Shefaly (68)
Easily Amused (61)
Roshni (50)
Mallika (27)
Kislay Chandra (23)
Gori Girl (22)
litterateuse (22)
Dinesh (21)
Joanne (19)How to stop faking it and start living in the real India
Not one to shy away from the occasional delusions of grandeur, Neo often gives his “we choose to move to India not because it is easy, but because it is hard” speech to the sundry relatives and friends who visit Neoville.
But last weekend, instead of giving him the usual blank expression and heading towards the food, one of Mrs. Neo’s cousins, “Preeti”, turned to Neo and said – “You aren’t living in the real India”. (If Neo’s speech was inspired by JFK, Cousin Preeti’s reply was apparently inspired by Sarah Palin.)
Could Neo live in Cousin Preeti’s “real India” by moving to a village and riding to work in a bullock cart every day ? No – as it turns out, according to Preeti, Neo (and you!) could start living in the “real India” right here in Namma Bengaluru by doing the following:
1. Stop sending your kids to a fancy school.
Cousin Preeti nailed this one – sending Neo Jr to any school in India that has white kids in it will result in Neo Jr getting 5 women pregnant before he is 14 – and possibly even more women, provided he isn’t high on drugs on most weekends. Or doesn’t “become gay”.
Also, according to Preeti, all the porn that they show in these fancy schools will cause Neo Jr to “go in the wrong direction”, although Neo argued that the porn might actually help Neo Jr go in the “right” direction instead of having to fumble around the first few times.
No, it is far better to spend that money on a fancy car and instead send your kids to a “middle-class” “value for money” school, where Neo Jr can learn important stuff like “dumb girls should be forced to learn cooking”, “how to skip going to the bathroom for 8 hours because the bathroom is so dirty”, “how to use a pair of binoculars to find your teacher in the classroom”, and “how to fake being unconscious so the unsupervised giants from the last bench will stop hitting your head repeatedly with heavy objects for no apparent reason”.
2. Become more social.
Instead of having an intimate party with the ten people that Neo Jr actually cares about (which oddly does not include Preeti), Neo should invite at least 834 people for Neo Jr’s next birthday – so that Neo Jr can spend quality time alone watching the Disney channel in his room, while Neo mingles with the local Amway e-commerce guru, his “I was a quarter-finalist in the Mrs. Jayanagar beauty contest” wife and their “professional TV watcher” son who apparently has a restraining order to be within 5 feet of high-calorie food at all times.
3. Stop being an American.
Neo should stop wasting money on “American stuff” like the commercial-free Worldspace Satellite Radio (which carries NPR). Even though Worldspace costs less than Preeti’s weekly haircuts. (Plus you gotta get the even more expensive hair-wash – because really, it’s incredibly tiring to stand under the shower for 10 seconds.) Besides, not having NPR/Worldspace allows you to seem smart because you can then bemoan the poor quality of FM radio in India with the other members of the fancy-haircut club.
Also, why buy everything in a convenient, everything-under-one-roof supermarket with transparent pricing when you can get the same thing for mostly higher prices (unless you bargain) at the local convenience store ? It makes no sense at all, unless you’re American.
4. Stop renting a fancy apartment.
Instead of wasting money renting an apartment 10 minutes away from the Neos’ workplaces and schools, Neo should pay thrice his current rent in “owning” a similar apartment in a ghost-town equidistant from Bangalore and Mysore, because, unless you own (a mortgage), you’re never really “settled down”.
Furthermore, imagine the increased job opportunities by being just 90 minutes away from two metropolitan cities! Yes the monthly payments (and fuel costs) are massive, but you’ll be done in just 20 30 40 years! By the time you’re done with those payments, who knows, there might even be a decent hospital close to your apartment – even more appreciation! And don’t forget – real estate only goes up, since they’re not making any more land!
