Chennai (formerly Madras), India, sits in the far southeastern portion of this land of a billion people.  Located on the Bay of Bengal in the heart of the subcontinent, this is a land that passionately follows cricket and Bollywood movies even as it warily eyes its neighbors that it borders.  My name is John Nylin and my wife, Mariko, and I have lived in this sultry, dusty, fascinating city since February 2002.  A long way from growing up in Bakersfield, I work as a diplomat in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State and am currently assigned to the US Consulate General here in Chennai. 

If you are not familiar with the Department of State, those of us who work in the Foreign Service represent the varied interests of the United States around the globe.  As the principal foreign affairs agency of the US Government, we are charged with carrying out US foreign policy.  The US Consulate General in Chennai is one of more than 250 posts worldwide that are responsible for representing the US and conveying US policies to foreign governments and international organizations.   The Secretary of State, currently Colin L. Powell, leads the State Department, is the ranking member of the Cabinet and is fourth in line for presidential succession.  For more details on the State Department, what we do and how diplomacy works for you, visit http://www.state.gov/aboutstate/.

While my career in the State Department will be spent mostly focusing on matters of economic and commercial interest to the United States, I am currently serving as a consular officer in Chennai.  Nearly all new officers in the State Department spend a couple of years serving in this role.  Consular officers are the State Department officials with whom US citizens overseas and foreign nationals will most likely come into contact.  Consular officers are primarily responsible for protecting and serving the needs of US citizens abroad.

In addition to serving the needs of Americans living and traveling in other countries, consular officers are also responsible for adjudicating millions of foreign national visa applications and are therefore on the front line of US border security.  Here in Chennai, I serve as the Chief of the Non-Immigrant Visa Unit and my team is responsible for the processing nearly 200,000 annual visa applications of Indian citizens here in southern India who wish to travel to the US for short term business or pleasure.  We are one of the top 10 busiest visa posts in the world and the Indian high-tech sectors of Bangalore and Hyderabad drive much of our workload.  The software industry here in southern India is booming and while much of the rest of the world is seeing decreases in visa applicants, the situation is just the opposite here in Chennai. 

A Day in the Life of a State Department Diplomat

So just what does a consular officer do, you ask?  A typical day for me here is really not all that different from a job back in the States or a job in the private sector.  I typically leave for work around 8:00 a.m. and come home around 6:30 p.m.  The days are a bit longer than one might hope for, but we are understaffed and the work doesnt go away just because we dont have enough people to do it.  Just as with a job back home, every day I have to juggle multiple responsibilities, make difficult decisions, report to my bosses on the challenges faced by my team and take the occasional business trip.  On any given day, I will process around 150 visa applications for Indian citizens who want to travel to the US.  Much of this is processing is done in conjunction with a personal interview of the visa applicant.  Based on US immigration law, I will decide whether or not a particular individual is eligible to receive a visa to travel to America.  If the person receives a visa, they will then get on a plane and proceed to a US port of entry (airport) where an officer from the United States Immigration and Nationalization Service (INS) will decide whether the person can legally enter the US. 

In addition to processing visa applications, I also report to my superiors daily on the state of our visa section.  How busy are we?  How many visas did we process today?  What additional resources do we need?  Besides this, I communicate regularly with Members of Congress on visa applicants about whom they have inquired, help manage the American employees association and assist with visits from our Ambassador and other VIPs.  As a consular officer, I am also charged with assisting American citizens in need.  Should there ever be a disaster (natural or otherwise) here in South India, I will be responsible for assisting with the evacuation and safe passage of Americans out of India. 

As a diplomat, I am responsible for representing the United States here in India.  As such, I see myself as having two roles.  The first role, as Ive mentioned, is as a consular officer.  In this role, I am charged with helping to ensure the border security of America and aiding U.S. citizens.  My other role as a diplomat is that of serving as the public face of America to the Indians (and other foreigners) that I meet.  Whether it is at the visa interview window where I will talk to ~150 Indians per day, speaking to a group that is interested in going to study in America, interacting with local officials at a social function or travelling for official or private purposes, very often I will be the first (and perhaps only) American that many Indians will meet.  This is the 24 X 7 part of an American diplomats job and is the grassroots portion that will influence, positively or negatively, others views of who we Americans are and what we stand for.  This, in my opinion, is the essence of being a diplomat.    

Life Outside of Work

Even though I am only required to be at work 40 hours per week, the reality is that as a diplomat in a foreign land, I am really on duty 24 hours a day.  This is particularly true when I am out and about in public (be it for shopping, social activities, sporting events, etc.).  In addition, since 9/11, all diplomats everywhere need to be constantly on guard for their personal security.  Tragedy has struck official Americans in Jordan, Yemen and elsewhere in the past and given the terrorist threat, we are very conscious of our security needs at all times.  That said, we do have quite a bit of opportunity to have unique experiences both here in Chennai and areas nearby to which we have traveled in the past year or so. 

Living in Chennai (and anywhere in India, for that matter) can be a challenging experience for anyone not accustomed to it.  Dramatic heat and humidity, standards of hygiene that vary tremendously and infrastructure that is still being developed are just a few of the examples of what makes living here a unique experience.  In addition, the food here in the southern part of India tends to be quite different from what one thinks of Indian food back home.  In the U.S., most Indian restaurants serve what is more commonly found in the north of India.  A typical meal might include chapatis or naan or rotis (breads that are cooked either on a griddle or in a clay tandoor oven), curries, rice, perhaps a mango chutney and quite possibly some grilled dishes, either meat or vegetables.  While this type of food is available here in the south, real southern Indian food is quite different.  The diet is based on rice and lentils and while much of the food here tends to be vegetarian, excellent fish is also available.  A typical meal here in the south might consist of: sambar (a spicy vegetable and lentil-based soup), idly (a steamed bun made from rice), chutneys made from coconut and vada (a donut-like dish that is made from lentil flour and usually eaten with a coconut chutney).  All of this is often served on a banana leaf and eaten with your hand (right hand only, please.  The left is reserved for slightly more ignoble acts). 

Going out to eat at the many delicious Indian restaurants that Chennai has to offer is just one activity that takes up our spare time here in India.  The city of Chennai itself, while not awash in history and tourist sites like other places in India, is still an interesting place.  The port of entry for the south of India, Chennai was the home of the British East India Company up until India gained its independence in 1947.  There are old forts in Chennai as well as nearby, a Hindu temple built on the beach that dates from the 11^th century A.D., and Chennai is right in the heart of south Indian traditional music and dance. 

The opportunity to see places and meet people that we never would have otherwise are some of the rewards for our hardship.  For example, in the past year, we have traveled throughout much of the south of India, made a trip to Rajasthan, Delhi and Agra (where the Taj Mahal is) in the north, visited Sri Lanka once, Singapore twice, Thailand for a diving trip and also been home to see friends and family.  Yes, living here in India can be a difficult experience sometimes, but the rewards of being here outweigh the frustrations most of the time.

Despite the challenges of living in India, it is an honor serving the United States on the frontline of diplomacy.  While being away from home, family and friends can be difficult on the best of days, the opportunity to represent my country in a very different place is one of the joys of working for the Foreign Service of the US Department of State.  A year from now, Mariko and I will be on our way to another part of the world.  My only hopes are that we will continue to be safe and will continue to have the opportunity to experience all that this career has to offer.