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Here are some tips that will help you to make an informative decision on how you should take your bike on train (or not).Its purely based on my recent experience. Pictures of forms and my bike being packed are at the end of the answer. (Sent my bike on 25Nov2017)Pre-requisites:In order to take the bike, you must have:Documents- Carry bike RC & Insurance paperYour ID Card- Aadhar card, Driving License, Passport, etc. (Any one)There are two ways to take the bike:As a LuggageAs a ParcelNOTE: Costing of luggage is 25% more than that of parcel.i.e. if parcel of bike costs you 1000 then same will cost 1250 if sent as luggage.Both these methods are explained in detail below-As a Luggage:In this method, you can take your bike as your luggage in the parcel van of the train. You need a confirm reserved ticket for this.Just reach the railway station 3–4 hours before the departure of the train. Go to the Parcel office to pay for the extra luggage (motorcycle).Get the ticket for your bike and delivery challan (slip) which you will be required to show while collecting the bike at the destination station.Make sure you keep the delivery slip properly. Because if you loose it you might have to go a very long procedure to get your bike! (Court affidavits etc). This may be even a bigger problem if the bike is not under your nameAverage Cost:Upto 500 kms = 1200 rsUPto 1000 kms = 1700 rsUpto 2000 kms = 3000 rsBenefits of this method:Quickest way to travel with the bike!Bike travels in same train as yours. You can check how its kept in the parcel van. You can keep a check on packing quality of the bike.You get the bike as soon as you de-board at the destination! So you don't have to make additional visits to the railway station!Perfect for travelers who are going on a vacation for few days or just a couple of weeks! You get the bike as soon as you get down at your destination and save money on public transport! :)Cons of this method:Cost: Bit expensive as compared to parcel method (discussed below)Managing the whole thing:You have to take the headache of unload the bike from parcel van if your destination station is not the last stoppage of the train.Yes, many a times the railway porters may miss to unload because of any reason (short stoppage time of the train etc). This may create a lot of trouble for you as if missed the bike will go to the last station of the train and then come back after a few days.Other tips:This method is very good and appropriate for short term trips!Try to book ticket in a train where your destination station is the last stop of the train. This way it will be easier for you to getting the bike unload without any hassles and hurries!2. As a ParcelThe parcel method is like sending a snail mail.Features and how it works:Take the bike to the parcel office (most important major railway station have it) during the working hours and register the parcel. Make sure you go for booking at least a 2–3 days in advance so that you don’t have to wait for it for next couple of days. Take the delivery challan slip.The bike will be sent in any train to the destination station and will reach in around 4-5 days or earlier depending upon the distance.Average Cost:500 kms : 700 rs1000 kms : 1200 rs25% less than luggage costing.Packing charges and types:Packing is one of the most crucial part. Mostly, people just tie a plastic bag to do a formality. But trust me you are definitely going to regret later of you don't get it done properly.Packing can be done by agents nearby parcel office, they charge you from 300/- to 1000/-To be specific :Basic packing- They wrap handle of the bike using a plastic bag and sack cloth (bora or bori). Its cheapest and useless. You can just do it yourselves too. (Goes for 200-300/-)Medium packing - They wrap up multiple layer of cardboard box to the handle and front which ensures no damage to headlights indicators and handle too. Along with that they will wrap up all the body parts which are exposed, except tyres only. Along with that they will wrap up the vehicle from below too and stitch it. Its best for medium ranged bikes like Splender, Passion the one with less fibre parts. (Goes for 600-800/-)Maximum secure packing- They wrap up all body parts, using cardboard box layers followed by plastic bags along with sack cloth. Almost each and every part will be covered head to toe with multiple layers. Also some use dry grass or bottles which acts as shock absorbers. Its the best and is more than sufficient for sports bikes too. (Goes for roughly 800–1000/-)FAQsCan I take bike which is not in my name?Yes, of course you can! You just need the original papers of the bike to carry along with you! Just