Introduction

We have copied the two mails almost verbatim except that we have corrected a few typos, have formatted the thing in html, and have added a warning about phone number change. These mails reflect the personal views of Mr Antar Bandyopadhyay, and we have not made any effort to "correct" any flaws or bias they might contain. The reader is advised to use his/her commonsense before accepting the views presented here. In particular, the host of this page disagrees with many of the views presented here.

The first email

>From antar@stat.Berkeley.EDU Mon Sep 11 12:40:14 2000
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 18:43:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: ANTAR Bandyopadhyay <antar@stat.Berkeley.EDU>
To: Gopika Ranjan Goswami <bst9502@www.isical.ac.in>,
     Arka Prasanna Ghosh <bst9516@www.isical.ac.in>,
     Sanjay Chaudhuri <bst9525@www.isical.ac.in>,
     Deepayan Sarkar <bst9507@www.isical.ac.in>,
     Apratim Guha <bst9541@www.isical.ac.in>,
     LAKSHMI NARASIMHAN RAMPRASATH <ramprasat@india.com>,
     Sayan Chakraborty <esesc@cal2.vsnl.net.in>
Subject: List of things to take when coming to US.

Dear All,

Many of you are asking me about what would be an ideal list of things to carry when you guys are coming to US. So I have decided to send you a list. It is important to note that this list may not be a complete one. There are several reasons for this, the most important one is the fact that United States is a huge country having quite varying climatic conditions from its East to West. Further more the social-economic situations also vary a lot. Both are pretty important regarding what an Indian need to bring to US when coming for the first time as a graduate student.

Let me first make sure that I know exactly where you guys are coming ...

• Apratim and Sanjay : West-Cost ( WC )
• Arka, Gopi and Rama : East-Cost ( EC )
• Deepayan and Sayan : Mid-West ( MW )

The climatic condition of MW is the worst being in the middle of the continent. The places like Madison and Chicago have extreme climatic condition. It snows there like any thing during the winter ( most of the days the temperature will be below freezing in December and January ), and during the summer it is hot and humid.

Of course WC has the best possible climatic condition. Although Berkeley and Seattle are quite difference but still they are possibly the best one can think of. Among the entire US, San Francisco Bay Area ( Berkeley is a part of it ) has the best climatic condition, and hence Apratim will have the least difficulty in getting accustomed with the climate. Seattle is a beautiful place but it gets too much of rain. Most of the time it rains there, but then it is really green.

Coming to the EC, it is not a great climating condition there but it is not as bad as of MW. I think it rains a lot in Chapel-Hill and one got be very carefully from getting chicken-pox in Boston. Both the places become white during the winter.

By the way, it does snow a little bit ( may be one or two days in winter ) at Seattle. Usually people from EC or MW will think that snowing as nothing but just a little bit of hailing. In California there is NO snow. For the people of this sate snow is some kind of a white thing which falls from sky in places which are very near to the hell.

Anyway, the main point is because of this variation in climatic conditions my list is going to be incomplete for the people going to EC and MW. At the same time I want to point out to them that the special clothings whatever you will need should better be bought here in US and not in India. In general it is a FACT ( may be an unfortunate fact ) that any thing what you get in US ( by paying proper price and not just from some shade shops ) is much better in quality than a similar stuff from India. But the catch is you pay a lot more than what you pay at India. So initially it will be rather difficult for you to buy a whole lot of stuffs here. And that is precisely why you need to bring few thing when you are coming here for the first time.

(A) Dress Materials

1. Shirts

• informal : at least 6,
• formal : at least 2,
• t-shirt : at least 6 ( if you use them ).

[ Note : A formal shirt means it should look like a formal one. The colour is of course in your choice, but it is better to have them as a plain colour shirts. Try to take at least one white or light cream colour formal shirt. This you will need in some occasion. ]

[ Good shirts in India are the one by Park-Avon/Van-Haussen ]

2. Trousers

• formal : at least 2, ( preferably dark colours )
• jeans : at least 4, ( blue and black are the best )
• khakis : may be 2, ( if you want )

[ For Jeans any good brand is fine. DO NOT buy them from stupid stores like the ones near Danlop-Bridge and all. Buy from proper good stores and actual brands. For formals Park-Avon is probably the best For Khakis again you can buy Park-Avon. Not that they are particularly great, but they are OK ( may be now-a-days you have some other choices in India ) ]

3. Informal stuffs

• pajamas : at least 8, ( if you wear them )
• shorts : at least 8, ( if you wear them )

4. Undergarments

at least 14 pairs

[ Note : These are rather expensive here and no increment in quality, so better to bring as many as you can, so that you can wash your cloths once in two weeks ]

5. Warm Cloths

• ( for people coming to WC ) -- whatever you thing you need, basically after a few days you will not need much. Still I think 1 full sleeve sweater and 2 half-sleeve sweaters, and if possible a decent jacket is fine.
• ( for people coming to EC+MW ) -- you need your special clothings for these places. I have no idea. Ask your other seniors who are there. I guess you at least need whatever I asked the WC-guys to bring and some more.

