Yellow Fever Vaccine

Before I share my first ever African memories, I thought I'll write a bit about the first and foremost important thing on the travel preparations list: to take the yellow fever vaccine. As the certificate stating that you have taken the vaccine is a prerequisite for entering a number of African and South American countries, I began to find out where I could get the vaccine in Mumbai. Surprisingly I came across a number of good-bad articles about the same.


So to sum up what all I read: Apparently there are only two government centers for the whole Maharashtra and Gujarat where you can take the yellow fever vaccine and both are in Mumbai. (Obviously!)


The center located in town (South Bombay for the non-mumbaiets) was off the mark due to the notorious descriptions mentioned on those blogs and hence the obvious choice was the one and only remaining center located at the Mumbai international airport.


I was urged to go and stand in the queue at the earliest possible hour. The reason was clear: only one reliable center to get the vaccine all over Maharashtra and Gujarat, which provides only 70 dosages per day on the first-come-first-served basis.

I aimed to reach at 5:30 but lost about 45 mins to locate the center. Weirdly nobody in the vicinity knew where exactly this facility (!?) was located. So here's a small yet important trick to save your time: when you come from the old airport road, keep going towards the departures or towards JW Marriott. On your way, you will see a naive board stating the existence of the "Yellow Fever Hospital". Well, it is not so much of a hospital, but okay, moving on! It's basically located in the compound of the Airport Health Organization. This building is quite big but easily missable due to the giant flyover that shadows it.



Once I reached the gate, I saw that there were about 25-30 people already sitting on the footpath waiting to get their yellow fever vaccine. Apparently, that was the queue! The usual practice is: you go to the watchman at the gate and put yourself on the list. The watchman notes down your passport number and writes your roll number on the ticket copy you need to show along with your passport. Yes, you need a confirmed air ticket for your travel in order to get the yellow fever vaccine from this center.

However, once you have put yourself on the list, starts the eternal waiting period... Such a colossal waste of time! I'd suggest going with a nice book, music, water, and some munchies. I waited for good two and half hours before entering a pretty sophisticated waiting room. The room opens at 8, it's air-conditioned with quite comfortable seating. One thing I must mention is that once they open the doors of the waiting room, everything works quite systematically. Sharp at 10 am, the officers do the roll call for payment and give you the receipt. The fee is Rs 300 for one dose of vaccination. Once you have made the payment, you need to wait for another hour to actually go and get the shot. The center gives only 70 doses per day, so it helps to go earlier. The last person put on the list came in at 8.30ish and someone who showed up at 9 am was asked to come the next day. So you can go late if you are willing to take a risk of not being able to get the vaccine on the same day!

Eventually, as the whole waiting business starts to get on your nerves, a small canteen opens at about 10.30. (I know, so late!) The owner is a kind man but doesn't have many options to offer and whatever items are there on the menu are considerably overpriced. But oh well, like they say, at times it's better to have something than nothing at all!

Once all 70 people have paid the fees, first 25 people are asked to make a line in order to go and get the shot on the first floor. Here's where they give you the famous yellow certificate for the yellow fever vaccine. This is what you need to carry every time you travel to the following countries:


I was expecting that the taking the vaccine would be like taking any other injection. However, it turned out to be quite painful and it was smarting for about good two-three hours! Also one more thing: if you are allergic to eggs, please tell the doctor beforehand. They give you a mild dosage in that case. Though it hurt, I was happy that at least it was over and I didn't have to think about this yellow fever vaccine for next ten years and that the last hurdle of my travel was taken care of.


However, now that I am back from my trip, I can share one secret: nobody, on no airports, checked my yellow fever vaccine certificate, not in India, nor in Senegal, not on departure nor on arrival!! There was absolutely no mention of the vaccine throughout the journey. To my surprise, nobody seemed really bothered about it. I was expecting a very strict checking of the vaccine certificate along with the passports, but nada! I really want to believe in the awesome Indian immigration services, which in my imagination were informed about me taking the vaccine. But I am skeptical and little annoyed at the fuss made about taking the vaccine. If taking the vaccine is as important as the visa to enter that particular country, shouldn't there be some sort of checking? But I guess I should just be happy about having done with it and saving myself from ever contracting yellow fever!


