Yesterday was Tuesday, and it was the last day of my first week in Bangalore, India. Most of the time during the last week I have spent at work, in my hotel, or in the company of other i2 employees, some I've known for a couple of years. So I really haven't been out on my own till a brief trip yesterday to the grocery store. It doesn't sound like a big adventure, and it really wasn't, but it was different from going to the grocery store in Denton, Texas.
This last weekend I was at work part of the time, and the rest I was with Indian friends shopping for things I didn't think to bring from home, or eating lunch. One place we stopped Sunday afternoon was a grocery store called Food World. It's a chain and there are several, at least, around Bangalore. Among other things, they had bottled water. That's an important commodity since I can't drink the tap water here, or ever brush my teeth with it, without getting sick. The hotel charges Rs. 45, about a dollar, for a liter of water, but Food World had 2 liter bottles for Rs. 18, a much better deal. I bought 4 liters, but it goes fast. A friend here told me yesterday that there is a Food World a few blocks from my hotel, so last evening when I got back to the hotel, about 8:30 p.m., I decided to walk to Food World and get some more water and some green curry paste for a friend.
Normally there's quite a bit of traffic in Bangalore. The air is thick with smog and exhaust as you go along the major roads between the hotel and work. I've been going by hotel taxi to work and by "Spot Taxi", that's the name of the taxi company, back to the hotel. Yesterday morning I woke up about 2:30 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep, so I ended up going in to work about 6:00 a.m. The roads were almost empty. Most of the businesses were closed. So I knew that things didn't stay open all night when I decided to walk to the store last night, but they were open as I left the hotel.
Being a little unsure of myself, I decided to walk fast and try to look like I knew where I was going. I needn't have worried. It was a nice crowd of people along the streets. It was good I hurried though, since it was getting late. At the end of the block where the hotel is I turned north along a small one way street lined with small businesses and people everywhere along the sides. One shop sold baseball hats, though they don't play baseball here. Maybe here they are cricket hats. There's a big cricket competition going on now and I've seen a bit of a couple games on T.V. There was another shop that sold sun glasses. There were all sorts of things.
I went up to one of the main roads in Bangalore and turned west. The road is named for Mahatma Gandhi, and is known as M.G. Road. This was lined with more shops, but bigger ones. There were some interesting smells coming from a couple places but I hurried on past them. I saw a few other foreigners, Europeans or Americans walking along the rather wide side walk. There were lots of people, but it wasn't so crowded that it was hard to walk faster than everyone and get through. Mostly I didn't walk faster, but at times where people were slow I did. One curiosity I passed was a sort of alley that had a hotel at the end, maybe half a block down. In the U.S. I'd be afraid to go down an alley like that, but it looked like a fancy hotel and I guess it must be that they have guests that walk down there all the time. Some of the shops I passed were dingy, dark, and run down looking, but most were not. Everything here has a well used appearance, but no worse than that, mostly.
Before too long I got to Food World. This was a fancier store than the one I'd been to Sunday. It was set back from M.G. Road a bit and along one side of the patio in front there were candies and pastries for sale. I didn't want to get my hands messy before going in the store, so I looked for a moment only. The pastries were mostly full of whipped cream, which gets to be too much for me in such quantities. However there were 2 kinds of donuts and something called an apple cake, about the size of a small apple, that was covered in pink icing. Actually it looked good, as did some of the candies. Some of the candies were covered in a thin film of silver. I've had those before, but don't remember what they taste like.
The inside of that Food World is probably around 2500 square feet. Besides food, this one had a wine section and a kitchenware section, that the store Sunday didn't have. I looked all over the store. I finally found the bottled water on the far left aisle, having started my search on the far right aisle. The curry was in the back. I looked around for something like granola bars to eat. I had not had supper, but it was getting late and I was just a little hungry. I could find cookies, breakfast cereal, potato chips, and chocolates, and a thousand things I couldn't identify, but nothing I wanted for a light snack before going to bed. I did find the section where the fruit juices were. One container was labeled "Litchi Juice". The fruit pictured on the label looked a bit like strawberries, sort of. I picked one up and thought I'd take it home and try it, but then I noticed that the expiration date was last September. All of them were dated last September, so I put it back.
I heard the sound of a metal door, like a garage door, being closed. Many of the shops use these in front, just as in China. So I knew it was time to leave. I paid for my things and went out to get an apple cake and leave. The little pastry shop was closed. Too late! So I walked back to the hotel, much less hurriedly this time. I looked at the people as I went. There was a group of two ladies and a man who were eating ice cream cones. I noticed several young couples here and there, walking along together. There were several European or American couples who must have been on M.G. Road just to see the sights. I realized that this part of M.G. Road was a nice place where people go in the evening to shop, have a meal or dessert, or just see who and what is there. I plan to go back, but Food World was not the only place closing up for the night as I walked back. So when I go back it will have to be well before 9:00 when the shops close and people head home or to their hotels.
When I got to my hotel, the Taj Gateway, I was still just a little hungry, so I went into the "Potluck Cafe" in the hotel with the intent of getting just a little something. There are a number of things on the menu that I couldn't figure out, but there was a section of salads and another of desserts. I asked the waiter about something I thought, from the name, might be apple crisp but it turned out to be a pastry. I asked about the fruit ice cream. He said it was chicku flavor, that's an Indian fruit and I have no idea how you spell it. So I tried it. It was a light brown and had a good flavor and little bits of chicku in it, I guess. I was served two scoops, which was fine, but it was good enough I could have eater three.
After that I went to my room, brushed my teeth, using bottled water from Food World, and went to bed. It wasn't a big adventure, going to the store, but it's the most adventure in my first week so I guess it will have to do. So now you have an idea what life in India is like for a visitor. I hope you all get to visit some time yourselves. It's a nice place. Just don't expect that because they speak English here that you will be able to make yourself understood all the time with your thick American accent.
That's all for now.
Garr