India Online Journal, November 2001
Author: Jennifer Kumar

All photos and text on this and subsequent pages are property of Jennifer Kumar (unless otherwise quoted). If you would like to link to my site or borrow or use images from my pages, please contact me. More about me here. Thank you.
Day 3

Today I woke up at 4 am, due to jet lag and the fact that it was also lightening and raining heavily outside. I was just counting the hours before the first power outage of my current stay, and it came this morning at 7:30 am, right after my bath. I was happy it was after my bath, because if it were during it would be too dark to see in the bathroom as there is only a dark paned window there! But I was surprised the power outage happened when the rains ceased, as it usually happens during the rains.

Today in the morning I went to net cafe and then to get passport photos. I needed these for my temporary college ID. Here you can get 12 passport size photos with negative for Rs 70 (about US 1.40 or so). So after net cafe I went to the studio and besides passport photos, I also took full size photos in salvaar kamiz. For this it is per pose, 4 photos plus negative for Rs 140. I went to the KONICA shop, because I was developing my photos there for two years and they were good. Before going for photos, I went to the shop to buy bangles, bindis and flowers for my hair. I also got a special real-looking (means fake!) gold and diamond earing (Rs 40) but my ear got infected and so I couldn't wear those. The girls in the photo shop had a good time with me, helping me fix my hair. People are always curious about foreigners, especially ones who try to be so Indian.
Ladies selling flowers standing at tables or sitting on the ground is a common sight. The purple flower is called December pu (December flower), and is only available in December and January.
Photo taken by C. Frank Starmer. Used by permission.
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Actually one funny but common thing happened to me when buying the bangles. Bangles are sold in shops called FANCY SHOPS. Fancy shops sell alot of cosmetics and gift items. Upon seeing my (white) face, they invariably always remove (i.e. show me) the most costly thing. So, they took down some nice gold plated (fake) bangles, 4 for Rs 250 (about US 5.25) But I had only Rs 200 with me and anyhow did not want such costly ones. So I told the shop keeper I did not have enough money to buy those costly ones. He looked at me as if I were lying and had a bank in my purse! In the back of my head, since I know Tambaram so well, I also knew these costs were too high. There are other shops with same style that will be much cheaper. It is always good to save money!

So, then I went back home. While on the way bumped into my friend's brother. It was funny that I bump into someone I know. That tells me I am at home here. I love that feeling, it is so nice. So, he got me a hot tea at the tea kadai (tea shop). It was weird because I was the only girl there, since girls and women are not supposed to go to tea shops. But I had one nice tea in a throw away cup. So when I asked where is dust bin (garbage can) he said "it is use and throw" and pointed to the ground, so that is where I threw it, and behind came a sweeper to sweep it up!
In the evening around 6 when it is already getting dark, amma and I went to some shops. First we went to the tailor to take the sari blouse for stitching. Actually saris also come with ends stitched or unstitched. It is better to stitch up the ends because it can get frayed otherwise. But the sari blouse piece for this sari is very transparent, so we had to go to the 'cut piece' store to get a lining cloth. The cut piece shop has only fabrics for ladies sari blouses, inner and outer, and mens shirts. It has so many colors. I took many pictures inside this shop, thinking to start taking pictures of 'normal things' of which I did not really do when I lived here.

Then we took it back to the tailors. He has only a small shop, tailors with big shops have their own cut pieces available, but since his shop is only a stall it is having only a front counter and 4 sewing machines in the back all powered by humans! There are no electric sewing machines! I took a photo with the tailor. He has been my family friend's tailor for 20 years. I have taken clothes to many tailors in Chennai, both low end and high end tailors, but this one is the best! The only problem is that he is usually always late in giving the orders. But that is ok, because he does such a good job!
Most talior shops are small stalls like this, but maybe with more tailors and machines. Photo Taken by C. Frank Starmer. Used with permission.
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Then from there, we went to the opticals shop. I had my eyes checked, and sadly found my power has gone up 1/2 point. I also got new 'frameless frames'. It was so cheap. Eye exam and glasses and lenses total to Rs 1650 (about US $35). This is even cheaper than last year. Last year I got new glasses (called specs in India) for about US 50 in Kanchipuram. So, I found a new optician. But, I was tricked when I first came in, since theirs is a small shop, they only have a few displays of out of date frames. So, it seems, they keep the new and not so common styles in the back room.

From there, we went to the sari shop (pictured to the left). There I bought one nice purple color sari for my mom. Sari shops are the best invention on the face of the earth, at least one of many, in my opinion! So many colors, designs, fabrics, patterns, borders, pallus, etc! It is my second heaven. So I got a nice one for Rs240 with attached blouse piece. But, again the fabric was somewhat transparent, so I have to buy a lining cloth tommorrow. Inside here I also took lots of pictures. Amms has been a regular customer in this shop (called LNC Wearhouse) for many years, hence they knew me from 1998, also. That is why they were so nice in letting me take photos. They even let me drape some pattu saris on me and take photos. I hope these come out nicely because sari shops are incomparable to any western shop. It really is a shopping experience. From here we went to the fruit market, where I took more photos, and all the vendors wanted me to take THEIR photos. I took three or four. I am not sure if they will come out because it was night time. Let's see. The last two shops were a chips shop, selling chips and salty items and a few convenience items, then the medicals shop. I wanted to get malaria (preventative) tablets. The pharmicist said three days supply (one morning and one night) is enough to build immunity, for that it costs some rs 600 (about US 13) which is very costly in rupees but cheap in dollars, since the same thing in US costs about US $60.


After this we came home and I received a call from Hema (I met her brother on the street a few days back.). I was so lucky she called at this time. She lives in a village and doesn't have a phone, so she has to call from her neighbor's house, which is a small distance away. Many people in India who do not have phones will ask you to call their neighbor who has a phone. When you call, the neighbor will tell you to call back in the amount of time it takes them to find them and bring them back to the phone. Unlike in US, where local calls are included as an unlimited service in time per call and number of calls, in India, that is not the case. I also talked to a few other classmates and we may be meeting on Sunday and going for girl stuff-- mostly shopping! I am renting a car, which should cost about Rs 500 (about US 10) and going.
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