Big Bazaar = Wal-Mart

It’s been about 3 weeks since I landed into India and things are finally falling into place. I got an apartment (or flat) in Sion, which ain’t the most hip place in Bombay but it’s one of the most convenient locations to my office, South Bombay and Bandra. I initially was only looking at Bandra or South Bombay but after 2-3 days in traffic from both locations I realized how good I had it in LA traffic. The traffic in Bombay is UNREAL just to go 5 kilometers might take 45 minutes. And, if you travel without an air conditioned car, you will end up smelling like exhaust fumes, dirty and sweating (yes, this description even makes me sick). Luckily I have an AC car and driver. I’m finally getting into the daily groove:

7:15a – wake-up 8:00a – maid arrives to make chai and breakfast
8:30a – driver shows up and asks for the car keys and washes the car, then the ironing guy shows up (rate is Rs. 2 per item – 4.5 cents)
9:00am – Driver gets me to the office in usually 20-25 minutes, which in Bombay is damn good 1:00p – Other maid comes to clean the place up

Once I settled into the flat, I had to buy a bunch of small things so I headed to India’s version of Wal-Mart called Big Bazaar. I went on Sunday at 9pm thinking it would be dead. Apparently, I went at the height of shopping rush hour. At one point there seemed to be more people in the store then merchandise. If you have any concerns whether there really is a retail revolution occuring in India, I suggest you checkout Big Bazaar.

Pics from a Navratri event I went to at Cricket Club India in Bombay.
Click for more info on Navratri.

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