I’m counting down my days in India now, trying to wrap everything up.
To make sure I don’t forget anything, I am Googling things like “leaving india”. Funny enough, now I am coming upon advice along the lines of, “Well, if you are leaving the country, even for a short time, you need to bring your FRRO paperwork.”
D’oh.
On my to-do list are things like:
This is what it took for me to transfer money from my bank account at India-based “Axis Bank” to the U.S.:
– Nearly an entire month of back and forth with everyone involved. I cut it close!
– Copies of visa, passport, and an application to transfer money
– And exquisitely kind manager at Axis bank who, after I came to his branch once, always made the journey to my office during business hours for any additional paperwork required (i.e. several trips.) Though it was less helpful when he took vacation during the week I was trying to get this all done.
– Signed and stamped documentation from my company that proved I had paid taxes on my income while in India. This was the most difficult thing to get. No one understood my request nor possessed what I needed, but after a few meetings, they came up with a similar document that did the job. (Though having the new HR girl talk personally to the bank manager waiting in the lobby was what really made this happen. My explanation was completely failing.)
– My family back home had to open a bank account at U.S. Bank, because it was one of the few in our area that would accept international wire transfers. Then I had to re-fill out the paperwork with that information.
– Note from the future: It worked. (With lots of fees on both sides, but the bulk of the funds made it.) With just a few days to spare. Whew.
Filler photo from the Delhi Metro
Lunch Party Mishap
I finally decided it was the day I would treat the team to lunch (I had been meaning to for ages.) Because of the various days people restrict their diets, that only left Wednesday and Friday available. I wanted to have food – decent Indian food, not just the same old Domino’s – brought in for my team. One of my co-workers help me put together a menu similar to what another had done successfully. I went to the restaurant in person the previous evening after work and spoke to a super nice person at Pind Balluchi who confirmed the menu would be adequate to feed the allotted vegetarians and non-vegetarians, though the price had been higher than I expected.
Wednesday, the day of the lunch, my co-worker told me that I should check in with them an hour ahead of time to make sure everything was ready. I was almost positive that the restaurant was on top of it. But, I went ahead and called to check. Soon enough the English-Over-The-Phone failed as it often does because Indian Accents vs. American Accents over the phone are even more mutually unintelligible than in person. I handed the phone to my co-worker. He spoke with someone for quite a while, surprising me. Wasn’t this just a “yep, we’re coming with food, be there soon” kind of conversation?
My co-worker looked at me curiously after he got off.
“Did you mean to have lunch at the restaurant? He’s expecting us to come there.”
“What? Not at all! They were supposed to bring it here. That was the whole point.” Indeed, I didn’t want to have to enlist people to drive / park when I’m taking them to lunch.
After this, I started re-playing my conversation the previous evening in my head and the gaps in understanding (like that he did not seem that interested in my address) were more obvious.
Luckily, because my co-worker is awesome, he talked them into switching to a delivery. The food was almost an hour late, but oddly, it was half the price! On one hand, can’t complaine about that. On the other hand, I would have ordered more food, had I realized that. It was just enough to feed the crowd (including the two newbies who ditched their orientation to come.) Bonus, co-worker from Colorado office also enjoyed the Indian-style lunch!
My neighborhood “amphy” theater.
A Neighbor’s “Handmade” Goods
A lady stopped me within the gates of my housing society as I was walking back from work and knew who I was. Not a big surprise as I am pretty sure I am the only foreigner who lives here. But turned out, she resides in the same tower as I and we both have the same maid. She asked me to come over and look at some of her “handmade goods” like blankets and table runners if and when I had time. Although I generally don’t like unsolicited requests to buy stuff from someone, I figured I’d give her a chance. It’s near Christmas, I need some presents, she is my neighbor, and I’d like to support her small business.
After phone tag (well, SMS-tag) for several weeks, I finally made it down there. Something seemed not quite like I expected, though it took me a while to put my finger on it. First off, the variety of materials, patterns, and styles were astounding. Not the kind of things one person comes up with usually. Then she laid out a table runner with *pumpkins* on it. It was an All-American autumn motif that this woman could not possibly have understood. It seemed a very strange thing to see there.
Finally, I caught sight of something that clarified one puzzle, though brought up a new question. I noticed that one of the table runners had a Pier 1 Imports price tag on it! She clearly had no idea what Pier 1 Imports was when I pointed it out, but that is not the point. The point is that she did not hand make this stuff. But then… I have to wonder… where did it come from?
The prices she was asking were not significantly below rates in Delhi (“I have to stay under the market price or no one will buy from me,” she said) but they were significantly cheaper than the dollar price advertised by Pier 1. By a factor of 10 (think $4 vs. $40.)
I bought a couple things just because at that point, I felt obligated to. And I liked what I bought, but it wasn’t what I was looking for. I am not out to undercut Pier 1, I wanted actual stuff handmade in India by a known entity, not mysteriously acquired product (some of which was technically “Made in India” ha.) Curious how she came by this stuff and how she is running a business based on it.
Filler Hinglish
(Well, I guess it is an accurate description of services.)