AIRLINE TICKETS REBOOKED

Today I re-booked our airline tickets to India.  I am so happy.  We leave 1/14/13 for Florida and fly out of Orlando to Delhi.   There is much to do between now and then.  Thanks Giving, Christmas and three grand kid's and my husband's birthdays are near.    Then taxes will be done and our Tennessee home will re buttoned  one more time.  Things do happen for a reason.  We will be able to stay for a year or longer. We lost the house we were going to rent due to the delay.  Our Son, Jeevan in Haldwani was able to find us a 2 bedroom house to rent for $200.00 USD in Bhimtal not far from the house we were originally going to rent.  My husband did not find out if it is furnished or not. If it is, great.  If not I will have fun discovering my own Indian style.  Now that Obama has won the election I am even more determined to make India our home if she will have us.  There is something freeing, just going with our electronics, clothing, toiletries and our two dogs.

SAD DAY FOR AMERICA

The electoral college has spoken. Obama is re elected.   A sad day for America.  My country is no more.  I have known it for awhile.  India calls to me.

INDIA CALLS TO ME

The night President Obama announced, "We are five days away from fundamentally changing America", I had a sickening feeling.  In the beginning I thought about voting for him.  He sounded like he would bring us together.  Then I read his book, Dreams From My Father and Obama Nation by Jerome Corsi.  I realized this man was far left.  I cried when I read about a nurse  in Chicago that held and comforted a dyeing baby.  This baby was the product of a failed abortion was left with medical waste to die alone.

With a Democratic House and Senate,  Obama has set about passing Universal healthcare.  Spending was out of control. He went on an apology tour.  I realized he hated America's exceptionalism and was going to lead us down the path of Socialism.

I became one of the first members of the Tea Party. Sept. 12, 2009  I marched with my husband and 1.5 million like minded individuals on Washington DC. I marched again a year later.  Many thought the movement wouldn't last.  They were wrong.  For seven long years I have shouted,  Wake up America!  Look what is happening. Wake up!

September 11,2012 is the day the final nail was placed in the coffin of the United States of America.  President Obama left our Ambassador and three other Americans to die in Benghazi.  They requested increased security as conditions deteriorated during the months before Sept. 11.  It was not only denied it was reduced.  Three times the White House Situation Room received calls for help. None came.  America has never left her military or citizens behind.  Sept. 11, 2012 was that defining moment when I realized I no longer recognized my country because my country as I knew it was dead.  I have shed buckets of tears.  I have shouted, look what has happened.  Open your eyes, look!  Just look.  I now understand,  the media is owned by the government and we have become the Communist Republic of America.  My country is no more.

I now am at peace.  I have done every thing can do.  I have written hundreds of letters to Congress and the President.  I have written the media.  I have screamed until I can scream no more.  In less than 48 hours the people will choose their  next president.  If Obama wins, America will continue down the path of Communism.  There will be no hope.  America will be but a memory.  If Romney wins, he may be able to help bring about a miracle and start to bring her back.  I am not hopeful that he can.  I fear we may be already too far gone.  I am prepared to make the best of it.  If need be I am prepared to leave this country.  India calls to me.

TASTE OF HOW INDIA WORKS

Guess I am getting a taste of how India works or I should say doesn't.  The Indian Customs Officer did not process our paperwork timely and stated he did not have all required documents. We contacted a professional pet re-locator, Pet Fly who looked at our documents and said we had provided everything necessary. Guess the Customs Officer  did not get a bribe from an inexperienced family member helping us. Bottom line, $600.00 to re book our tickets and will have to start the pet passport paper work all over again as every thing must be done within 14 days of departure for India, 10 days for airline and 30 days for USDA in Nashville. We will use the Pet Fly, the cost 15,000 INR/ $277.00 USD, peace of mind priceless.   We plan to go at the end of Jan. after we have filed our taxes. I am sorry to have missed Durga Puja.  The good thing, we will not have to come back to the States to do our Taxes in March.

DISAPPOINTMENT

Today we were to be on our way to India.  It did not happen.  We did not receive the NOCs (No Objection Certificates) from the Indian Customs Health Officer for our two dogs.  Huge disappointment.  Yet things do happen for a reason.  I trust the Universe in that.  Tomorrow we drive back to Tennessee.  India still calls to me.

