee (check out its coat!) looking for nectar from this mustard plant at Tundup's farm.


This is the toilet in the house, situated on the 1st floor (or 2nd floor if you are in the USA). There's a hole on the ground in the middle of the room, and the rest of the room is covered in loose soil. Poop collected on the ground floor from the toilet hole is then put back into the farm as fertilizers. Cool, huh?


Tundup's wife was on her way to Nubra Valley (about 2 days away from Ang village) to listen to the Dalai Lama speak. His neighbor came over to help milk the cow, and I helped (or tried to). It wasn't as easy as it looks! Milk from this cow was used in our tea, to make dahi (curd) which was then made into paneer (cottage cheese) and then the paneer was dehydrated and added as an ingredient to thukpas.


In a traditional Ladakhi house, the kitchen is also the living room. This ancient-looking stove is not only used to cook thukpas and momos but also used to provide heat to the room during winter. Dried cow dung, twigs and sticks were used for fire.

Old drinking bowls passed down from Tundup's grandfather.


The only water source comes from the river. Here's a self-made aqueduct that Tundup build to provide water for his farm that also runs through his house for drinking and washing.


For dinner, Tundup picked some fresh vegetables from his farm.


The whole family was involved in the cooking process, including his little grandchild.


Delicious homemade thukpa. Click here for a Ladakhi homemade thukpa recipe.


This here is chang, a Ladakhi homemade alcohol made from barley. Considering how it was brewed at home, and having experienced some home-brewed alcohol myself, I was surprised by how smooth it went down. It has a subtle taste with a bit of a sour aftertaste. We had a choice of adding roasted barley powder into our chang, which I did (the glass on the right). According to Tundup, this concoction used to be fed to little children when they had stomach aches.

And for evening entertainment, play with the family baby. Here is "A" giving an iPhone introduction to Tenzen, Tundup's two year old granddaughter.

Our room is situated right above the lhas, which is a room where farm animals are kept. Electricity is only powered-on to the village between dusk to 11pm, so by 10:30pm, everyone crawled onto their mattresses and waited for the lights to go off.

Click here to learn about Eco Friendly Living in Ladakh.

Click here for more pictures taken at Ang.