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Glasses/contact lenses |
| In the UK at least, glasses and contact
lenses are extremely expensive, especially the frames. Glasses
in India can be had very cheaply and are usually of good quality
if you don’t buy the very cheapest. There are plenty
of opticians, but the better ones are in cities. The best
offer state of the art facilities as good as the UK, and a
full range of services. Imported designer frames can be had
far cheaper than in Europe, and the higher end "made
in India" frames are nicely designed and durable. Lenses
are offered in glass or more modern materials at a fraction
of the price you would expect in Europe. Some materials are
imported, while others are made in India under license from
major international manufacturers. Tinted, light sensitive,
lightweight; all types of lens are available. A pair of glasses
with light sensitive lenses and good quality Indian made frames
should set you back about 2,000 rupees, or 25 UK Pounds.
A recommended optician in New Delhi is the Optical Palace
on the Outer Circle of Connaught Place in "M" block,
kind of opposite Nirula's hotel. Tel 0112-373-9800. They are
very helpful and can produce quality specs in 24 hours.
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DV (digital video) tapes |
If you’re coming with a mini DV
camcorder, it might be worth waiting till you get to India to
buy the Tapes. Most consumer electronics and consumables are
pricey in India, but for some reason not mini DV cassettes.
Genuine Sony tapes sell in Manali for about 300 rs each, about
4 UK Pounds, which is at least 20 percent cheaper than UK high
St prices, and Manali is usually substantially more pricey than
major cities. Proper brand name shops will still be expensive,
but going to the likes of Palika Bazaar in Connaught place will
get you a good price on "grey market" original tapes.
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Portable speakers |
If you're bringing a walkman or Minidisc
player and don’t want to be tied to headphones, you can
now buy cheap and fairly backpack friendly pairs of speakers
in India very cheaply. They are usually mains powered, stand
about 15-20 cm tall and offer fair sound quality for the price.
The best place in Delhi is Palika Bazaar near on Connaught Place.
Expect to pay around 200 rs after a bit of haggling. Do get
them to check they work with a walkman before leaving.
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Computer books |
Not the obvious purchase in India, but
if you do buy computer books, the bookshops in India are worth
a browse, with prices a fraction of those in Europe. The printing
is usually a little inferior, and colour pics are usually substituted
for black and white, but for most books, that scarcely matters.
The books are labelled as "for sale on the Indian Subcontinent
only, and are usually published by an Indian publisher under
a license deal. For example, the Dreamweaver Bible costs 499
Rs, as opposed to about £35 (2399 rs) in the UK. Assuming
you buy a few books and dont want to carry them, you can always
send them home via surface mail parcel, which is incredibly
cheap.
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Jewellery |
While Silver jewellery is cheap and fairly
common in India, it is seldom any more unusual in design than
that found in trendy markets in Europe such as Camden market
in London. What is great though, is having stuff made to order
to your own design, set with stones you pick out yourself if
desired. Its a lot easier if you can offer a good drawing of
the design you have in mind than trying to explain what you
mean. The best place is certainly Jaipur, famous for its markets
in Jewellery and semi precious stones, where prices quoted are
usually per gram for the weight of silver, plus a price per
gram extra for the work. Check out the quality of the shops
other work before you pay a deposit and do haggle over the cost
of the work. Be very, very wary of scams in Jaipur that sound
too-good-to-be-true; they are not the bargains they seem. Avoid
going into a shop with your rickshaw
wallah like the plague; his commission will add a fat increase
to the price you pay. They are even given a commission for taking
you in, whether you buy or not.
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Kerala coffee |
The Indian Coffee house, owned by the
Indian coffee workers Co-op has branches in many Indian cities
and serves good, inexpensive food and excellent, fresh coffee.
They also sell very nice ground coffee or beans for around 200rs
a kilo to take away.
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Tin boxes |
There are many shops in India catering
to "tin box fetishists". They sell, well, tin boxes
in an incredible range of shapes and sizesand uses. Tiffin (lunch)
boxes, snuff boxes, budget or induatrial size stash boxes. These
can often be a useful way to protect small delicate items in
your backpack from getting crushed, or the tiny ones can serve
as emergency ashtrays in rooms that dont provide them. If you
have a peculiar fascination for these and are in London, there
is a shop (Indian of course) in Green street, Upton park E7,
opposite Plashet Rd, that has an amazing selection of tin boxes
and iron stuff.
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