Adapters and More

So this last week the adapter to my computer died. This was a serious problem and by serious I mean that if my computer wasn't fixed by the weekend, how would I ever be able to play Sim City 4 when all my roommates were gone for the weekend in Amritsar while I was left in Delhi? An so the quest began...

Remember the post I had about my classes in India? How hard it was to get things done and to find what you needed to find? Well, it is not limited to classes. It took me basically the entire week to do everything. I went to several places, all who claimed they could fix the adapter and they would all tell me to come back tomorrow. I would do so faithfully only to hear, "No we can't fix it. Do you want a new one?" "Sure." "Then come back tomorrow." I would come back: "Sorry, we couldn't find your model."

Finally I went to the market devoted to computer stuff called Nehru market. And they had what I was looking for! I came home with my new adapter in hand, proud and victorious of getting something done in India, and plugged it in to my computer... it didn't work.

I called Dell Computer's technical support. The irony of the story is that Dell has all their call center sin India, but I could only call an American phone number which used up lots of international minutes (expensive!). And for what? Well, it turns out that Dell, although having so much located in India, cannot ship things to India for some reason because my account was an American one. Although the tech support people all seemed a little shocked to hear that i was in Delhi for 6 months...

I went back to Nehru Place, this time bringing my laptop and all to make absolutely sure it would work. And after trying several adapters, I found the right one. There are times when you just... love India.

As a side note, Nehru Place was a bizarre place. It was this huge open air place. Big, monolithic concrete buildings rose 6-7 stories above you. The first two floors was where all the market was. There were places that looked like all they sold was wiring right next to air-conditioned stores selling brand new computers. Even more bizarre was seeing the poor just hanging out in this seeming affluent and high-tech area. As I was entering the place, I saw one of the skinniest kids I have ever seen. He was lying down and when he got up I saw his bare legs. I cringed a little because they looked so thin, so small that it looked as though they could not support his weight.

But I think such sights are indicative of the real India that the newspapers don’t always talk about. India has a lot of potential. Nehru place just shows how much IT knowledge India has. But such knowledge was housed in monolithic buildings that reminded me of some Orwellian nightmare. India’s infrastructure has such a long way to go. And then there is still the massive amount of poverty. And I am in New Delhi, one of the nicest places of India! But that is the beauty of India, I guess. You are constantly bombarded by contrasting images: poor and rich, beautiful and mundane, developed and undeveloped. You see trash heaped up in water sources or some of the most beautiful mountain scenery one can imagine. You look from India Gate to the Parliament House, a beautiful procession way, but you see smog heavily clouding the view. What a fascinating place!