The World of the Indian Store

When I was a kid, the Indian grocery store was a place to go to for Indian people and their cuisine. It was also a place for other ethnicities to get goods that were similar to Indian cuisine. It was furthermore a place for very liberal white people who had experimented with Indian food to buy some things that they could cook at home.

As the years have past, Indian cuisine has expanded. There are now plenty of Indian restaurants and grocery stores, and Americans of all ethnic backgrounds have probably tried Indian food at least once, and have now ventured into cooking it themselves, which is fantastic.

However, though times may have developed and changed, the Indian grocery store has not. It is exactly as I remember it in the late 1980s.

When you walk into the Indian grocery store, you are greeted by tile floors. These tile floors have been there for decades. The cash register (singular – if there are multiple, you are likely in a Patel Brothers -- more on them soon) is to the right, and the owner is working behind it.

There are a few rows of shelves, and all of them contain what you need for Indian cooking from curry powders to mango pickle jars to fresh vegetables to a frozen section filled with microwaveable curries, parathas, and ice creams (by the way, I’m salivating at this point).

There’s always a spot for already cooked items such as samosas or desserts to-go like jalebis or gulab jamun. If you forgot all the things you needed for a religious holiday, this is where you directly head to.

Every Indian store has a video section, and in many cases, we haven’t moved beyond the VHS tape. Some Indian stores have rid themselves of that and have only DVDs. Don’t expect to find a Blu-Ray disc. This won’t happen until Blu-Ray players shoot down to $50 a pop. Likely, the Indian store’s rental policy is hilarious. It will be something like $1 a night or $5 for you to just go ahead and keep it. It’s because these movies are pirated anyway. In the past, I’ve rented a VHS tape that started off with a DVD menu. FBI policies don’t matter when it comes to Indian films in the grocery store! (for further information on FBI policies, please see my blog post below on the Ghostwriter episode).

In the growing world of social media, businesses have put themselves out on Twitter, Facebook, etc. I don’t know of one Indian grocery store that has done such a thing. To them, there is no need. Normally, in the area you live in, there’s one Indian store, and that’s your spot. “Why would we need to move on from the lifestyle of 1989?” the Indian store owner asks, and in a weird way, is probably right.

In my city of Columbus, the Indian store to go to is Patel Brothers. Patel Brothers is actually a chain of Indian grocery stores. Patel is the most common Indian last name, so it is pretty much equivalent to whatever other generic American last name you choose. In this case, it is Walton since Patel Brothers is probably the only and most popular Indian store chain. However, just as Wal-Mart gets its criticism, so does Patel Brothers apparently. A random Google search of Patel Brothers in Columbus brings up a number of reviews (possibly from the same person) about poor business practices that push out the independent Indian store owner. Have I looked into it further? No. This is my only Indian store in town. I have no choice. Until the government intervenes and puts laws into place that stop whatever may be going on, what can I possibly do? The government’s not even caring about the Indian movie issue.

The Google reviews also bring up another funny topic. Miss writes:

“Some of the customers here fill their carts, and then use them to "save" a place in line--going back out to the store to get more things to add. So a person with only five or six things may very well stand behind two or three completely loaded, unattended carts waiting their turn. I really wonder where some of these customers live---like maybe they are from out of town or something.”

Yes, Miss, they are from out of town. That town is called India! For someone else not familiar with the Indian store, this is a phenomenon that happens regularly. I haven’t experienced it while at Patel Brothers because it’s a much bigger store, but at your local Indian store, it totally happens. While it is unfair, for whatever reason, growing up and seeing it in the world of the Indian store, it was totally acceptable. Every Indian mom in the local Indian store was doing it, and somehow amidst the mass of various groceries for different individuals on the counter, there was order and sense to it all. I guess that happens when your nation has to deal with a billion people.

As you leave the Indian store, you will always see a bulletin board. The bulletin board features information on new Bollywood movies that will be coming out for one night at a random local movie theater, ads for festivities for certain Indian groups, and individuals advertising if you need their assistance. At my recent visit to the Indian store, there was a sign that read:

NEED A BABYSITTER? CONTACT SUMAN!

I assume that Suman is the female twin version of me who chooses to babysit rather than do stand-up comedy. But, this is again a part of the environment of the Indian store and community. Why potentially pay for some random teenager in the neighborhood to babysit your children when you have a perfectly reliable Indian person advertising to do that? You can potentially avoid all that ridiculous English speaking, their services will be cheaper, and they’ll probably be happy to accept the puri you have in your refrigerator as snack food while taking care of your kids.

So, that’s the Indian store for you. As far as I know, it’s somehow still been the same for years and works in its own world where its rules are perfectly acceptable. The only change may be the music that may play in the Indian store. In my most recent visit, I heard some Hindi rap fusion song probably by the Wiz Khalifa of India. I can’t say I’m a fan, but it now gives at least a little bit of the American influence to the world of the Indian store.