to avoid any problems you can get letter of authority from the ownerDo I have to pay bribes to get the bike on/off the train?Hard to say, in most cases without bribe would be fine! In some cases the porters may ask you for an extra tip and if given give more care to your vehicle. It is just a bad practice followed. Try to stay firm and polite if they ask for any such requests.Will my bike be damaged?Little bit here and there! Possible! May or may not have any scratches at all!If your bike is shining new with very fragile parts then it would be very vulnerable to getting damaged because the parcel van is filled with small/big parcels of different sizes and type.Also depends upon the care by the porters while loading it in the train. So make sure you get it well packaged and stand when they are loading the bike in your train.How long can I keep bike at station?For parcel there is 6 hours of time window to collect after that they will charge penalty of 10/-per hour. Office closes at 5pm, collect it by 5pm if train arrives before 5pm.Can I keep fuel in tank?Strictly no. If fuel is found in any case you will be penalised 1000/- by the officer at receiving end. Get fuel arranged on destination station and fill later.What if I don't receive my bike at the station?Most probably your destination isn't the last stop of the train. In such cases when your destination is on mid way depending on the quantity and time there are chances your bike would be left untouched. Its your sole responsibility to get you bike from the goods wagon, person responsible will be present there along with labours. In case, you missed the bike it will be delivered when train returns on same route.Edit1: I am adding snaps of the forms I filled while handing over the bike at Jaipur Junction and while receiving it at Lucknow Junction.Forwarding Note for General Merchandise (look for the value of the bike mentioned in right near my thumb, 1% of it is charged in the bill)2. Parcel Way Bill / Luggage Ticket (look for the Train number and time mentioned using blue ink at the top)3. Form for Entry for GST Manual Transaction of Receipt4. Gate Pass (penalty for delay is mentioned in it- see the marked circle that is penalty for 20hours @Rs10/hr)Now some snaps of bike unpacked and packed:Pulsar 200NS (My bike)2. Near Parcel office Jaipur JunctionAfter bargaining I paid them 800 in total including 50 for the rectangular small plate hanging in front of my bike which contains details.Don't trust the people out there when it comes to loading and unloading. Its total mess, they will dump the vehicle carelessly so get it done yourself. The packing I got done is the best possible and not even a single scratch was there after I received it. In my opinion, go for Luggage booking and get it packed properly and then if you want to send even a high rev bike its going to be fine.If you have any questions feel free to comment, I hope I mentioned almost everything in here. It will be of great help for the ones planning to do so.Edit 2: Thanks for upvotes and 32k views its motivating. Sorry for the delayed answers for your questions in the comment.GUYS ITS MY REQUEST PLEASE DON’T SUPPORT THE RAILWAY STAFF WHO ASK FOR BRIBE AND STAY FIRM AND POLITE TO GET THE JOB DONE.ITS WE WHO ADDICT THEM TO BRIBE AND AS A RESULT THEY THINK EVERYBODY WILL HAVE TO PAY THEM AND TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. ONE STEP OF YOURS WILL AMPLIFY WITH TIME AND I BELIEVE IT WILL IMPROVE THE SYSTEM IN AND OUT EVENTUALLY.Hit UPVOTE if you found it useful! ;)

I have spent few days reading articles, talking to insurance agents, online agencies gathering information to find the right insurance policy for my family. These factors have helped me identify the best one among so many in the market today.Following are some of my key takeaways. Every point also includes the corresponding information from the policy I have chosen for my family.1. MAXIMUM HEALTH COVERAGE - Always prefer a plan that offers maximum health coverage and maximum amount for the treatment. Today, simple heart surgery can cost between 5-10 lakhs which triples if you end up in some suite room of a good hospital. People say go for a lesser cover if you are young, however, the rate at which critical illnesses are detected even among the youth today, it would be prudent to opt for a higher cover.I am 33 and have taken an insurance cover of Rs. 25 L for me and my family. Comes to approximately 2300/- per month.2. FAMILY FLOATER - If you are a family person, it is better to opt for a family floater plan which covers your family. It means, anyone can utilize the total cover during medical treatment.I have opted for a Family Floater.3. NO SUB-LIMITS - Most insurance