When Onions Made People Cry

(I wrote this last year but completely forgot to publish in my blog til now. Photos are by Mike Rosenkrantz, fellow volunteer and room-mate)

There's been a dramatic increase in food prices here in India in the last month. It started with price of onion soaring to Rs60 or Rs70 in New Delhi (and much higher in other states, reportedly up to Rs100/kg) from Rs30-40, apparently a shortage in supply. According to reports, it was due to damage to crops in states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, the largest onion producers. Some reports said it was due to hoarding and speculation. To arrest the price increase which was making the poor and the middle class cry, the Indian government suspended exportation of onion till mid-January this year. But not long after did the other prices of basic food commodities, such as fish, egg, tomatoes, went up that hurt my purse.

In pursuit of lower price Mike and I headed to a different market which he discovered during one of his strolls around our neighborhood. To get there we passed a creek with much of the water dried up while what remained of it has turned black with filth and all kinds of wastes imaginable or not. Near the bank of the creek is trashville which i thought was where all our garbage go, and where some people find a living...

or where cows bask in the sunshine.

The market, although not the most pleasant site you could find in Dabri, West Delhi, is fascinating. There are no stalls in this market, just rows of fruits and vegetables strewn on the mucky grounds, separated only by sacks or tarps laid out to protect them from getting soiled. The vendors seemed to recognize Mike from his previous visit when he didn't buy anything but took a lot of pictures of them. They looked affable and amused as two foreigners gasped with glee at the sight of a heap of broccoli. I was supposed to purchase a week's supply of veggies but with the atrociously cheap prices in this market I ended up buying two or three times more than the volume I needed.

Imagine this: ( at exchange rate of 1.00 INR=0.963946 PHP/0.0219198 USD)

broccoli - Rs30/kilo
papaya - Rs20/kilo
grapes - Rs60/kilo


carrot - Rs20/kilo. (and that's me checking twice that i heard the man say "bis ek kg" - 20 one kilo, notice the man's hand)


pepper -Rs20/kilo


green peas Rs.20/kilo


potato - Rs30/kilo


eggplant -Rs20/kilo


cauliflower Rs5/kilo. now this was tricky. the vendor (not the child in the picture) kept saying, "das doh kg" (10 for 2 kilos). I couldn't blame him if he tried to lure me into buying two kilos of cauliflower. he's got over a hundred kilos of only cauliflowers at his disposal. Mike wondered how much a farmer got if the market price (in New Delhi were nothing is grown) which bothered me for one second then i continued in my shopping binge. Bad, eh?


garlic and tomatoes were still a bit pricey at Rs240+ and Rs60 a kilo respectively.


I didn't dare buy or even ask about the price of onion, afraid it would make me cry. But had i noticed the sacks of onion behind this man in the picture perhaps I changed my mind. Maybe supply has gone back to normal after all.

P.S. I'm not entirely sure if these prices are low by Indian standard. I've read that people here do not complain if prices of non-essential or created needs are high, but will grumble if the prices of vegetables and fruits go up, thus the government really makes effort to keep the prices low, so low that the farm gate prices minimum(est), remember the cauliflower.

Looking Back

I've had two opportunities to share about my volunteering experience in India since I came back home 5 months ago. Thanks to VSO Bahaginan that allows the returned volunteers (RV) to stay involved in many different ways. My involvement has been through RV sharing during trainings for pre-departure volunteers (i will refer to them here as pre-deps). The first one was during the Wider Role of Volunteers (WRV), the training when pre-dep volunteers have received placement offers. The other one is Preparing for Change (PfC), that which selected candidates go through after they have passed the Assessment Day.

The objective of the sharing is to give pre-deps glimpses of the lives of the volunteers while in their countries of placement. Both the RV and the pre-deps receive fair warnings that the experiences shared are unique to the RV speaker and does not reflect those of other volunteers. Volunteers can encounter similar situations but as i have told the predeps during my sharing, the experiences vary depending how we approached situations. And that's what makes it unique.

If I helped them, the predeps also helped me reminisce my life in India and allowed me to cull more lessons as I answered their questions.

Most asked questions:

1) On accommodation: How did you get an a/c? The a/c was provided to me by my employer. I got very sick during my first summer in India, aside from recommending to eat curd rice, they allowed me to use their spare a/c unit. I paid for the installation fee. Employers are not required to provide volunteers with a/c. In India, the basic requirements are bed and mattress, fridge, one fan, gas stove, table and chair, almira (cabinet) with lock. The flat must have kitchen and bathroom.

2)What was your most difficult experience? The most difficult was when the organization where I was assigned went through a crisis, all staff and volunteers were on the wait-and-see mode. I was not doing anything substantial and related to my placement. While it was okay for them, it was devastating for me. It was only resolved when I was given another placement.

3) How did you manage the food? I love Indian food. But at times I would crave for Filipino dishes, I also craved for meat so I would buy bacon even if it was too expensive for my limited allowance.

4) How did you deal with isolation? I contacted the Filipino community. I also established very good relation with my organization. Once in the placement, the organization is the first line of support for any volunteer. I also maintained communication with other volunteers.

5) Was your allowance adequate? Yes, the living allowance allowed me to live decently while in India. I had enough to pay for food, transportation and utilities. I could even afford to buy comfort food, although when I did, my allowance could barely make it till the next release.

6) How do you rate your performance as a volunteer? Oh wow, that's a bit hard to answer. I did my best, I was asked to extend my placement, I received good reviews from my organizations. I must have done well.

7) What lessons did you learn from volunteering? I learned that we can only do so much. The concrete outputs I delivered in my placement may not be sustained or be forgotten in time but the way I interacted with people and how inspired some people will remain.

8) How has volunteering changed you as a person? I live a simpler life now. I don't waste food. I learned to be patient.

9) Did you plan to find love while in placement? No. but when I saw Michael I thought he was cute.

10) Where is your partner now and what are your plans? He's still in India. We're figuring out what's going to happen next.

photo credit: one of the volunteers who brought a camera, grabbed from facebook.