Divorce petition against me

Dear Expert, I have received a divorce petition against me as per Hindu Marriage Act through a family court in Kerala. And the court is asking me to file in this court an appearance in person or a vakalatnama within 3 weeks from the service of this summons upon me. And also i'm summoned to appear before the Judge to answer the petitioner's claim on 9th December 2019. Here i have two major queries: 1. Since currently i'm in a financial crisis and since i would not be able to afford an advocate, I have decided to handle the case in court on my own, and not depend on any advocate. Since i don't have any knowledge on law or court proceedings procedure, sincere help to me from this forum would be highly appreciated. So my first query is what does it mean to file an appearance in person in the court ? Would it be enough if myself visit the court and required to sign anything in the court premises ? Whom should i meet in the court in the first instance ? 2. My second query is regarding the date of second visit. The court has asked for the second visit on 9th December 2019. But I work abroad and need to report back to duty in the first week of November itself. This is since i have already extended my leave for some health issues and if i don't report back to my job in Gulf in the first or second week of November then i stand a good chance of losing my job. And also in my present financial crisis situation i want to report back to job as soon as possible. How will i communicate this to court ? Will court listen to my pleadings ? In the petition the petitioner is asking for Rupees Seven Lakhs as compensation amount. I'm ready to pay this amount to the petitioner through court order and also i'm ready to take all the blame against me mentioned in the petition. And i don't want to fight in court against this petition or case. Will writing this information to court help me ? Will court help me to return back to my job on time ? Sorry for writing such a big query. Thank you so much in advance, Abhilash S