policies come with sub-limits on per day medical expenses, room rent in case of hospitalization etc. Consider those plans that offer the highest slab on room rent or other health care expenses. For example, the room-rent may be capped at 1 percent of the sum insured or only an AC Room and not suite. So, irrespective of the total sum insured of the policy, one may have to pay out-of-pocket hospital bills unless one sticks to the limit.I have opted for a policy with no cap on room rent. So it doesn’t matter if it’s a suite or AC room or shared.4. RESTORE BENEFIT – This is the most important feature of any insurance policy. A comprehensive health insurance policy usually covers hospitalization expenses up to the total sum insured. Considering the rising health-care costs, it is quite possible that the entire sum insured gets exhausted in a single hospitalization and this is when ‘restore benefit’ in a health insurance feature comes in. Restoration benefit is a feature that reinstates the total sum assured if it is used up in any given policy year. However, the premium for policies with restore benefits is also high.In my policy, there is an instant addition of 100% Basic Sum Insured on complete or partial utilization of existing Policy Sum Insured and No claim bonus (if applicable) during the Policy Year. The Restore Sum Insured can be used for all claims under the Inpatient Benefit.5. NO CLAIM BONUS (NCB) - In case you do not claim, insurance companies provide a bonus by increasing your coverage on renewal. Increase in your coverage is very useful as the medical costs keep rising by almost 15% every year. No-claim bonus typically comes in two different forms.Discount on the premium amount charged for a policyCumulative benefits offered in the form of higher sum insured amountI recommend option 2 as a few rupees discount in yearly premium is hardly even worth the comparison.NCB for my policy which gives me both discount as well as cumulative benefits. Details below:A bonus is applied by enhancing the renewed policy’s Sum Insured by 50% of the Basic Sum Insured of the previous year’s Policy. The maximum bonus will not exceed 100% of the Basic Sum Insured in any Policy Year.A discount is applied at each renewal if the insured member achieves the average step count target on the mobile application provided by us in the specified time interval (calculated from the policy risk start date) as per the grid in the policy document6. INCURRED CLAIM RATIO (ICR) - The ICR metric indicates a general insurer’s ability to pay a claim. For instance, an ICR of 85% implies that the company has spent Rs 85 on claims for every Rs 100 collected as premium. An ideal ICR range recommended by experts is between 60 - 90%, which indicates a healthy settlement of claims by the insurer against the premium collection.My policy provider has an ICR of 62.47 % as per IRDA Annual report for 2017-20187. CO-PAYMENT – Most providers don’t charge anything till the age of 65. After that, it is generally 10-20% of the total bill. I believe that is the age when one would be treated more often and apply for claims. Also, I don’t want the headache of paying anything irrespective of the age.My policy has no co-payment charges at any age.8. HOSPITAL NETWORK - Network listed hospitals are cashless, non-network is reimbursable – Opt for a policy that has the most number of hospitals in its network.My provider has 4500+ network hospitals in Bangalore which is pretty decent. There are other companies which have 8000+ hospitals in their network.9. TYPE OF INSURANCE COMPANIES: There are 2 types of Insurance providers. Standalone and General Insurance companies. Standalone is better than General Insurance providers because of the faster approval process. When a claim request is made – hospitals write a pre-authorization letter to the insurance company for cashless approvals. A general insurance company takes longer time for approvals when compared to standalone companies where the same comes within an hour.My policy is from a standalone health insurance company.10. PRE-EXISTING ILLNESSES – The lesser the waiting period the better.My policy covers them after 3 years.11. BUYING ONLINE vs AGENTS – They say it’s good to have a face associated with the insurance provider and that’s why people recommend taking via agents. However, there is no guarantee that person will be available for you in your time of emergency. With online, you will have all your documents in one place and better customer support through dedicated helplines. Either way, you will be paying the same premium.I bought my policy online through Coverfox for convenience purposes.12. OTHER GOOD TO HAVE FEATURES (my corresponding policy cover detail)Eye cover (Not covered)Pregnancy Cover (Not covered)Dental Cover (Not covered)Health Checkup (Covered)Critical Illness Cover (Not covered)13. GENERAL FEATURES - covered by most policiesDaycare treatments (Covered)Expenses before and after hospitalization (Covered)Daily hospitalization allowance (Covered)Emergency Ambulance expenses (Covered)OPD expenses (Not covered)I hope this analysis is helpful for you to determine the insurance plan that best suits your needs. I don't want to promote any insurance company on a public forum like Quora.