The collection agents and more muslim might

I had dinner at Sagar a "pure veg" restaurant. It was ok. The guy runs a monthly program where I can have 30 meals for Rs. 750. A pretty good deal. I am just waiting to explore the neighborhood for other such deals so I can figure out who is running the best operation.

As I was having my food, I noticed that a big crowd (about 20) had gathered around the cashier's desk and were making a commotion. Phrases like "100" "Thousand", "Chanda" were heard and I figured they were collecting funds for some religious ceremony. Basically when people in a community perform some religious function - like a Ganesh puja or a Diwali celebration or Holi - they go about collecting funds from the neighborhood, both residents and businessmen (if you thought I was going to say businesspeople for political corrrectness you are clearly in the wrong place). Thing is, these donations are theoretically voluntary, but apparently rarely are. In one of my favorite movies - Siva - there is a great scene where these thugs show up with a can and DEMAND Rs. 100 for a ganesh puja. Apparently this practice is alive and well here. Amazing! The restaurant owner was complaining later about how there are many such groups who keep pestering the businesses for money and they don't complain because they just want to do their business.

Oh and another addition to the "muslim might" concept where I wrote about how businesses are catering to muslims explicitly. I turned on dear old Sun Music channel while I was staying with my friend this weekend. There were 8 ads in one commercial break and 4 of them were ads catering to muslims - featuring muslims, asking them to buy saris for Ramzan. The money never lies. It doesn't matter if your store is called Sri Devi Silks, you can't afford to ignore the Indian muslims anymore.

Personally I think it's great that muslims are doing well enough to influence business. I'd rather have them rich and spending than poor and frustrated and listening to the Osama Bin Ladens of this world.

The neighbourhood: continued

On the day I moved in, I took a walk around the neighbourhood. I was looking for a place to "recharge" my SIM card, put more money into the account. I was looking for the "Idea" signs (since mine is an Idea card). I walked into this store that seemed like it would work. It was being manned by girl who couldn't be more than 12 years old! She was confidently speaking Hindi and taking money from customers and dialing some magic numbers and recharging cards for them.
"Do you do recharges here?"
"Yes, how much do you want to put on your account?"
"Two hundred rupees."
"There's a top up at Rs. 234"
"Oh uh, OK" (Whatever that is)
She asked for my number and before I could take out the cash, the recharge was done. She counted out the change from my 300, "One, six, sixteen, sixty-six, OK?" I could barely hide my smile as this kid played grown up.

Later as I was walking along, I heard a shout of "Bhaiyya, ball!" from above. As I looked up I saw tiny heads over a wall. The kids had been playing cricket on the roof and hit the ball over the wall. The "Bhaiyya" (brother) in question was a stranger who stopped and picked up the ball and threw it at the roof. Except, he hit a few electric/telephone wires and the ball ricocheted into my hand. A flood of memories came back to me, memories from when I was younger and was asked to throw the ball up a few floors and failing to either make the height, or missing the floor. Since you are usually right below the building, you have a very narrow vertical angle to work with and that adds to the difficulty. Do I dare make the throw and risk failure and ridicule, or do I just hand the ball off to the "Bhaiyya" from earlier and let him try again? I took a deep breath and made the throw. It cleared the roof and I heard the joyous, "Yay!!" from the kids, I couldn't stop smiling for the second time that evening.

I stopped at a medical store to pick up some random medicines. The supplies were worth Rs. 19 and I gave the kid in the store a Rs. 20 note. He spent a minute looking through the cash register and then when I looked back at him, he had a piece of candy in his hand. With the inflation and everything, not only can't you get much (anything?) for a rupee, you can't even seem to find the rupee coins. So these store just give out pieces of candy instead of the rupee. It's very amusing that these guys presume you want a goods instead of cash. I wonder what would happen if I took back five of these pieces of candy to the store and demanded something worth five rupees?

The neighbourhood

It's been a whole work day now from my new apartment. And honestly, it's wasn't great. I'm very close to shouting "Mommy"!

