Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

  • I didn’t do a lick of writing outside of this blog this week… except in Hindi class! I had class every day this week & I’m loving it. The hardest part is that I’m not learning reading and writing, because sanskrit is hard to teach (according to my teacher). She will tell us a sentence and what it means, and we have to write it down phonetically to use for studying and repeat her. I have a hard time hearing the new words & she has to repeat herself 5 times before I really hear it correctly.. Very different. The teacher says I’m “slow” and “not very good” ha ha ha! Ben, she says, is much better.
  • Also, I am starting a NEW SERIES on my blog. If you want to participate (and I hope you do) please e-mail me and I’ll give you the information.

Now your story,

I was in the bank (I suppose I won’t say which one) right at closing time trying to wire money to someone. I had just come from the police station to submit my C form (anywhere you stay in India you fill one out, even in our own home) so I had my passport with me.

The bank teller saw my passport and said, “why don’t you open a bank account?” I told him I didn’t think I could open a bank account in India without OCI or PIO.

He flipped through a little bit, checking my new and old Indian visas. He told me that I could and got me pretty excited. This would mean I could wire money money from home, online, and not deal with Mapusa traffic. It would also mean I’d have an account to use Indian websites that don’t take foreign cards, like the official train-booking site. I could even take out a loan (not that I want to), but it’s still very cool.

Then he added, “yes, it’s perfect, no problem… just little thing… you have to close your account every 180 days. When you come back to India you just re-open the account”.

Per my visa requirements, I do have to exit every 180 days at least and re-enter. It’s a pain in the ass. So, if I have an account full of money, when I close it out for a visa run, I have a bunch of cash on me or left at my house?

I told him that just seemed silly and I wasn’t going to bother. Why should I?

He said, “because” he started with a sneaky smile,  “I get commission EVERY time someone opens an account” with an eager head wobble he said “and you can open an account many many times!”

It was pretty funny; I took his card and told him I’d consider it.

This is India!

 

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