———— ——————————————UPDATE23 Dec, 2020- I have not been active on Quora and haven't been able to respond to your Insurance queries.However, Finshots have come up with an easy tool called DITTO to understand your chosen Insurance policy. Do explore, as it will help answer most of your queries.Health Insurance Analysis - understand, compare and review Health insurance | Ditto

I wouldn’t say strangest but these were very different compared to what I am used to in India.Water Fountains - People in the USA drinking water from fountains; when my wife told me that she noticed it in O’Hare airport I didn’t believe her for weeks till I saw with my own eyes.Edit: Since so many are asking about what’s wrong with the drinking water fountain in comments I am adding this to clarify.There is nothing wrong with drinking from the fountain and it is well maintained and hygienic as well. Just that I didn’t think drinking directly from the water source would be in practice in USA.As a note I didn’t know how to drink from it during the initial days; I thought there is a proximity sensor that would sense my presence and dispense the water. :-)2. Traffic - The absence of traffic in most suburbs and roads being virtually free when compared to India.3. Extremes in fitness - The average American is either extremely fit and exercises every day or overweight and trying or not trying to get the excess weight off.4. Reserved Parking - I was surprised that every parking lot has slots reserved for the differently abled; it’s a good thing though.5. Cost of Healthcare - Healthcare without insurance burns a hole in your pocket and even the premiums are expensive; it could range from $400 to $1000 per month depending on coverage level, types of benefits, etc6. Vast Empty Spaces - There are vast empty spaces along side highways, suburbs, villages and virtually everywhere.7. Parks/Play Areas - There are parks/play areas in every 2 or 3 miles and it includes playground/slides/swimming pools/ping pong tables/etc.8. Huge Parking Lots - Every mall/shopping centers have huge parking lots and nearly 50% of them are empty unless it is a very busy place. you don’t have to pay a dime in most places for parking.9. Lack of public transport - Public transport is practically non existent compared to India. There are very few buses in suburban areas and public transportation is aplenty only in huge cities like Chicago, New York, etc. Taxis are expensive and one typically pays $3 to $5 a mile in most places. Owning a car is a necessity rather than a comfort. Given below are some pics of the Chicago Union Station which is akin to Chennai Central/ Chatrapati Shivaji/etc in India.10. Limited Veggie options - You have to stick to McD, Burger King, Olive Garden, Subway, etc and few restaurants that offer veggie options during trips. There are just a couple or just a handful of options in most restaurants. In India the veggie food and cuisine changes even between two cities in the same state and there are thousands of cuisines/dishes that I am not even aware of; let alone taste. Also India has more restaurants that offer veggie rather than non veggie.Edit1: I am a veggie and travelled to just Buffalo, New York and Chicago (I live in Chicago suburbs). I didn't get any decent veggie options in a few minutes I took to search. There could be more veggie options if I had the time to explore. If you eat non veg then it's heaven and you will have a blast.Edit 2: Few have suggested me Find Vegan & Vegetarian Restaurants Near You - HappyCow to find veggie food near me; will definitely try that. Adding it to the answer so that fellow veggies are aware of it.11. Junk Food - Pizza/Burger/Fries/etc are available virtually everywhere and I am shocked to see this food being given to even Toddlers.12. Obsession with Soda - You see everyone carrying a cup of soda anywhere; malls/movies/restaurant/car/etc. Even toddlers consume lots of soda which is just sugar, carbonated water and flavour. Soda comes with 50% of the cup filled with ice unless you ask for soda without ice.13. Carrying coffee/soda to restrooms - Restrooms are among the filthiest places and I can’t imagine/understand why one would