The main road (which is a highway, which is just an Indian term for a very crowded road) is about 1.5 kms (about a mile) from my flat. That is a bit of a walk, especially if you have to do it when you come back from work, tired. In a case of the rich getting richer, the journey to work (when I'm relatively fresher) is very simple. There's a bus that starts about a 100 yards from my flat and drops me off a quarter mile from work. On the way back though, I have to fight a crowded street outside my work and walk to a bus stop where I have to fight a bunch of eager commuters to get onto my bus. Provided I can read the signs fast enough (it's dark and the words are not written in the place that they are written on buses in Hyderabad or Chennai) and provided I can actually find the bus that goes home. The alternative is to get on an auto that takes me to an exchange point of sorts. And then take a share auto that goes to my street. And then walk the mile if I have the energy, or take another auto inside. Oh somewhere in there I have to grab dinner because otherwise I'll have to walk the mile again to get to a decent restaurant.

This should be moot soon since I am buying a two wheeler today. A Bajaj Kristal. A gearless bike. The showroom is close to my place and I took it for a test drive yesterday. That's right, I actually drove on Indian roads for the first time in 10 years. I got on the highway with great fear and drove at a very safe 10 kmph (6.3 mph) with both my feet hanging off the bike in case I fell. But the instincts came back pretty fast and soon I was giving it more gas and cruising at a respectable 30 kmph (20 mph). I even signalled and made a U-turn confidently. It felt good - not to drive as such, but knowing that I didn't panic at any point. I'll be making the payment and picking it up tonight after work. Wish me luck.

A new flat and new phone

I'm not the proud new renter of a flat (apartment). Today was my first day to work from the new place. Turns out there is a bus that takes me right from where I live to where I work (except for a about a 5 min walk at each end). I'm guessing the return journey won't as simple. But if I can figure out a way to do my commute for less than Rs 100 each day, I'll be good. Preferably closer to about Rs. 30.

The area is called Wadgaon Sheri. The area that I work is close to the station. I just tell the autowallah (or Rick as they're called here) to take me to Hotel Le Meridian, which is a big hotel adjacent to work. The road off the highway that leads to my apt is called "Pani Ke Tanki kaa road" (The Road of the Water Tanks). The name comes from the giant water tanks that are on the street. It's kinda hard to be certain right now, because I just moved in, but I think I live in those white Buildings in the middle of this image.

I also have a cell phone number. It's been active for a while but I had a few problems with it, so I was waiting to give it out. The number is Nine Zero One One Eight Five Six Eight Eight Three. So to dial from the US you'll be dialing 9190118... etc.

"I don't give the house out to Muslims" and "Women are stupid"

Yesterday I went looking for flats (apartments in India) again. Met a pretty friendly chap who showed me a pretty good flat for a very reasonable price. He went on to show me a few more places too. Somewhere in there he asked me (in Hindi), "So what are you?" "I don't understand" "I mean, Hindu, Muslim ..." "Oh, I'm Hindu" "Ok good, because I don't want to give the place out to muslims."

I was rather stunned by this blatant display of communalism. I couldn't focus on the next few things he said. But as I digested the info, I had to remind myself that this was India and this should be common (not those feelings, which are common all over the world, including the US, but actually saying them out loud). Would you take a stand and try to educate the guy about political correctness? I didn't. In fact, I was almost certain that he and I had a lot more than religion in common. The dreaded C-word - Caste. That, I'm a lot more conflicted about using to get an advantage. But I'm cheap after all and if it gets me an edge, I'll milk his feelings. Of course, I'll play the card when it is time to negotiating rent.

Yesterday the owner of a particular flat missed my agent and me by a few minutes. As a result both of us were very frustrated because the agent had picked me up from work and driven me around. Today I met the same agent to see the same flat and he found out that the key had been with the people who live right below the vacant flat all along. We saw the flat and as we were leaving he remarked (in English): "Women are stupid." I didn't say anything. He continued in a mixture of Hindi and English, "No I'm telling you, women will always reveal their stupidity. The women can be really smart, she can be an IAS, she can be highly educated. But they lack common sense."

I really don't have a joke here. I really really don't. I mean it. I'm just reporting. I do not endorse this person's views. Believe me.