Don't you guys have Home Depot?

Yesterday afternoon, Dr. Pelkey and I went on a shopping trip into Pondicherry to pick up several items to use in our research. I was floored by the experience. It's kind of a "duhh" issue, but here there is no Home Depot, Wal-Mart, or other "everything" store; instead, there are streets and streets of small shops specializing in one type of item-- fans, piping, plastics (literally- they just sell random plastic things, like buckets, pencil cases, laundry baskets, deck chairs, soap cases), metal sheets, etc. This means that if you're doing a big project, you'll have to put aside a lot of time to stop by each store, pick out what you want, bargain with the shopkeeper, wait for him to pack up your purchase, watch him meticulously calculate the bill (which involves first determining the fee by writing out the calculation longhand, then with a calculator, then finally in the computer, which is not to be trusted!), and then finally move on to the next store. Of course, even the latter is difficult, as the roads of Pondicherry and most Indian cities are congested with moving cars, bikes, bicyclists and pedestrians, as well as parked cars, bikes, bicycles and sitting/sleeping/loitering pedestrians. If you live in Pondi and shop often, I'm sure that you gather a sense of the best places to shop to get a good price and good quality item. But for westerners Pelkey and me, it was a frustrating afternoon, but of course still an interesting adventure.