carry a cup of coffee/soda in to one. Ewww!!!14. Diapers and wipes in most restrooms - If you forgot the diaper/wipes for the baby and even if you need a quick replacement you can just check in the restrooms and you can get one if you pay $0.5 or $1. This is a very good thing in emergencies; you don’t have to run to a store to buy a diaper pack.15. Large Food Portions/Soda - Most food items come in large portions and we usually pack the leftover food and have it for the next breakfast/dinner. Soda also comes in huge sizes; AMC theatre has 40 oz cup for soda!!! The medium size is 32 oz and the small is 16 oz.16. Availability of Indian stuff - You are likely to get varieties of Indian vegetables, spices and other groceries in one place in many states in the USA rather than a market or departmental store in India.17. Availability of frozen Indian food - I got introduced to many Gujarati food items like Patra, Mathia, etc albeit frozen which I haven't even heard of when in India.18. Cool Water - Water from the fountain is really cool and one cannot drink more than two sips at a time unless used to it. Water in certain restaurants are also cool since they add ice to water and if you don't need it have to specifically ask for it.19. Cheaper Fruits - Fruits like Apple and strawberry are cheaper at peak seasons compared to India. A pound is sold for as low as $0.50 for apples and $0.33 for strawberries. Even if you convert it to INR then it's cheaper than in India; I guess because most of these are imported in to India.20. Strawberry/Apple picking - Anyone can pay a price and get in to fields to pick their own strawberries and apples. Such a thing doesn't happen in India and it has come to my notice that this is picking up steam in India as well. This helps farmers as well as consumers since it reduces cost of picking and transportation and let's consumers enjoy fresh fruits.Edit: Few have mentioned in comments that fruit picking has started in India too; happy to hear that. Hopefully I can pick some fruits when I return to India but it is not prevalent as in the USA.21. Easy to get Credit Card/Loan - It’s pretty easy to get credit cards/vehicle loans when you have a SSN. Just a month after being here one can get credit cards or loan but the interest rates will be higher and won’t get many 0% APR offers but that changes after a year or so. Too many credit card offers flood the mailbox. America is more of a spending economy and it seems to be reflected in credit cards/loans. In India it’s a nightmare if you have more than a couple of credit cards and you are on the look out for a loan; no.of. credit card accounts reduce your credit score adversely.22. Minimal Savings - Many Americans cannot manage expenses if they miss a paycheck because they already in to monthly payments due to credit cards/loans.The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans Living Paycheck to PaycheckMost Americans can't handle a $500 surprise bill23. Costly prepaid plans -It’s costly compared to India in that the prepaid plans require payment every month rather than giving a fixed talktime and validity for the money paid. In India you can pay 250 INR (about $4) and you will get talktime worth 250 INR (approx 1000 mins of calls) and validity of three to four months to use up the talktime. Data is separate you would need to shell out $2 to $5 depending on 2G/3G/4G/LTE and is valid for a month. I imagined these would be cheaper in USA since it’s a developed country.24. Costly Broadband - You need shell out anywhere between $25 and $50 per month for broadband and the speeds are high compared to India. But you are stuck with Comcast in most parts of the country and don’t have any options; not to mention their infamous customer service. :-)25. Pay bills online - Almost 99% of the bills could be paid online and it is free of charge in most banks.26. Signup bonus - Many banks offer sign up bonus between $50 and $300 for opening new checking accounts and credit cards; this is unheard of in India. they do offer some discounts and cashbacks but sign up bonus isn’t common.27. Low interest rates - Savings account get very less interest rates around 1% to 2% or even lesser; while it is around 5% to 6% in India.Savings Account: Compare & Open Savings Account Online28. Steep Discounts - Products like Macbook, iPhone get either discounts or gift cards ranging from $100 to $300 at third party retailers like BestBuy which is not the norm in India.29. Large number of phones sold by network carriers - Every one buys phones from carriers by way of contracts/paying in full/discounts, etc in loads. In India retailers are the ones that sell most numbers; carriers have a minimal share. Most phones are bought