Epilogue
Preeti gathered quite an audience that evening. She went on to regale the crowds with more gems like how Neo “wastes Rs. 100 more on Tata Sky” when he could be saving that money and complaining about the grainy pictures and frequent outages on Cable TV like everyone else.
But, by then, Neo had already slipped into his fake online world, reading up on the fake moon landing while listening to This American Life.
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to Neo on Twitter, Facebook, or via RSS!
Possibly related posts:
- 20 signs that you’ve successfully made the transition to living in India How long can Neo call himself a “newly returned Indian”...
- The only piece of real estate in Bangalore that is worth buying “It’s not an apartment, it’s an abode!” Welcome to Gurgling...
Category: Education, Elders, Housing, Investing, Moral Police, Return to India, bangalore, culture | Tags: bangalore, desi, Education, Education in India, humor, India, indian, Real estate, return, Sarah Palin, Tata Sky 60 comments »
June 9th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Sounds like someone got up on the grump side of the bed this morning.
I’d suggest sleeping on the floor to avoid such problems – that’s what they do in real India, right?
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June 10th, 2009 at 2:46 am
You know the day is going to be grumpy when it starts with the maid ripping off your sheets at 6am, not realizing you’re still in them.
-Neo
(Ok, creepy. That didn’t come out quite right. But trust me, it’s not as exciting as it sounds.)
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February 22nd, 2010 at 5:58 am
That sounds like a dhoti! If your maid’s ripping those off, you’re in trouble with the Neo wife!
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March 5th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Mr Neo Wannabe if u are so very uncomfortable staying in India why dont you get your ass out of here!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Gorigirl:
That’s a great point
Neo:
Are you listening?
BTW I’ll be surprised if any of your relatives are still talking to you by the time you are 1 year old in blogging
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June 9th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
+1, Shefaly!
And your blog begs the question:
Who is the “real” Indian? And which is the “real” India?
And who is to say what is “real”, what is not……you get the point?
One for the ages and sages, eh?
But your cousin seems to have the answers
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June 10th, 2009 at 2:26 am
At the risk of sounding self-important, I’m starting to figure out that real India is wherever and whatever I am not. You can bet that sugarcane juice will cease to be Indian once I start raving about it.
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June 9th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Neo:
I thought about this more and here are some more authentic ways to an Indian life:
1. Throw away all china and replace with steel plates, bowls and tumblers; better still, eat in a pattal and dona
2. Throw away all cutlery; use your hands for ’saapad’ and lick your elbows as the rasam runs down them as (not all but definitely) some Indians do
3. Anyway what’s that toilet paper doing in the bogs?
4. Oh, and did you separate the cups and glasses and plates to be used by your domestic help?
I could go on but I’d rather you discover some authenticity yourself. From tomorrow, pliss to go to work in a mundu-veshti; whaaaat, this pant suit and all? You Americans, I tell you…
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June 10th, 2009 at 2:43 am
1. My son (and Mrs. Neo) are so clumsy, that might not be a bad idea.
2. My son does that – even with things like cereal.
3. If they didn’t euphemistically call it the “health spray”, I would have figured out it’s use a lot sooner.
4. Yes, that one is interesting right ? After they are done handling and cooking all our food, washing and folding all our clothes (inner and outerwear), and touching just about every piece of furniture, what germs could they possibly have that we don’t ?
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June 10th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Neo:
On the last one, I recommend an interesting (rare fiction that I have read) book called “The Space Between Us” by Thrity Umrigar. My review is here: http://bit.ly/mm1tj While reading the review, keep in mind that it was written over 2 years ago.
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June 10th, 2009 at 6:58 am
Neo:
Sorry to crowd this place out, but this is as if on cue, from Amitava Kumar, whose viscerally disturbing book “Husband of a Fanatic” I recommend too. I had promised him I shall review it but I just could not read it detachedly enough. Click on the link (makes me want to curl up and die):
http://tinyurl.com/mkqnkj
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June 9th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
May be you can move to a less Bangaloreey city like Mysore, but then if you don’t like it as it is too Mysoreey then you might have to move to Mandya, but then if it is too … well you get the point, until you reach the dark jungles of mudumalai and live like the Jungle boy, Mowgli! Last I heard, Elephants don’t ask for mortgage if you set up a hut in Jungle.
