Reflections ...: Musings from India: 30 decibels more

Two days into my vacation, I see two different Indias. The dreamy one that I knew as a kid until I left for the US in 2002; the other is a "Wal-mart"-ized India that has burgeoned ever since. In spite of the contrast, the common theme is that everything is atleast 30 decibels more in India when compared to the US :-) Everything around me seems louder now - the traffic, crowds, stores and the crows! My eardrums have been trying hard to re-caliberate their acceptable threshold values.

On a different note, the retailing phenemenon has really taken off in India. Giant stores selling everything from cheap plastic goods to appliances, clothes to condiments, spices to cigarettes ... all under under one roof. It is sad to see this killing the shopping experience - the kind I thoroughly enjoyed during my childhood. A trip to the local grocer meant clutching my dad's hand and walking through the narrow lanes in the bazaar. The sights and sounds were so earthy. One could smell camphor, spices, jasmine, soaps and numerous other aromas drifting in cramped, grimy, dimly-lit one-roomed stores. Dad and mom would hold the grocery list while keeping an eye on the scales and carrying a conversation with the owner. Compare this with rows and rows of crowded shelves, automated weighing machines and the impersonal touch to every transaction!

Sigh, I guess I'm still stuck in microcosm of pre-2002 India. However, the redeeming part of the experience was that the personal touch wasn't completely lost. The sense of community, connectedness and being part of one big family has been one of the country's biggest charm! My local barber recognized me immediately even after all these years and we chatted about old times, family and careers. He still knows how I liked my hair styled. This was followed by a trip to my one-roomed house where we grew up. It brought back memories of my early childhood.