BIG HITCH

Big hitch with dog papers.  We may or may not go tomorrow.  I may go alone tomorrow. Everything is up in the air.  Despair.

OUR INDIA ADVENTURE BEGINS

We have buttoned up our Tennessee home, said our goodbyes.  Our India adventure begins.  Today we and our two dogs drive to Lakeland, Florida to see old friends and family.  On the sixteenth we fly from Orlando  with a layover in  Frankfort Germany and then on to New Delhi.  It's taken almost a year of planning and doing.  We go with the intention of making India our home.  I am excited to finally meet my Indian family and nervous that I will not adequately fulfill  my role as a proper Indian Wife and Grandmother.

HEALTH CERTIFICATES

In order for our dogs to fly to  India the airline must have the health certificates within 10 days of booking our tickets.  We have lost 2 days because the weekend and Nashville USDA( United States Department of Agriculture)was closed yesterday.  The Indian Customs Health Officer must issue a NOC(No Objection Certificate) before the dogs ever board the plane in the USA.  The Indian Customs Officer will not accept a direct fax of all the forms.  For this our Grandson, Vaibhav in New Delhi has kindly agreed to do this for us.

We spent the entire day obtaining our dog health certificates.  First our veterinarian had to certify that our two dogs Katie, White German Shepard and Nanhki, Toy Fox Terrier are disease free, parasite free and up to date on their Rabies vaccines.  This documentation must be on the Indian Government forms.  From there we drove  eighty miles to Nashville in order to secure the USDA's stamp of approval.  The USDA veterinarian found that some of our veterinarian's paperwork was not completed and no it could not be done by fax.  We notified our veterinarian we were driving eighty miles back  and they must be on standby by to complete it.  Back to Cookeville we went and then once again back to the Nashville USDA.  This time our paper work was accepted and stamped. Once home all paperwork was faxed to India.   One more day lost and also we are dealing with a twelve and a half hour time difference.  Everything is now complete at our end.

Now we wait.   If the NOC is not obtained by the sixteenth we do not go.

INDIA AIRLINE TICKETS BOOKED

It is Constitution Day  here In America. Two hundred and twenty five years ago today our constitution was adopted and signed.   It is with a heavy heart and at the same time great excitement that I booked our airline tickets to India.  My husband has wanted to go home for a long time.  I have never been.   My knowledge of India consists of what I have read and the stories my husband tells of thirty years ago.

I love this country, America.  I love her Constitution and the freedom that it stands for.   I respect and admire our Founding Fathers who, trusting in Divine providence, created this Democratic Republic, a grand experiment never tried before; the idea that  men can govern themselves, that all men are created  equal, that is with equal opportunity to work and to achieve their dreams, each limited only by their abilities  and desires.

My America is no more.  She is in decline.  Slowly she has turned away from her Divine founding principles.  She is no longer " a beacon of light shining on a hill " leading the way to freedom. She has become Socialist, high jacked by the Progressive Movement.  Her population has been dummied down by an inferior educational system and has been wooed into becoming lazy and complacent.  Her government has become dysfunctional and ineffective.  Politicians no longer care for her people but only about their next re election.    She finds herself thirteen trillion dollars in debt, a debt from which she may never recover, leaving  for the first time the next generation worse off than their predecessors.

I am neither Republican or Democrat.  I am an American.  This next Presidential election will decide my country's fate as well as mine. The outcome will decide if America continues to go down the Socialist path or will turn back to her founding principles.  Even then it may be too late.  We may have already gone over the financial cliff.

I am going to India, my husband's birthplace.   We have not turned our backs on our country.  At the same time we must have a soft place to land and a place where we can survive if our country does not. We  and our dogs leave 10/16/12.

INDIAN FRUSTRATIONS CONTINUE

The saga continues.  I spoke with Travisa Outsourcing this morning, asking why for the second time are they requesting MY Indian passport and renunciation form when my PIO application and birth certificate clearly state I was born in the USA, am Caucasian and am NOT a Person of Indian Origin.  They had no answer.  I was kicked up to the next level of idiots.  Same question asked.  She decided I did not need an Indian passport and renunciation form.  I thought I was good to go, but no.  Now they want Ram's village high school certificate which is Hindi  translated into English!  At this point Ram got on the Phone and had a heated discussion.  He told them to forward all the documents to the Indian Embassy.  He was sure an Indian there could read and understand Hindi.  He was informed no, the document must first be translated, then forwarded.  He then in his most arrogant Indian authoritative voice  demanded to speak to a supervisor that had the authority to make an intelligent decision .  After much discussion he was told the documents will be sent tomorrow.  This was at 10 AM. " Why not today?" Ram demanded.   No, not until tomorrow.  You missed the 9 AM pickup.  And so the saga continues.

