Questions About Moving To Chennai

akh

Hi Everyone,
We are moving to Chennai in April for my husband's job with our two kids aged 2 and 6 months. We are from Sydney Australia and i have a few questions i was hoping someone could answer for me.

1. Should we ship all our furniture and things( sheets, towels etc) over or are we able to buy all these things to set up our house in Chennai?

2. Ive heard that abbies cant use the DET tropical strength mosquito repellant as it is dangerous but how do i protect the baby from getting bitten from mosquitos?

3. What about nappies, baby food, highchairs, cots, milk, formula etc... Are these readily available to buy or do i need to bring all these from Australia?

4. Finally, what suburbs do you recommend we look for our house in. I was hoping to be near other expat families with young children and a poool etc

Any information would be really great to hear as any information from other expats experiences setting up in Chennai is hard to come by
Thanks
Amber

Nick-H

Hello akh...

I think you will find most of your questions answered already in this forum! It seems like Chennai has become a popular destination.

Whether you should ship or not depends on several things---

• How long are you coming for?
• Are you keeping you Australian house or selling up?
• How attached are you to your day-to-day stuff?
• Who's paying the bill to ship/return it all?
• And probably a few other things I've forotten.

But Hey! You're coming in April? And its mid-march? Not impossible, but you've left the shipping arrangements a bit late if that's what you want to do!

The general wisdom is that it costs less to set up house here than to ship.

Generally speaking you can buy everything here that you need to live (six or eight million Indians do!).

I guess, though, that lifestyle adjustments are inevitable, and even for your little one, there may be necessary changes in day-to-day routine.

Good Luck! (and welcome )

sarav

you can easily get all the items you mentioned in chennai than trying to ship em...regarding mosquito menace not all of chennai is mosquito ridden.. they do occasional fumigation .. the mosquitos are worst in the months of dec to feb.. for you the worst part is over...

Nick-H

Sarav... where are you? Are you immune to mossie bites?

The place is absolutely ridden with mosquitoes right now!

The cooler months are the least bad, also the very hottest months coming up (mid April to mid June) may give us some relief.

The occasional fumigation is next to useless; the effects, if seen at all, will last a few days only.

The local newspapers will confirm that Chennai has a big mosquito problem.

Actually, it is true that not all the city has such a big problem. But much of it does, I'm afraid

icetea

Amber, I agree with Nick, it would be easier and cheaper for you to buy things anew here, (almost) everything is available, that's not a problem (as long as you know where to search for them).

That's for general items. But if I were you I would probably bring a good supply of baby items, things that you and the baby are used to; it's not worth going through any stress about things like these. You'll find these items here too, but who can tell at this point if they're exactly what you want, so better not to take any risks. Or maybe there are other expats here with small babies who can give you some specific advice, because I just don't know exactly what is available and what isn't.

The mosquito problem is there, as Nick says, and it's pretty serious. Contrary to what Sarav says, dec to feb are not so bad, but during the rest of the year you will need to use a repellent. There are many available here for indoor use (electrical ones), but I frankly don't know how advisable they are for babies (although the leaflet says it's not a problem, btw). Use a net, close all windows between 6PM and 7AM, these are the general rules.

As about neighbourhoods, you will find answers already there on this forum. But there isn't any particular neighbourhood with an expat community, by the way. The good areas are Alwarpet, Mylapore, Gopalapuram, R.A. Puram, Besant Nagar (near the beach), Adyar, Anna Nagar. This will also depend on whether you'll have a car or not, and of course the distance form your husband's office, or how centrally you want to live.

April will already be very hot, by the way...it's not a great month to start in Chennai. Summer can get highly unpleasant here, if you are not a heat-loving person.

Nick-H

Probably the least mosquitoes are to be found by the sea, which is, almost certainly, the only body of water in this part of the planet in which they do not breed

If you are coming here on a good ex-pat salary and/or lots of expenses paid by the employer, I would suggest that you look for a house near the sea --- which probably means heading down the East Coast Road a little way. You can have a house, pool, garden --- and a lovely sea breeze to cool things down a touch.

I'm afraid I don't know what your home climate is like: you can expect the summer months here to hit 40 --- perhaps even to exceed it.

What makes it really uncomfortable is the humidity. For me, in the Chennai summer, Air Conditioning is not so much to bring the temperature down, as to make the air dry enough to breath, especially at night.

Those occasions when a power cut happens at night are a real test!

