Letters: Sept 2008

After reading the article on Mumbai, through NRNR-Eyes, (August 2008) I am convinced that $7,000 to $9,000 rent for an apartment for NRIs is not the worth the quality of life in Mumbai or any other city in India. The landlords know the financial might of the NRIs and they simply take advantage by charging exorbitant rents. Before moving to Mumbai or any Indian city, the NRIs should know that there is no such thing as a 911 system for emergency help and if you are involved in an auto accident, you are at God’s mercy!

Finally, I am disappointed by the fact that the author of the article takes pride in admitting that she does not know how to keep time, i.e. if she is invited to lunch at 12:30, she wouldn’t even dream of leaving home till 1:30 p.m. Shame on her.
Rusi Tavadia, Novi, Mich

It was interesting to read about life in Mumbai through NR-Eyes in the August issue of Little India. My experience was somewhat similar.

I am a first generation NRI who came to America in 1965. Last year I went to India for the first time in 25 years to spend Diwali with my family and also to explore the possibility of retiring to Ahmedabad, where I was born and received my engineering degree.

I landed at Mumbai airport just after midnight. There was a layover of seven hours at the Mumbai airport. It was very hot even in the middle of night and there was no bottled water available at the Santa Cruz airport, so I remained thirsty until I boarded the plane.
After landing at Ahmedabad airport, I was driven to my brother’s residence. Along the way I saw dogs and cows roaming the streets and my first impression was that things hadn’t changed much. When I was growing up, these animals were only within the city limits, but now they are everywhere.

One cannot walk on sidewalks, because they are occupied by street vendors. People park their scooters and bicycles on the road alongside sidewalks and walk on the roads. That makes driving cars, rickshaws and buses difficult.

Law Garden used to be the pride of the city many years ago; now you can hardly walk freely inside the park, because of the crowds. People go there not to stroll, but to eat bhel-puri and pani-puri, which they buy from the vendors lined up around the park. Every
evening it looks like a mela. A little roll of toilet paper costs Rs. 45 and lasts for a day or two only. The pollution is so intense that my allergies flared up and I couldn’t find a box of tissues for my runny nose. The city water runs only for a few hours a day. So most people use water pumped from underground borings in their backyards. Forget about drinking tap water and bottled water that sells for Rs. 12 each tastes bitter.

T he food is terrible too. There are more street hawkers than restaurants and their hygiene is so poor that I would not dare to put one morsel in my mouth. Both the water and the food upset my stomach and I lost 10 pounds during my two-month stay.
India may have made progress in IT and Indian companies in Hyderabad and Bangalore may be busy in back office business, but most people are still using Pentium III computers.

Even an ordinary bus is called a luxury bus. Their highways are narrower than some big city streets in America. A 50-mile drive on a bus takes three hours, because the driver has to honk and brake every few minutes to avoid animals and people wandering on the road. There are still no restrooms along the highways. Every hotel claims to be 4-star, even if it is rundown and has dripping faucets, dim lights and crawling roaches and mice.

I could not wait to get out of India. I would have left sooner if the airline did not charge $200 for changing my return flight. It will take another 25 years before I make a trip to India again!
Girish J. Modi, Montgomery, Al

Let’s see, do you speak Hinglish or Hindlish? If you are living in India you must be speaking Hindlish (mixture of Hindi and English) and if you are an NRI living in Canada, U.K or USA, you must be speaking Hindlish (mixture of English and Hindi) among your friends and relatives.

You may ask what rubbish! Well, according to my research when a person in India speaks Hindi, he or she always uses English words. Like “Koi Tension mat Rakhana,” “Actually, main bhi yehi sochta tha,” “Main Kabse wait kar rahi thi,” etc. In Hindlish the verb is always in Hindi and a few words of English intertwined with Hindi words.

Now let’s see examples of Hindlish: “You are a makkhi-choos,” “Do you want more Roti?” Also instead of asking a guest to please come in, Hinglish speaking people say, “come, come, come,” or instead of saying, “I will drop you off,” they say “I will drop you.” Also Hindish speaking people say “Nisha Auntie,” “Daddy-ji,” or “Mommy-ji.”

If you want to hear more Hindlish, watch some latest Hindi Films or soap operas and you will get the hang of it.
Nisha Bhatttt, Roswell, Ga.