6. Indian Dresses

( it is good to have some and to know how to wear )

• dhuti : may be one or two really good ones.
• panjabi: at least 2 good ones and 3-4 for regular use.
• shawl : one good shawl is fine. You can also buy a decent Johor-Coat of Santinikatani style.

7. Footwears

• 2 pairs of good leather shoes for regular use [ Bata is fine, I think Woodland is good too ]
• 1 formal black shoe [ you can buy it from Bata or ... ]
• sandals : 2 at the most
• At least one good "Choppal" which you can wear with dhuti.
• 1 sneakers is good to keep with.
• at least 10-14 pairs of socks.

8. Other dress materials

• belt : at lest one black and one brown. ( you need to have a black and decent one for your formal ware )
• tie : at least buy two. You will need them some time. Make sure that you match them with the colour of the formal shirts. [ Park-Avon has good collection. ]

9. Things not to be taken regarding dress materials

• handkerchiefs,
• gloves,
• suit(s),
• any kind of rather stupid-type jackets and stuffs like that.

(B) Bed-&-Bath stuffs

Bed-sheet

at most 2 ( buy of decent quality )

Towel

at least 2 big ones ( buy of decent quality )

Things not to be taken regarding bed-&-bath stuffs

• pillows and pillow covers,
• blanket and/or stuffs of that type,
• "moshari" etc.

(C) Toiletries

Soap

at most 2 body-soap [ you get all these here so don't worry :-) ]

Tooth paste and brash

one each is fine.

Shaving stuffs

whatever you like. just take enough to last for an week. you can buy these here and of much better quality.

**very important** : if you need then bring some sharp scissors for shaping your moustache. This you won't get here.

powder etc

same comments as of the previous one.

perfumes and after shaves

if you are a fool only then you will buy them in India and bring to US. ( sorry for the use of strong words )

(D) Books and Notes and related stuffs

Books

All the books you have with you and can carry. It is fine to carry Xerox books too. No body will say any thing.

Notes

Take all the notes you have with you and you care to read.

Ink

if you use fountain pen then buy few bottles of your favourite ink ( colour and brand ). Depending on where you are going you may or may not get ink for fountain pens in this country.

Pen

at least one pen you should keep with you.

(E) Stuffs for cooking

Utensils

• 1 pressure cooker ( 3 litres is fine ),
• few gaskets and safety valve for the pressure cooker.
• at most 2 microwavable plastic plates,
• at most 2 microwavable plastic bowl,
• at most 1 glass + 1 mug.
• some knifes and spoons.

Masalas

I will recommend that you don't take any. they are all available here ( at least in Berkeley ). First figure out from your seniors that if can get Indian species at the place you are going. If not then take the standard stuffs. Your mum will be the most helpful person :-)

Things not to take regarding cooking stuffs :

no cooking utensils other than pressure cooker. ( You have to buy all these stuffs here and that is the best option in my opinion ).

(F) Medical stuffs

Medicines

some usual stuffs.

DO NOT carry a lot of medicines. You will never need them and when you will need them they will be expired, so better strategy would be to know a near by drug-store where you will be living.

(G) Miscellaneous : ( the most difficult one )

• office supplies,
• torch,
• calendar,
• hand mirror,
• detergent powder.

I think this mail is already having a monstrous size, so better to stop here.

With best wishes,

Antarda.

The second email

Suddenly some important things came into my mind and so I am writing them up. It might seems to be a little less coherent but I guess these are some things you need to keep in mind.

(A) Things you need to take with you :

(1) Glasses

Glasses ( means spectacles ) are extremely expensive here. So all of you who use them make sure that you have at least one extra pair with you, in-fact it is better to have two extra pairs.

I have never used contact, so don't have much idea about it. But I guess it is equally expensive, so better to bring few extras.

Definitely take your eye-specialist's prescription with you.