unlocked and paid in full; so many don’t buy expensive phones which they cannot afford to pay immediately.30. Timeliness - Everyone is on time for work/meetings/etc. They would arrive early rather than arrive late. If the agreed upon time is 10 AM then it is 10 AM; not 10:05 AM or 10:10 AM.31. Secure doors in apartments - Doors to apartment buildings are secured through security codes and cannot unlock without it. Package delivery teams also don’t have access to security codes and deliver at mailbox or apartment management office or place it near the door. Even the fire department personnel don’t have access to it; I had assisted them once when they couldn’t open the door to the apartment with the keys. :-)32. Fall Colors - There is no season that can be clearly termed as Autumn in India and the trees retain most of the leaves during the season and remain evergreen. In the USA you see enormous amounts of colors even while driving/walking in the streets.33. Need permission to burst crackers - You have to take permission from officials/communities to burst crackers whereas in India we take it for granted and burst as much as we can. All we do now is just burst some sparklers and get to temple to see the real fireworks. Fireworks are on display during July 4, New Year, etc but never the same as in India.34. Certain places have same names - For example there is a Geneva, IL - Official Website in Illinois which might confuse some who are aware of the popular Geneva - Wikipedia in Switzerland. There is a Prospect Heights, Illinois - Wikipedia in Illinois as well as one Prospect Heights, Brooklyn - Wikipedia in Brooklyn.35. USA is very big and vast - This can be illustrated with the fact that United States uses nine standard time zones. From east to west they are Atlantic Standard Time (AST), Eastern Standard Time (EST), Central Standard Time (CST), Mountain Standard Time (MST), Pacific Standard Time (PST), Alaskan Standard Time (AKST), Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (HST), Samoa standard time (UTC-11) and Chamorro Standard Time (UTC+10).Time Zone36. Roads are silent - No one honks unless a person blocks the way or does something dangerous/stupid on the road. It’s very silent except for the engine sound and cars passing by on most roads.37. Buying and driving car is easy - Buying a car is like buying a cycle in India. You can get loans from a bank for the car’s entire value (including registration, etc) and you needn’t a single penny upfront. All you need to do is sign the papers and pay the monthly dues. Driving is also easy since most follow traffic rules and most cars have automatic transmission and don’’t have to worry about shifting to the correct gear.38. Driving over Speed limit - Many drive over the speed limit; when I say over it doesn’t mean by 2–4 mph it’s usually above 10 mph. It’s a nightmare to change lanes in freeways in Illinois when adhering to the speed limit; you have to be above the speed limit to change lanes unless the freeway doesn’t have much traffic. Traffic tickets cost a lot but doesn’t seem to prevent many from driving over the limit.39. Gun Culture - This is always in the news and every weekend sees a dozen gunshots fired in/around Chicago wounding few and killing few. It’s really scary when you see the news and you remember you were at the same spot just a week ago.40. Cinemas - AMC offers tickets for $5 - $6 during Tuesdays and morning shows on weekends. The tickets are really cheap when you compare against a popcorn or fry costing $5 - $10. The movie experience is good nevertheless.41. Tipping Culture - Workers in restaurant/taxi/pizza delivery/etc business are usually underpaid and customers are expected to tip at least 15% to make up for low wages. It’s a necessity and not extra money like in India. If you don’t tip it’s considered as rude or that service was poor and some might even ask you why there was no tip.42. Free refills/discounts - Many restaurants offer free refills on their large size sodas for $0.25/$0.5 or for free. AMC theatres has a large cup which is reported to be 54 oz for soda and offers free refill as well; I am not sure if anyone refilled the large cup. Also you get free refill for the Large popcorn bags at AMC.AMC also offers discounts/rewards for members based on the money spent in AMC; its around 10% i.e., if you spend $50 you get back $5 that can be used for tickets/snacks/etc.Disclaimer: I am not endorsing AMC; just gave it as an example.43. Imperial System in practice - I was surprised to see weight specified in pounds and fluid in ounces; I thought these were done away with till I came here.44. Everyone is courteous and polite - Most people are courteous/polite and greet you in