44 Hours

I was starting on Jan 21st sunday morning from Hyderabad at 4.15 AM (IST) and supposed to reach Houston on Jan 22nd at 11.15 PM (CST), total of 31 hours journey.
I was shopping on Saturday till 11.00 in the night. Came back home at 11.30 and started getting ready for the journey. Mom, Dad, bhai, Shammu did all my packing keeping a check on the weight limit (2 bags of 21 kg's each and carry bag of 7 kg including laptop). Around 12.45, we started for the airport. There was a bit of confusion on the way. Had to come back to home wasting 20 minutes of the time. At the airport, there was a big queue(# 1) (the start of queues :D Let's count them). Everyone at home had come to see me off. I would be off for 6 months away where I would be out of the protective shell that I was in. There were tears in my eyes, was trying hard to stop them.
Once inside, the weight of the luggage was checked and the baggage was sealed. Then we were made to stand in another queue(# 2) for baggage check-in. I was carrying my laptop on my shoulders. A lady approached me and asked if I was planning to take only my laptop as my cabin baggage. When I said that I had one more bag, she asked me to put the laptop inside it since only one cabin baggage was allowed inside the flight.
After check-in, went to another counter where he checked my deputation letter and then I proceeded for the security clearance. I put the tag on my cabin baggage and after security clearance of the cabin baggage, I made a call to Mom and Dad from the public phone inside informing them that I have checked-in and everything is ok. They were waiting for my call outside the airport to start for home and it was 3 in the night. I waited for the call for my flight departure. Around 4.15, the call was made. We boarded the flight. and the flight started at around 4.45 (delay of half an hour). There was a guy sitting beside me and he was sleeping during the whole journey of 1.15 hours. We were served sandwich and coke in the flight as our breakfast. The flight landed at Mumbai at 6 in the morning.
We had to wait till 7 to start the check-in for the next flight. I made a call from Mumbai airport to inform Mom and Dad about my reaching Mumbai. The next flight from Mumbai was at 9.10 in the morning. We were asked to make a queue (# 3) for check-in. The officials at mumbai were so slow maybe because it was so early in the morning that they had only 2 people and separate lines for ladies and gents. It almost took half an hour to check-in the luggage. It was almost 8.30 when I reached the waiting room. Then again we had to wait for the call for our flight. At 8.45, the call was made and we again queued up (# 4). We boarded the flight and the flight started at around 10.30 from Mumbai.
It was an 20.20 hours journey from Mumbai to Chicago including 2 hours stop at London. It was around 8 hours flight from Mumbai to London. They first offered apple juice and then breakfast (bread, jam, butter). The movie 'Lage Raho Munna bhai' was screened in the plane. Each seat had its headset to hear the sound. There were different channels which could be tuned for hearing different flight radio channels. For lunch, I took the Veg kurma.
At London, the flight landed at around 1.30 PM (LT). We were supposed to deplane for security reasons. We were instructed not to buy anything duty free items as it was against the policy of London security. We were again made to queue (# 5) for security check. The official there asked me to put even my handbag inside the cabin baggage. The rule was something like if there are more than one baggage and they don't fit into one baggage, then all the baggages should be checked in. There should be no liquids having more than 100 ml quantity etc etc. We were asked to remove our laptops(if any) from our cabin baggages for the security check. At the security check, we had to remove even our shoes and put them for security check. They asked us to remove any item that contains coins or metals. After the check, we took our baggage, put the laptop inside the baggage again and then proceeded for our flight boarding. We reached there and showed them the boarding ticket and then waiting for the call for our flight. At around 4, the call was made. We boarded the flight. The pilot informed that there was some problem with the security for some of the passengers and therefore the flight would get delayed. At around 5.30, the flight took off.
The crew was changed here and we were again offered softdrinks. They screened some english movie in between. Not sure of the name as I had dozed off. Later they screened "Khosla ka ghosla". For dinner, we were offered veg biryani and sweet. I slept almost the complete journey from London to Chicago. The flight position and other details like the altitude, air pressure, temperature and hour left to reach the destination was shown in the screen at front. We reached Chicago at around 8.30 PM (CST).
We were asked to fill up two forms at the Chicago airport. Chicago was my port of entry for US. We had to again queue up (# 6) for e-passport. We filled up the form (I94 and custom clearance). We were asked to fill up the petition number and the petition requestor in the I94 form. I94 is a very important form and is considered as the US passport. So it is very important to fill it up correctly. At the counter, we were asked for the passport. He then took the finger print of our left and then right index finger. This is matched with the print that is taken at the time of visa processing. After matching it, he gave back the I94 small slip(this has to be stapled to the passport). By this time, it was already 9.45 PM.
I then proceeded towards the baggage claim section. Loaded my luggage onto the trolley and then moved towards the exit. There they guided us towards the connecting flight section. I was supposed to take the connecting flight from Chicago that was schedule at 8.35 PM (Heard it later was delayed by 2 hours and started at 10.30 PM).
When I reached the counter of connecting flight, there was one more queue (# 7). When I reached the counter, it was almost 10 PM. The lady informed me that the next flight is at 5 the next day. I asked her if there was any other flight available. She said there might be some connecting flight. I asked her to check for that and she checked and said that there was another flight at 7.30 in the morning and for that I would have to come back 1 hour before for check-in and she booked my stay in Hotel Ramada for the night. I was supposed to take the bus standing outside from Gate # 5E.
Before that, I called my friend to inform about the delay. I then came out of Gate #5E. I had not expected that the weather would be so cool. It was snowing outside and I had just one sweater on. I was shivering. I could see the bus and then boarded my luggage inside it and then it was a 15 minutes drive from the airport to the Hotel. At the hotel, I had to carry my luggage inside and it was a pathetic situation for me to carry it. I got Room # 1024 on the 10th floor. Thankfully the manager this time got a trolley for me to carry the luggage. The room was quite good with all the facilities (TV, virtual conceirge, games). We were given breakfast and dinner coupons and they had prepared special Indian food (Plain rice, allu mutter, Chicken curry, curd, pickle, pink lemonade, papad) for us. It was a nice feeling to see Indian food in US. Got ready in the morning by 5. But the bus guy was giving preference to the locals there. That was some racism. He didn't allow us twice into the bus saying there was no space. Finally when I could get into the bus, it was 6.30 and I reached the airport by 7.00 and on check-in, they said that since it was only half an hour left, they cannot allow me to board the flight and said I have to wait for the next flight at 5.00 PM. Later they booked a ticket as an Elite passenger. The plane was scheduled to fly at 9.30 AM in continental airlines. Finally I boarded the flight. This was a cute plane (very small). They offered us soft drinks and peanuts in the plane.
Finally I reached Houston at 12.15 PM. A hectic journey of 44 hours finally ended.