The Motherland Beckons.

A co-worker of mine just got back from a two week trip to India. She was there attending a good friend's wedding and got to experience the sights and sounds (and smells) of Delhi. Ahhhh...nothing like dodging cars, buses, bicycles, cows, pigs to get to the market. But it was really cool hearing a non-Indian's tale. We Indians, especially those of us who have been traveling to the motherland since we were five, have gotten used to being in a third-world country. It takes us roughly three days to fully adjust to the time difference, the lack of showers and having to use a plastic bucket to bathe, the cardboard toilet paper (if there even is any -- we tend to bring our own from the good ol' U.S. of A.), the 6% milk or better yet, milk straight from the cow, the noise, the litter, the stray dogs, the beggers, and best of all, the insane traffic.

Now, I don't say this to derail anyone's thoughts of ever visiting India. It truly is an experience. Positives outweigh the negatives. There's the culture, the food, the music, the cheesy Bollywood movies, the architecture, the history, the clothing, and of course, the shopping! Oh the shopping. The stuff you see in Pier 1 and expensive retail shops, like the one in Union Square in S.F. that's been marked up 300%, totally gyps you in the shopping experience. In India, when you walk into a clothing store for instance, you're comfortably seated in front of a platform where you'll find seated (Indian-style of course) an employee of the store. After politely asking you what you'd like to drink (typically it's chai or coffee or Campa Cola/Limka/Fanta or any other variation of B-rated sodas), he/she will start pulling out beautiful fabrics of saris, salwaar kameez, shawls, etc, from the numerous shelves behind him/her. And the whole time you get to play the snotty shopper, nose held high in the air, yes-ing and no-ing the selections.

How freakin' FUN!

That is until the bill comes along. This is when you get to experience the magic. The store owner, who thinks he's sized you up ("Oh, deez travelers! Dey come here vith dere muney and shop and shop and have no clue how to bargun!") gets a good eye-opener. You see, even though we're Indian we still have a stereotype because we live abroad. This happens to be a dream for some natives: going to America where the streets are paved with gold. So when we head back we're perceived as foreigners too. However, what they fail to remember is that our PARENTS were BORN and RAISED in the motherland and know a helluva lot about how to deal with these types. So, the store owner goes from being sweet and charming with his "would-you-like-chai-or-soft-drink" to "how-am-I-going-to-feed-my-five-children-if-I-lower-the-price-any-further?" But in the end, everyone usually gets what they want and I get to go home happy with a brand new Indian wardrobe. Ahhh...good times.

Talking about all of this has definitley revved up my traveling engine. So I'm thinking of making a trip. Sometime before it gets too damn hot in India and since most homes don't have air conditioning, this can be quite an unpleasant sight (and smell). I definitley encourage you all to try it out one day in the not too far future. You might hate it and vow never to eat Indian food again OR you might just love it and truly appreciate what India has to offer.