After both our daughters were married in 2010, my wife, Geetha and I travelled to many parts of India. We went to various places for sightseeing, meeting Holy men and women, visiting some of our relatives, observing silence, doing research on our charitable work and generally having a good time.
I am sixty two years old and left India to migrate to the USA in 1977. I am an NRI, whatever that means. In some quarters within India I am not qualified to talk about India. In some circles, I am considered objective. In the USA, I am looked upon as an immigrant, with all the baggage that goes with that term. Some good, and some not so good!
Our travels were between June 26th, 2011 and August 31st , 2011. This is one of my observations.
Dominos Pizza
While driving around Hyderabad, I spotted a Dominos Pizza. Having left New York almost two months ago, and not having had a slice of pizza, I went home and told my folks at home that we are all going to have Pizza and bread sticks for dinner. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was for a pizza pie.
At 4.00 p.m., I Googled and found the phone number of the exact Dominos Pizza that would deliver to my home. I placed the order around 4.15 p.m. with specific instructions to deliver between 8.00 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. I was told to expect a phone call within two minutes confirming my order. In less than two minutes, I got a call. I could not have been happier. Things were working great in India. Do not ask for more.
Around 8.00 p.m., I started getting hungry and was craving for the pizza and bread sticks. At 8.25 p.m. I called Dominos. I heard a lot of clicking of the computer keyboard and was finally told that they have no record of my order. But, the Dominos guy told me I should have my order in less than thirty minutes. Perfect. Shirdi Baba always says “Saburi”, patience, is a good thing. So, I told my very hungry folks to be a little patient.
Lo and behold, in less than five minutes, say 8.28 p.m. I got a call from Dominos asking me how the delivery boy can locate my apartment as he is in the vicinity with my order. Too good to be true. Well, they had the original order, “in the system”, found it was being delivered as we spoke. The order was delivered by 8.30 p.m. All ended well.
Please don’t ask me too many “why” questions. Have Sraddha – faith. The system may be flawed, but it works.
Moral of the story: This is how India works - just accept it. Take it easy. No tension.
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