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June 10th, 2009 at 2:34 am
Yes, but does the hut get cable TV ? How can I be a true Indian without watching the saas-bahu lovefest ?
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June 9th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
It is about 2 years since you R2I’d and I can’t believe there are still folks who has to make judgements. This is one real fear I have when I think about R2I. I am sure we can use our instincts from the *american* way of living and act up there.
Sometimes I notice that even Indians who has never put their foot on a international plane have all the gadgets like the XM radio and such and living in even more expensive apartments than R2I folks do.
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June 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Why, some even have an Amreekan accent pat and all they had to do was read about Angel In A Jolly in a tabloid
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June 10th, 2009 at 2:28 am
Actually many in my family have traveled abroad, but as tourists on such rushed schedules, they don’t get a chance to observe any of the local mannerisms.
e.g. – one of my well-traveled aunts has been to Singapore thrice, without noticing the “lah lah” accent.
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June 9th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Neo, someone is really jealous of you *lol* Even i have plans to R2I sometime this year end or next and your experiences are only increasing my anxiety.
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June 10th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Just blog about it, and you’ll be fine. Every single day, an incident will occur which will bring the “oh I know what I’m going to blog about tonight” smile on your face.
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June 10th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Well, you need to be a good blogger for it. I suck. That is what me and my husband were talking today as how easy it is for Neo to get subjects to blog. No brainer. But is’nt that still leading a American way of living, always living about cyber worlds..?
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June 9th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
- Preeti may not be all wrong, you know. After all, if you make a good case, what’s left for a Media Whore to Babble-on?
- I think it’s time you gave your son the “How dads of girls give their daughters the “all men are suckers” talk” talk.
- Aww c’mon you don’t like to give the local stores their business? The supermarket will never give you the authentic “heyegidhira Medam?” (But then, neither will the locals, considering you’re a
PseudSarr)g
PS: rofl@ “becoming gay”
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June 10th, 2009 at 2:21 am
.. although my son is so talented and sensitive, I’m worried he might be gay – in which case, I’ll have to have the “all men are suckers” talk anyway.
-Neo
PS: What does “heyegidhira” mean ? It sounds like “Hey you! Kidhar ?” – which is what I often get when I walk into any government building.
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June 10th, 2009 at 10:18 am
“Hegiddira” means “how are you”. A correct response to it would be “Chennagiddini” or just a smile would do. Using the former will probably reinforce to them that you’re not a local!
Funny post, unlike your other readers though, I think I kind of see where Preeti is coming from. I think her expecting you to “downsize” your lifestyle is probably taking it too far.. but I’ve noticed that some people who’ve lived in India all their lives and then move abroad and do the R2I thing pretend to be oblivious to the “real” India…more so than people who’ve never even been to India. For example, I have a friend who did this R2I thing and he was appalled by the lack of ramps for handicapped people in Indian stores. I agree with this- there’s barely room for a normal person to move around in some stores! But for him to observe this and make a remark about it like someone who had never seen India before was wierd. This guy grew up in India all his life, he came to the US in his twenties and was here for 10 years, did multiple visits to India in that timeframe. So he was by no means “unfamiliar” with India. He now takes pride in being friends with a ton of expats. And he ain’t no expat! He probably thinks he’s one!
I think I also see what Preeti means when she’s talking about the school aspect. I am for sending kids to schools where their peers come from similar backgrounds. But by no means would I want them thinking they live in some kind of an ivory tower and not want to socialize with kids from other backgrounds. I think the focus of any school needs to be education and all round development, not checking out what my friend’s dad’s(or friend’s!) latest car is. Unfortunately a lot of schools in Bangalore have lately become more the latter type.
