Everyone of us must be having some kind of lasting memories. I also have some wonderful memories. Here are a few.
On 3rd October 2012, I signed a cheque for Rs 20,000.00 for withdrawing from my savings account from the ECIL branch of Bank of Maharashtra, Hyderabad. The cashier Mr.D.T.Sugander gave me Rs 10,000.00 in other denominations and wanted to give the balance in 10 notes of RS 1000.00 each. But I left the Bank in a hurry thinking that I withdrew only Rs 10000.00. I forgot about it the entire day. My wife discussed with me about the money withdrawn the next day converting into a heated discussion. Then I recollected that I brought home only Rs10,000.00 though I signed the cheque for double the amount. Immediately I contacted the Assistant Branch Manager Mr.Sarma and requested him to ask his cashier about the same. He in turn asked the cashier, who told him to tell me to come to the Bank and collect the amount. I can’t express in words how much happy I felt at that point of time. I rushed to the Bank and received the balance amount. I thanked Mr.D.T.Sugander profusely and offered Rs 500.00 as a token of gratitude, which he refused instantly. Further he told me that he searched for me for about an hour.
I had unforgettable experience in America. An African American taxi driver by name Larry L Lee went out of his way to offer me a free trip and also serve as a guide. I wrote about him in my article ” External Appearance of People”.
Our neighbours in Manhattan(Kansas) and in Flushing, New York( at two places) were African Americans. They were good neighbours. They were nice and friendly. We never had any problems whatsoever for almost six years of our stay in America.
We spend hours and hours of our valuable time in blaming the inefficient, lazy and corrupt Government staff and seldom appreciate and applaud the prompt and efficient job handled by at least a few of the staff in the Government. Here are such wonderful incidents experienced by me and my family members during the past 14 months.
My wife was an exchange scholar on J-1 U.S Visa. The duration of this particular Visa in her case was five years. She was supposed to stay in India for two years after the expiry of the same. She wanted to get her Visa converted into H-1 instead of returning back to India. She was supposed to obtain ” NORI” (No objection to return to India) certificate from Mumbai Passport office, A.P State Government and Central Government. Mumbai Passport Authorities faxed the certificate in one to two weeks to the Indian Consulate in New York. My wife followed it up with Mr.Narendra Kumar and Mr. Gopabandhu Das of NORI section, Delhi for about one month on phone. They sent the necessary certificate by post to her without anyone contacting them from India. Andhra Pradesh Government staff also sent the required certificate without taking much time. My wife received all the three certificates within two months that too without any harassment whatsoever.
My daughter had to seek the same certificates from Mumbai Passport Authority, Maharashtra State Government and Central Government for converting her J-1 Visa into H-1 Visa. Mumbai Passport Authority did the job promptly as usual. I followed it up with Mr.Gopabandhu Das and Mr.Narendra Kumar on phone from Hyderabad. They sent the certificate within two months. I followed it up with Mrs. Samant and Mr.Arun Shirsat of NORI section, Government of Maharashtra on phone. Yesterday morning i.e on 9th January 2013, I contacted Mr.Shirsat on phone after coming to know that the certificate was signed. He told me that he would immediately contact me in the afternoon as soon as the letter was ready for dispatch and that he would scan it and email it to me. He kept the promise and also asked me to send any of my friends in Mumbai to personally collect the same. What more else can I expect except to offer a MILLION THANKS to them.
