Day 19, Tuesday, Failing at a Bank Account, Phone

I went to the most popular bank in India to open an account - ICICI bank. From what I can tell, it is a true national bank, with an unmatched coverage of services. They can afford to hire Shahrukh Khan as a spokesperson.

I walked, threw out the words "Account Opening, Opening Account, Open Account" when the greeter in the main lobby understood me and led me elsewhere. We went out the front door, made right, walked along the side of the building, entered a side door, and made our way to the second floor. This is exactly the type of detour that happened at HFDC bank.

Upon entering this new lobby, I was taken to a small corner desk. An attendant and what appeared to be a higher-ranking attendant were on either side of the desk. "She will help you" the other told me. I waited several moments as she got into position at the other side of the desk. I announced that I would like to explain my position, and then ask what she could do for me. She listened attentively as I stated my tourist visa status, lack of employment, and need to purchase daily living goods. She asked for my passport, and I gave the informal documents to "support" the fact that I was indeed living at a local address (an inked letter signed by my roommates, my gym membership card, and the lease agreement in my roommates' name).

She thought for a moment, and then went to get the superior - the same guy who had told me that she would help me. This man - tall and calm, and without a look of confusion - patiently explained to me how things would play out. He spoke with authority, and with respect, and with confidence - it was comforting, because many times I feel like the person explaining things to me doesn't really appreciate the subject matter. I found out:

1. I need a work visa or business visa; not a tourist visa.
2. Having one of those, I can go to the police commissioner and get a special document called a residential permit (I dimly recalled similar words on India's immigration website).
3. Without these, he predicted, it would be "very hard" to get a bank account on a tourist visa.

The bank seemed very strict about this - they need a specific kind of proof of where I live.

The phrase "address proof" in India seems to carry significance beyond its literal meaning, just as the phrase "ID" in the United States carries significance beyond its literal meaning. It is used for many purposes.

It is usually an official-looking letter from your company that states and defends the notion of where you live. Or, you and your flat owner can write a lease agreement on government-issued "bond paper", and sign it, then this also works. The Indian government mandates that banks, and others, complete a checklist before serving someone, and one of the big rules is that someone is required to have an identify proof ("ID") and an address proof.

My photocopy of my passport is my identity proof, but I don't have an address proof.

I've been passively trying to acquire that since I got here. If I was a student or an employee, then all this would be easier, but I am not.

I asked the confident man if he had any advice on how I should pay for daily living costs, like eating. He silently rolled his eyes away from me, and smiled a little bit, but he gave me a good recommendation - he said to use my ATM card or credit card.

I need a phone.

Originally, I wanted to avoid getting one, but there is an enormous amount of running around town that I need to do and it would help to have one [Update: 8/17/09 in about ten days, this would turn out to be a total lie to myself, a needless violation of my philosophy to keep my physical possessions to a minimum, and a waste of 1200 rupees]. Making calls to India via Skype is 10 cents per minute, which is affordable since I rarely make calls, but giving an Indian return number is not possible.

For international travel, one wants a GSM phone where one can easily insert and recharge a sim card. The GSM phone must be "unlocked", so that they accept sim cards beyond those from the original provider. In India, one can get pre-paid or post-paid sim card plan. Post-paid plans are cheaper, but they require a formal application process where you submit identification and an address proof. I suppose this is to reduce the risk that bills will go unpaid.

In the United States, GSM phones aren't that popular. Most people get a two-year contract with a single provider, and that's the end of it. But here, they are more popular. The person I spoke with at Nokia said that 90% of Indians most people use GSM phones.

A GSM phone works on certain frequencies, or bands, and every country uses one or two bands. The "bands"used by phones in India appear to be 900 and 1800. Thus many GSM phones in India are "dual-band". To get a GSM phone that will work anywhere in the world, you need a quad-band phone. One of the nicest ones that I could find is the Motorola RAZR2 V9. This is a modified version of the popular Razr phone that Verizon has worked with. But, it would be too expensive for me, and probably not available anyway.

There is a Nokia store nearby and Ankit recommended it, so I searched online for a decent Nokia phone. GSMArena allowed one to search by bandwidth and cost, so this quickly narrowed down my choices to about seven, each about $50. Thus far, my intuition is that there isn't much of a markup on cost in Indian electronics (although there are less bargains than in the US). I could attempt to purchase a quad-band phone, but carrying a $200 appliance with me, everywhere, in India, just seems like an unnecessary liability.

After some introspection, I decided that what I really need an Indian number more than I really need a cell phone. For example, when I give out contact information, I need a number to give to people. Whatever it makes ring is irrelevant. If I can route an Indian phone number to a voicemail or to my Skype, then that would be fine. But, phone numbers are not available for purchase in India, unless I want to pay tens of dollars per month to support a toll-free number. Skype Online Numbers are great, and they exist in 25 of the world's most developed countries, but they do not yet exist in India.

A curious side-effect of living here is that when its always crowded around me, and when there are plenty of hospitals, a sincere emergency seems more difficult to come up with.

Anyway. I skipped getting a quad-band GSM phone for now, and bought the cheapest dual-band phone in the Nokia store for about $40. It was an expensive purchase that was probably motivated by panic and disappointment, which in turn came from my failure at the ICICI bank.

After that, I walked home. I uncomfortable, because I had to use the restroom, but there are generally no public restrooms here. And even if a public restroom is nearby, I probably don't want to use it. I will be sharing it with some of the world's poorest people; people who don't have the luxury of worrying about hygiene.

The toilet in my home is the only toilet that I've used so far. If I happen to be in a nice restaurant (which I've yet to be in, due to costs) then I may be able to use something else.

So, when I got home, I was relieved.