Living in India

federica

I think our medical system is still more efficient than the British, but things are changing and not to the better. I remember the quote of a German who emigrated to Venezuela. When he was asked how he could leave such a good medical system like the German behind, his answer was: My doc in Venezuela might not be as good as someone in Germany, but he has time to listen to me...

This can happen in Germany as well, depends very much on your field and job position....


It was me , and I think if it feels right for you now, it's ok. I think we are not living anymore in times where you can really say what we will be doing in 10 years.... so who knows, maybe you'll be fed up with living in Germany after sometime

Although I must admit the tap water is a big plus here

mr_rush

Medicine in the UK and India is something that I can comment on. Originally from India, trained in medicine in the UK, family who are doctors in Delhi, Bombay, Bihar...

Speed of ambulances and paramedic quality is a big problem in India. Know people wo have died after motorbike accidents who's survival prospects would have been a lot higher in the UK. But at the same time, if you have money for e.g. in Delhi and you are having chest pain, you'll pitch up at Apollo and go straight to the cardiac lab for PCI (the most effective treatment for heart attacks) and then be nursed on a 1:1 basis on a cardiac ward. If you pitched up with a heart attack in the UK you would not get the optimal treatment in a lot of hospitals due to lack of facilities.

But then again, the quality of medical services declines sharply outside of the bigger cities no matter how much money you have.

My Dad thought about going back to India when I was 14 years old. He'd been offered a job as head of department in the Apollo in Delhi. Ultimately what stopped him going back was the lack of opportunity particularly in further education in India. With reservations etc it has become near impossible to get onto certain university programs in India. It is much more difficult to get into IIT or IIM compared to Cambridge or Harvard.

joseph10

Living in india is a decision that must come from the heart...

When you choose to live over here in India you leave a well known and quite comfortable life and less complicated culture behind. In the start when you go different places and everything is new you enjoy the romance and freshness. After a while staying in one place you'll find that every place has it's good and bad things, sometimes hard but surely good to learn about other people, their and your own culture and yourself.

To live in a city is not healty, but you can find more luxury and it is easier to find people of same 'frequency' to communicate with. Also to find a suitable job city is fine.
In a rural area the air is nice and the surrounding more
'pure' but also there you will find good, bad and anything in between people like they excist in all places, but you'll be truly living in a India that is not exposed (yet?) but more sacrifice from your background is needed.

For my family and myself, after living both city life and rural life, we prefer the rural country living, not too remote from a bigger city, so we can go to cities when needed for work or other things. Everytime returning from visiting a city the first things we experience is the fresh air the different pace of living, so ask yourself:
what do we or i prefer and what are the posibilities and ambitions. (unfortunally money and exploitation will show their ugly faces here)

Good healthcare can be found in Indian cities nowadays, especially when you have cash of course. As far as i can see healthcare in europe is getting less, especially for the less fortunate people while indian healthcare is increasing in quality quite rapidly. I think also for education it's about the same, you can find good (most of the time private) schools and colleges.
In rural places you can also find good doctors, but for more sofisticated treatment you better go to a city. Education in the rural areas can be much better still.

I can go on and on comparing what i found out till now, but at the end:
What is your situation? (family, relationship or 'alone')
What are your expectations and ambitions?
And of course the damn money...

Peace

Aishah

Joseph - nice post - 'from the heart' - yes. And that was basically what I based my decision to leave all behind and come and live here. The head also came into play, as I rationalized that yes, I can do this..The decision was made at the right time for me - I think had I been much younger I would never have done it. The only thing I hadn't taken into account because I had not experienced it, (I met and got to know Mr K in the nice months of November, December and January when the weather is perfect!)was the intolerable heat here.

__________________
"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

joseph10

Yes, the heath can be terrible, everything becomes hot.
Especially in the city whitout AC is very hard and you feel like sitting in a fridge (or move to some ATM point) and to have cold drinks and icecream.
funny is when i came to europe a few years ago during summertime
32 degrees in the shade seemed more bearable then for the people over there.

