Unfortunately, when I moved to Mumbai, I didn’t realise how cheaply and badly most off-the-shelf furniture is made. I bought a small 3,000 rupee cabinet from the Big Bazaar. Less than three years later, it’s fallen apart. The very poor quality wood has all warped and the shelves have collapsed.
Now, I’ve turned to Indian Ebay to buy my furniture. There are some fabulous furniture makers, located in Rajasthan, who sell their items there. The best thing is that the furniture is made out of hard wood, costs less than half the price you’d pay in a department store, and you can choose the colour finish that you want.
My latest purchases were these two groovy hand painted bedside cabinets (6,400 rupees/$140 for two) and this contemporary sideboard (8,900 rupees/$190). The only drawback is that because they were made to order, I had to wait around a month for them to arrive. So worth it though!
By 10.30 a.m. on Sunday we were all assembled at the Gateway of India. Three girls, two guys, two (yes two!) ice boxes, a picnic hamper, a green carry bag with a chopping board, two backpacks, a mat, and numerous other pieces of hand luggage.
The day of our friend’s birthday picnic had arrived. He’d been determined to keep the plan a surprise. Since we’d ended up in Colaba, I was convinced we must be taking the ferry to Alibaug. However, none of us suspected what he’d actually arranged — a charter boat for the day and evening.
Soon, with great excitement, we were waving goodbye to Mumbai and speeding out into the open waters. We docked at the jetty near Alibaug and found a rickshaw to take us to a small beach nearby. After miraculously managing to get there unscathed by the hordes of Holi revelers (thanks to a few lines of Marathi and the handing out of a few hundred rupees) we sat down to enjoy our picnic. [click to continue…]
This is an Esky (pronounced Es-ski). It’s an essential item in almost every Australian household.
This is a bag of ice cubes. A similar item can be readily purchased from any service (petrol) station in Australia.
Fill the Esky with ice cubes, and what ever you put in it (which, being Australia, is usually wine and beer) will remain chilled for up to five days. And the beauty of it is that it’s so portable.
Today, a friend of ours spent the whole day looking for a suitable substitute in Mumbai. He’s a guy of Indian origin who’s been living in Australia for over five years now but frequently comes back to Mumbai. And he decided that he wanted to celebrate his birthday by going on a picnic this weekend. [click to continue…]
This tangle of meter boxes greeted me in the stairwell of the guest house that we stayed in in Kolkata recently. I’ve seen worse jumbles of wires around India. Yet, something about the disorganisation of this one grabbed my attention.
I love the randomness of the numbering. Some boxes are numbered, some aren’t, and some even have the same numbers.
I recently received an email from a reader (a white woman from the US with an Indian husband). She wrote to me with concern about the way white women are portrayed in Bollywood. In particular, she feels that the stereotype of white women as disposable sexual objects is a key factor in the problems that white women face in India.
She wrote this letter to an editor of a newspaper after her first trip to India a number of years back.
Dear Editor,
Bollywood has been engaging in a disturbing trend. The Indian film industry has propagated harmful stereotypes of Westerners (especially white women) in almost all films set in America and the United Kingdom. Caucasian women are consistently portrayed as scantily dressed dancers, crazy, drug addicts, deficient in some other manner, or even as prostitutes. Westerners are rarely presented as suitable or desirable spouses. During my entire lifetime in the United States I have never witnessed a group of American women spontaneously start dancing in revealing costumes.
Americans prize their freedom and exercise this right to make personal decisions to be chaste, monogamous, or promiscuous. Indians make these same sexual choices. A key difference between these two cultures is that Americans often are more open about their decisions than Indians, who usually choose to keep their sexual behavior private. However, it is unfair and inaccurate for Bollywood to portray all Caucasian women as always promiscuous.
As the wife of an Indian emigrant, I have visited India and anticipate many more future trips to my husband’s homeland. While I appreciate and enjoy several aspects of Indian culture, I am dismayed by my frequent encounters with negative stereotypes of Americans held by many Indians both in India and abroad.
No one likes to be treated as a stereotype, including Indians.
I respectfully ask members of the Indian community to reject stereotypes of Westerners portrayed by Bollywood films. It is my fervent hope that when my Anglo-Indian daughter visits India she will be treated with the same dignity and fairness that every person should receive, regardless of the fact that she has a mixed Indian and European-American heritage.