I’ve also noticed that Indians in the US socialize with most everyone, but once they move back to India, this whole “class” thing kicks in..suddenly they start to socialize with people their own class and look down upon the lower classes in subtle ways…
My 2 cents/paisa:)..
-Mallika
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June 10th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Mallika
Could it be that these things bother Indians in India too but some of them do not have the right “vocabulary” to express their indignation? Could it also be that the fear of societal oppobrium and sarcasm (e.g. taunts such as “angrez chale gaye, aulaaden yahin rah gayin or The English have gone but their progeny has remained behind) makes it hard for them to articulate their real views? Could it be that the only thing that living away from India does to some people is that it frees them up to not bother (something that is very difficult to do in India what with every one from the baai to the neighbours to the relatives all taking it upon themselves to tell others off)?
This post by Usha, who has lived 51 years in India, struck a chord with me: http://bit.ly/3onmV
She is upset. She has a forum so she is able to complain. What about those who do not have blogs?
The flip side of what you are saying is also true. I was always vocal, for instance, but apart from my father everyone had filed me under “spoilt brat” etc. Now when I go back to India, the same people think I have just descended from heaven. I still have what the Brits politely call “a gob” on me and I still complain and still spend my time on my favourite charities but miraculously now nobody complains or says I am an idealistic and naive person. How do we explain this dichotomy?
This is a curiosity so keen to hear what your hypotheses might be. Thanks.
June 10th, 2009 at 11:33 am
ha! ha!… I once knew a brand new bride.. fresh off the boat.. who “forgot” hindi in 6 months flat….quite an accomplishment. It was beyond hilarious to talk with her…. but I’m being cruel and petty, I should not be so judgmental… I apologies
@Shefaly
“Could it be that the only thing that living away from India does to some people is that it frees them up to not bother (something that is very difficult to do in India what with every one from the baai to the neighbours to the relatives all taking it upon themselves to tell others off)?”
You are right.. it took me some time.. many many years… to unlearn behavior and thought processes, but once undone.. I can’t stand the same behavior in others now.. my top pet peeve is the caste system and the clannish behavior it brings about in most (if not all) Indians… it’s the equivalent of going “them honkeys” or “them niggers” every time we get together. A ridiculous and retarded view of the world.
June 10th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Shefaly,
I checked out the blog you referred to..and it is enlightening to see someone actually do something (or attempt to!) about infrastructure problems. My pet peeve is when people actually complain about things and don’t really do anything about them..my motto..don’t b**** about what you can’t change.
Here’s a hilarious blog post, inline with my earlier response..
http://blogs.livemint.com/blogs/the_expat_blog/archive/2009/04/27/expats-say-the-darndest-things.aspx
June 12th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Mallika,
I hear what you are saying – but there’s this “do as we say, not as we do” air about them that gets my goat.
I choose a fancy school over a fancy car. And fancy gadgets over designer clothes. Entertaining a few close friends at home versus taking out the whole neighborhood practically every weekend.
I don’t begrudge their choices, or judge whether they are real Indians! Why should they ?
June 9th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
…oh and you must stop blogging. Real Indians do not blog, unless they are Amitabh Bachchan.
Am a regular lurker at your blog. Some kind of siren call you have here.I even re-read your older wisdom if you have not updated it- so please don’t totally Indianize yourself, this non-India living lurker needs to laugh at times.
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June 10th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Neo bud, Preeti is the female version of Venkat(Venky).. in that everyone knows a Preeti(or is it preets to friends) or has one in the family.
Also glad you blogged the Indian version of: you don’t know “real America” unless you’ve lived in “middle America”. You coastal elite are fakers ruining the country with your free spending, gay lovin, leftist – Socialist – communist ways.
I’ve always wondered what penetrating and insightful enlightenment would result from say living in Idaho or Arkansas. Though Capt. Kirk is admittedly an Iowa farm boy.
… the star fleet academy is in San Francisco. ah-ha! – so there!
