I have been meaning to write this one since the longest time, but so are a 100 other posts. Better leave it at that. You know how you go somewhere & miss things that you left behind. I don’t mean loved ones & memories, even things. I had few strange revelations regarding what all I miss from India after I moved to Berlin. That’s why I felt the need to document it. Some are really obvious things, but read on to know the weird ones:
- For-granted things: There are many things whose existence I didn’t even register in my daily life and I miss them. No, I am not talking about easy access to water instead of toilet paper in the toilet :D. I am talking of things that I really didn’t register in mind while living in India! Coriander, for example. My mom is a coriander lover and she puts excess of it in every dish if she has coriander at hand. I used to be super mad about it and tell her that I don’t want coriander leaves in my food every time and that too so many. Now, here, many times, I miss coriander leaves in my food & I don’t like the other breed available at regular supermarkets (is it parsley?). So, I sometimes buy it for a very high price at Indian grocery stores. Imagine, dhania (coriander), something that is given for free many times by veggie sellers in India! 😀 I can also mention missing Chole Bhature, something that is definitely not one of my favourite fast foods back home but I still ordered it once while eating out.
- Street Markets: Talking of veggie sellers back home brings me to street markets. This is a fairly obvious one. Indian street markets, especially if you live in Delhi, have a character of their own, each one of them and I miss every one of those. Be it the strictly hipster Paharganj, the book lover’s paradise on Sundays – Daryaganj, the shopper’s delight Janpath, the truly Tibetan experience – Majnu ka Tila or the shiny, bling-y wedding shopping haunt but with tiny, dirty streets – Chandni Chowk. Phewww! I miss all of them.
- Street Food: This is so cliched, it isn’t even funny. It’s hard to find someone who has lived in India throughout their lives and they do not miss Indian street food while in abroad. I am going to go ahead and put a picture here so that everyone is salivating right on their laptops! Go people! 😀 I think I should also mention here Berlin is very cosmopolitan when it comes to food & it’s so much easy to find Indian food, even if not street food. By the way, a place near my house here sells Indian street food, yet to try it.
- Fabindia: Haha! Never could have even imagined this one. The only article I have from Fabindia right now is a toner spray, which is actually a gift. The last thing I bought from them was Kurtas for my father with his money. Fab India is expensive for my student life right now but whenever I am near a store, I enter it for window shopping & now I miss doing that. 😀
Source: http://www.urbandesis.com/2014/10/urban-bites-fabindia-singapore/
5. Taking my friends to Big Chill: Not a thing about India this is, but it is on my to-do list when I am back. That’s why the post is not called ‘5 things’ 😛 Big Chill is one of Delhi’s favourite places to dine at, including myself, when wanting to have Italian and I don’t know how I have never written about it. I wanted to take my B-school friends once there because none of them have been there. We came to our respective campuses in Europe before that could happen. So, yes, it is on the cards once I am back!
Source: nomadicrider.com/2011/02/khan-ka-khaana-eating-out-at-khan-market/
That’s all I could think of. I know many of you are living abroad since so long, PB, Shruti di, Bikramjit & so many of you whose blogs I love reading! 🙂 Do share what it is that you miss, if anything at all!
Life of Srish 
Street food! Hands down, pani puri. Oh God! I want! That’s the biggest thing I miss.
The other thing is how everything is within easy reach. Going to Kirane-wala, getting rickshaw, buying Kurta on the street. I miss helper maids everytime I have to vacuum or clean my bathroom. Hehe.
But now I am well settled in my system here, plus all stores are close by. I have Persian stores that sell Indian stuff so I can get most of the things without going to the Indian store. Including Coriander. 🙂 it’s actually called Cilantro here and Mexicans use it quite a lot. I am growing it in my herb garden as well.
The missing is a constant part of living abroad, but after a while, you get used to it too. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. I had written a list over here. Lol. https://asplashofmylife.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/things-i-miss-about-india-and-home/
cliantro, yea. 😀 i was thinking of what’s the other name, although it is also a breed slightly differently from what we use in India? haha, i am reading that post right now. and I myself dont like the maid culture back home, i mean how underpaid they are & how dependent people really are, specially our generation, Indian adults of our age mostly cannot freaking cook to feed themselves and its soo disappointing. but, yes, its so convenient to have help at home, i agree!
I think Cilantro is the same! It’s just Okra-Ladyfinger thing going on here.
Ya, exploitation is a huge problem. But when you think of the population and need for jobs, and poverty, it’s hard to think that maid culture should go away. You know what I mean? Half the time I do something ‘ideal’ and end up feeling bad. Lol.
I agree about the generation not knowing how to cook and totally dependent. We have a friend who takes pride in the fact that she doesn’t cook or clean. We will wax eloquent but wanting to leave city n live in a cottage and then say why clean or cook, we make money for not doing that. Ugh.
Chole Bhature Nomnomnomnom!!
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