INDIAN FRUSTRATIONS

Now that my husband has received his OCI, Overseas Citizen Of India, which is a permanent visa, I am super frustrated with the process of getting my fifteen year Indian visa better known as PIO ( Person of Indian Origin).  Though I am NOT a Person of Indian Origin, the Indian Embassy states that is what I need.   On  8/2/12  I sent in the required documents and fees along with their check list.  Cost to mail $25.00.  On 8/8/12  I was notified they wanted my Indian passport or Indian citizenship renunciation form.  I told them I was never an Indian citizen nor was I of Indian Origin.  They then said they wanted Ram's original renunciation of Indian citizenship form. I informed them per their check sheet, I sent them a copy of his OCI  and his renunciation sheet was submitted when he applied for his OCI. The OCI proves he was once a citizen of India and names his child hood residence.  No, not good enough,  they must have the original renunciation form  I sent them the required documents along with an enclosure letter.  Cost to mail $25.00. On  8/13/12  I was notified the documents matched up and will be sent on to the Consulate.  YES!

On 8/16/12 I was again  notified again my Indian passport is missing and needed.  Now I am getting a bit angry.  I again explain my non Indian citizenship status .  At this point they want my husband's birth certificate.  He got on the phone and explained when he was born there was no such thing as a birth certificate.  India was still under British rule and they didn't care to know where or how many Indian babies were born.  Proof of former Indian citizen ship was requested.  Ram politely told them they have a copy of his OCI SENT WITH MY ORIGINAL PAPER WORK.  Not good enough.  They was copy of high school graduation certificate.  They agreed a faxed copy will do.  Sent same day. Yea, did not have to fork over another $25.00

Today, 8/1712  I received an e mail again requesting MY INDIAN PASSPORT OR RENUNCIATION FORM!!!!   It's a good thing it's Friday and they are now closed,  OTHERWISE I WOULD REACH THROUGH THE PHONE LINE AND STRANGLE SOME ONE.  I may cool off by Monday OR NOT.

Please pray for me.

DADDY'S HOME

My husband is home from India.  He has found our temporary rental home in Bhimtal.  Bhimtal is an old city established around 3152 B.C. during the age of Pandavas.  It came under British rule in 1814.  It is located in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains and therefore does not get the extreme Indian summer heat.

Now we begin the process of obtaining our permanent Indian visas.

Bhimtal

 Bhimtal Lake  view from our cottage

INDIA HOME

Ram has found our home to rent in Bhimtal India.  It is a furnished  there bedroom three bath. Rent is $500.00 USD/month.   Sadly he did not think to take pictures of the inside.  He did say it was "nice".  And, yes,  the landlord will accept our two dogs.

Seated in front is our Son Jeevan and our Bahurani, (Daughter in Law), Sudha.  They helped Ram find this cute cottage. 

MY BELOVED IS INDIA BOUND

Ram has gone to India to find our home.  We and our two dogs plan to live in India for at least a year to see if we like it, to see if we can adjust.  Sadly we see our country, America in a decline.  The government is out of control, spending rapidly increasing, our freedoms are slowly being eroded. God is being taken out of our schools and public buildings.  Our history is being changed(falsified) in our history books.  If this continues America will not recover.  We need a soft place to land.  My India born husband wants to go home.  This may be an option to outsource our retirement.  I am looking forward to a totally new experience.  Ram is looking forward to reconnecting with his family.

Previously we had looked at South and Central America but were not totally convinced.  Then Ram mentioned India.  I hadn't considered the possibility because of the distance.  Now that I have done some research it makes sense to me.  English is widely spoken, good medical care is available,  it is a democracy.  The Indians are very security couscous and control their borders well. Ram knows the culture.  Best of all, due to the dollar-rupee exchange rate( one dollar equals about 50 rupees) it appears we can live well.