Lemon & Ice

Weekend breaks from Delhi/Gurgaon

Its been a while since my last post. So here goes....

Since arriving in India last year, we have taken weekend breaks to cooler climes like Shimla and Rishikesh as well as the tourist trail to Jaipur, and even fled to Kerela for a quick overnight without the kids! Our latest trip was to the Neemrana Fort Palace which is halfway between Delhi and Jaipur.

In general the distances involved with getting somewhere cool and relaxing are daunting because of the time it takes to get from A to B. A 300km road trip can take anything from 8 hours driving upwards. Having travelled 1000 km in 12 hours in Australia, its a bit trying. Still we were positively luxuriating in our Innova compared to the pilgrims heading to Haridwar and Rishikesh in the State-run buses and they definitely had the higher purpose. Having your own vehicle does add to your convenience factor also as you can then choose to carry on or make leg-stretching stops.

Both Rishikesh and Shimla enjoy a section of really good highway travel from Delhi, but once you pass Ambala you are crawling at 10kmph for 30-40 mins at a stretch.

Rishikesh: Having said that I would whole heartedly recommend Rishikesh as a fantastic break especially if you have children. The Ganga which travels through Rishikesh is at its most user -friendly. Not yet filthy, it is just wild enough to give you a few very enjoyable thrills in an inflated rubber dinghy! We went in November 2007 and it was chilly body surfing but so very pleasant that we didn't care that we were slowly turning a truly strange shade of blue.Our boys loved everything about the stay. We stayed at the Himalayan Hideaway http://www.nivalink.com/himalayanhideaway/index.html which also has a camp on the riverside called Himalayan River Runners www.hrrindia.com. The meals at the Hideaway were basic and hearty, the service was really good and the room was rustic and lovely. All in all perfect for a short break. We took a local guide for a 2 hour walk in the area and he was full of fairytales and mythological stories about the Ganga and all the Hindu gods. I had to play translator for my husband and kids which resulted in some unintentional hilarity, but it was all good fun. The white water rafting was really enjoyable and not too hairy and the best part was seeing our boys faces light up at the sight of frothing whitewater. We were quite sad to leave as it had been really peaceful and the weather had been perfect.

Moving to India - Gurgaon Perspective

My family and I have recently moved to Gurgaon in India. This is a return for me after 17 years away but the first time for the rest of my family, my kids being 10 and 8. To say that this has been challenging is an understatement. Despite the advantages of fluency in language and similarity in appearance to the locals I have discovered that I am not the same 'Indian' that I was. I have managed to train myself and my children to look past the immediate chaos, squalor and civic mayhem that passes for urban living in this part of India but I am still struggling with the feeling that the affluent people in our nation display an apathetic attitude to any sense of civic or social responsibility. Certainly I am amazed at the continuing feudal structure between the haves and have-nots but also within the struggling have-nots who seem to have unwritten rules about who will deign to do what. Having said all this, I could ramble on with no thought to giving any positive ideas for any one who might find this post useful in preparing to return to India.

Cost of Living: Banagalore (contributed by reader Paddy)

Lemon & Ice reader Paddy has provided estimate of the cost of living in Bangalore via a comment to this Cost of Living post. My thanks to Paddy and I would encourage others readers as well to share how they are budgeting for life in their respective cities:

Hi,

Living expenses in Bangalore is something I would like to share for the benefit of those planning a return. This will be the cost for a small to medium NRI trying to live a middle class life style. This is cost per month for a family of 2 Adults and upto 2 children:

Rentals 3 Bedroom apartment Rs.30000
This would include your maintenance, cable TV,maid working 2 hours per day, laundry and electricity , gas and water.

Delhi expat Blogger on Lemon & Ice

Lemon & Ice recently completed it's first year of existence. During this time, I have used this blog as a sounding board to express the highs and lows of my life in Mumbai. The feedback from the readers have been very encouraging and the blog's traffic has been rising primarily through word of mouth. I also noticed that the most popular posts have been those pertaining to my experiences in 'Moving to India'.Many of you have written to me with queries about kid's schooling, healthcare, as well as moving to cities like Delhi and Bangalore. As a single person, I am not qualified to answer family related queries. Hence, I have been decided to add a co-blogger who can add a family perspective on moving to a major city in India.Her name is Geet and she has recently re-located from Australia with her family. Geet and I are high school friends and we have stayed in touch over the years, often exchanging notes on how our lives had changed since our carefree teenage years. According to her, mine hasn't changed much as I am mentally stuck at 19! Geet has evolved from high-school rebel to an accomplished home-maker, wife and mother. I must admit she has done a far better job in adapting to Gurgaon than I have done with my move to Mumbai. I feel she can add a lot of value to this blog by sharing her thoughts here. After some persuasion, Geet agreed to join me as a co-blogger and she will start posting here soon.

