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Let’s face it – New York City is expensive.

Everything in the Big Apple is really expensive.

Blame it on the swines on Wall Street.

But you can still save a bunch when you visit NYC if only you know how-to.

Here are some money-saving tips for our desi cheapo tourists visiting New York City:

1. Metropolitan Museum of Art a.k.a. Met (located on 5th Ave at 82nd St) – One of the finest museums in the world. Although the suggested admission fee is $20, you can pay whatever you feel like. Do not feel embarrassed by those standing around you. Remember, you are a desi and cheapo is your creed. Yes, even a quarter (25 cents) is fine. For a family of four, instead of paying $80, you can walk in by paying just $1. Now, that’s a deal our desis would love. Whatddaya think?

2. Heading for the Sex Museum – Use the $3 coupon on the Web site or ask for it at the door. The Sex Museum is located at the intersection of 5th Avenue & 27th Street). Of course, we’ve been there. How could you even think otherwise.

3. Even if you are dying of hunger, think 100 times before you visit an Indian Restaurants in NYC. Most Indian restaurant in New York City serve horrible caricatures of Indian cuisine. Forget palatable, the food at a lot of Indian restaurants including Dhaba, Surya, Utsav or Ayurveda Cafe is not even edible.

If you are really desperate for decent Indian food, we recommend you visit the Dosa-man Thiru in Washington Park. From his humble Dosa cart at Washington Square Park South in downtown Manhattan, Thiru offers a variety of Dosas – Sadha Dosa, Rava Dosa, Masala Dosa, Uthappam and the hot favorite, Pondicherry Dosa. Continue reading »

In all the euphoria about the success of Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire (a fairytale rags-to-riches love story of a Mumbai slumdweller Jamal), we tend to forget the real ‘slumdogs’ of India.

In the latest issue of the New Yorker (February 23, 2009, p.22-29), Katherine Boo has a must-read piece about 13-year-old Sunil, a real ‘slumdog’ living in the fetid Gautam Nagar slum of Mumbai (near the airport and abutting the five-star hotels where the wealthy in 10 minutes consume rare scotches that cost what Sunil earns in 700 14-hour days picking up trash like aluminum cans and tampon applicators).

Sunil is a scavenger, now turning into a petty metal-thief at the Mumbai international airport since the crisis in the global economy has depresssed prices for the trash he collects.

A heartrending account written in a calm, dispassionate style by a fine journalist, Boo’s piece titled Opening Night is a depressing read on the state of India today (the title of the piece Opening Night is a reference to the Indian premiere of Slumdog Millionaire).

Sunil is the face of Mumbai, the face of modern India where income inequalities are now so vast that some moghuls build billion-dollar homes while millions live in miserable hovels amidst rats, feral pigs, buffaloes and dogs, and without electricity or water.

School? Don’t even ask because that’s not an option for youngsters like Sunil struggling to survive.

Since a lot of desis take pride in not buying or subscribing to newspapers/magazines (these SOBs want everything free), we are providing an excerpt here from the New Yorker piece:

Sunil had entered the garbage business when he was seven or so, after his mother died of tuberculosis. His father did roadwork when it was available, then drank his wages. Sunil’s sister, Sunita, was two years younger; when he was small, he’d lost her for a week, but he’d been careful not to misplace her after that. He’d shared with her the money he Continue reading »