Neelabjo and I -Our early experiences with the Flat World

My son Neelabjo was born in March 2002..... he has been the center of my World , ever since .In this post , I trace back some early memories , in the context of the world that had since then started to become flat.

Ferrero Roche and Mysore

My brother in law , a PhD student in the University of Norte Dame , came down to meet his tiny nephew (31 December 2002) .We were based in Mysore , and for him it was a mini vacation in a city that he had not seen before. Like all US based NRI's , my bro in law (Raja) was carrying a consignment of chocolates (boxes of Ferrero Roche, Hersheys et al...) . My wife loves chocolates and she picked up more than a fair share of the booty. Just to give you a context , my in-laws are a large ( actually huge..) family spread across Uttar Pradesh , with a huge chunk residing in Varanasi , Raja had bought chocolates based on reasonable estimates of consumption (even for gluttons) ......but after the dent made by his beloved sister , his stock was in bad shape .....Raja stayed with us for three days , and on the second day (2 Jan 2003) tiny Neelabjo figured out a large shiny box ....and somehow picked it up and started walking . It was a box of Ferrero Roche chocolates -a jumbo pack ....little Neelabjo wanted it for himself ........he held it tight and even slept with it .....Raja was in a serious soup , what does he tell the innumerable aunts , and uncles ....who were waiting in Varanasi for chocolates from "Amreeka" a gift from their "Videshi Bhatija" . Well Raja was thinking of some creative excuses and planning to blame the customs officers for their greed etc etc ....he had mentally written the script which sounded reasonably convincing. That evening , I took him out to a supermarket (well not exactly one ,but a big utility store called Nilgiris..) , and i got busy buying grocery.Suddenly , I hear Raja's voice "Jamaibabu , peye gecchi " (Brother- in law , got it..!!!) for a moment i was stunned , what has Raja found ???......... , why was he so excited...the suspense was over in a second ..Raja had found a packet of Ferro Roche chocolates in Nilgiris Mysore at to top it up , at an Indian price . Raja took me to the confectionery section of the store which had all kinds of packs of Ferrero Roche chocolates .....Raja bought half the store to make up for the damage that his sister and nephew had done to his stock ....he left Mysore hoping that there was no Ferrero Roche outlet in Varansi , and later on he confirmed that there were none there , at least not till early 2003...... the world was beginning to get Flat


Golf Kits and Mumbai

In October 2003 , I visited Raja in South Bent , a University town 120 miles off Chicago . Raja was joined by his fiancee Supriya (now his wife) for the weekend. On one Saturday , Supriya took me shopping to a nearby WalMart store . I went to the toys section and picked up a golf kit for Neeelabjo for USD 25 . It was a pretty neat thing , and i liked it very much .....i thought that if Neelabjo takes to such fancy sports , it would help him to become a CEO ...(I am told most CEO's play golf )...so like a proud father of a future CEO , i took the golf kit back to Mysore ...and started giving Neelabjo golf lessons , he was big enough to walk unaided and I must confess that I was holding the golf club as a cricket bat ......We had a couple of golf sessions in the tiny play area of my apartment block . One day I was late from work and I saw something interesting , Neelabjo, his mom , a Coorgi kid and his mom were having a ball of a time playing a weird version of golf (but with two golf kits...) ....where did the next kit come from , surely this was not Ferro Roche that Raja could buy from Niligiris ...I went across to Mrs Carambaiah and asked her politely " has Mr Carambaiah been traveling lately ..", she said , "Yes , he had been to Mumbai and that's where he got the kit from ... and it cost him Rs 600.."

I lugged a golf kit across the Atlantic and thought that my son would be the sole proud owner of such a novel toy in all of India ....alas it was not to be in the Flat World ......


Jamaican Tiger

I am a slow learner , after the golf kit episode , I went to Jamaica for a consulting assignment . On my way back , I bought a Jamaican tiger ( a doll) for USD 30 . This was Feb 2004 , the same was available in Mysore for Rs 800...my plight with the Flat world continued

In conclusion

I love smoking , and i bought a lighter for 15 bucks a couple of weeks ago . I generally don't use a lighter , but i thought , why not buy those fancy ones....I used it for sometime and then it stopped working .....I went to the shopkeeper and complained to him and he without using the phrase , Flat World , said "China item sir , at China price, China quality.." , which essentially means enjoy it till it lasts .......I have stopped traveling abroad after I left Infosys which was three years ago and I am really happy that I am not buying stuff in US or Europe to find that the same stuff is sold in Mumbai or Bangalore for an India price ....Long live the Flat World ...