Luggage
First things first, you will need some suitcases to carry all your stuff. You will most likely have a student offer by which you will be able to carry 3 * 23 kgs plus cabin luggage. The most preferred brands by students are :
Quote:1. American Tourister
...
2. VIP
3. Samsonite
AT has some very good discounts at their factory outlets (for Chennai people, there in one in T.Nagar) so it will probably end up the cheapest of the lot. Samsonite is quite expensive. VIP is good too, but again might end up a little more expensive than AT. My personal opinion - Go with American Tourister. There may be other local places where you get unbranded pieces for dirt-cheap prices. Don't go with those. If your luggage breaks during handling at the airports, imagine the plight of all those stuff you would have kept inside!!
You will find that there are two types - hard and soft cases. You might be tempted to go for 2 soft and 1 hard suitcases (which I did) but there is no inherent advantage of a hard case over a soft one. In fact, the hard gets scratched easily during handling. Stick to 3 soft cases.
Now for the cabin luggage, get a nice huge backpack. You need to stuff as much as possible into the cabin bag, since the airlines hardly ever weigh the cabin luggage. If you are bringing your laptop from India, then you need to have a provision for laptop inside the bag. Plan accordingly and get a nicely padded and ample backpack. For Chennai people, Roshan Bag Mall near T.Nagar Bus Stand has a nice collection. Don't look at brands, just go with utility.
Edit: Don't forget the TSA locks. Get it from Samsonite.
Clothes and apparel
From my personal experience, don't get too many t-shirts from India. Again, don't get too few either. You won't be washing your clothes for the first two weeks at least, so you need your clothes to last for at least two weeks. A general guideline for buying clothes:
Quote:1. T-shirts (round neck) - 8
2. T-shirts (collared) - 3-4
3. Jeans (stick to blue/black) - 6-7
4. Formal shirts - 3
5. Formal trousers - 2
6. Undergarments - at least 15 pairs (very important)
7. Formal suit - 1 complete set
8. Ties - 2-3
9. Shorts/three-fourths - 5-6
10. Track pants - 2-3
11. Swimming trunks - 1 (if you plan to swim after coming here)
12. One traditional dress for festivals
You will get a lot of t-shirts as freebies in many places in the university. Also you will be tempted to buy university tees (they are quite cheap at Walmart) so you won't need that many tees. You may get the t-shirts and jeans at places like Mega Mart where you typically have 'Buy 2 Get 2 Free' kind of offers, which may end up cheaper. With regard to other stuff, you may need to buy these:
Quote:1. Towels (any kind, but I would prefer Turkish) - 3
2. Hand towels - 3-4
3. Leather belts - 1-2
4. Belt for jeans - 1
5. Formal leather shoes - 1 pair
6. Woodland all-weather shoes - 1 pair (very important)
7. Sneakers (optional) - 1 pair
8. Sports shoes (optional) - They are very cheap in canada. You will most probably have a pair already. Wear it and come. Wait till the black friday sales where you will get awesome pairs of shoes for cheap.
9. Sunglasses - 1 pair (any good brand is okay)
10. Socks - 6-7 pairs
11. Sweater - 1-2 good warm ones
12. A light jacket (you can get a thicker one once you land in canada)
13. A good umbrella (don't get the cheapo ones, they can't stand the wind)
14. Handkerchiefs - 12 nos.
15. Hawai slippers - 1 pair (for wearing inside the apartment)
16. Flip-flops - 1 pair (for summer and spring)
17. Bedsheets - 2
18. Blanket - 1 (optional)
19. Pillow covers - 3
20. A good wallet (leather) - 1
21. A wallet for passport
22. Shoe polish - 1 (don't get liquid, might spill during travel)
23. Shoe polishing brush - 1
24. Monkey cap - 1
This is all the clothes and accessories you might need from India.
Electronics
Though most electronics are cheaper in canada, there are some stuff you may buy from India and come.
Quote:1. External HDD (get the portable one) - You might need this for bringing all those movies, music and files from back home. Minimum of 250-320 GB(Edit now it is 500-1000gb I think). Any brand is fine.
2. USB keyboard and mouse (optional) - gamers might need this. Even otherwise, it is a good thing to have. Get Logitech/Microsoft/Samsung/Zebronics.
3. This is strictly optional. Most probably you will already have a quad-band phone. Get a lifetime prepaid sim card from Airtel, register that number in one of the free SMS websites (like way2sms). Once you land in canada, there is no charge for incoming SMS to that number. So in case any of your friends/family want to message you/give missed call to you, they can do that for free in that number. You can reply for free using the free sms service on the website you registered with previously.
4. If you already have a laptop, you may bring that. Even if it is quite old, preserve it till black friday. You will get super deals, both online and in-store.
5. IPod/mp3 player (optional) - You might need this if you have to wait for long times at airports. Else, get it in the US.
6. Digital Camera- Get it from India. It might be a little more expensive, but you will need it to record all those initial snaps in canada. Preferred brands are Canon, Sony and Nikon. Don't buy cameras that require AA batteries. Buy models with Li-ion batteries.