I had to think hard about the last time I won an award — it was well over 10 years ago when I was in the state finals of a martial arts competition. The trophy was the usual gold figure on a faux marble base. Not like this one, with so much BLING! It’s an example of how India loves shiny, sparkly things. (And I do too).
I’m still coming to term with accepting the fact that the trophy is mine though. What a surprise and an honour. I received it from the Mumbai Young Environmentalists Programme Trust, in celebration of International Womens Day. Every year, they hand out awards to a group of outstanding women who have excelled in their fields and can inspire the younger generation.
I won my award in the travel and media category, particularly for my involvement in a community website. However, I hardly felt worthy. There were so many inspirational and empowered Indian women there from all walks of life: doctors, social workers, animal rights activists, artists, writers in Hindi literature, even the first woman train driver in Mumbai. It was a pleasure to be amongst them, and discover what they’d achieved. It was also heatening to hear many of them crediting the active support of their husbands and in laws for their success. There’s no doubt about it, there are women achieving magnificent things in India.
The awards ceremony, held at the Rodas Ecotel in Powai, was quite high profile. Actress Priyanka Chopra’s mother (a doctor) won an award. So did Dia Mirza (in addition to acting, she works towards preserve the environment). And Priyanka Chopra’s father (also a doctor) gave a very entertaining speech. Unlike me who feels hopelessly uncomfortable speaking in front of people!
More than anything though, the underlying message of the event was a celebration of life, and overcoming fear to achieve your dreams. I could greatly relate to it on that level. And I felt very special indeed to be a woman.
So, to all the wonderful, capable women of the world. Wishing you all a very happy Womens Day!
Yesterday, India dished me up another of her surprises. And, as usual, it came with lots of noise. Within a matter of a day, our housing society courtyard was completely taken over by a buffet area, stage, installations of statues of Ma Durga and Lord Ganesha, a holy fire, the customary loud speakers, and a pandit (Hindu priest) with a microphone.
“It’s going to be a wedding,” was the word from the watchman.
I wasn’t convinced. It was much too animated to be a wedding. “It looks more like a puja (worship),” my husband remarked, as we viewed it from our terrace. “They’re making all that noise to attract the god’s attention.”
A singer had roused a core group of the crowd into a frenzy of dancing, while others watched on. The sound was loud enough to make it seem like it was taking place in our living room. The above video is a short sample. In fact, it went on for hours, until everyone predictably headed for the food. The silence afterwards was almost deafening.
This morning, everything had been packed up. It was all gone (except for the trash that the crows were enjoying). And I’m left wondered exactly what went on.
I gave my business suits to charity, quit my accounting job in Melbourne, moved to Mumbai, married an Indian guy, became a white Indian housewife, and started writing. This blog is where I share my thoughts and experiences about my expat life. It covers nearly everything from insights to insanity, food, culture, travel, and lifestyle.
Want to know more about India and me? Read my book. or start here.
Sharell शारेल { They do have large claws, but they usually remain in trees (we have them at my parent's house). If I was one of those Aussies... } – May 19, 5:53 AM
Arunava { The residents deserved what they got....they are not the victims here but a party to the crime....they should not have bought the apartments in the... } – May 14, 9:11 PM
Padparadscha { @Tanya. These situations make me sad.:( } – May 07, 2:52 AM
Preeti SInha { Yeah, agree with mentioned comments.. People plz add some Indian stuffs i am in search of some good one for my collection!!! Thanks in advance } – May 09, 11:49 AM
Sharell शारेल { Yeah, I do agree with you Julia. That was the aim of it, to promote Indian items. Hopefully, people will add more Indian stuff! } – Apr 16, 10:39 PM
Julia { It reminds me of Pinterest. I agree with the other comment that said that the stuff is really western. As a western girl I was... } – Apr 16, 8:51 PM
XXX { HMM . THEY LOOK MORE LIKE CROCODILES AND HAVING SNAKE EYES . SO PEOPLE HATE THIS KIND OF CREATURES , I.E GENERALIZED WITH OTHER WILD... } – May 08, 2:50 AM
ASG { Chipkalio me kya rakha hai. Wo be kabhi cute hoti hai. Cute to bacche hote hai. Ak hath me baby or dusre me chipkali le... } – May 07, 2:37 PM
Sharell शारेल { That's understandable. Coming from a good family is important in India! } – May 07, 11:56 AM
Padparadscha { @Amit. A police instructor told me exactly this ; when you can go away, go away, don't even fight for your property. But when you... } – May 07, 2:58 AM
