Five Things I Miss About Home

We have just returned from a wonderful dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in town where we bumped into a dozen or so of our lovely ex-pat friends; it's so nice to feel familiar in a place that we have only been living for 11 months, and have only recently started calling 'home'. So with all this familiarity, what are the things we're missing about 'home' (for us, US/UK)? Aside from the obvious family and friends, and day-to-day culture, here's my rough list of things that spring to mind, in no particular order:

1. Kitchen Roll - In a country renowned for beautiful handmade paper, the Indians can't get this kind of paper right: it tears apart, dissolves, disintegrates, to the point that even our Indian maid complained about the Indian stuff we've got right now; 'good stuff' is available sporadically at the Dollar Store on Commercial Street (where bizarrely, everything costs $2, but who are we to argue?) or when your mum mails you some from the UK!

2. Nail Salons - Walk right in, sit in those lovely vibrating big chairs, pop your feet in the bubbly jacuzzi water, and get a mani pedi no hassle; all the best nail polish colours are there - Ador-a-ball, Geranium, Ballet Slippers - and the 'nail technicians' are the fastest in the west. Yes, you can get a good mani pedi here, at about a fifth of the cost BUT bring your own polish, put your feet in a plastic bowl, and be prepared for a sloooooower process than Manhattan.

3. Fresh Fruit and Veg - After years of not eating my greens, now is the time I want them but can't have them! Fresh fruit and veg is limited here, albeit a little more unusual - chow-chow is my latest find, a kind of gourd, I think, but tastes a bit like potato - and wonderfully priced - I pay just a couple of cents/pence for a big bunch of fresh herbs. But lettuce? Forget about it, it's not great, unless you're in a restaurant. Avocado? Bizarrely large and not quite what you're used to.

4. Great Wine at Good Prices - I was spoiled in New York; not only did I have the finest restaurants and wine bars on my doorstep, I worked for a wine company, with a fully stocked fridge in my office. Indian wine is fine, in fact, Grover's (the local vineyard) Red La Reserve is great - at just $10 a bottle at home, it's a bargain. And the Sula Sparkling is adequate. But even the lamest American wines (if you can get them) cost a pretty penny here, as a result of the government's 260% tax on wine. And that's the wines they are allowed to sell; there are so many restrictions on what is sold in which state, that restaurants have a hard time fulfilling and replenishing their wine list, resulting in you getting (fairly) good wine at great big prices. Shame on you, India!

5. Driving Miss Julie - So, I was never the best driver, but rarely had an accident (apart from the time I collided with a girl dressed as Santa - I think she had too much sherry!), and did get lost a little (Shorthills Mall to Princeton via Pennsylvania = not good!) but I miss driving! As anyone who's had the pleasure of driving with me will tell you, I can do 17 things at once - eating, smoking (those were the days), talking, singing, map reading, discussing meeting, changing gear, overtaking, thinking about next glass of wine... etc. Here, it's different. I spend more time in the car than ever before, but I'm not driving because of the crazy screwed up traffic system, what system, that makes it dangerous for anyone to even try. Our wonderful driver, Manoj, takes the traffic in his stride and is trained not to 'sound horn', despite the requests painted on every vehicle from a rickshaw to a truck to a car - to cattle! I cannot read in the car - blurgh - so try to use the time to make phone calls, relax, ponder my navel, or my favourite thing, sleep!!!

So, these are just five things, off the top of my head that I miss. I can think of 55 reasons to be here - and more - and will pen those soon. In the meantime, if anyone has wine, kitchen roll, and a Korean nail salon they can transport here - free of government restrictions - please feel free to do so!