Credit Card secured within 2 months

Living in US without credit card is very difficult. For any major shopping or getting something done is not possible without having a credit card. For example, you can rent a car if you don't have a credit card. So before I can get my own credit card which I expected to take at least 6 months after getting a proper credit history, I asked my brother to send an add-on card. Meanwhile I was trying all my best to get a credit card of my own. I have been using Citibank credit card for almost 5 years in India. So I went online and applied for citibank credit card. Within 2 weeks I got a polite letter saying that I don't have enough credit history and cannot be issued a credit card. I called them up and told them I have a citibank customer with a credit card and asked them to look into again. They took my Indian Credit card details and said they will check it again and get back to me. Even after that they sent a letter saying I can't be issued a credit card. I had opened a bank account with Bank of America. Since I have a checking account with them I thought they will issue credit card faster. I tried applying online for credit card and again my application was rejected. 

I was wondering how long it would take before I can secure my own credit card. In first week of Feb 2001, I got a pre-approved credit card from Bank of America. It happened when I was least expecting it and I could not believe it. It is a wonder even now to me and some of my colleagues when I tell them that I got a pre-approved credit card within two months of coming to US whereas other had to wait longer time before they could get their own. I felt it was grace of Lord Hanuman and Guruji that eased my minor difficulty. 

Long Distance Phone Service

The phase of settling down in US in early 2001 has been filled with such surprises that I still can't believe them. My minor problems were solved without my effort by Lord. I remember these events so that my faith remains strong. Long Distance phone call service is needed to be able to make calls to India and within US. I applied for the service from AT&T company. I applied online and after two weeks of application I got a letter asking me send copy of my passport without which they can't provide the service. I was desperate to get the service so that I can make calls to India without having to use calling cards. I was very unhappy when I received that letter. To my wonder next day a competitor service of AT&T - MCI worldcom, called home and asked if we want long distance service. My wife received the call and didn't know what to do. She asked him to call again. He called me up at work immediately and promised immediate service to Long distance calls without having to wait for any thing. One thing we remember about him was he spoke broken English and was very persistent and finally I agreed and immediately that day we got Long distance service operative on our phone number. Again it was wonder to me how a problem was solved so easily.

Visit to Temple 

After I was able to buy car from one of my colleagues, I wanted to go with my family to nearby temple at Livermore. I had visited this temple on my previous visit to US and have a vague idea of the route. However I took a map to the temple. One weekend we started in the morning. We were following directions carefully and going on the freeway. As we were going I found a exit which said "to livermore". I took the exit immediately and went on the way. This was a two lane highway compared the freeway which I remember going on earlier. We compared the route we were taking with the map we had and I realized that I took the wrong exit. I was worried. For almost 10 minutes I was not sure whether I took the right exit that will really take us to where we wanted. There were no cities en-route where we can stop and enquire. In my heart I prayed to God to guide us properly. Thanks to God gradually I found that we entered Livermore city, the exact place where the temple was located. Once I reached the city I was able get back on the track and go to visit the temple. We had a nice darshan and prayed to Lord Hanuman's idol there and came back. I told my wife that God is taking care of us. Though we have our own preferences to lead our life, he guides in the right direction without our knowledge. By having faith and trust in HIM is important and we will get HIS grace.

Whenever I recollect any of the above experiences I feel blessed and I wanted to share all of them with you.  

Jai Sriram, Jai Hanuman. 

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