roads/malls/shops/etc which doesn’t happen in India. We usually greet only known persons in India; otherwise you get weird looks. But the courteousness/politeness seems to disappear when driving a car.45. World Cuisine - You can get any food ranging from Chinese to Mexican (I mean all types of food across the world) and if you eat non veg then you are in heaven. Cheese is of entirely different quality from that used in India. I fell in love with Pizza and Pasta and I am not sure if I can get Pizza/Pasta that tastes so good any where in India.46. Variety of Fruits - You get variety of fruits ranging from Apple (I don’t know how many varieties are there.. I have eaten Gala, Red Delicious,Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Empire, Golden Delicious, Jonathan, JonaGold, Fuji and there are many more I haven’t tried yet), Cherry, Strawberry, Durian, Mangosteen, Jackfruit, Mango, etc. I bought Durian once and will never eat it again; it’s gooey like beaten/heated Cheese and the smell is awful.45. Education cost - School education is virtually free; the few hundred dollars fee per year wouldn’t even be enough to maintain schools whereas in India I would have to spend few hundred dollars for a quarter in most schools. Cost of college education is ridiculously high and almost every student is in huge financial burden irrespective of the part time jobs.46. Drive in - I couldn’t imagine a drive in before I came to the USA. Drive in ATMs and fast food is convenient but don’t understand why many don’t sit down and have a quick bite rather than eating in the car. I am still used to it and usually park the car and walk in even if I need a coffee.47. Hot water in taps/baths - To get hot water all you need to do is open the tap. We are used to turning the heater ON and waiting for 5/10/any minutes for getting hot water for bath and other purposes.48. No water in the poo-poo area - Western toilets are widespread in India these days but they do have a tap/water source from which one can clean up and dry yourself with paper after the business but in the USA you have to get used to just the paper.49. Concept of City - City in India means a well developed/urbanized area that can sprawl up to thousands of square kilometers but in USA it would mean a small area running up to a maximum in hundreds of square miles.50. Relatively quiet and queue-less banks - Banks are often overcrowded and need to wait for at least an hour to make deposit money or do any other banking activity. There are numerous ATMs where you can make deposits as well but many prefer to make it in person in the branch. In comparison banks in USA are relatively empty most of the time and you can walk out within few minutes and no tokens needed for any activity; you just head to the counter.51. Bank account can be opened online - Sure there are online applications in India too but you need to visit the branch to submit the form and proofs, make the initial deposit and get the account activated. Even these can be done online in the USA from the comfort of your home; all you need is scanned copies of the proofs.52. Coffee/Comfortable seats in Banks- Most banks in USA have candy/coffee for the customers and the waiting seats are among the most comfy ones I have sat in. You can wait in those comfy seats while the banking officer gets ready for your request. India has seats too for waiting but nowhere near to these and its not possible when there are huge crowds.53. Double Fees for using other ATMs - One can do up to 4 transactions in a month at other bank ATMs for free in India whereas in USA you maybe charged by the bank that issued the card and also by the bank that owns the ATM.54. Different apparels in different seasons - Most regions in India are hot throughout the year and there isn’t a need to have different clothes by season; most dresses will do good throughout the year. Due to the extremes in weather in summer/winter different types of clothes are needed in the USA; I knew about this even before entering the USA but never imagined the scale of the new product launches during the different seasons.55. Dark Coffee/Tea - Most in the USA consume dark coffee/tea without adding cream/milk but this is unthinkable for an average Indian. The way coffee/tea is made is way different where in the milk is in abundance and then the coffee/tea is added for taste.I will keep adding as and when I remember…I had written an answer for a similar question; please refer link below for more details.Balaji Viswanathan's answer to What is it like to be an Indian living in a foreign country? Does it affect the way you live? Do you still carry on with Indian rituals? Is it difficult to be an Indian person in another country?