Some Ramblings from Ex-NRI !!

   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.