What traveling in a Travel Ban is like.

I write this as I wait at the Toronto Pearson Airport, it’s almost 2 in the afternoon and after almost a week full of struggle I somehow just now received the air ticket to New Delhi in my email inbox from Air India for the special flight for today i.e. 25th May 2020.

Now if you’re flying in a special flight, price isn’t necessarily a deciding factor for you simply because you have to, but just for the sake of it a single economy class on this flight costed me C$2461 and that is excluding all the money involved in getting permissions, transportation to airport, Air India office to Consulate General of India then back to airport. The process although may seem simple, that wasn’t the case. It started with a simple registration google form on the CGI (Consulate General of India office in Toronto) website. I waited for a response but after having not received any in two days, I thought of booking a commercial flight on June 2nd (C$1632), and did. Just after half-an-hour later of booking that I received an email of the amount being refunded. The only thing that happened because of it was I had to make more calls even to my bank to reactivate my account, which was now blocked due to “unusuall account behavior”.

I must also add that booking a commercial flight meant nothing will be refunded incase (“which it will most probably”) is cancelled. I again checked in with the CGI still no reply, I did everything imaginable for a response that includes writing emails to every single e-mail address on the CGI website, telephoning every single number from CGI’s Toronto numbers, the emergency ones..absolutely no reply, the contacting service at the CGI Toronto is terrible and this is after my flatmate actually went there in person to fill up the form. I again started looking for commercial flights but still nothing but risk, then I decided to visit the consulate myself. After hours of arguments and discussion they assured me a reply and advised me to go.

I waited the next day, didn’t sleep that I might miss the call, after nothing happened I then, on advice from a friend, tweeted about it.

I did receive a call later that day, maybe it was the tweet but the person seemed as though on his regular job and no mention of the tweet or anything. I informed him about my situation and he said “you’ll soon receive an email seeking the credit card information”, I had some other queries which he answered quietly. Now, as a student in Canada I don’t use a credit card and debit cards weren’t supported, my friend’s credit card has a credit limit of a thousand dollars (being a student himself), I asked if there was an option that I could pay cash? he replied “yes, you can submit the amount at the Air India Office at the Toronto Pearson Airport”, so we went the same day but after hours of searching and asking every single person we encounter on the airport, the police officers, Air Canada officials, airport security and staff nobody had any clue of where the Air India Office was, we could dial the CGI but they never, absolutely never picked up any calls!

Right after that we took a cab to the CGI office again where they made a note of my request and after few hours of arguments and requests they entered my name in the final list of passengers flying on the special flight and instructed me to submit the cash at the “Air India Office” this time they gave a proper address inside the airport, believe it or not this time I found the office but was rudely told to eject and come back tomorrow. I had to make withdrawal of a large sum, for a student, which ended up with me paying a surcharge (service and withdrawal fee ) every time I withdrew C$400 (which was the max in the ATM) it being a weekend I couldn’t go to the bank’s branch. After again getting my card blocked and making several withdrawals from my friends and total strangers’ accounts (after transferring them the money) I managed to get the required amount in cash.

(here I continue writing the article from a hotel room in my hometown where I am currently quarantined)

On the day of the flight (25th May) when I started writing this article, I got again refused for the flight. This was totally outrageous, the CGI failed to assess priorities and causes. The officer, this time politely told he was helpless and the flight was already booked and that I can opt for the business or the first class which were C$4461 and C$7461 respectively. That are huge figures for anyone, for a student almost an insurmountable amount. I then approached a CGI official directly and he went “wait. I’ll see" and went, after an hour later my name is announced and I am called to submit the cash. I received the e-ticket shortly after with the departure at 10:45 pm EST.

Following the title of the article it’ll be only fair if I mention the further process.

I had my luggage with me when I arrived at the airport that morning for my appointment, I met other Indians at the airport (only Indian individuals were allowed to fly that particular flight), some of them had confirmed tickets others like me waited their fate.

I remember having just coffee and juice for that whole day, I was told to wait at the departures. The flight AI-188 was to go Ahmadabad through New Delhi (where I was getting off), naturally there were any passengers who were flying to Ahmadabad in the state of Gujarat. After hours of waiting around 8:30 or 9 we were led to the boarding section where we got our boarding passes, a distance of at least 6 feet was kept everywhere with mandatory protection, gloves and masks. We were given a small paper bad with extra face masks and a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer, the pack said “Consulate General of India” highlighted over the tricolor. Our thermal ratings were taken at every step during the boarding until we sat in the plane before that of course there was the duty free section which as anyone would imagine was mostly empty with the exception of few stores.

The area mostly consisted of Indians flying back home and few other people who where boarding the London flight. Most items, of the few that were available, were on discounts. Masks and gloves were strictly mandatory there onward. Announcement was made for our flight almost an hour before takeoff. We headed to our gate which was E47 and were headed to the plane.

I, like everybody else, was expecting a gap of two between every passenger (justifying the 3x price) but the seating was normal, almost every-single seat was occupied (being a fully booked flight) with no distancing at all. The flight crew wore almost astronaut-like suits to cover them.

The flight took almost 14 hours and we landed at the Indira Gandhi Airport, New Delhi around 11 AM IST.

After almost half-an-hour wait, we were told to follow instructions and get off the plane, divided in groups according to the final destinations. Separate groups for Delhi, NCRs, Harayana and Uttar Pradesh. After testing which mainly included just the thermal testing we were left in the holding area for further process.

Serial rankings were made and few hours later we were guided to fill few more official statements and then to the pre-sanitized state transportation buses which were escorted by two other police and government vehicles. It felt like being transported like convicts who have breached some law. We were presented a list of hotels for the mandatory 14 day quarantine, one of them (which was a government stay as per my believe) was for free, all others had charges I chose the one closest to my house, in the room of which I am currently writing this. In simple words it’s not easy to travel during a travel bad, there are lots of things you go through and which can be both physically and emotionally draining. Just knowing the fact that I am close to my home is contenting, I will request for a house quarantine soon, if that’s possible.

Just as a side note I haven’t had any symptoms of the COVID-19 but I am still taking all necessary precautions and you should too if you have traveled internationally lately. I hope for improvement in service of Consulate Generals of India everywhere and especially in Toronto it’s important to note that although the service was highly effortful and time consuming, some officials at the CGI were very cooperative and helpful. I hope more special flights can be arranged right now and in the future that can bring Indians abroad back to their homes when they need to.