Random

Random



Ø Cheapest snack – parle G – a small pack of the evergreen product retails for 2 Rs – 5 or 6 biscuits (crackers to you American folks) – and is cheaper than the Vada-Pav.

Ø Raddi – what a way to re-use! And get paid for it too!! English newspapers get sold for Rs 8 per Kg – with the amount of supplements that are there everyday, and the BestBuy/JC Penney/Kohl’s type inserts that you now see in India (example Chroma, Tata’s foray into electronic goods retailing)

Ø Bangalore/Hyderbad = Outskirts of Bangalore and Hyderabad are dotted with Sholay type rocks – some of these rocks (as big as an apartment) are precariously positioned on each other – if you travel to Capgemini HYD, you can notice these on the new ring road from the airport to Madhapur. The Capgemini guest house that I stayed in, had a bungalow sized rock just behind the guest house!

Ø Temperature range – On a recent trip to Nagpur, 47 centigrade temperatures were prevailing. Having spent 2/3 of my till-date life in Nagpur, it was a great feeling to experience such temperatures after a long gap. I have seen anything from -20 centigrade (Chicago) to +47 (Nagpur) centigrade, not accounting for wind chill or heat index factors!

Ø A GPS has been launched in India – Mapmyindia. More information on http://www.mapmyindia.com/ - the model shown here costs about 8000 rupees

Ø Latest in Chinese made mobile phone – we had talked about 2 SIM cards, and 2 memory slots – here are more – phones with 2 SIMs (GSM) + CDMA and phones that have a 12 mega pixel camera

Ø Worst vehicle on the roads – a 3 wheeler ‘cargo’ rickshaw - Piaggio APE – the noise level is deafening for a vehicle so small!

Ø Best ‘6 seater’ - TATA ACE – ACE is the # 1 vehicle used for what is called as the “6 seater transport”


Ø India has now become a net LENDER to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rather than being a poor borrower for the last 50 odd years