21 yrs old and moving to Bangalore or Hyderabad for a while? =)

Madhu10

Then I would suggest you do that...go seek out the Indians in Sweden. Ask folks to introduce to you who they know. Ask about their impressions of India, what differences they see, what challenges they faced etc etc. It will be a start. Even if they have not lived there but traveled they can give you an idea.

Reach out to the Indian Consulate in Sweden and ask them if they can help in gving you information. Sometimes Consulates have "Living in the country sections".

Go pick up books on India..even a travel book will have the cultural sections..read that. Read about other thinsg like temperatures, infrastructure etc.

check out websites like Transitions Abroad...
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/lis...in_india.shtml

I just googled and found 'EXPAT" websites for India..check those out.

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sannna

Every country has dress codes, even though you might not be aware of them. I also come from a country where they do not have official dresscodes in schools and offices. But wearing a skirt and top which leaves my belly naked to my office would make some people wonder whether I do not know anymore what appropriate dress is. I am sure The Netherlands in this case is not so different from Sweden... In India however, the sari does just that: reveal the belly.. which everyone considers normal and appropriate dress for no matter what occasion. So you see, even if they are not written, they are there.

Er..sorry, again I will say wrong attitude. If you are coming with the idea to teach the Indians how they can improve things you might feel really frustrated after a while. I am not saying that it is wrong to share knowledge - but please first ask whether they are interested in your help - whether they need any at all. You seem to assume too much here. And then again, it is up to them to decide whether they benefit from it as much as you think they will do. It's pretty arrogant to assume they will, I'd say.

I wish you a good stay, and I am sure you'll prepare yourself well. But please sit for a while and make clear for yourself what the reason is you picked India, what you expect from it, what your aim actually is by going there. These are important questions and will help you enjoy the country a lot more. And while there keep an open mind - and be a bit more modest. That is a trait that suits travellers to new countries they don't know anything about well, I'd think.

The_Londoner

I'll be moving there for business as like you, I too am looking into opportunities India may have to offer, so it may be worth while keeping in touch.. but my main reason for moving to India for short while is because I met a woman in the UK who is from Bangalore..Hey I too love my Bars and good social life in London so will definitely be looking for similar in Bangalore.. Apparently Bangalore is Pub capital of India. I am hoping I should be there around August/September..

TheFoolOnTheHill

This dude SweSwamy isn't the first Swede I've met who wants to "set Indians right".

A Swedish single woman I met, now living in Bangalore, had the gall to announce to me that her mission was to teach Indians how to say Good Morning and Good Evening to each other!

Among her other charming habits, she is ably assisted by a young Indian couple in her employment who tell her that every word she speaks in India is valid, true and correct.

brishti

well said sanna!
applies to tourists anywhere/everywhere.

do they have tangy spicy chillied chicken tikka masala in berlin?


:brishti

SweSammy

It feels like you try to turn everything positive I say, into something negative. I just said that I'm pretty good at coming up with new ideas. It has to do with being being an entrepeneur and i think the college could benefit from that. You make it sound like im going to india to change the indian people or something? do u think i would waste my time trying to help someone who didnt want any help? im a businessman, not someone on a religious mission.
and YES, all the colleges ive talked to, they do want the help.



Dude thats so cool, im hoping to move exactly August/september as well. I added you on yahoo, so we can talk more there


Haha omg. You are just way too dumb for me to even respond to.

Nick-H

Even from the comments that may seem like put-downs, you should be able to extract useful advice, given that you are going to do this thing.

It's really a crazy thing to do, to decide to live in India for a year without having any previous experience of the country. but, ok, why not do crazy things? I did a pretty crazy thing coming to live here too, albeit thirty years later than you are doing, and with with, what I thought at at the time was quite a lot of knowledge of the place.

So, the worst that can happen is that the place drives you crazy, you pack your bags and go back to Sweden. That's ok, it will have been a mighty experience. If you do a good deal of browsing on this site, you will find some of the failure-to-live-in-India stories, as well as the successes. Look for posts by members such as Darwish and Trintrin, and you'll get ideas about why you might be unhappy.

