8 November 2013 / leggypeggy

Let’s go shopping for overland supplies

decorations, Diwali, festivals, Food and drink, India, Jabalpur, markets, overland travel, Prayaan India Overland, supermarkets, travel

Our first supermarket shop with (from left) Poor John, Renae, Anand, Deepti and Gary

Our latest overland journey kicked off with a shopping spree to stock up on dry goods to hold us for those days when we can’t really buy anything fresh.

The only other time we’ve done a big shop before starting a trip was before we headed into Africa for almost year. I’ll write about that soon, but India is top of mind at the moment.

Overwhelming choice of rices and pulses

Anand and Deepti have a clever idea for getting passengers involved in a shop. On day one of our overland, they took Renae, Gary, Poor John and me to a Big Bazaar supermarket in a medium-size shopping mall in Jabalpur.

Once we arrived, they handed each of us a list of four or five items to find in the store. I drove the trolley and we scattered around the store to buy essentials such as cooking oil, spices, rice, dry noodles, sugar, salt, pepper, jam, peanut butter, milk powder, cereal, dish soap, sponges, tissues and the like. We even bought a packet of table napkins endorsed by the famous and talented Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar.

The crowd at the checkout

I’m a good shopper, but almost missed out on the top bargain of the day. When I grabbed a five-kilo bag of rice, the salesperson put a second bag in the trolley. I took it out and said, thank you but I only need one. He looked puzzled.

When we got to the checkout, Anand asked who bought the rice. Me, I piped up. Well, go get the other one, he said, it’s buy one, get one free.

Oops! So now we have 10 kilos of rice for a month. I wonder if we’ll need to buy more?

Interestingly, lots of groceries items were discounted for Diwali, the Festival of Light, which is the year’s most important holiday for Hindus. Our final bill for an initial trolley of groceries was 4100 rupees or about A$73.

Renae watches the checkout process with amusement. Note the Profit Club sign in the background

Checkout was an interesting and slow process. Many customers were taking advantage of the Big Bazaar’s Profit Club, a special that meant they could pay 10,000 rupees and then spend 1000 rupees per month for the next year at that supermarket. Nice incentive, but supported by mounds of paperwork.

Shoplifting must be a problem in Indian supermarkets. Renae bought a bottle of moisturiser and popped it in her bag after paying. Oh no, that won’t do. The bottle had to be put in a small carry bag, which was then sealed with a cable tie. A number 1 was written and circled on the bottom of her docket. Later we realised this was to let the fellow at the exit check how many bags she was supposed to have.

Then it was on to the general markets to get Diwali decorations, lights, clothing and fireworks. Just because we would be camping didn’t mean we wouldn’t be celebrating.

Buying clothes was the biggest challenge. I finally found something that went around my bust. It fit, but it didn’t flatter, and I’m rather hoping that a pic of me in it never makes it into cyberspace.