What a very very buisy day.
A languid start to the day was followed by a rush of business, a cup of chai and a tandori chicken.
Manoj and I went to meet Prasad. I was happy to just meet to arrange a day suitable for both of us to go and supervise the Sari Bracelet team of workers. Well I thought (incorrectly), that he had initially found an area close by to recruit the makers. Wrong. "That'll be 170 kilometres away then, will it Prasad ?" I cant wait for the journey, Indian roads are so soothing. We go on Thursday. Luckily we have ill boy Manoj who said he couldn't face the journey in his state. Lucky in the sense that his actual words were-"no way. Ok, im paying, we'll go by private taxi". I will tell you on Thursday how much the bill comes to.
"Two chai ten rupees!" said Prasad "Man i've never paid 5 rupees for a cup of tea. Madras is getting expensive" Baring in mind that 5 rupees is the equivalent to about 7 pence I had to disagree with him. After drinking the tea Prasad gave in and said "Top three chai wallah in Madras." It was a very nice cup of tea. Not sure how clean the water was though. See photo.
So we went to the freighting company today to find out about shipping, taxes, import/export license etc. Before leaving England the Customs and Excise told me that I would have to pay 4% import tax plus 17.5% VAT. On top of this I will pay various shipping and handling charges at both ends and I will have to have all the correct paperwork for exporting. There are two ways of doing all this. I opted for the "very pukka and correct" way. I'm running on a very tight budget so I can't afford to get my fingers burnt. You see I have never exported in such quantity, so I am a little anxious that everything goes without a hitch. Before leaving the offices. Hang on a minute ! Just to let you know. These were the third set of shipping offices we had visited in the space of two hours. You would think that they would be close together, no chance, we've been all over town today. Tired? Yes you might say that. Traffic is never pleasent. Traffic in rush hour in Madras, well that's something else. So, before leaving the offices we also managed to set Prasad up with a bank account (the shipping agent is quite influential and has a little man running back and forth to the bank for him). With this bank account we are going to set up Prasad with an import export license. He's well pleased.
So pleased infact that he forked out for the very tasty tandori chicken and dal. Actually i'm not being fair. He insisted on paying as he always does. His reasoning being that I am a guest in his country. Prasad is a very nice man.
Manoj reckons that I will have a feast on thursday evening when I go to eat at Prasad's house. He is very jelous and is trying to get himself invited. We were cracking up laughing when dicussing what tactics he could use..." I could just turn up with you and say that im dropping you off or something." me - "No Manoj. Why don't you just turn up say that you are dropping me off and mention that you might wait for me at the cafe around the corner cos you're really hungry."
This conversation developed but I must say that it all got a little silly. I'm actually laughing now just thinking about it.
Good evening from India.
dominic
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