It was an erroneous assumption on the part of my friend who lives in the United States and was planning a trip to France, that highlighted the unflattering position of the Indian passport in the pecking order of nations that have visa-free accessibility to the most countries. While himself requiring a visa, he overvalued the capability of the UK residence permit that I had recently obtained in providing an entry to France without the need for any application or approval, and thus failed to give me adequate time to apply for the necessary Schengen visa.
For the average Indian traveller, it is inevitable that the first step before undertaking a foreign jaunt is the visa application. We can only envy citizens of developed countries (and many developing ones too) who can plan their journeys on a whim and a fancy if they so desire while we need to painstakingly prepare reams of documentation to convince the authorities to grant us a visa, and seethe with righteous indignation as the aforementioned citizens breeze past immigration with nary a glance while we are subjected to a stern head-to-toe examination.
The concept of passports and visas is an old one and was prevalent throughout most of Europe until the late 19th Century when large influxes of railway passengers passing through borders made it untenable to have controls. The onset of World War I led to a changed geopolitical scenario and necessitated the reinstatement of checks. While passports were eventually standardized (in terms of personal details that were made machine-readable), visas have become a tool of government discretion, that are decided on various factors convenient to each country. Indeed, several arbitrary and contentious denials continue to make news headlines now and then, especially when high-profile individuals are involved. In general, inter-country visa agreements dictate the requirements for paperwork (or the lack of it) prior to travel; however, there are cases where full reciprocity does not exist. The most common reason cited for non-relaxation of visa requirements to Indians is the possibility of immigration – the large population and a history of attempts to migrate illegally have not helped our cause.
There have been proposals from some quarters on relaxation of travel norms – a concept of free movement, akin to that of free trade – from economical, sociological and human rights perspectives. The recent issues of largescale immigration from strife-torn regions of the world have polarized opinions and caused significant political churn in many countries. While the resolution of such movement is not a simple one, the condition of displaced people is extremely heart-rending. For no fault of their own, their lives have been disrupted, and in many instances a large uncertainty looms over whether normalcy will ever be restored. I think it is fair to say that while as Indians we can certainly be disgruntled with the current state of restrictions in terms of easy access to the world, we can also be grateful that we are not in the position of these less-fortunate countries.
That said, there is definitely scope for improvement of the systems within our own country. While the subject of travel by road and rail merits a detailed analysis worthy of a standalone article, air travel in India has its fair share of idiosyncrasies not found anywhere else in the world, with the multiple levels of security checks and clearances also probably being the highest. It starts right before you even enter the airport, with a number of barricades and speed bumps greeting travellers as they bounce about and zig-zag their way to the terminal building. The less fortunate can also expect a random inspection of vehicle by security forces, which can range from being asked to lower window panes, answering questions on the itinerary, and to visual inspections of the luggage. Once this is done, you cannot expect to waltz into the airport – tickets and identity proofs need to be scrutinized to the satisfaction of a security officer, who will often look back and forth between your face and the photo in the ID, possibly running (in his or her head) one of the most sophisticated face-detection algorithms that could put the top researchers in the field to shame. Thankfully this is the only delay one has to encounter at this stage as the baggage screening process done prior to check-in has now been removed. Odd delays ensue again at the immigration counters (for international travellers) where another round of face-detection occurs, often interspersed with periods of uncomfortable silence that is only broken by the sound of passport pages being flipped through. You will be lucky to find a person here who is not rude and will actually smile. Once immigration is cleared, the security check beckons. In a rare gesture of sensitivity and kindness, the government finally decided to do away with the practice of stamping baggage tags on hand baggage, which has caused undue misery to many an absent-minded traveller who forgot to check if their bag was stamped or not, only to be denied boarding at the gate if it wasn’t and who then had to frantically scamper back to get it stamped while co-passengers endured anxious moments. It is a baptism by fire that prepares one for any further (occasionally rude) checks at the destination.
All in all, the entire process never fails to dish out surprises and is an adventure in and of itself; it is happy fodder for raconteurs and will not disappoint listeners!