Hey..
There is always the time when every one of us comes to a standstill and wondering what to do.. Iam not talking of a vague quarter life crisis here - this is simpler. This is the time when one has to purchase gifts to the dear and near ones back home. Iam sure that every desi travelling to India would have given a sound thought about this.
Here Iam, planning to visit home .. Hurrah.. and that too after a long gap of 2 years !! I cant wait to ride on a Splendor over the Mount Road; to watch a movie at Satyam cineplex; to eat to heart's content at Hotel Saravana Bhavan - but most important of all - to spend time, a lot of time, with friends and family. There are friends who have gotten married and have kids already since the last time I saw them. There is family some of whom I am meeting after few years who are in different phases of life since the last I exchanged a Hello with them..
And I want to take a lot of gifts back home - to everyone: my parents, grandparents, all uncles & aunts, cousins, their neighbours, my neighbours, classmates, colleagues, parents-colleagues, (ex-)teachers......
Wait...this is tricky. What does one buy in the US to take back home. Five years back when I left to India for the first time from the US, there seemed to a lot of options - Cordless phones, 35mm cameras, Mini radios, Film rolls, Head phones, Cassettes, Batteries, Digital Diaries - the options were multifold. As time passed and I made more trips, my purchasing choices started waning down. Slowly but steadily, the Indian market has caught up with the US and one can now purchase better stuff in Chennai Spencers with lots of options and warranty.
What does one take back home, to a place where you can get everything ? But then I still cant go empty handed, Can I ? I have seen people visit all shops with a SALE board, flea markets, overstock.com, dollar stores - sometimes a 99cent store in a pathetic effort to fill all the 64 kgs allowed with some stuff for every one in the family. There is a standard set, for self - laptop, SLR/HandyCam, iPod. Then there is the regular package deal - 1 digital camera, 2 USB drives, 3 Mp3 players, 4 watches, 5 T-shirts (sold for 5 for $10 at the pavement near Smithsonian), 10 Dove soaps.... A courtesy visit to Walmart for ziploc bags, clingwraps, a Turbo Mach-3 (and 8 blades), Jovan Musk; and there is the most important trip to CostCo or BJs for the typical silver-foil-wrapped, conical Herschey's Kisses - this is like a license tag that proclaims to the junta - Iam back from the United States !!!. People in India must be growing sick and tired of this chocolate. The purchase goes on till you land - like the Chevas Regal from the airplane.
Do people back in India really expect you to carry stuff for them ? They earn well, have good tastes and excellent choices. None of this matters, anyways. Most of us always carry it for 'correctness'. And we are very careful to follow our little-socialist policy of 'equality in everything' in the shopping - all young cousins get watches, all uncles get body sprays and the aunts get perfumes - of same cost if not identical... wow !! haven't we learned to be fair after living in the US for few months.
I dont like to do this India-shopping anymore, it seems such a waste of time. Every item is something that I have already taken or is available in India at a better price. I have been shopping for 2 days, or atleast trying to, with limited or no success to buy something to folks back home. After a few trips, the interest fades off. I also know that no one back home is expecting me to bring anything. They have a lot in their lives to think and worry about - least of it being what I will get for them from the US.
But that ego, that false pride just wouldnt let go, would it ? So experienced desis, do provide me with good ideas of what I can stuff the 2 check-in bags with....
Chao..
There is always the time when every one of us comes to a standstill and wondering what to do.. Iam not talking of a vague quarter life crisis here - this is simpler. This is the time when one has to purchase gifts to the dear and near ones back home. Iam sure that every desi travelling to India would have given a sound thought about this.
Here Iam, planning to visit home .. Hurrah.. and that too after a long gap of 2 years !! I cant wait to ride on a Splendor over the Mount Road; to watch a movie at Satyam cineplex; to eat to heart's content at Hotel Saravana Bhavan - but most important of all - to spend time, a lot of time, with friends and family. There are friends who have gotten married and have kids already since the last time I saw them. There is family some of whom I am meeting after few years who are in different phases of life since the last I exchanged a Hello with them..
And I want to take a lot of gifts back home - to everyone: my parents, grandparents, all uncles & aunts, cousins, their neighbours, my neighbours, classmates, colleagues, parents-colleagues, (ex-)teachers......
Wait...this is tricky. What does one buy in the US to take back home. Five years back when I left to India for the first time from the US, there seemed to a lot of options - Cordless phones, 35mm cameras, Mini radios, Film rolls, Head phones, Cassettes, Batteries, Digital Diaries - the options were multifold. As time passed and I made more trips, my purchasing choices started waning down. Slowly but steadily, the Indian market has caught up with the US and one can now purchase better stuff in Chennai Spencers with lots of options and warranty.
What does one take back home, to a place where you can get everything ? But then I still cant go empty handed, Can I ? I have seen people visit all shops with a SALE board, flea markets, overstock.com, dollar stores - sometimes a 99cent store in a pathetic effort to fill all the 64 kgs allowed with some stuff for every one in the family. There is a standard set, for self - laptop, SLR/HandyCam, iPod. Then there is the regular package deal - 1 digital camera, 2 USB drives, 3 Mp3 players, 4 watches, 5 T-shirts (sold for 5 for $10 at the pavement near Smithsonian), 10 Dove soaps.... A courtesy visit to Walmart for ziploc bags, clingwraps, a Turbo Mach-3 (and 8 blades), Jovan Musk; and there is the most important trip to CostCo or BJs for the typical silver-foil-wrapped, conical Herschey's Kisses - this is like a license tag that proclaims to the junta - Iam back from the United States !!!. People in India must be growing sick and tired of this chocolate. The purchase goes on till you land - like the Chevas Regal from the airplane.
Do people back in India really expect you to carry stuff for them ? They earn well, have good tastes and excellent choices. None of this matters, anyways. Most of us always carry it for 'correctness'. And we are very careful to follow our little-socialist policy of 'equality in everything' in the shopping - all young cousins get watches, all uncles get body sprays and the aunts get perfumes - of same cost if not identical... wow !! haven't we learned to be fair after living in the US for few months.
I dont like to do this India-shopping anymore, it seems such a waste of time. Every item is something that I have already taken or is available in India at a better price. I have been shopping for 2 days, or atleast trying to, with limited or no success to buy something to folks back home. After a few trips, the interest fades off. I also know that no one back home is expecting me to bring anything. They have a lot in their lives to think and worry about - least of it being what I will get for them from the US.
But that ego, that false pride just wouldnt let go, would it ? So experienced desis, do provide me with good ideas of what I can stuff the 2 check-in bags with....
Chao..
1 comment:
Shiva...my sincere advice. Its a waste. The more you take, the more they will expect next time you go. So set expectations right-up. Dont take anything at all.
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