The Price of Familiarity

Following up on my last post in which I stated the grocery stores sell what, to an American, appear to be very mismatched items, I wanted to share the result of my recent shopping trip to the "white neighborhood" as I call it. It's Banjara Hills, located just five kilometers from where I live, and home to a large population of expatriates. It is where everyone recommended I live due to the posher area and stores selling items more familiar to me. Driving through it though, it appears to be a total bore, as there are lots of high walls and gates, a lack of fruit stands and street vendors, and you never see anyone out just loitering, no kids playing in the streets, and no auto rickshaw drivers shouting at you.

Banjara Hills, however, is home to Q-Mart. It's a grocery-type store I can find those missing puzzle pieces like sliced cheese, Prego pasta sauce, ground coffee without chicory in it, and some ready made food items (ie: heat and serve). I've made stopping there a weekly affair, at least for now, until I get settled in a bit more and my things arrive from the states such as microwave safe cooking dishes and kitchen utensils.

This weeks visit to Q-Mart can be classified as both a success and a failure. I picked up a bread pan, a cake pan, and a casserole dish all microwave/convection oven safe. I also picked up a few other items out of sheer excitement for seeing them on a store shelf but should have checked the prices first. Here is a sample of what I purchased and what I paid:

24 oz Prego Traditional Flavored Pasta Sauce - Rs210/$4.64 USD

500g Light Brown Sugar - Rs149/$3.30 USD

17.5 oz Betty Crocker cookie dough mix - Rs205/$4.53 USD

1 pack of Orbit Gum - Rs120/$2.65 USD

And the most ridiculously inflated item of all

5 oz can of PAM cooking spray, butter flavored - Rs415/$9.18 USD

Not everything is cheaper in India and convenience certainly comes at a price. A price I don't think I'll be paying in the future. And yes, Q-Mart prints your credit card number, minus the last digit on your receipt.

The Comforts of Home

The past 13 days have gone by both at a snails pace and like greased lightning. I've mainly spent my time foraging around for creature comforts such as coffee, styling products, and liquid soap. These are things I previously considered essential to my survival. They are things I took for granted. Not any more.

Compared to US meal planning mentalities, the grocery store would appear to sell very mismatched items. I found pasta noodles but no tomato sauce, pancake mix but no maple syrup, coffee grounds for an automatic coffee maker but no filters, and fruit jam/jelly but no peanut butter. I've since taken a trip to a posher neighborhood and shopped at Q-Mart, who's slogan should be "Where white people shop" and found everything from sliced cheese to jarred Alfredo sauce. I had to hold myself back considering I took an auto-rickshaw to get there which has limited "trunk space" for such items.

This past weekend I also got to the mall to restock my make-up supply. I found my brand, but not the entire line, and of course it wasn't in my shade. Still I was unable to find any styling products for women. Not even leave in conditioner. The heat and humidity have me looking like Medusa and I can't find a drop of smoothing serum anywhere yet I see Indian women everywhere I look with shiny, frizz free hair. I can't say the same for the Caucasians I saw shopping at Q-Mart though so perhaps women's hair products really don't exist in India.

All of the items I once considered "basic essentials" have been replaced by what is true necessity. Namely, water and electricity. These things can no longer be taken for granted. Daily we experience power cuts, which can be grueling in 100+ F temperatures. During these dry summer months we also go for hours daily without running water. Our apartment building which consists of 5-6 units share a relatively small water tank, about the size of 5 standard US home hot water heaters, and we take turns paying to have it filled once per day. The cost to have it filled runs approx $12 USD. When the water is gone, you wait.

Let the foraging continue, and let us never take anything for granted.

The Concept of "India Time"

Prior to my first visit to India I was made aware of something called "India Time." It seems that although Indians are mad for a good wrist watch (they love Fossil) they don't use it as a tool to ensure they are on time. For anything...

A good friend of mine from India initially explained the "India Time" concept with the following example: "If I call you and tell you I'm in the lobby of your hotel, that means you should start getting ready because I haven't left my house yet and I should be there in 1-2 hours." My response "Why don't you just call me and tell me you're leaving your house and will be to my hotel in 1-2 hours." His response: "This is India."

While spending time there I quickly adapted to this concept and loved the laid back approach. If I told someone I'd meet them at 1pm, I'd leave the hotel at 1pm and begin my long trek across the city. If I was an hour or two late, no one called demanding to know when I'd reach my destination. If you approach it correctly, it can be quite relaxing.

Pairing the "India Time" concept with "Instant Gratification" expectation in the US, however, can be quite unnerving. My most recent example involved a communication roadblock between myself and the individual providing me with the documentation I needed to file my Visa application. She told me repeatedly "I have sent your documents and you should be receiving them accordingly." To me, that means she sent my docs and I should have them. Now. To her it meant something else. I may never fully understand what that phrase means to her as several days passed in which I received that very same message yet no documents appeared. Additionally, when I asked when I should expect to receive my documents, the answer was always "Shortly." This went on for weeks. I compare it to someone telling me they are in the lobby of my hotel, then not even having left their house yet. Why would you say that, if it's not true? Conversely, I'm sure she was wondering what this rude American was up to being so demanding. Hadn't she made it clear that my documents would arrive "Shortly?"

I think either side of the equation is perfectly acceptable, as long as the other party is on the same side of the fence. From my current American perspective, it was maddening. I am happy to report, however, that today I received the documentation necessary to complete my Visa application, and in turn immediately shipped it off for processing. Now let's just hope the Indian Consulate has adopted an American approach of instant gratification rather then operating on "India Time."