[DeTomaso] NPC - anyone with firsthand experience of living or working in India?

[Garth Rodericks]

Charlie,

First of all, congrats on the promotion opportunity.  It's always nice to be recognized and asked, even if you decide against it.

I used to travel to India 3-4x per year for work. Would spend 1-2 weeks there each trip.  Traveled mostly to Bangalore (Bengaluru), and one trip to Hyderabad.  

Chennai (population 7.088 million - 2011):- I have never been there, but have a friend from Chennai. I'll ask him about quality of life and types of activities available.

Bangalore (population 8.426 million - 2011):- VERY crowded, poor infrastructure, but you can live very well on little (especially if the company is paying for housing).  If you wish to purchase a home, real estate prices are outrageous!  Real estate market has boomed for last 20 years!

Hyderabad (population 6.81 million - 2011):- Does not feel as crowded as Bangalore. Much better infrastructure and roadways. High tech areas much more cosmopolitan.

General observations:Due to the large population, there's a definite service culture, especially in hospitality/hotels/restaurants. There were always at least 5-6 people clamoring to help me check-in whenever I arrived at my hotel, always checking if everything is to my satisfaction, taking extra measures to make my stay pleasant, executive chef making a point to come out of the kitchen to introduce himself and let me know that he'd be happy to make me anything if I didn't see anything I wanted in the huge breakfast buffet already presented.  

Many people are also employed to do jobs that in the states we typically do ourselves - an example would be an elevator operator standing in the corner of a modern elevator who pushes the button for the floor of your choice - the guy may have no other marketable skills, but I appreciate that he has been given the opportunity to work.

Driving - They have no lane discipline in Bangalore; if there's room, there is a car or truck that will take the space, regardless of where the lanes or sidewalks are. And horns are a communication device to let other drivers know you're there - my drivers usually never let more than 22 seconds pass between horn honks. And cars will pull right into busy cross traffic without waiting for an opening - it's like a stone moving slowly across a rushing river. I would NOT want to drive a Pantera there.  Maybe it's different in the country, but I was only in the city.

Culturally, they still have a caste system, but there is major cultural upheaval in the recent decade as peasant farmers who used to be very low in the caste system, but who owned their land have become the new rich because of the escalating property values in the expanding cities. They drive nice cars and are beginning to command power and influence - this according to a friend and former colleague who is a national and lives in Bangalore.

Most of the poor are uneducated. India has 122 major languages and 1,599 other languages.  Hindi is the official language, but I occasionally encountered taxi drivers or shop owners who I or my local colleagues could not communicate with.  A friend owns a teak farm north of Banaluru but is having a difficult time finding labor out in the country because young men are fleeing to the cities to make more money - there is a tremendous amount of construction going on. I often witnessed bucket brigades of men passing buckets of concrete up ladders to build a 10 story building - definitely old school techniques, but labor is plentiful and cheap.  From a tech perspective, quality labor has gotten much more expensive over the last decade - I used to be able to hire 3-4 software developers for the price of 1 Silicon Valley software developer; now the number is closer to 2:1.  New college graduates can be hired very very inexpensively, but staff turnover is very high.

It's a beautiful country. I wish I had the chance to spend more time there exploring, but alas my employment changed and I stopped travelling there. 

As others have suggested, visit the area and spend some time there to see what it might be like to live there.

 Namaste!
Garth
#4033

-------------- original message --------------
   Have just been offered a big-time promotion that would require
   relocating to Chennai, India. I know absolutely nothing about the city
   or country, but I have until March to take the decision.


   Anyone spent a lot of time in the country, or had business dealings in
   India that could give me some background?
-------------- next part --------------
   Charlie,
   First of all, congrats on the promotion opportunity.  It's always nice
   to be recognized and asked, even if you decide against it.
   I used to travel to India 3-4x per year for work. Would spend 1-2 weeks
   there each trip.  Traveled mostly to Bangalore (Bengaluru), and one
   trip to Hyderabad.
   Chennai (population 7.088 million - 2011):
   - I have never been there, but have a friend from Chennai. I'll ask him
   about quality of life and types of activities available.
   Bangalore (population 8.426 million - 2011):
   - VERY crowded, poor infrastructure, but you can live very well on
   little (especially if the company is paying for housing).  If you wish
   to purchase a home, real estate prices are outrageous!  Real estate
   market has boomed for last 20 years!
   Hyderabad (population 6.81 million - 2011):
   - Does not feel as crowded as Bangalore. Much better infrastructure and
   roadways. High tech areas much more cosmopolitan.
   General observations:
   Due to the large population, there's a definite service culture,
   especially in hospitality/hotels/restaurants. There were always at
   least 5-6 people clamoring to help me check-in whenever I arrived at my
   hotel, always checking if everything is to my satisfaction, taking
   extra measures to make my stay pleasant, executive chef making a point
   to come out of the kitchen to introduce himself and let me know that
   he'd be happy to make me anything if I didn't see anything I wanted in
   the huge breakfast buffet already presented.
   Many people are also employed to do jobs that in the states we
   typically do ourselves - an example would be an elevator operator
   standing in the corner of a modern elevator who pushes the button for
   the floor of your choice - the guy may have no other marketable skills,
   but I appreciate that he has been given the opportunity to work.
   Driving - They have no lane discipline in Bangalore; if there's room,
   there is a car or truck that will take the space, regardless of where
   the lanes or sidewalks are. And horns are a communication device to let
   other drivers know you're there - my drivers usually never let more
   than 22 seconds pass between horn honks. And cars will pull right into
   busy cross traffic without waiting for an opening - it's like a stone
   moving slowly across a rushing river. I would NOT want to drive a
   Pantera there.  Maybe it's different in the country, but I was only in
   the city.
   Culturally, they still have a caste system, but there is major cultural
   upheaval in the recent decade as peasant farmers who used to be very
   low in the caste system, but who owned their land have become the new
   rich because of the escalating property values in the expanding cities.
   They drive nice cars and are beginning to command power and influence -
   this according to a friend and former colleague who is a national and
   lives in Bangalore.
   Most of the poor are uneducated. India has 122 major languages and
   1,599 other languages.  Hindi is the official language, but I
   occasionally encountered taxi drivers or shop owners who I or my local
   colleagues could not communicate with.  A friend owns a teak farm north
   of Banaluru but is having a difficult time finding labor out in the
   country because young men are fleeing to the cities to make more money
   - there is a tremendous amount of construction going on. I often
   witnessed bucket brigades of men passing buckets of concrete up ladders
   to build a 10 story building - definitely old school techniques, but
   labor is plentiful and cheap.  From a tech perspective, quality labor
   has gotten much more expensive over the last decade - I used to be able
   to hire 3-4 software developers for the price of 1 Silicon Valley
   software developer; now the number is closer to 2:1.  New college
   graduates can be hired very very inexpensively, but staff turnover is
   very high.
   It's a beautiful country. I wish I had the chance to spend more time
   there exploring, but alas my employment changed and I stopped
   travelling there.
   As others have suggested, visit the area and spend some time there to
   see what it might be like to live there.
   Namaste!
   Garth
   #4033
-------------- original message --------------
   Have just been offered a big-time promotion that would require
   relocating to Chennai, India. I know absolutely nothing about the city
   or country, but I have until March to take the decision.


   Anyone spent a lot of time in the country, or had business dealings in
   India that could give me some background?