More about the journey in next post!

200 Rupees!

It was like any other Friday evenings in Mumbai. Busy and noisy, roads packed with buses, cars, rickshaws, a few two-wheelers, and cycles rushing to their desired destinations. I got out from the office building and tried in vain to find a rickshaw to take me to the nearest metro station. Eventually, I gave up the hope of finding one and decided to enjoy the rare cold breeze and started walking towards the station. I popped on my earphones and my usual favorite songs started playing in my ears.

Walking on Mumbai roads can be quite taxing - both physically and mentally. The dearth of footpaths, crossings, pedestrian signal lights, pollution, relentless honking and to top on that the unfortunate beggars pleading for money... These walks provoke as you observe so many contrasts of the society: the rich and the poor, the educated and uneducated, the employed and unemployed, people with chauffeur-driven BMWs getting angry at the cyclists trying to find their way - all jam-packed in one, constantly moving towards something unknown. You cannot stop wondering and getting frustrated by all that noise, that sheer lack of a lot of basic amenities in this so called one of the biggest metros in the world and the constant hustle-bustle around you. Very easily you can get lost in your thoughts and start feeling lonely in that crowd. 

That's what exactly happened to me. As soon as I realized it, I tried to shrug off all the negative thoughts and frustration pouring in and tried to enjoy the song that was playing. Suddenly I thought I heard someone shouting 'excuse me, excuse me.' As per my 'acquired' natural reaction, I obviously didn't pay attention to it thinking who would call me now on this crowded road and continued walking. After five minutes, I heard the same voice again. And before I could look back and see, a rickshaw almost stopped me in my tracks abruptly on a small little thing that could be called footpath...

"Hi Mam, How are you? My name is Rajeev", the guy in rickshaw started talking cheerfully. Me, naturally being extremely weary of such unknown encounters did not respond more than a mere hello with a half smile.

"Hi, I am so sorry, but I need some money. My wallet got stolen and I don't have enough money on me. A billion thanks to you if you could please give me Rs 200."

"Umm?"

Apparently that guy wanted to go to the other end of the city for a dance practice for which he was already running late. I asked him why he wouldn't take the train which would have been faster and a lot cheaper. But he didn't have an answer and kept insisting that I gave him 200 rupees.

As usual, my mind had already broken into two: the evil and the good. The evil totally doubting every single word that man uttered and the good one trying to rationalize and justifying by trying to consider the remote possibility of 'what if whatever he is telling me is true'?

After a lot of hesitation in my head, I eventually gave that man 200 rupees and got out of that situation.

It was only then that it dawned on to me the randomness of the situation!! I mean imagine - You are walking down the road enjoying the music, someone follows you throughout, all of a sudden stops you and asks you to give him 200 rupees! How random! I think that was by far the most random things ever happened to me. 

Maybe I shouldn't have, but I got into analyzing what had happened. Why did that person follow me for so long for asking me for money? Did he just randomly pick me as a target and thought I could be easy to fool for money? Did I look that gullible? Was it a part of some "truth-dare" game he was playing with his friends? Why couldn't he ask any other person on the road? Surely I wasn't the alone walking on that road! There were hundreds of others too! Or was he really genuine and had asked others and no one entertained him, so had to ask me for help? So many possibilities crossed my mind!

I guess I will never find an answer to all those questions. I am not sad or surprised at the fact that my pocket is lighter by 200 rupees. It could have been much worse! I am just overwhelmed by the supreme randomness of the situation and the fact that such things actually happen in real life! That whole incident totally shook me and got me back to the reality - of I don't know what. 

Well, but, in the end, the possible scenarios of why and what could have happened are endless with no answers! For the time being all I am going to do is just add this feather of experience in my Mumbaikar hat and enjoy!