+1, My House maid, asks for salary advance during Election, since she would get cash gifts from all the contestants.

Another similar report from a friend's help:

They get paid Rs. 500/- or more per person to stand on the road and cheer when the MP or whatever character being supported drives by...

Really? In North India they have quite a say. They basically tell the village who to vote for.

nope....i have grown up with uttar pradesh politics....while village pradhans definitely have a say, their ability to swing the vote is limited....i deal with this pretty much on a weekly basis....

Can you imagine a DYKWIA game between them! I would pay to watch one!

Hope and Change 2008?? ;)

have personally been involved in trying to change this trend for the last 15 years in my home state....unfortunately, have barely noticed a difference....

I was trying to make a US Elections 2008 reference there. :) based on this line :

i got that part....

i was just saying that change here is too slow so really make any difference....

Which mobile operator to choose for visitor?
 

I have a post-pay plan with Vodafone in India. The account is in cold storage and I will activate it before I leave for Bombay in the first week of November.

I am quite fed-up with Vodafone's customer service. They gave me bad information when I signed up and have charged me for spurious items to which I could not even dispute as their customer service is horrible. A couple of friends in Bombay have complained about them and have changed to Airtel and Tata DoCoMo.

I would like to maintain my number and am open to paying a monthly fee for that option.

From what I have been reading on the operator's sites is that I have to use the service every 60 days or else they will disconnect the account. Vodafone wanted Rs. 20,000 + to have international roaming. I was considering international roaming to make a call every month but gave up that idea upon hearing of the deposit.

What are your suggestions?

I was thinking of getting DoCoMo unlimited plan with either prepay or postpaid.

I come to India about every six months. I do use the phone a lot while in Bombay.

Thank you.

What type of phone do you have? That may limit what carriers you can use.

Have you called up Vodafone for international roaming? I had got mine activated after a year of having the number and without paying any extra deposit on the original deposit of 1500 rupees or so. This was about 3 years back. Although I have a standing instruction from my credit card for the bill payment.

I am using a GSM phone.

standing instructions and corporate accounts get international roaming without the huge security deposits because they have a pseudo guarantee (standing instructions means they can bill and recover the amount from your CC), and corporate accounts -> well, your company guaranteed them!

Guys I am flying into BOM next week on BA and leaving 5hrs later to DEL on 9W all on the same ticket.

BA luggage allowance is 3PC and domestically my 9W is sector is Premiere. This is my first domestic transfer in BOM.

Will they allow me the 3 PC's? Can someone guide me how to do this transfer at 1pm in the afternoon. I am quite a novice at BOM.

BA allowance is 3 pcs with the elite baggage allowance or as a part of ticket 3?