(2) Other

If you are under any specific medication then bring all the prescriptions of your doctor(S), and also few extra files of the medicine(s).

(B) Dollar

Now it is difficult to say how much dollar you need to take with you. This will depend on where are you going and what are the kind of cost you have to bear initially. I think it is important to bring at least $1500.00 and the best is to take $2000.00 ( if possible ). Now in the transit you will not need to spend much, except possibly for food at the air-ports. So I will suggest that you keep $250.00 with you as cash and rest of it take as traveler's check. A decent break up of the cash $250.00 would be :

$100 x 1 = $100.00 $ 20 x 4 = $ 80.00 $ 10 x 4 = $ 40.00 $ 5 x 4 = $ 20.00 $ 1 x 10 = $ 10.00

Total = $250.00

Make sure that you have at lest 5 dollar one bills. They are the most important. Never take any dollar bill which are more than $100. It is not important that you have to follow exactly the above division, but it is an ideal example.

No need to buy any coins. Typically you wont get them also.

DO NOT BUY EVEN A SINGLE DOLLAR FROM ANY UNAUTHORIZE PERSON(S) AND/OR ORGANIZATION(S).

The best place to buy dollar is to go to AMEX ( their office is at Dalaushi opposite of Great Eastern Hotel ).

You need to carry your Passport ( with the VISA on it), I-20, and your plane-ticket.

In AMEX if you take those documents and cash then they will give cash dollars + traveler's checks immediately. It is always best to buy AMEX traveler's check, since they are the most accepted in US.

(C) List of phone numbers to contact in case of emergency in US

911

The police, ambulance etc. DO NOT CALL THIS NUMBER IF IT IS NOT A SERIOUS EMERGENCY. You can dial this number from any public phone without any charge.

Phone number of some people you know :

Antar : 1(510) 845-9455 Saikat : 1(608) 287-1637 Krishanu : 1(607) 269-0635 Rituparna : 1(773) 752-8472 Arnab : 1(650) 725-6248 Sinjini : 1(206) 527-8609 Swati : 1(206) 367-1861 Sito : 1(913) 677-5682

Most of these numbers have now changed, and might again change in future. So please get the current numbers when you leave.

All these number can be dialed after pressing 1 and then dialing the 10 digit number from any phone. For the public phone you either need coins or a phone card. I guess all of you have got $10 value AT&T Phone Card. Take it with you.

(D) Travel Documents

Make sure that you carry the following travel documents with you before boarding your flight.

1. Your Passport ( with F-1 student VISA ),
2. I-20,
3. Plane ticket,
4. Dollar ( both the cash and traveler's checks ),
5. IT Clearance,
6. Your Indian Driving Licence ( if you have one ),

Do not lose these things! Be very careful when you are travelling. Do not pack any of the other item in the suitcases. Keep the entire cash dollars and the travelers' checks with you, and not inside the suitcases.

(E) Some other documents you should take

1. All your certificates and marks-lists ( in original and in duplicates ) [ Take provisional marks-list and certificate for M.Stat from ISI ]
2. The offer letter and any other correspondence you had with your department and/or University.
3. All the offer letter(s) from any other University you got but rejected the offer(s).
4. Two-three passport size photograph of yours.
5. Your original GRE and TOEFL scores.
6. A copy of your SOP and CV.

All these documents should not be taken inside the suitcases. Carry them in your hand luggage.

(F) Important things to keep in hand luggage

• At least one and at most two full set of dress ( that means shirt, pants, and underwears, socks ).[ Some time the check-in luggage get miss-placed and so in such a situation you should keep enough supply to last at least an week. ]
• A book for reading during the journey. [ Traveling by a plane is the most boring mode of transportation, so a book is the best companion. ]
• All your toiletries, especially things like creams and jels, and after shaves etc.

(G) Things NOT to carry

• Any alcoholic beverages.
• Any tobacco stuffs.
• Any other kind of in-legal drug(s).
• Indian Currency notes.

(H) Very Important thing

Please DO NOT smoke inside a flight ( even in the restrooms ). It is absolutely in-legal to smoke inside a flight or ]openly inside any air-port. In most of the air-ports you will get smoking rooms where you may go and smoke.

After you reach US, never smoke inside a public building or structure. If you want to smoke you have to do it out side in the open air.

Any thing else .... .... No I can't remember any thing else at the moment ... if I remember then I shall write again.

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OK, have a nice journey ... and during it be happy and merry, and eat and drink as much as you can :-)

With best wishes,

Antarda.

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