Travel Phobia #162: "The Landing Card"

One of the things you have to fill out before you can land in India is a little document that they call a “landing card”. I’m not sure what purpose it serves, in reality, but it gives you something to panic about in the last few minutes before landing. It’s standard information: name, passport number, visa number, best time for telemarketers to call you… (gotcha on that last one!), etc., and once you hand it to the friendlies at the Customs Counter, you never have to see it again. But want to know what’s weird? Every time I come to India, the airline always runs short of landing cards. So the pressure mounts really quickly. It’s a government document, so you’d better not screw it up… oh, and there are no more in case you do. No pressure! They just might not let you in the country if you fill it out wrong, though. NO pressure! Not to mention that they ask you questions that require some space, but then don’t give you any room to write it. NO PRESSURE!!!! AAAAAAGH! Seriously, though, we all made it through just fine. No incidents, and even if you messed one up, they have plenty more when you land. I just think that it’s a little unfair to throw that at people after they’ve been on a plane for what is quite nearly a straight 20 hours.