NEW DELHI: Ten friends from IIM Calcutta in 1979 and went on to make it big in life. Now in their 70s, they decided to have a reunion. Eight of them, with their spouses, and the rest two planned a visit to their dream destination – Croatia – and were supposed to leave India on May 20.Barring seven foreign citizens in a group of 18, eleven needed Schengen visas from Croatia for which they applied well in time between Feb 14 and March 12, as they were told the processing time was about two months. The group had planned to celebrate the 70th birthday of one of them on the scenic Adriatic coast.That was the plan.And this is what happened: The very tedious task of getting visas from Croatia in India meant only nine of them – including four US citizens, two French and one Australian – could leave for Croatia as per the plan. The remaining nine had to either cancel or alter their travel plans at a huge cost, ranging from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh per person. In short, the reunion did not happen.“We and our family members were constantly writing to the Croatian embassy to issue the visas but they did not even respond. Our travel agent tried to help but could do nothing. My wife and I finally got our passports back from the Croatian embassy in Delhi and are now leaving for UK and US,” said Mumbai-based Ramakrishnan Rajaram, 75, who retired as president of a big textile company on May 23.“My original plan was to go with my wife to Croatia and then head for UK and US. We are now skipping Croatia. Rescheduling our tickets has cost me Rs 4 lakh,” Rajaram said, sad that the reunion did not work out. The group has had several reunions in different parts of the world earlier without facing an issue like this. “All the 11 Indians in our group of 18 had applied well in time for the visa. They have very limited slots. Two of our friends decided to stay a day longer in Switzerland than Croatia during this trip. Because of that, they applied to the Swiss embassy and got their Schengen visa in 3-4 days. We had applied for our Schengen visas with the Croatian embassy but didn’t receive any. We kept chasing once the two-month period got over but the embassy did not respond. At our age, we don’t know if we can have another planned reunion like this,” said Rajaram. Pune-based Nandu Kulkarni, who retired from a software company, and his wife were to join the trip. They gave their visa interview at VFS’s Croatia counter on March 6 and submitted their passports along with all documents. When they did not get any intimation about their visa status after May 6, the 60 days needed for processing the visas, they sent reminders to the embassy. However, right till the day of travel, they did not hear from the embassy. They set out from Pune for Mumbai airport, hoping they would get their passports through the travel agency in time for their trip but had to return to Pune disappointed. “Rajaram and I have travelled extensively all over the world on business and on vacations. We never had this kind of experience with any country,” Kulkarni said.Travel agents, on condition of anonymity, told TOI that getting a Croatian visa appointment is very difficult. “We advise our clients to get a Schengen visa from some other country for going to Croatia. The travel agents of these people should have advised them accordingly,” they said.Croatia has emerged as a much-coveted destination, particularly after the hugely popular HBO serial, ‘Game of Thrones’, was shot in the historic town of Dubrovnik and other places there. Bollywood too has been heading for this small countryThe Croatian embassy was asked why applications for visas were disappearing into a black hole despite the growing popularity of their country that was once a part of erstwhile Yugoslavia but no comment was received. The CEO of a leading foreign airline said the entire thing was baffling. “Post Covid, almost all tourist destinations are trying hard to woo visitors from India. Here is an incredibly beautiful country that Indians would love to visit but it has made it difficult for them to do so,” he said.
