1. Commute: Coming from Toronto and being used to the crowded TTC subways and buses, I thought it cant get much worse. And having travelled the Toronto traffic on the Gardiner and the 401, I thought the traffic I should be able to deal with. Well, I was not completely incorrect. The traffic is indeed VERY bad. There is no sense of people driving in lanes and Mumbai traffic is supposed to one of the good ones in India. I dont know how they deduce that. People are just looking for a spot to cut the other person off. And the same with the local trains and buses. They are crowded like anything. If there is room to move, that means the bus is not full yet, there is still room to stuff people. And I am not even going to start talking about people manoeuvre their vehicles. So my tip while commuting is that when you are in an auto rickshaw, just be oblivious to how it is going on the street. If you start paying attention to how close you are to the next vehicles and how fast you are going, how they are dodging pedestrians, you will completely go insane. So, you have to be lost in something else. I recommended watching the meter, cause it might be going faster (i.e. charging you more) than it is supposed to be. For those looking to be adventurous and travel the Mumbai local, I would advice start with the first class. It will be comparatively empty, expensive but you will be able to go in much more comfort. Once you are used to that, you can try the general class. Now the trick in the general class is that you have to know how to get on and how to get down. Firstly, you have to make sure that you travel light. Any bag you carry has to be as thin as possible because if by chance you drop it anywhere, you will not get a chance to go back and pick it up. So, the trick to get on. Just position yourself in front of the door, people will start pushing you in. I used to think of this as a joke, but it is true, people will start pushing you. I dont know what is the hurry, the next train would be just 2 minutes away, but still everyone wants to get on. And the same trick must be used to get down as well. You have to get to the door well in advance and position yourself to be able to get down. But be careful not to be standing near the doorway, otherwise you will be pushed down where you dont want to get down and to get back on the same train, may God be with you. And finally those who are looking to travel in comfort, there are lots of private taxis available, but one has to book them well in advance. Unlike the Beck or Diamond taxis in Toronto, taxis over here will not show up in 10 minutes. It might be hours before they are able to provide you with a taxi (unless you are at the airport).
2. Crossing Streets: For this I have discovered that there are a few techniques that one can use to cross the streets. First off all you should know that the zebra crossings have on respect in India and the signal for pedestrians crossing is even less respected. Given the new cars coming to India, everyone wants to use the streets as a runway as if they are going to take off. So for a pedestrian, it is important to know how to cross the street safely. Here are two ways one can use. First is to dodge cars. Just imagine yourself to be in a game of dodge ball and the cars coming at you are like the balls, so you have to do EVERYTHING to avoid getting hit. However, one needs to have very good reflexes in order to execute this procedure, but you are ensured that you will cross the street.....eventually. Now the second way is to be brave and just storm into oncoming traffic. You need two things to do this, actually three. One is that you need a lot of guts, and I mean a LOT. It takes a lot to just walk into fast moving traffic. Secondly, you need to have a pissed off look on your face. This will ensure that cars coming towards you are careful of avoiding you just because you have that pissed off look. And the third ingredient is the firm use of your palm. You have to be able to put up you palm in the direction of oncoming traffic very firmly to indicate you are in charge. Now all you need is a combination of all three and you will be across the street in no time. There are two other ways you can use, but they are not guaranteed to get across. First is that you can follow someone who is crossing the street, but if you are left behind, you are alone. And lastly, you can just wait for the cars to stop and that might take till eternity.
3. Monsoon season: I have just started experiencing the Mumbai rains and frankly, it hasnt been to harsh lately. Maybe the monsoon has been delayed. One has to get in the habit of carrying an umbrella. Unlike Toronto, there arent many places that you can go to avoid the rain and when it rains in Mumbai, it rains heavy. Within minutes the roads will be flooded and the roofs will start dropping water like anything. In addition to the umbrella, one also needs to wear a jacket which is locally known as a windcheater (I used to wear this as a child, but never bothered to look up how it is spelt). You need this jacket to avoid getting wet and dirty. With all the potholes filled with water, if you are walking on the sidewalk, you are sure to be splashed with water. Even if you are in an autorichshaw, you will experience the same. So to avoid yourself getting dirty, it will be better to wear this jacket and save your precious clothings.
4. Food: I mentioned in my previous blogs that I have fallen for the roadside sandwiches. Remember the turn over rate I talked about. So carrying on from there, I would recommend that wherever you work or live, go and take the numbers of all the restaurants around. One service that I really like here is the Just Dial service here. You can just call these people, ask for literally ANYTHING and they will be able to provide you with the contact and better yet, if you are looking to book something, they will connect you to them and provide your number to a few more providers who call you to ask for what you are looking for. Now back to the restaurants. The delivery service of all these restaurants is just amazing. It is so good that a company like McDonalds also delivers in India. That was a culture shock for me, a chain like McDonalds that relies on people coming in and leaving, delivers to offices and homes in India. Thats how powerful these roadside restaurants in India are. So, as I mentioned get their numbers and you are ensured to be delivered food to your office or home within 30 minutes of ordering. The same applies to your supplies as well. If you need anything....be it a bar of soap or even a bottle of coke, all you need to do is call these neighbourhood stores, give them your building and apartment number and the stuff will be delivered in no time and at no extra charge! I felt kind of stupid carrying my own supplies home when everyone around just calls gets them delivered.
5. Mobile Phones: For those who think that the blackberry is a leash, they are to be proven wrong in India. In India if you own a mobile phone (I have picked up the Indian lingo, I will be blogging about that next) you are on the leash. You are held accountable for not answering a phone call when needed. So no matter what the time of the day is, if your phone rings, you have to answer. And to make matters worse, people in India openly pass around the numbers of others without permission. So you dont even know who is going handing around your number. So an advice from me, if you are working in India and using your cell phone as your primary mode of communication, give out your number very carefully, or better yet, have two phones, one for personal use and one professional. I have seen that a lot in India, everyone has atleast 2 phones. I personally would go nuts if I had to live like that, but people in India do it, and I respect them for that.
6. Email: The final part of this blog would be emailing. This is one technology that needs to be used more efficiently in India. What I have noticed is that email is still not the best mode to communicate in India. The best mode still remains either face to face of a phone call would be the next best thing. If you do use the email, you have to be very careful on what you say in the email. Whatever you write in an email can be used against you, it can be misinterpreted and be used as a weapon. If you are able to dodge all of this, you have to make sure that the recipient actually gets the email and reads it. And the best way to make sure the person has read the email, is to call them and tell them to read it. Even if they have read it, people do not acknowledge and just sit on it. So to make yourself be on the safe side, you have to ask for a reply to ensure that everything is in order, otherwise you are to be blamed again.
Now a lot of this would sounds very negative, but these are something that I have learnt here and I think it will be of good use for people who are in town, and hopefully I am not pissing people off with this. I have no intent to do that. These are just my observations as someone who is almost like an outsider to the Indian work and personal life. And for the next time, I will be blogging about some Indian lingo one has to know to get by. You would think that Russell Peters has told you everything, but he has not given away anything. There is so much more to it. For that...wait till next time!