I think your Preeti should meet my GC – soon to be citizen – last_remaining_hold_out_bachelor friend. He of the “real estate” lovin, bootleg DVD collecting, live life out of a suite case – sleep on a comforter on the floor, while driving a pimp mustang and your cousin Preets will make great couple. I’m not sure if the marriage will produce children, but I’m sure they’ll collect a pile of “one/two grounds” and a bunch of flats on the Bangalore – Mysore highway.
and boy.. ain’t you glad that ruckus over Mrs. Neo ovaries is over?
PS: Are convenience stores really convenient in India? Isn’t it convenient to stroll through a “super” market and pick up what you want instead of having to put up with the annoying/dumb/condescending/incompetent and sometimes out right rude “sales” person?
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June 12th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
@Easily
1. I could write an entire blog about Preeti’s husband – but I’m just waiting to figure out what exactly he does for a living.
2. I finally realized why so many here choose to grow those Amazonian, oxygen-producing moustaches. Apparently, without it, these salespeople don’t even look at you. Maybe if I make some threatening, deep noises I will get more respect from them next time. The only redeeming thing about these convenience stores is they offer home delivery, something most of the supermarkets don’t (or take too long).
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June 10th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
@Easily Amused:
After a good 11+ years, I still speak the same brand of Hindi that made a Mallu friend tell me off with: baat kar, samachar mat padh (talk, don’t read news!) so your FOB bride story is amusing as well as disturbing to me. I speak many other languages so my puns are multilingual (which means mostly I laugh at them).
In my case, brought up as I was in a liberal family, I never had to unlearn anything. Which is why I notice the egregious change in the behaviours of those who earlier gave my dad earache about my “problems”. Now of course I am a model daughter!
My causal hypothesis is that the “abroad” stint is seen as a black-box of some sort which transmogrifies me in some way or may be the temporal and physical distance means that awful memories associated with my brutal directness are now forgotten and replaced by my fragrant, adult persona that now visits and in a flash, she is gone, happened so soon.. Oops that last fragment is from an Alannah Myles song.
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June 11th, 2009 at 6:03 am
It’s all fun and games till someone loses an eye.
In all seriousness, this sums it up:
Two worlds,” she observed, “just across the street.”
from
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/world/asia/09gated.html?_r=1.
So the question is, Mr Neo, if you were to live in the real India, how soon will you embrace conservativeness.
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June 12th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
I’m not sure I understand your question. Why would poverty cause me to embrace “values” like religious bigotry, homophobia and misogyny ?
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June 12th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Neo:
You know why poor people’s homophobia may be understandable? Poor people always have lots of children with the more-hands-more-income logic. It is harder for gay people to have kids unless they go the surrogate/ sperm donation route which are expensive and poor people cannot afford them. So they prefer to be straight. It is economic logic
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June 15th, 2009 at 6:42 am
Let’s put it differently. If you grow up on the Upper East side, attend private schools, spend summers at the cape or hamptons, it is easy being Liberal. OTOH, if you live in Brooklyn a lot of sterotypes become real and you become either a ‘convervative’ or a ‘liberal racist’.
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June 12th, 2009 at 5:02 am
commenting after a while.
basically there are multiple indias within india. as with all things in this country its near impossible to define it – so who is to say which is the ‘real’ india?
and, mentioning you in my blog.
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June 12th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Hey I was very flattered by your mention! Thanks – and you’re so very right about their being multiple Indias (as with all other countries). Mrs. Neo is practically outside the door at this point (don’t ask, shopping marathon coming up), so I can’t find the link – but, I remember reading about hunger and starvation in many US inner cities. So, which is the real America ?
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June 12th, 2009 at 6:54 am
Man, thank you so much for making a boring evening in the office interesting…
I am thru with your archives and have bookmarked you
Keep writing!!!
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June 12th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Thanks for your wishes SRK, and welcome!