Arriving here in April: yes, you will be getting the worst first! After June it starts to get comfortable again, falling back to 35, 37 on a 'hot' day. The winter months of Dec, Jan, Feb are delightful, at around 29 or even a touch lower, dropping to the lower 20s in the night. You'll see locals wearing woolly hats and scarves!

Some people would say that Chennai is never comfortable. I'm rather fond of what I call gently simmering! My desktop gadget tells me that I am currently doing so, 6:45pm, at 30.7C and 60% humidity. I have a fan on very slow, but no AC. I like it! When my wife, who was born and bred here, gets home, she will demand AC!

Prashant.M

So Nick, when do you think you will start wearing woolly hats and scarves?

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Nick-H

It's happened already!

I carried a scarf around in my bag while attending December-Season concerts, and was often forced by the AC to wear it. It tended to stay on for the 9.30PM walk home as well.

It's all relative! I remember coming here on my first-ever trip in December 1997 --- and melting. But December 2006 was 10 to 15 degrees colder than what I'd got used to six months earlier.

And Ooty's July 16C (a pleasant shirt-sleeve day back in London) was just awful, and required emergency purchase of fleece...

akh

Hi,
Thanks everyone for your replies. My husband is going to fly over to Chennai for 2-3 days next week to have a look around and see whats available as far as accomadation and shopping. We are coming for probably 3 years and the company will pay all opur relocation and setting up costs so i am keen to ship all our stuff over. The company puts us up in a hotel for 6 weeks when we arrive so it wont matter that our shiping doesnt need to leave until we do.
I assume all the mosquito stuff like nets can be bought in Chennai and i will definetly try and rent a place close to the sea to avoid the dreaded mozzies!!! I cant stand the humidity so i am not loking forward to arriving in April!
Thanks for your advice
Amber

icetea

Well if you are anything like me, you will find Chennai weather close to unbearable. It gets better in time, though.

ISN

Is your husbands company paying for the actual cost for relocation or are they paying a fixed amount? If they are paying a fixed amount you can take that money and ship only the essential stuff and use the extra money to buy stuff in India and then when you return back you can take back what you bought in India.

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Danie

Hello Akh,

Welcome to the group. Unfortunately, I'm not able to answer your questions because I only just arrived in Chennai myself and I don't have babies.

But, I did want to say welcome. I'm glad that your husband will be making a house-hunting trip. That will help you know how to prepare. If your husband's employer is willing to ship your household contents, bring whatever will make you feel at home.

I've been here a few days and the mosquitoes have made an all-you-can-eat buffet of me...even with all the sprays and lotions that I've been using to ward them off.

Best of luck with your move,

Danie

gertie

Hi akh,

Welcome! I am from Sydney and I have been living in Chennai since December. I lived in other parts of India before that.

I shipped some furniture over with me - not everything, just the important bits. If your company is paying, as mine was, it makes sense. Don't forget to leave room for some purchases whilst you are here though - you will find some amazing furniture locally.


Linen here, such as towels, bed linen etc is widely available, inexpensive and very good quality. The only thing I can't find is fitted sheets, but I'm sure you can have them made easily.
White goods are also inexpensive - and notoriously difficult to ship, so you might consider buying those here. Viveks in T Nagar is the place to go - an Indian version of Retravision!

I can't help with children's things as I don't have children myself.

If you can give us more information about where your husband will be working it might help us to suggest an area to live.

Good luck with the move,

Gertie

SAHM

With children your age, I would recommend moving to an apartment complex vs. a house. The houses here with pools all have tremendously high walls with broken glass on the top, and guards at the gate. They are also quite a commute from the city. All of this adds up to your kids not having anyone to play with other than themselves.

Of course the OWC (Women's Club) does have a playgroup that meets regularly.

Good luck,

SAHM

sandytsang

Hello Amber,

I am not sure if my answers can help you, maybe you are already in chennai.

1. Most of furniture and things( sheets, towels etc) and buy in chennai, if you have time go buy them with your baby, I think you need a car and driver.

2. You can buy anti-mosquito lotion for your baby from shop.

3. You will find baby food and nappies in shop(Amma nana, spencer's daily..) also, but I suggest you ship many of those baby ready food ( in Finland we have some bottle ready food for baby), it will be easier for you when you need to go out with your baby. There is a shop name mothercare in T.Nagar, a very big shop, you will find many baby things there, I bought child car safety booster seat from there.

4. I think complex flat is better than a house, do you already have a house now?

Sandy