"You can get it in India"
When I arrived in Mumbai, I still had a number of items to get. I had been running around before I left the U.S. in a mild panic for all of the things I had not gotten. I was running out of time. Furthermore, to find various specialized items I had to run around by car to downtown Washington and to disparate locations in northern Virginia.
As time zero was approaching and I was increasingly frazzled, my friend Sanjay finally said, "Stop running around like crazy. You can get it in India." "Really?" I said, not believing I could get anything in India. "What about the power converter to change 220 volts to 110 that costs $55 at Appalachian Outdoors?" "Well, maybe not that," he said. "But everything else."
When I reached Mumbai, I stayed with Sanjay's parents in Khar, a nice section of old Mumbai. His father took me for a walk. Five minutes from his house we reached the Linking Road. All down the streets were name-brand shops like Reebok and Polo, non-name-brand shops that sold everything else, and makeshift stalls on the street that sold the remainder.
We stopped in a clothing store. The merchant quizzed me on what I wanted and according to my answers from the shelves behind him proceeded to unwrap and lay out a dozen pair of pants. I settled on a pair. They needed to be hemmed? No problem, come back in an hour and they'll be ready. My accomplice guaranteed that I would be shown respect and given a good price.
I spent my time looking around for other items. If I didn't want to pay full price at the name-brand shop, I could see what the non-name-brand shop had. If I didn't like that selection, I could see what was on the street for rock-bottom prices. Multiple clothing stores up and down the street. Side-by-side with electrical stores, appliance stores, mobile phone shops, bookstores, restaurants. Any kind of thing for sale in no particular order. All a five minute walk from where I was staying.
I learned that India is like this everywhere. There are shops and shops and shops lined up cheek by jowl. You walk to them. You walk by them and through them. You leave your residence and they are right outside your door. You don't drive miles to the back of a huge parking lot of a superstore that has what you're looking for somewhere deep inside, if only you can find someone who understands what you're looking for. Much of the time they are open late. If you're hungry someone is selling a snack on the street.
India is changing. People are excited by the malls and superstores that are arriving. But the small shops can't be disappearing any time soon. They are too intrinsically part of the economy and the culture.
I was pleased to be able to get: shirts, pants, sandals, cipro antibiotic, a guidebook, a haircut, a notebook, socks, imodium, a map, and a mobile phone. I could have gotten a cheap backpack or luggage. In Goa I also got a tailored pair of pants, a heating element for boiling water, a stainless steel tiffin, cup, and spoon for making meals, small packets of Tide detergent, sunblock, small padlocks for luggage, and a chain. Since then I have gotten the latest fiction and non-fiction books, ziplock bags, a tarp for camping, and a small umbrella.
Oh, yes, and after going to several tiny electrical supply stalls I found the power converter. For two dollars.
