One of the funniest bits about being in India is the money. Now, it's the basic base 10 system, so it should be very easy. However, for some reason the comma is used in a different spot when you get into the really big numbers, and this sometimes causes me mild confusion. Pick a site from the web after searching "rupee" and "lakh" and "crore". You'll see what I mean. A lakh is written as equal to 1,00,000 rupees. So...is that 1 million or 100,000??? A crore is 1,00,00,000 rupees. Is that a billion? 10 million? 100 million? And then there are lacs, which sounds awfully similar to lakhs, but is worth a different amount. Are you getting confused, too? So when you see an advertisement on a billboard for "luxury apartments starting at only 3 lakh", you wonder if that's a good deal, or if things are getting REALLY expensive here!
So I will try to explain. 1 lakh is 100,000 rupees. 1 lac (sounds almost the same...really helps the confusion doesn't it?) is 1,000,000 rupees and 1 crore is 10,000,000 rupees. I know, I know...why not save the word "crore" until you got to a billion? My question, too. Now you know those luxury apartments were starting at 300,000 rupees. Is that a good deal? Well, you have to do a couple a things to get an answer. First, divide by 45 to get a dollar amount (we get about 45 rupees to the dollar right now). Then, watch and see how they are made. I don't care how much rebar is used in construction here. I've seen the skeletal structures of too many unfinished buildings. I wouldn't want to live in anything more than 2 floors!
Now I've gotten off topic (as I am prone to do) from my topic. I wanted to tell you about the hilarious aspect of Indian culture that is shopping. Not the haggling bit; that I'll write about another time. Here I want to simply discuss change. When you go shopping in the states, you give the cashier money, and if change is required you receive it. End of story. Not so in India. Here, you will be asked ALWAYS...:Do you have change?" Because for some mysterious reason, the cashier NEVER does. No matter where you go. This gets increasingly funny when you start to factor in little things like the ATM...which only dispenses 1000 rupee bills. Now add to that the fact that nobody wants to GIVE you change...but they always ask for it. Answer me this; if nobody will give change, how are you supposed to have any to give to the next guy who asks if you have change? Eventually we learned to just answer "no, I do not have change". Then it becomes interesting to see change appear. Sometimes it is right in the till. Other times the employees literally ask one another for the needed 36 or 158 rupees. I always wonder how that works out at the end of the day. Or they go to their boss who has some box of change hidden away somewhere. But I still have a hard time understanding how anyone can operate a business without change in the till!? It used to drive me crazy, literally, but it has slowly dissolved into only a minor annoyance.
I'll be going to the grocery store later, with my 1000 rupee note from the ATM. They may not have what I want in stock, and the produce may be of questionable quality, but I know I can count on one thing. When I get to the cashier and hand her my money, she will look up at me and ask..."Do you have change?"
So I will try to explain. 1 lakh is 100,000 rupees. 1 lac (sounds almost the same...really helps the confusion doesn't it?) is 1,000,000 rupees and 1 crore is 10,000,000 rupees. I know, I know...why not save the word "crore" until you got to a billion? My question, too. Now you know those luxury apartments were starting at 300,000 rupees. Is that a good deal? Well, you have to do a couple a things to get an answer. First, divide by 45 to get a dollar amount (we get about 45 rupees to the dollar right now). Then, watch and see how they are made. I don't care how much rebar is used in construction here. I've seen the skeletal structures of too many unfinished buildings. I wouldn't want to live in anything more than 2 floors!
Now I've gotten off topic (as I am prone to do) from my topic. I wanted to tell you about the hilarious aspect of Indian culture that is shopping. Not the haggling bit; that I'll write about another time. Here I want to simply discuss change. When you go shopping in the states, you give the cashier money, and if change is required you receive it. End of story. Not so in India. Here, you will be asked ALWAYS...:Do you have change?" Because for some mysterious reason, the cashier NEVER does. No matter where you go. This gets increasingly funny when you start to factor in little things like the ATM...which only dispenses 1000 rupee bills. Now add to that the fact that nobody wants to GIVE you change...but they always ask for it. Answer me this; if nobody will give change, how are you supposed to have any to give to the next guy who asks if you have change? Eventually we learned to just answer "no, I do not have change". Then it becomes interesting to see change appear. Sometimes it is right in the till. Other times the employees literally ask one another for the needed 36 or 158 rupees. I always wonder how that works out at the end of the day. Or they go to their boss who has some box of change hidden away somewhere. But I still have a hard time understanding how anyone can operate a business without change in the till!? It used to drive me crazy, literally, but it has slowly dissolved into only a minor annoyance.
I'll be going to the grocery store later, with my 1000 rupee note from the ATM. They may not have what I want in stock, and the produce may be of questionable quality, but I know I can count on one thing. When I get to the cashier and hand her my money, she will look up at me and ask..."Do you have change?"
