Digital Revolution

I am completely blown away by India's tech for living. I am glued to the Android phone that I cannot use properly in order to live my new life as an apartment dwelling independent woman.

Firstly, I completely rely on Uber to get me from A to B when I am not in prisoner transit. In the evenings and weekends when I am not being driven to and from work I use Uber for all my transport needs. In India Uber offers a range of vehicles to suit your journey And your wallet. For example, for a normal journey between one neighbourhood and another I choose an Uber Sedan or Uber Premier which is invariably a white Maruti car. It's normally in fairly good condition, occasionally dented, and invariably with a non-functioning seatbelt. An hour long journey in one of these costs on average about ₹400, or £3.00. If I am going on a journey which is going to be an hour and a half or more I splash out and order an Uber Black which will be a sleek black SUV, with aircon, working seatbelts and the driver will speak English. (Interestingly the option of the Uber Black is no longer available to me since I switched to using Uber on my Indian mobile instead of the app on my UK one. Maybe this option is only available to foreigners?). The price point difference between the Sedan and the Black is around ₹150 which is about a quid. So I am really splashing out when I go Black! Also available on the Uber app, at the other end of the comfort and safety scale are the little yellow and black auto-rickshaws which are great for that short journey back to the apartment when it's too hot, or you've got too much shopping. I took one the other evening from a dinner which was a 20 minute walk back home but I was tired and it was so hot. That journey cost me ₹40, which is about 30p.

So loving Uber.

The next most used app on my phone is PhonePe which is the app I use to make UPI payments.

UPI stands for Unified Payments Interface, an instant, 24/7 real-time payment system in India developed by Indians. It's fantastic. There are a number of different apps you can use in order to make UPI payments, I just happen to use PhonePe. Anyone with an Indian mobile phone can link their phone to their bank account via one of these apps and then paying for anything is simply scanning a QR code generated by the seller and tapping Pay on your app. Which sounds just like tapping a card in the UK but .... wait for it ... you can also generate your own QR code on the app to receive a payment from someone else. Which in this environment of cheap, casual labour means that when Nitesh turns up to fix my curtains he simply generates a QR code on his phone and I scan it with my phone and pay him, instantly. I need never see Nitesh again. (Except that he seems to know a handyman for any situation and is a useful contact).

Similarly if I went out with a group of friends (if I had a group of friends in India!) I could pay the entire bill and everyone could simply UPI their share of the cost to me. You can send money to someone you know via the app by just selecting them as a contact on your phone. Their number is connected to their bank account and you can pay them without knowing their bank details. I am UPI-ing all the time and for those that have read about my tiffin trauma I can now go down to the food court, select my food, scan the QR code and pay. I can eat!!! UPI is revolutionary and it's going to be coming to a mobile phone near you, very soon. You read it here first.

But wait until you hear about my most favourite new app. But first some background. As you know I've moved into my flat and although it is furnished with big ticket items such as beds and sofas and dining table etc it has absolutely nothing else in it. So I have needed to stock a flat with essentials from bedding inc duvets and pillows, to towels, and kitchen ware and mugs and cups and glasses and... An ideal job for the second largest IKEA in the world that just happens to be between my office and the hotel I was staying at. So whilst still at the hotel I popped into IKEA, absolutely exhausted myself coz it is really huge, but made a note of everything that I might need. Whilst still at the hotel I placed an order for my first night in my new apartment, bedding for my bed, some crockery, some cutlery and a few bits and bobs. It got delivered to my hotel room and the big box sat there until it moved to the flat with me. And my first night passed basically but comfortably in my new flat. Except for the mosquitoes which needed a trip to DMart the next day to acquire mosquito repellant.

My plan was then to place subsequent IKEA orders to bit by bit furnish my flat, and I placed another order just before Big Sis arrived for the bedding for the guest room, more towels , and yet more bits and bobs. Only I messed up and managed to get a combination of double and single bedding items - double duvet, double sheet but single duvet cover with only one pillowcase! And then I struggled to receive the correction order because I was never at home when IKEA delivered as they only offer 1 delivery slot between 9:00am and 9:00 pm. Anyway I was grumbling about this to someone at work because I need an ironing board but there is no day when I can be in to receive it and I haven't yet manged to explain to the apartment security team that I would like them to take in a parcel. The person at work asked if I had tried Blinkit - they might have one. And so my Blinkit romance was born. OMG Blinkit is mad, but in a very good way.

Blinkit is a grocery delivery service, and I have already registered and received home delivery from DMart, a large supermarket chain in Mumbai. DMart, like most UK supermarkets offers you a 2 hour delivery slot within a few hours of your order and upto 24 hours after. I havent found an option to get a delivery in a few days time as you can in the UK but that could just be me. Old biddy with an Android.

Bur Blinkit is a whole different level. For my first order decided to order some tonic water for a much needed G&T which I planned to have the folowing evening and when I put the fourpack in the cart it said delivery would be within 14 mins. 14 Minutes!! I threw a few more things in the cart because now the G&T was going to be available in 14 mins I needed lemons, icecubes and some snacks. Unfortunately the lemons were only going to be delivered by 18 mins so I had to wait 4 whole mins after the tonics arrived for the lemons to put in my drink. I kid you not, the items were at my apartment door, on the 22nd floor in 14 mins and 18 mins! What is going on? How is this possible? I have been putting Blinkit to the test. I bought an ironing board at 22:15 and it arrived at 22:30. It's botbthe sturdiest of ironing boards but it is here. I thought about having some breakfast yesterday morning and realised I don't have any sort of milk so ordered some Almond Milk at 07:50 and it arrived at 08:10. In fact I got busy in the bathroom when the doorbell rang and it woke Big Sis who shouted "Have you ordered a Blinkit again?!?"

Honestly it is absolutely staggering. Part of me thinks I will end up spending a lot of money just testing out Blinkit but the other part thinks it might actually be more economical as I only need to buy something when I run out and need something so wastage should be less. I think the delivery cost of my last order was approx ₹10 which as you know by now is no cost at all.

I am baffled by it. My last order consisted of 15 items and arrived in 12 minutes. People have tried to explain it to me that there are dark warehouses within 1 km of residential blocks with lots of delivery boys sat outside ready to transport, but I still cannot picture how my 15 random items were picked from this warehouse and transported to my apartment and the lift was called and came and the bloke reached my floor and door all in 12 mins! It took me 12 mins just to write that paragraph! And imagine how large a warehouse has to be if it has an ironing board, almond milk, lemons, tonic water, a plastic shower mat, coriander, mustard seeds, pomegranate juice, whole mixed nuts, yellow bananas, red lentils, slit yellow lentils, red bananas, eggs, 3 wooden spoons and more ... all items I have bought in the last couple of days on Blinkit!

Try it. Collect a towel, a bottle of cleaning product, something from your fridge, a pair of socks, a toilet roll, some sort of storage container and a pen. Put them all in a bag and ferry them 1 km from your house. And time yourself. Did you do it in 12 mins?