This is not to heap negative stuff on you at all, it is to better inform you. Look at Darwish's story, apart from his long struggle, and the many mistakes he made, trying to set up a business here, the fact of being dumped by his girlfriend because the family did not approve of his relationship with her. This is the sort of area in which you may find that you are walking into a time machine. Sometimes I enjoy the fact that Chennai reminds me, in some of its ways, of my childhood England in the 1950s.

As a youngster mixing with India's young, students, culturally aware, educated, modern --- you may still find that you are walking out of that time machine into a minefield! India is still very uptight, very conservative, at least, middle-class India is, I can quote a middle-class Indian girl talking of complete lack of sexual freedom: The rich and the poor can do whatever they want, we can do nothing. That dress code thing, even for the young, is still pretty restrictive.

Welcome to the minefield! Have fun! I wish I'd come here thirty years ago!

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sannna

I am usually not in the habit of seeking for negativity in other people's words. So maybe we have an example of miscommunication on our hands here. If so, my apologies. From your first post I understood you were a college student, wanting to be affiliated to/ enrolled in a college in India. From your latest post it seems that your contacts with colleges have not been (solely) about your education and enrolment, but also about going there/ being there as an intern. If that is the case it makes more sense that you emphasized so much that "they will benefit more from you than you from them".

Nevertheless, though I might have understood your words in a different context wrongly, even in the context of a 21 yo intern I find them a bit arrogant. Don't get me wrong, I do hope you will make good use of your time there and that it is not only you who benefits, but them as well. But still, saying with so much bravoure before even going there that it will be like that is not very modest. That's all, that's my opinion.

And as an afterthought...
Many business people, in my opinion, are the missionairies of the 21th century. They also believe, they also want to spread the message, they also benefit more from their occupation than the other, and they also don't take no for an answer if it doesn't suit them, or blame the other that they do'n;t want to see the light... So still, even if you are a businessman, as you say, my advice still stands: modesty, open mind, and hope that you can achieve something that will benefit you and the other equally.

SweSammy

I will not actually be enrolled in any classes in the Indian college, since I will have full time studies from my Swedish University that i will be doing over the internet.
I will only be interning in the Indian college.

And to the Benefit thing i was just defending myself since you were the one to say i would benefit more. So I said I think it will be the other way around, but right after that i also added, Im not trying to prove who would benefit more. By that I pretty much meant, it's not so important who benefits more as long it's a 2-way relationship.

Ignite

How could a business student who's taking online classes from Sweden intern at a college in India? Shouldn't you intern at a business firm? Unless if you're trying to be a teacher with a business degree ofcourse.

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SweSammy

I missed this post earlier. Great post Nick! Both honest and open minded =)I'll definitely look into their stories.
So what was most chocking or surprising things for you when you moved?
What makes you prefer living in India more than Enlgand btw ?



Haha it's a little complicated, but let me just say that the last year of my program is not intended to be studied from India

Nick-H

The weather? that's a simple and easy answer. Apart from that the pros and cons are quite complex; not really in the mood to try and formulate it just now --- you could always read my post history! .

Some of the things that cause people to go straight home are things that I have just got used to, they are part of my daily life. In an ideal world, financially, I'd live in UK for three months a year, but I have to commit to one place or the other.

In a way, I've been here too long to clearly answer the question now!

SidVicious

Yeah 60 k per month including rent is more than enough , to live very comfortably?

So do i enjoy living in Bangalore?
Reasons why i do:

1. I have a vehicle ( you should seriously consider getting one, at least a motorcycle ), public transport is either too crowded ( buses ) or a con job ( auto rickshaws )

2. Amazing weather - Some nice road tripping destinations

3. Pretty women

4. Smoke's good

Enjoy your stay, and stay in touch if you decide on Bangalore..

Cheers

Sid

SweSammy

Yo Sid, looks like we have a few things in common
Do u have any IM screen names where we can talk more? since its not possible to PM you

SidVicious

hey i'm on Facebook

Search for : Siddharth Deshpande ( Thats my name, by the way ...)

See you there,

Cheers,

Sid