I was enjoying a nice latte on the top level of the Oasis Center last week... Lauren was finishing up her ice cream cone... when my phone rang. It was the hotel concierge calling to tell me a "parcel" had been delivered to the hotel for me. The delivery could not be left for me, I must go and pick it up personally at the Whitefield Post Office before 3:30pm. I knew it must be the package I was expecting (a month ago!)... Lauren's swimming belts, shipped from the US on July 25th! I quickly finished my coffee and called Harish to pick us up. It was 2:00 already and there's no telling the fate of my package if I miss the 3:30 deadline.
It was my first trip to the "post office" , and quite possibly my last! When Harish drove us down some back alley, over crater sized potholes and parked the car, I really thought I might be on Candid Camera. Where was the pretty flag hanging out front... the grumpy postal workers in uniform... the Post Office sign!!!??? Oh, but who needs all those fancy extras... when you have cows??
Thankfully I did not need to venture in to retrieve my package... Harish said he would take care of it and scooted across the street with my passport. The postal worker soon emerged from the building with my package in tow. He informed me I would need to pay $500 rupees to claim the package. Harish and he had words in Hindi - not sure at all what it was all about... all I knew is that I was sooooooo close to getting this package, $10 USD seemed like little bribe to pay. More Hindi bickering as I pulled out a $500 bill from my purse... the worker at last pulled a few dollar coins from the pocket of his tattered pants and gave them to Harish. He took my bill and plopped the package on the seat next to me. That was that. As we drove off, I thought, "what just happened??", but I had my package!!
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