Since it has been little more than a year since I came to India after living in green pastures for
more than dozen odd years I get the title of Ex-NRI; I would like to pen small
incidents in a funny way which I encountered in the past year. Just see whether
you can relate to these incidents.
[1] Vegetable Market: Puthur Market is one place in
Trichy which poises a huge challenge for your respiratory system and visiting
on Sunday morning is an experience by itself. One fine Sunday morning I visited
the market and after buying the vegetables I was looking to purchase some
fruits. I have this policy of helping street vendors whenever possible by
buying unprocessed food stuff like fruits. This is because though we buy from
shops many a times the shops expand to such an extent where they bring the
fruit section to the perimeter of the shop and most probably it is meters away
from roadside hence I wanted to help the street vendors too. I went to this
couple in the street and said how much is one kilogram of pomegranate ? They
replied Rs.130 and it is usual to hike 20 or 30 rupees hence I asked how about
Rs.100 and the couple denied that is no way possible and we both mutually
agreed for Rs.110; I was happy that my negotiation skills could get me few
milliliters of petrol. On my way back home I had to stop at Pala muthir Cholai
to buy something I couldn’t get in market and asked one of the sales person how
much is one kilogram of pomegranate (same kind with I bought) and I was
surprised when I came to know it was around Rs.95; So a shop inclusive of its overhead
expenses like rent, labor cost, utility cost could sell for 95 this couple sold
for 110 and that too after my so called negotiation skills. I spoke to amma
about this and amma said that is because I was wearing shorts and chain
…My mom is a funny person and I was not sure whether I should laugh at amma’s
joke or I should feel proud that she had high regards for my appearance.
[2] Bank ATM: India is the only place where people to
escape scorching heat visit a nearby ATM to cool themselves. Since ATM was
crowded I was under the impression many are waiting inside so I thought to
respect one’s “privacy” I should stand outside. But I was ridiculed when people
who came after me rushed inside though they were fully aware of the crowd
inside. Then I went inside and when my turn came up I inserted the card and I
found a person almost kissing me and I said “Sir please maintain some distance”
..I could sense he became angry at me as if I asked his salary or his wife’s
age. Later one day when I got a printout from a Bank I was shocked to realize
the bank used one sided paper to take a printout I requested and on the other
side I could spot name, aadhar number, account number, some transaction details
of a customer. Just like how Vijayakanth says “Manippu” is one word he doesn’t
like in Tamil I realized “Privacy” is one word that is not applicable in India.
[3] Door Opening: Be it private or public place it is
always courteous to keep the door opened for the guests that follow you to come
in or go out and my system just got used to this habit. Little did I know that
this will not work over here …One occasion I had to keep the door open and
series of auntys and uncles along with kids made use of my offer …worst part
was few of them rushed to avail my service and the worst part was not even a
single soul said ‘Thank you’.
[4] Road system: This topic is never ending and have
countless encounters. Once there was a red signal and as an obedient citizen I
stopped my two wheeler and was waiting for the light to be green. It took quite
some time and I saw people going past me and they looked back at me as if they
spotted Prathap Bothen on road. It was kind of embarrassing and had to move on.
[5] RTO office: Many things could have changed in India
but believe me functioning of the RTO office remains the same. People must have
seen piles of paper but if people want to see rooms of paper then visit RTO
office. Since I had to renew my license I visited RTO office through an agent
and was standing in the line. Just like how we see in movies when my turn was
about to come the system stopped working and we were all requested to go back
and come back next day. Because of the number of mass masala movies I see I
thought it was time for me to tap the mass hero inside me. I went to the
officer and put forward the constraints we had to face in not getting work done
today. The officer who was very firm in his voice became friendly and advised
all of us the challenges from their side. Though we had to come the next day to
get things done I was happy that I was able to leverage some use seeing the
mass masala potboilers.