7. A good pair of headphones with mic.
8. A branded spike-buster.
9. Indian pin to canadian pin converters - 2-3. (very important)
10. A small table clock with alarm functionality
11. A scientific calculator (very important) Casio fx991MS or fx991ES - This is damn expensive in the US.
12. A good branded, decent wrist watch.
13. An extra battery for your wrist watch.
14. Blank DVDs - 4-5.
This may be all the electronic stuff you might need from India.
Personal hygiene products
Most of the brands available in India are available in canada too. However, you might need to bring the following items for your first few days of use.
Quote:1. Tooth paste - one large tube. Brands also available in canada - Colgate, Close-Up, Pepsodent, Aquafresh (Note: The Pepsodent here is not the same as the Pepsodent in India, it is owned by a different company, not by Unilever)
2. Tooth brushes - 3-4
3. Soap - 1-2 bars - Dove, Palmolive and Pears. If you don't use any of these brands, then better get used to them. No use bringing lots of soap bars from India.
4. Shampoo - 1 bottle. Head and Shoulders, Sunsilk, Dove, Pantene, Nizoral. Again, get used to any one of these brands.
5. Shaving razor - A couple of disposable ones.
6. Shaving foam (don't buy cream) - 1 small can
7. Cold cream - 1 bottle
8. Vaseline - 1 bottle
9. Good clean combs - 2-3
10. Comb cleaner/old toothbrush for cleaning the combs.
11. Soap cases - 2
12. Hair oil - 2 bottles
13. Deodorant - 1 can
14. Nail cutter - 2
15. Earbuds - 1 small pack
16. Sunscreen - 1 bottle
17. Lip balm - 2 tubes
This is all the personal hygiene products I guess.
Utensils and Food items
These are the most important things you need to carry from India. If you have already decided your roommates in India, then you will have the luxury of sharing/dividing items equally. All vessels should be flat bottomed, since in canada, most apartments use electric stoves. These may be the utensils you may want to carry with you:
Quote:1. Pressure cooker - 1
2. Pressure pan - 1. As far as possible, get both the cooker and the pan from the same brand so that you can interchange the gaskets and the weights.
3. Medium size kadai for cooking vegetables - 1
4. Serving spoons (of various sizes) - 3-4
5. SS Plate - 1
6. Kadai for boiling milk/water - 1
7. Knives - 3-4
8. Vegetable chopping board - 1
9. SS glasses/tumblers - 3
10. SS spoons - 3-4
11. Extra weights and gaskets for the cookers - 3
12. Chapati roller - 1
13. Butter knives - 2
14. SS forks - 2
15. Kadai for making sambar/dal - 1
16. Tea strainer - 1
17. Water bottle (preferably Tupperware) - 1
Now to the
Food items
Quote:1. Ready-to-eat paste - 5-6 bottles minimum.
2. Rice - 3-4 kg for initial use
3. Maggi - 10-12 (minimum).
4. Some home-made sweets for yourself as well as for seniors you need favors from.
5. Pickles - 3-4 bottles
6. Some snacks - how much ever you want, for the initial days
7. All powders - chilli, garam masala, rasam, sambar, asafoetida, other powders you use - 0.5 to 1 kg each
8. All dals that you use in cooking - 2 kg each
9. Salt and sugar - 0.5 kg each
10. Papads - 2-3 packs
11. Tamarind - 1 kg
12. Ginger-garlic paste - 2 bottles
Stationery items
You will get a lot of stationery items free at various places in the university (career fairs, orientation, etc) so don't bring too many stuff.
Quote:1. Pens - 3-4
2. Notebooks - 2-3
3. Pencils - 3-4
4. Erasers - 3
5. Sharpeners - 3
6. Key chains - 2
7. Staple machine - 1
8. Pins - 2 boxes
9. Glue sticks - 2
10. Markers - 2
11. Highlighters - 1
12. A4 sheets - 1 quire
13. Small ruler - 1
14. Phone book - 1. Keep all your friends' and relatives' phone numbers written inside before you leave.
15. Cellophane tape - 1 roll
Medicines
These are very important since for getting any specialized medicine in canada, you need a prescription.
Quote:1. Cold, Fever - Crocin
2. Body Pain - Crocin, Combiflam
3. Indigestion, Gastric Problems - Gelucil, Zinetac
4. Throat Infection - Erythromycin
5. Allergies - Avil .25
6. Vomiting - Avomine
7. Tooth Ache - Combiflam
8. Cold, Head Ache - Amurtanjan
9. Stomach Pain - Cyclopam
10. Diarrhea - Lopomide
11. Dizziness - Diziron
12. Sprain - Esgypyrin
13. Common Cold - Coldact, Vicks Vaporub
Books
Textbooks are very expensive in canada, so you might as well talk to your seniors in the university, and get the important textbooks from India. Only get those books you won't be able to live without, since they might take much of your luggage allowance. Also, get those fundamental books for revision of concepts.
Other things before you leave
Packing
Don't procrastinate packing till the last moment as you won't find time later, and in the tension you may miss out on some important things. Start packing early. Make sure you make a list of all stuff you are carrying. Label all the suitcases both inside and outside with both your home address in India and your university address. Include the phone numbers also. Make sure you are within the luggage allowance (you can do this by carrying the suitcase to the nearest scrap metal shop/rice mundi), though it can exceed upto 1-2 kgs.