Moving to India: Long Term Pay-Off vs. Current Reality

'As much as I can psyche myself into relocating after reading progress reports in the popular press, every monthly trip is consistently a buzz-killer when I'm physically there'. Writes Jay Gupta, a Lemon & Ice reader, who is seriously contemplating a move to India from the US to start a new venture. His position perfectly describes the dilemma faced by many overseas Indians seduced by the tantalizing opportunities in India's growth story. Today, a senior level posting in India is a 'no-brainer' for any aspiring corporate chieftain (especially those of Indian origin). The salaries in India at senior levels are just as good, the opportunity to spend time with family is a great sweetener and the chance to be in a position of influence in an emerging super-power (and one's homeland), all add up to an irresistible package. During exploratory trips to India, many expats stay in five star hotels where it's impossible to develop a sense of daily life in India as a resident. Besides, the perpetual self-congratulatory prose adopted by the Indian media can be quite misleading. When I moved here initially, I was staying at a five stat hotel in Mumbai and partying every night like a rock star. I'd wake up happily hung-over after a night of revelry and the first channel I'd hit on TV was CNBC. The anchorman was a sunny young fellow with a perpetually upbeat tone on the economy. He's what I would call a 'bull market broadcaster'. According to CNBC, every new days heralded a day of new milestones and possibilities that brought India closer to super-powerdom.

Is India's Property Market in Trouble?

The Finance Ministry and the RBI (India's Central Bank) have been on a war path against inflation here, with specific focus on the real estate market. Interest rates have shot up by over 25% in the last one year. Home loans now cost an average of 11%-11.5% on 20 year mortgages, up from 7.5% a couple of years ago. Car loans are at 15% and the auto sector is crying for mercy as vehicle sales are at their lowest in the last 12 months. Till just a few weeks ago, the real estate market was headed north with a teflon like quality. It continued to shrug off the impact of rising rates, even as genuine buyers continues to shake their heads in disbelief. Just two weeks ago, I sold off an apartment I owned in Pune as soon as I received delivery from the builder. I managed the sale without lifting a finger to look for a buyer. However, when I put my second investment in a pre-construction apartment in Pune up for sale last week, there were no buyers at all. All the brokers tell me the local real estate market seems to have suddenly rolled over and died overnight!

All the bids seem to have disappeared overnight. Welcome to real estate investing in India!

Vietnamese War Art

I spent much of my weekend in Hanoi walking through the city's streets and getting a sense of the pace of life here. I tried a couple of local restaurants that were recommended in local blogs written by expats posted here. On Sunday evening, I found myself browsing hand-painted propaganda posters from the Ho Chi Minh era, with colorful inspiring images and slogans from the revolution. Then I chanced upon a collection of 61 sketches and water colors done by a Vietnamese soldier capturing his perspective of the Vietnam war. As I flipped through the images, I was struck by the circumstances within which these were created. We read and hear so much about the horrors of this war from the American side and now I was gazing at art being created by a soldier who chose to escape his reality by paradoxically capturing it on canvas. All the pictures were meticulously signed and dated with the location mentioned and occasionally a comment or two in the sidelines. I bought the whole lot (see link to entire collection here) as it reflects an important era in this emerging nation's history. I plan to meet the artist before I leave Hanoi. His name is Traan Huu Chaat and he's a well known local artist here with some of his works on display at the fine arts museum.

What do you think? Love to hear your comments.

Bon Jour Hanoi!

I arrived in Hanoi from Mumbai, yesterday morning. I am here for an investor conference on the Vietnamese economy. This communist nation is considered by Asia experts as a mini-China in it's sunrise stage. I got in a few days early to take get some much needed R & R and enjoy this exotic French Colonial era town, with a 1000 year history. The Hanoi airport is a small relatively modern airport (compared to many Indian airports). I had to wait for about an hour to get my visa on arrival. After that, I was off on a cab heading to my hotel in the city ($10 for a 45 minute ride). Hanoi's facade reminds me a bit of small towns in India, except Hanoi is cleaner. The traffic is just as chaotic with lots of Honda mopeds and scooters weaving in and out of traffic. There is a lot of vehicular pollution and many bikers wear masks to cover their mouths. Luckily, the French quarter is not as crowded and the traffic is bit lighter. The driver spoke no English and in the end tried to charge me twice as much but I was firm and paid him the $10 bill I had shown while negotiating.

I was exhausted from the overnight flight and crashed for a few hours before heading out in the evening. I started my evening at a local cafe near my hotel, which is conveniently located in the old French quarter of Hanoi. As I gazed out out on the streets, sipping local mint tea, I was feeling pretty relaxed and started flipping through my lonely planet guide to plan the evening.

Moving to India: Reflections on my first year

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.

Kerala Backwaters

The official Indian calendar is like a box of bitter sweet candies. Just when you feel you have had it with the Indian bureaucracy, a government holiday pops ups on the calendar, thanks to India's secular and multi-cultural constitution. Of course, the lost days also cause much anguish when you are running on strict deadlines, but a bit of proactive planning provides you with plenty of long weekends to enjoy India's many vacation spots. India's cities are fairly well connected by air now. Flights to most Indian cities take less than 2 hours and cost less than $150 each way (even if you book a day or two in advance). The end of January brought a long weekend thanks to Republic Day.  I had little desire to waste it hanging out in Mumbai. The perfect weekend, I thought, would be to float around Kerala serene backwaters on a house boat. I dialed my good buddy Ranga (college nickname inspired by a bad bollywood song) in Cochin and asked him if he could use his good offices to book a houseboat for me. Good old Ranga is so wired in Cochin, he can even find you a wild Kangaroo as a sparring partner if you are up to it. He found one that belonged to a friend (the boat, not the Kangaroo) in less than 2 hours.