Living in Jaipur

Hello all!
Just wondering whether anyone could give me some insight into what it could be like to live in Jaipur as a foreigner. We might have an offer to move there to work and my partner is from Rajastan so its a draw, i'd also like to live somewhere a bit smaller and affordable than Mumbai.

What are the rental prices like? Is it safe for me as a foreign woman. Is it a friendly city?

I love Mumbai's citizens and the open mindedness but its hard with the distances and the expensive lifestyle.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Anna

Hi Lanna,
Greetings..
Here I am tring to answer your queries about Jaipur:
1. Rental: from 6500 Rupees to 15000 Rupees per month..You will get good accomodation. Depends on ,which area you would like to stay.
2.Yes , Jaipur is safe city, and lot of foreigners lives here, and its a tourist city as well.People are friendly here.

So nothing to worry about Jaipur. :-)

PS

Hi Anna,

I grew up in Jaipur (though i dont live there any longer but i do visit almost every month). I will try to answer as best as possible. The city has definitely experienced a boom since 2005 and you'd do well to select an area close to your workplace. This does not have to do with distance as much as the fact the traffic planning in the city hasnt coped up very well with this change. So, if you know where you'd be working, I can give more precise answers. For a start, given below are some answers:

a Two bedroom in an upcoming area such as ajmer road (apartment) would set you back between 7000-11000 per month. Upmarket colonies such as C-Scheme are much higher. The outskirts have no dearth of apartments but it's worth paying a premium to stay in a central area such as Adarsh Nagar, Tilak Nagar, C-Scheme or Bapu Nagar as you'd be close to the limited art, theatre scene and the major parks of the city (well no seaface, you have to compensate somehow)

On a relative scale, no city in India is as safe as Mumbai for single women. However, Jaipur is far safer than Delhi/NCR (where i now live). You will face lots of stares, for sure. Going out late in the night is relatively not as easy as Mumbai as the city is conservative and public transport is mostly auto rickshaws and some buses. However, if you need to go out in a pinch, it's perfectly safe, the arterial roads are well lit and mostly untoward incidents do not occur.


It's a conservative city certainly as compared to Mumbai. You'd take time to develop a good social circle. The bar culture is present in Jaipur in some limits but by and large, is nothing compared to Mumbai. What it does have is an OK art scene in placs like Jawahar Kala kendra, a theatre scene in Ravindra Manch (quite a few are in hindi) and most importantly a relaxed life.

Do you know the founder of Anokhi (the designer clothing chain) is a brit and married to a Rajput. They live in Jaipur. Growing up, I've known other foreigners who've called Jaipur home and they went by just fine. It will take time though. We do have a Jaipur meetups thread that you could use to meet other expats.

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask!

Hi Anna,

I think Vaibhav has given you a brief insight about the city. I am born and bought up in delhi and have stayed Mumbai, Pune , Bangalore for short duration. Now I have been in Jaipur from past one year and through my experience i would say if you have stayed in any above mentioned metro cities than you surely would love your stay in Jaipur. Jaipur is way to less expensive in terms of accommodation when compared with Mumbai and then it also comes up with advantage of short distances. After experiencing Delhi, Mumbai traffic Jaipur's seems nothing. Though the local transport here is little disorganized and also a little expensive.

Personally i feel this city pretty safe but people here are not as friendly as you will find in Delhi/Mumbai and also are conservative in their approach, though that's completely my opinion. But at the same time this city is full of foreigners and the city has accepted them in its own way.

In the nut shell you shall not hesitate to shift to this place. We, Indianmikers, shall try to make your stay pleasant and hassle free over here.

Jiyo!!
Ankush

Ah thank you all so much for your responses!! You really paint a great picture of life there for us. You are so kind

I understand it won't be like Mumbai in terms of the very open-mindedness you have here but as long as people are friendly and we can find a nice group of people as friends that's ok. I find that in a city as big as Mumbai its such a hassle to move around so you tend to stay in your own area most of the time, lets just say I don't hang around on marine drive or go to concerts very often here! I would value having friends living close by, being able to afford a beautiful home and a relaxed pace of life much more.

One thing i'd love to be able to afford is being a member of a health club that has gym, maybe even tennis, pools etc (I could never afford here and even a normal gym is ca 40 mins away by car which is too much). Do you know any good such places?
How do you survive the extremely hot months? Are there stores that sells "western" food like Nature's basket in Mumbai? Can you find good DVD stores with English movies, are there cinemas with original language?
I will most definitely join your India mike meet up group, it seems a very friendly one!

Any more input of favorite things to do in and around Jaipur would be great.

Love, Anna

Hey,

I would like try to answer some of your queries -

1) Their are lot many gyms in the city distributed across various location. So I guess you will definitely find a good gym near to your residence. Some good ones are - Talwalkars, Gold gym, Proline fitness. If you want to go for tennis, pool like facilities then you can opt for some popular clubs memberships in the city or at the outskirts. They usually operate on yearly or even more duration memberships and are generally little expensive. Popular ones are Jai club, Jaipur club, Grass field, Desert Inn, Cambay golf.

2) Air conditioners, Lot of health drinks and water help you cope the extremes. People like me avoid to get out during afternoon in the summers. Evening and nights are still manageable.

3) Western food outlets - i am not very much aware of.

4) DVD stores you fill find in every nook and corner. When I shifted to the city i found most of the English movies are played dubbed in Hindi in the cinema halls. But now a days we are getting movies in the original language.

Jiyo!!
Ankush.

Jaipur is cheap and small. It was far too small for me, and I after about 4 months I wanted desperately to get out. However, I was a 23 year American old student with more friends in Delhi and Chennai than in Jaipur and a rather unfortunate daily schedule. I thought there was a lack of cultural institutions and entertainment, as compared with say Delhi. It may be right for you.