Things to be brought from India

This list has been constructed according to the personal experiences of people who have come here. So, may be some important items are missing or are inadequately specified. Hence, personal discretion is highly recommended. Also if you feel something is not here then please do send us an email and we will try and post that info asap.

Apparels
Full Sleeve Shirts	2-3
Half Sleeve Shirts	2
Formal Trousers	2
Blazer (Informal) / Suit (Formal) Suit Recommended.	1	Optional and if you wish to bring one, Navy blue / Black one is preferred.
Tie	2
T-shirts	6-7
Jeans	4
Shorts / Cargos / Bermudas	4
Belts	2
Traditional	1	Highly Recommended
Sweater;	2
Pajamas / Night Suit	2-3
Under Garments	14-20	As u go to the laundry once in a week or 2 and they are expensive here.
Towels	3
Handkerchiefs	8-12
Blanket (Light Weight)	1	Recommended! You can buy a rug here costing approx. $15
Single Bed Sheet	2
Pillow Cover	2-4	Get full size covers, the pillows are big in size.
Double bed sheet	2	Recommended, cause beds are of different size.
Woolen Gloves	1	Leather & wool. You can buy them here for approx. $5, which I think everyone does. So it's ok to bring 1 pair of woolen gloves.
Jacket	1	MUST, and better if it works for cold as well as rain, cause here it rains and becomes cold. Not much snowfall. But it is very windy.
Woolen Cap	1	Get one that covers your ears. Or better get a Jacket with a hood.
Thermal Underwear	1	Optional
Caps	1-2	Recommended, summer here is really hot. Light color (e.g. off white) preferred

Footwear
Chappals / Sandals	1	Floaters recommended for summer. Also you can bring traditional footwear, matching the traditional dress you bring.
Slippers	1-2
Formal Black Leather Shoes	1	Highly recommended, they are very very expensive here, and you have to wear the formal shoes for presentations / job-fairs etc.
Casual Sport Shoes.	1	You may also buy here. Here they start from $20. But good ones are usually around $40 - $60
Shoe Polish	1	For Formal Shoes
Shoe Polishing Brush	1
Socks Black (for Formal Shoes)	2
Socks White	12	Also cheaply Available here.

Miscellaneous Items
Glasses / Contact Lenses	2-3	MUST. Optics very expensive here.
Contact Lenses Solution	-	Check for yourself
Stitching Kit	1	Recommended for fast repairs of cloths.
Alarm Clock	1	You can buy electronic clock here starting from $5
Camera	-	Optional
Walkman	-	Optional, the electronic items are cheap here.
Recorded Music Cassettes/Audio CDs/MP3 CDs	-	Highly Recommended, cause you wont get Indian music here.
Wallet (to hold Credit Cards also)	1	Recommended, and you get many credit cards or other cards here.
Hangers	-	Don?t bring. Cheaply available

Toiletries
Shaving Blades / Cartridges	12	Available here, but little expensive.
Razor	1-2
Shaving Cream	-	Cheap here, but still have something with you, as you will be reluctant to spend immediately after coming here.
Shaving Brush	1
After Shave Lotion	1-2
Trimming Scissors	1
Tooth Brush	2-3
Tooth Paste	1
Comb	2
Hair Oil	2
Nail Cutter	1	Don't forget this
Talcum Powder	-	Optional
Shampoo	-	Cheaply available, you can bring some 5-6 sachets to last for few days.
Bathing Soap	-	Cheaply available, but recommended to bring if you use specific brand.
Washing Soap	-	Don?t get it. Cheaply available.

Cooking Utensils
Be sure that all vessels are Flat-Bottomed, because you have electric stoves here. Also the vessels with copper bottom are recommended.
Pressure Cooker 3 Liters/5 liters.	1	Bigger the better
Spare Dead Weight Valves	2
Spare Safety Valves	3-4
Spare Gaskets	2-3
Frying Pan (Non-Stick)	1	Bring good quality such as Nirlep recommended
Spoons Small Size	3-4
Big Spoons / Spatula	2
Steel Plates / Dishes	2
Steel Glasses	2
Pakkad / Tongs	1
Kadhai	1	Big size
Utensils / Patelis	3	Medium / big Size
Microwavable Bowls	1-2	Small/ medium size
Tea Filter / Galane	2-3
Tea Making Utensil	1
Knife	-	Don?t at all bring these, you may have problems at airports !!! They are cheap here.
Cutting Board	1	Optional/ cheaply available here.
Cooking Book	1	Your mother's recipes highly recommended!