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June 12th, 2009 at 9:49 am
On a side note, not sure how much experience you have with potty training your kids..but not having to “go” for 8 hours may actually not be such a bad thing:)
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June 12th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Mallika
I think Indians eat differently and therefore have different “going” habits. It took me a few years to twig that many westerners with meat-dominant diets do not “go” every day. :-/
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June 12th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Hmm..interesting..I actually heard the opposite from my son’s daycare teacher. The kids in my son’s class who ate meat went more often. Either that or they just ate a lot more fruit. Guess we’ve chatted enough about “going” for the day:)
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June 12th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
The main point which Preeti seems to have missed is…have you got rid of your amreekan accent???
Seriously though, whatever she’s talking about….I see ‘real Indians’ doing that all the time…living in plush apartments, sending their kids to International schools and shopping at Big Bazaar or Forum! So, what is SHE talking about??
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June 12th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Roshni
Don’t you know those who live in India have earned “karma” points which they redeem with these choices? Neo’s (and many other NRIs’) fault is not that they went but that they came back and the timing was unfortunate i.e. they went when “Land of Milk & Honey” meant USA and they have come back when India is awash with economic opportunity. They are meant to display a Swades like longing for dirty rivers, failure of power supply, poverty and so on, to “prove” their credentials or their love for the motherland. Both sides are as bad or as good as the other. I wrote a post about the bizarre cognitive dissonances in NRI (Now Returned Indian) also with far less humour than Neo here: http://bit.ly/1dC1fS which is the only post on my personal blog on which Mr Neo has left a footprint.
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June 12th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I realized another thing – Preeti (and those in my family who think like her) derive some satisfaction from giving me these long-winded lectures. So why not ? All I have to do is occasionally look up from my laptop and nod. I wonder if they realize that their thoughts are being liveblogged.
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June 13th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Neo:
Did you mean long, windy lectures?
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June 17th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Oh, so you ‘work’ on your laptop at parties when you should be grinning at everyone or listening reverentially to your elders’ advice?? Now, I get the animosity!!
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June 17th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
@Roshni
Heh I am never without my laptop (and my Tata Indicom wireless stick). And no, I can’t get used to those stupid small keys on the blackberry or the other phones. Give me a proper keyboard or give me death.
Besides, what can be more rewarding than checking the “facts” spouted by my elders in real-time ?
-neo
June 12th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
It’s 11:30 pm, Friday night. I’m buzzed and wanted to write something witty and about Palin and Angelina. Something incisive about Indians returning home.. but enough bitchin.
Palin and Angel In A Jolly (thanks Shefaly) are both (media) whores.. all men like whores. It’s like masturbation, every guy does it.. those that say they don’t are lying.
Here’s a clip from Year one to prove my point.
Our enterprising and adventurous outkasts – Jack Black and Michael Cera getting the low down on Sodom and Gomorrah.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=85065788156
Anyone know if Palin’s porno “Nailing Palin” out yet? I hear she stops invading Russian hordes and saves Alaska with nothing but her vag.
Angelina has perkier tits.. but will the last? What will she look like when she’s Palin’s age.
I was sad when Palin lost, I miss Tina Fey.
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June 15th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Neo,
Why do I see you moving back to the US one day?:)
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June 15th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Actually rumor has it that Preeti is moving to Australia (a move that will raise the average IQ of both India and Australia).
And if so, I might live in India for longer than Preeti, and you, think!
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June 17th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
All the sarcasm towards cousin Preeti is great, but I am yet to visit a ‘convenient’ super-market where I get everything I need (and I am not even getting into the cheaper price issue). I don’t know about Bengaluru (even though I really prefer calling it Bangalore) …. but here in New Delhi and earlier in Mumbai as well as Chennai, no matter where I stayed, I have always found a local grocer who gives me what I want (a simple smile with “aap yeh rakh sakte hain kya aapke is super-collection mein. main regular aakar lega.” …. in the local language, does the job) and s/he gives it at a price much cheaper than the MRP.