However, i learned from my wife and the local people to control
food and drink habits. They talk about 'cold' and 'hot' food.
cold food reduces the bodytemperature, hot increases bodytemperature.
For example drinking cooled water refreshes for a moment
but the heath soon hits again, as well mentally as physically.
the cooled water becomes 'hot' for the body and mind.
so better drink water that is uncooled and avoid things that are too cold. Drink a lot of coco (uncooled), that also reduces the body temperature.
Fruit like a sweet mango is considered as 'hot' food, also for example cashewnuts and peanuts.
being nearby some trees also gives some coolness, a bananaleaf roof, sleeping on a mat and not a matras etc.
You can also move to ooty or abroad in the summertime, but if you can afford that you can also afford AC or have both.
Try to stay in places where the difference in temperatures is less.

Everyone dreams of sitting inna fridge or something and you even desire to have winter, still i'm happy my wife is not a eskimo

Nick-H

I'm happy your wife is not an eskimo too, so are able to live in this climate, and we can both be glad that TN does not approach the temperatures Aishah ha to endure in her Jaisalmer summer.

When I am in Europe with the temperature around 30, I drive people crazy by running around quite happily and being completely unable to understand their cries of, "but it's so hot!". Hot? No?

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Valini

Ye sthe heat thing is rather odd. After spending April, May, June and part of July in Kanpur at about 45° average I returned to france for a short break. I was wrapped up in my blanket while everyone was enjoying the summer evening at a BBQ in my garden. They thought I was crazy. I really appreciated the 'cool' air (a hot summer for France though) hehehe i'll suffer this year though! got used to snow, rain and all that boring weather again!

mr_rush

A firend who was desperate to study medicine went to a private medical college in India. Either Manglore or Manipal. Rs 15 Lakh 'donation' for entry...
India has everything is you have the money.

grizzlyofalaska

Hello Londoner,

I too think that south India will be a better option. Delhi is too difficult. I am a recruiter who recruits for financial industry. I am hoping to do something similar in India. I deally i want a job that will involve living in India for a few months a year. Lets see if I can find one. I get bored in the uk now...what is ur profession?

Hello Brishti,

Yes it is my who has quit his job. I am analysing all options and one of it is working in India, not just a holiday...

Hello Aishah,

Do you think broadband will be available in places like Mussouri?


Thank you all for the replies. I am now more confused then i was before!

capt_mahajan

federica

That's why I said you can't make this decision only with your head

The_Londoner

Hey grizzly

I own an Internet based business. Am I bored of London? I'm not sure.. Hey few of us are planning to meetup on the 19th April, LONDON IM Meetup. We would love to have you there with other IndiaMike like minded people.. Anyone interested in joining us, please click here to register your interest at the thread..

atala

An important thing to consider for whether to live in India or not is the level of pollution you are exposed to. And that on three or four levels: Air, Water and Food, partly also microwave radiation from Cell-phone antennas, but the latter is nowadays almost everywhere in the world. The quality of the air you breathe is often very bad (I read a few years ago that the air pollution in the Gangetic plane is 5 times as bad as that in Los Angeles). If you have an option to choose a beach location with a lot of wind, you might be better off. Water and especially food carry a lot of poisons, among them DDT which is still widely used in India. Even if you get organic food, you cannot rely on it being without such pesticides, because DDT remains in the soil for a long time.

Here is some info on the amount of DDT et.al used in India:
http://wwww.cirad.fr/colloque/fao/pdf/21-karanth.pdf

230'000 tons of DDT have been used, while the other Killer, HCH, amounts to 600'000 tons. These are chemicals that are stable in the environment. They are widely used because they are very inexpensive. Drinking water also can carry them. At least some of that could be reduced if you use charcoal filters which you change often.

bombay

Indian worker,

I'm a born and bred Londoner of Gujerati origin. Can you advise one thing? can I bring my motor car and bike over to India as I am going to be accepting a job offer in mumbai. my company is setting up a joint venure in India and hence asked me to set it up?
Who did you use to ship your stuff over to india?
Are secondhand cars for my own use subjet to duty or tax?

Nattusbs

Bombay

I would suggest not to bring the car since you will have to pay a large import tax (duty) - around 120% of the depreciated value. In addition, the cars in Europe are designed for their road conditions. Nowadays, you get all kinds of cars in India (for a comparison check out: www.carwale.com - disclaimer - I am not affiliated with them and have no personal ties - for information purpose only). The cars made in India (including BMW) are designed for Indian roads (and potholes!).

Cheers

Nattusbs