Amit Desai { Change comes with awareness. Change doesn't come with eye-for-an-eye attitude either. Confronting people back would be dangerous for a verbal aggression, which is just stupidity... } – May 06, 6:34 PM
melbourne desi { amit this is precisely the issue. Every time we walk away it just emboldens the bully. Change does not come by walking away. } – May 02, 8:08 AM
Tanya { Fantastic story! Thanks for sharing it. And your observations at the end are very apt. Happiness and a blessed life are not contingent on the... } – May 04, 2:04 PM
Arnab { Hi Sharell, I am a student from Odisha and avid reader of your blog. So have you ever visited the north eastern states of India.... } – Apr 28, 1:50 PM
Sharell शारेल { Hi Raina, yes thanks, all is well. I haven't been inspired to write much lately though unfortunately. The heat in Mumbai is making me lazy.... } – Apr 28, 12:42 PM
nufio { go to any village in india if you are comparing regional mindset. nobody gives a shit about whats going on anywhere else but everyone knows... } – Apr 19, 9:03 AM
nufio { Well I just want to point out that, arguing for reservation for women is not what womens rights activists should be doing. Also men and... } – Apr 19, 8:54 AM
umots { "The real problem here is the mindset of our society. Indian society teaches girls not to go to bars, nightclubs etc. But what it really... } – Apr 16, 11:19 AM
prithviraj33 { Please point out where this violence in the media is. Most Indian movies are very clean and sanitized. There are no beatings of women or... } – Apr 14, 2:56 AM
Manny { About 6 years ago, I almost bought a 5 year old 172SP for $120K But good sense prevailed. The Engine had about 2000hrs TBO. But... } – Apr 17, 7:03 AM
umots { "And the way he portrayed his lifestyle, (he owns a cessna!!!)it was no lesser than a KJO movie..." While this might be a hoax, an... } – Apr 16, 8:50 PM
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What Readers Have Said:
"What makes her story special is the way she writes it. It’s a sensitive and nuanced depiction, which neither glorifies the good nor mocks the bad. In fact, any woman who has ever relocated to another country can see a reflection of herself in Sharell’s stories."
"What I loved about Sharell’s story is the balance between open-mindedness to experiencing the new and an introspective account that is realistic and shows her flaws. As a psychologist, I was drawn to her insightfulness and her growing sense of awareness and sense of self."
"Sharell tells it exactly like it happened, warts and all, and she does so in a way that illuminates the deeper truths behind her experiences – truths many of us will be able to relate to. In her honesty, Sharell transcends simply narrating her own experience and speaks to all of us."
"The book is centred around finding happiness, questioning societal norms and finding your passion – no matter how unachievable it seems. It shares that struggle and persistence are keys to success, that knowing yourself and what you are striving for are of utmost importance and that the universe is constantly presenting the opportunities that we need if we are ready to take them.The vivid imagery Sharell’s writing brings about is testament to her passion and her talent as a writer."
"Being Indian, I loved the description of India which I thought was very different from the very cliched manner in which most non-Indians portray India. I am amazed at Sharell’s will power and love for her husband and her very positive attitude to life. The book is a very well written, honest account of her experience and it teaches all of us one thing. Have the courage to go out of your comfort zone and have the courage to change your life to achieve what you want."
"From the very first line of the book, you are transported into the author's world. You feel as she feels, you hurt when she does, you wonder in amazement at new found beauty, go through the tensions that she faces and celebrate with her in each new accomplishment. Sharell's way of writing weaves a magical but refreshingly detailed and honest view of life and living in Incredible India. Through her, we experience the "Real" India and not the touristy version filled with air conditioned hotel rooms and 24/7 water and electricity."
"Great book from someone whose blog I have been following for several years. It is a waiting-to-happen gripping movie story, a self help book and a biography all rolled into one. I bought the book today and the writing was so gripping that I almost (had to break for lunch) finished it in one go."
"When she talks about her frustrations with India and its people there is also such insight there, and when you consider she is not Indian it gives you a bit of a head spin. Having visited India myself I found her descriptions hilarious but was amazed at how well she coped. The whole idea makes my mind boggle. I stayed up and read the whole book in one night - I had to know what happened at the end!"
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