For example, the super markets usually keep Kellog’s corn flakes while I like the one marketed by Mohan Meakins …. even if the small grocer doesn’t have it, s/he gets it if I place a smile and a request. That doesn’t work in the super-markets. In those big places, the value of the customer lies in the market research analysis, but in the real India of your cousin Preeti, my value lies in my conversations and smiles, in my regular visits and informal queries about the weather; in my asking whether the shopkeeper’s son is doing well at school.
You can call it India or bullock-cart or whatever, you can sneer in derision by calling it voluntary austerity too …. many people who have experienced it call it “being more human”.
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June 17th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
since I am an NRI and can sneer all I want, I do agree that the supermarkets in India are well below par in terms of price regulation (they have a lot of gimmicks called sales but you still end up paying a lot for stuff you don’t really need).
What do we do here in America? Why, we go to the local farmers’ markets! However, we also do go to Walmart!! Win win (and please don’t tell me otherwise)!
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June 17th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
@Roshni (and @Ritwik)
1. The local farmers market is not really a good analogy, since they don’t offer branded goods.
2. I’m certainly not going to go to the local grocery store and announce my wife’s favorite brand of sanitary napkins to the 11 other customers trying to elbow me out while trying to get to the counter.
3. The supermarkets in Bangalore are very very good. For the stuff that I buy, they are always the same or lower price than the local grocery stores, mostly due to bulk buying, rewards programs.
4. i have some friends in the retail business who tell me that bigger retail chains have much better quality control in general (e.g. power backup for their refrigerators).
-neo
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June 18th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Haha! Point 2 was something I’d never thought about, after years of being used to actually asking for it at the local grocery stores:) You’d go in, ask for it, get it, pay for it and be off from there..pretending none of it every happened!
June 17th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Hi Ritwik,
Great points. Actually I have some great relationships with the local grocery stores too. They are always eager to help, and I love the prompt home delivery. My only beef with Preeti is when she claims that visiting supermarkets is somehow not “Indian”. Modern, giant stores are as Indian as the vegetable vendor who hides fresh spinach from the other customers and saves it for me every day just because he knows how much I love it.
-neo
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June 23rd, 2009 at 8:00 am
[...] How to stop faking it and start living in the real India [...]
September 10th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
[...] song is famous in Neoville because 1. it’s famous! and 2. Cousin Preeti physically attacked Neo after watching this ad, simply because he offered her [...]
September 11th, 2009 at 12:30 am
Podcasts FTW! Get on with the program man, you aren’t an Amreekan hipster if you don’t listen to NPR through _podcasts_.
Seriously though, if you’re big on NPR, do give podcasts / NPR’s iPhone/ iPod Touch app a try.
Nothing like listening to Fresh Air while you’re waiting for a plane to Borneo….
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September 11th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Tata sky???
I thought that you had Dish tv??
Hmmm…..
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February 15th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
It is absurd that resident Indian people only pinpoint to r2i and NRI folk and ridicule them for not being Indian enough by braving a lower quality of everything. On visits to India even when I had not embarked upon my career and was still going to college in the U.S., I was surprised at how freely the people living in itself India would spend money! If the resident Indians can opt for a higher quality of living if they can afford it, why not the returning Indians? This just does not make any sense.
This Preeti character comes in many incarnations and I’m sure we’ve all bumped into her and her type and have gone through all the annoyance that your post expresses.
So, what kind of response does one give a ‘Preeti’? Everyone just seems to think they have Carte Blanche to give you advice and to tell you how to live your life. The same frustration one goes through on hearing this advice is also felt when people want to peer into your personal life and gather statistics on you, as if they were intending to write a book about you.
People want to know how much you make, how much you have saved, and what not as if it is their birthright (like ‘Swaraj’) and they shall have it! If you tell them, they dig deeper. If you don’t, it is as if you have offended and insulted them. Now, you’re on their bad side! How does one handle this?! Please… everyone, comment! Thx!
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