After the short assignment in Singapore, we were returning to Kerala via Thiruvananthapuram. The Silk Air Airlines had started flights to TVM thrice in a week. Even though we have travelled by flight several times, whenever we return to India, there is always some amount of mental stress mainly due to the obstacle called customs. I had heard about the bitter experience of several friends, but we can feel it only when we ourselves are face to face with it.
When we return from abroad, it is usual to bring
some gift items to our friends and relatives. Each item may cost only a little,
but those who love us will accept it happily without even asking how much it
costs. My better half also had bought a few things as
per her list. When you are in
a foreign land, it is usual that we buy things which
are not available in our country, just
curios worth a
few bucks not much. Just like any other housewife, my wife had picked up
a few things here and there but
when we packed it up it all, together it was almost 120 kg.
The permitted weight for two
passengers in flight was only 70kg. As per
excess baggage rates, sometimes, 1 kg of material
worth Rs.100/ may be charged anything from Rs.300/ or more. Fortunately, Siva, my student and
colleague in Data Storage Institute was with me
at Changi airport. He suggested that the excess baggage can
be sent by ship which may reach us a bit late. The cost per
kg for baggage through ship will be nominal
even though it may take one or two months to reach us.
So, we left the bag containing mainly my books with
him and thus escaped paying excess baggage charges
equivalent to whatever savings we made out of
my working for six months in Singapore.
Now, the next hurdle was awaiting us at TVM
airport. I had gone through the website of the air
customs and found that there is no clarity on many things. It was
like the old teacher with poor diction telling
“ It can be said like this and also
like what you are telling”. Please remember, this was
the story about twenty years back. For example, there is
a clause that a person can carry his work
tools free of cost, subject to
the weight limits. A carpenter can carry his chisels and
hammers and a mason his pallet, scales and other essentials. For an
engineer then and now, the working tool can be
a laptop. But at that time, computer or laptop used to
invite heavy customs duty. I had purchased a
few computer accessories for my son like a low-cost
printer, two or three packs of blank CDs and an audio
system by Philips. Including the cost of
these together with the purchase by my wife
will not be more than Rs.20,000/. I understood from the website that as per
rules, items whose cost was less
than 20,000/ will not invite any customs duty. But
my experience in TVM airport was different.
As I was moving with
my baggage through the green
channel, one of the customs officials
called me aside and started questioning me.
With the trolley carrying the baggage
kept near me, he started asking me what
are the items in the baggage. I said I have
a few computer accessories like a printer and
a few CDs. Then he asked, how much gold. I
said whatever my wife is wearing,
total not more than say 30 or 40gm. He was not
satisfied. Then he asked how many Singapore dollars I
have. I told him I have converted whatever dollars I had
to Indian rupees at Mustafa Super market. It was obvious from
his talk that he wanted ‘something’ from me. When he
found that in spite of the harassment, I am
not going to pay him anything,
he said. “Dear Sir, you are a
teacher in REC. My son is now studying in
Pre-degree and he is planning to apply for admission to REC Calicut.
Hope you will help him when he comes there”. I
wished him best and said I will be very glad
to welcome him to our institution. With these words I
came out of the airport unhurt.
A few friends had
jokingly suggested that the best way
to overcome the customs hurdle is to keep some attractive items
like a colourful saree
or a bottle of scotch on top in
your suitcase. If the customs official
has a young wife waiting at home
or in the habit of joining a group of friends who meet in the evening
for a peg or two these things can help you.
In this connection, I would like to share an
incident one of my friends shared with me. My friend
had asked his sister who had just graduated from MG
university to come over to Singapore to try for some jobs. She
applied to many firms but nothing
clicked as she did not have any experience or
knowledge of computer usage. When the visa period
had exhausted, my friend gave his old laptop to
her and asked her to return home. He said, if you can learn something on
computers sitting at home, then we can try again after some time. When she
landed in TVM, the customs people saw the
laptop and asked her to remit Rs.30,000/ as duty. Poor girl
had hardly Rs.500/ with her for her bus
fare home and she left the item with the customs and went home crying.
When her brother called in the evening she narrated the story. Then
he said “ Don’t worry, let them take it. This was an old
laptop which I bought from my company for 10
dollars and is hardly worth Rs.300/, let them take it” .
As per their policy, the company used to
provide all employees with new laptop computers every three years
and selling their old computers to their employees for a
few dollars was their way of disposing off the e-waste.
The unkind customs official did not
allow her to try to earn
her livelihood using this old
laptop. If the poor girl was ready to bribe them a few thousands of
rupees, they could have gladly allowed her to
take that laptop home. Things are
different now;
laptop computers are allowed as free cabin baggage along
with the cabin trolley. Hopefully
customs officials of this
type are very rare.
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