I just finished my first year back in the motherland. Looking back, it feels like I have been back forever now. In fact, it feels I have been here so long that I may be ready to leave already! Just kidding!! It's too premature to take any firm conclusion about living here for good. I am still discovering India in bits and pieces by traveling to new locations on my free weekends.
My advice to anyone moving to India from the first world is to try and move to Singapore or Hong Kong on a Pan-Asia role first. Moving to India full time is a big transition and you may be under-estimating your tolerance for ambiguity and inefficiency if you have been away for a while. Singapore and HK are both a few hours away from India and you will have the opportunity to be close to the family and India geographically. If you have already made up your mind to move to India, try and avoid Mumbai if you can. Mumbai is the worst big city in India to live in. It's filthy, smelly, over-crowded and over-priced. In my book, Mumbai has a huge 'sell' rating! Delhi is better but you may find the locals a bit provincial unless you are a hard core North Indian.
I have found the best quality of life in India is in the smaller towns like Cochin and Jamshedpur, not in the big cities. The big cities are bursting at the seams and the infrastructure is just not able to cope up with the relentless expansion and population growth. There are millions of poor people in Mumbai who literally eat, sleep and live on pavements all over the city. As the big cities get saturated, high growth sectors like the IT and BPO sectors are migrating to smaller towns, triggering localized real estate bubbles in their wake. It's only a matter of time before the infrastructure in many small towns gets over-burdened as the government is not investing enough in power, water and transport sectors.
No matter where you go, I believe that the quality of life in India (from an infrastructure perspective) is going to get worse before it gets better.
My two pence on moving to India: Invest aggressively in India, but live elsewhere for the next decade. You should move here only if you are going to have an incredible opportunity to grow personally or career wise. Many Indians are returning home due to loneliness, isolation and other emotional reasons, which are all important but could potentially be mitigated by a few months sabbatical in the homeland.
Very clear post, and message. No sweetening the message.
Posted by: Amit Singh | March 10, 2007 at 08:43 PM
Glad you appreciate the honesty. The local media here has shifted into a permanent self-congratulatory mode and ignoring the infrastructure problems that continue to plague daily life here. It's important to have a balanced view on life in India and I hope to provide that in this blog.
Posted by: Vikram Chachra | March 11, 2007 at 08:09 AM
Very nicely summarised. As a 7 year New Yorker moving to Mumbai in a month, wish I had read this blog earlier :)
Posted by: Stuthi | March 17, 2007 at 12:07 AM
Hello. I am moving to Kolkata (where I was born and brought up) in a month after spending 6 years in the US, to be with family and to look for new opportunities. It feels good to read that other people are honest about their homesickness. After reading your blog, I feel like I need to contain my excitement a bit.
Posted by: Harsh Modi | September 04, 2007 at 12:00 AM