Cooking Groceries
Remember, All the items except the Masalas are recommended only if u have luggage space.
Tea Powder	1-2 Kg	If you drink a lot of tea.
Instant Coffee / Nescafe	-	Cheaply available. (Folgers)
Turmeric Powder / Haldi /Manjal	500 gm
Mustard Seeds / Mouri / Mohari / Raee	500 gm
Red Chilly Powder	1 kg
Garam Masala	1 kg	even more if u come from North India
Dhane Powder/Dhania Powder	1 kg
Jeera Powder/Cumin seeds powder	500 gm
Jeera	-	May have problems at port of entry.
Asofotida / Hing	250 gm
Sambar Masala	2
Chhole Masala	5-6 packets	Recommended, cause cholle available cheaply and cooked most frequently.
Pav Bhaji Masala	3-4 packets	Recommended? fast to cook good to eat
Tur Dal	2 Kg	It?s a bit expensive here, so better to bring some stock from India
Elaichi / Veldoda	100 gm	Optional
Clove / Lavang	100 gm	Optional
Papad	2-3 packets	Optional
Aachar / Pickles	-	If you bring, make sure that the packing is good, leak proof.
Tamarind Powder / Cocum / Tamarind Paste	1	Better to bring?.
Sugar / Rice / Salt	-	Please Don't bring these at all.
Rava / Suji / Poha	1 Kg	This is very helpful in beginning

Stationery
School Bag	1	MUST - A Little Expensive here
Ball Point Pen	2
Refils	1
Bonded/Clutch Pencils	1
Sharpner	1
Eraser Pencil	1
Clutch Pencil (0.5 mm)	1
Lead Box (0.5 mm)	2-3
Steel Scale 6"	1
Stapler	1	Don't Forget these
Stapler Pins	2 Box
Punch		Plz Don?t Bring. 3 holes punch Reqd here.
Scientific Calculator	1	Replace the batteries without fail!!
Celo-tape	1	Optional
Glue Stick / Glue	1	Recommended
Sketch Pen	-	Optional
Note books / Papers / Files / Folders	-	Do not bring.

Medicines (must bring)
Vicks (Vaporub & Inhaler)	1
Balm (Amrutanjan, etc)	1
Iodex spray / Relispray	1	For fast pain relief
Dettol	1
Some Band-Aids (wash proof)	10
Iodine	1	Optional
Burnol antiseptic	1	Important!
Painkiller tabs like Combiflam, Brufen.	20-30	They don't go waste
Drugs and Antibiotics (for common fever & cold etc)		Crocin , Amoxyciillin, Disprin .
B-Complex tablets
Vaseline and cold cream	1	Highly recommended for winter.
And all the specialized medicines that you take. And, the things we missed.

Documents (Not limited to these)
Passport / Photocopies		Leave a copy in each bag.
Admission Letter		Leave a copy in each bag.
I-20 & VISA photocopies		Leave a copy in each bag.
Credentials		Leave a copy in each bag.
Transcripts - If you plan to apply to other universities later	5-10	Leave a copy in each bag.
Recommendation Letters - If you plan to apply to other universities later	5-10 each	Leave a copy in each bag.
GRE / TOEFL Score Sheets		Leave a copy in each bag.
Medical Fitness Certificate		Leave a copy in each bag.
Vaccination Certificate		MMR, TB test.
Medical Prescription of all medicines		Leave a copy in each bag.
College Leaving Certificate		Leave a copy in each bag. (Optional)
International Driving Permit (I.D.P.)		MUST. Sooner or later, you will have to drive. It will help you rent cars and also practice on friends' cars before you get the US License
Receipts of travelers cheques		One copy in each baggage
Enough Money		Cash with some change, try to get some coins which you may require to call somebody after coming here.

• Type of clothes depends on the habits of an individual. As far as dressing code is concerned, there is none. Shorts and T-Shirts to the school are the ones popular here. No formal stuff.... its highly casual. Try to get cotton stuff as the climate here fluctuates as much as you can imagine, and also, cotton tends to withstand the extreme torture of machine washing and drying here quite well.
• Whichever medicines you bring, get the prescription of everything from doctor.
• You will get stationery items like pens free here. So don?t bring many of those.
• About the food items, contact your travel agent as well as airline and ask them what all is not allowed. This will save some space in your luggage, which you can utilize for some useful thing.
• Books! Better contact your departmental contact provided on the ISA website for details about this.
• Better take your mother?s advice on cooking items. She is the best person to decide what all you will require.
• Don?t bring files from India, as the filing system is different here, with a three-hole punch.
• Don?t buy any electronic item from India like iron / tape-recorder etc, unless it is compatible with 110V, 60 Hz supply.