Coming to Delhi to check it out to live!

daffodil27

I am currently living in Borneo (Malaysia, have also previously lived in KL) and will be coming to Delhi in May with my husband to check it out to see if we want to live there as a job opportunity has come up for him.

I have never been to India and have no references for it all so feeling a bit overwhelmed.... ok a few questions? Bearing in mind I have a 3.5 and 1 year old and my husband will be based with work in Gurgeon.

Where is a good place to live?
Is living in a 'farm house' a good idea or should we opt for an apartment?

What can we go and see and do that will give us an idea about what it would be like living in Delhi?

Are imported grovery items readily available?

What is Dehli like to live in?

anything else people want to add I am happy to read.....

machadinha

Hi, and welcome to IndiaMike.

I'd suggest scrolling through the Moving to Delhi forum that you're in to get some ideas; the Delhi forum as such would also naturally be helpful, as might the Expats forum and its various sub-divisions again.

For an overview of all the site's other sub-forums, check the Forums page. & Good luck with it. What do you mean by farmhouses in Delhi btw? I think you'd need to get quite a ways out of town to find anything to match the description, but I may be misunderstanding something.

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brownboy66

First off, welcome to IM As Machadinha has pointed out - check out some the the related threads in the moving to delhi section. As you'll discover the questions your asking have all been asked before - and some of them quite recently so you'll probably find a lot of answers there. By was of a quick response.....

My wife and I moved to Delhi almost a year ago with our 11, 8, and 4 year old. We've lived in SEA (thailand), and worked all over the area (Thailand, Laos, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc). India isn't like any of them. First off its a lot more direct, blunt, in your face compared to many places in SEA (almost the exact opposite of the "jai ren" approach in Thailand). Not a problem - just be aware.

you'll see in the moving to Delhi/ Gurgaon threads that it varies depending on what you're after. The farm houses have the benefit of space (great for kids) - but tend to be far removed from every where so it means fighting the traffic to get into town. Apartments may or may not be more convenient - plus there will be issues with water and power supplies (worse in Gurgaon then in Delhi apparently). One of the important considerations will be school/ play centres. Doing after school stuff will be hard if you live miles away from school on a farm as it means a major trip every time you need to do something.

hmmmmm....that's a hard one. I don't know that there is an easy way of taking a quick snap shot of life in Delhi. When you visit - depending on where you are staying - spend a bit of time visiting both Gurgaon and Delhi - get stuck in the traffic - visit the markets, malls, sights. You'll soon get a feel for what its like getting around the place.

yes - grovey items are available, as are imported grocery items (we are both funky and well fed in Delhi). Imported grocery items can be expensive (say 3-7USD for a box of imported museli)?

Great. We complain about the traffic - but its nothing compared to other cities. Its hot in summer (44 degrees plus) - and cool in winter (less than 10 degrees). There are water shortages and frequent power cuts during summer. There are plenty of markets and restaurants all over the city - oh and be warned...the food is goooooood! Expect to gain weight. Delhi is handy in terms of getting to places in the Nth (Agra, Jaipur, etc) - but its miles away from the ocean!

Undoubtedly some of the other Delhi regulars will pile in once they've had their coffee, checked their emails, and have a spare moment at work (not thinking of any of a DF residents working in Gurgaon specifically of course).

puchoo

Given that your work location will be in Gurgaon, there might be a few options with respect to farmhouses which would out you in between Delhi and Gurgaon... for example close to Vasant Kunj/Vihar...but they are not cheap at all.....what would be the kind of budgets you are looking at?

Farmhouses can start from around as little as 1.5 Lacs and go upto 10 Lacs ( 25,000 USD) and even higher depending on the amount of land etc.

There are locations near the IGI airport as well where the chances of finding a farmhouse are pretty high.

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machadinha

So what's a farmhouse in this context anyway? Just curious and always eager to learn, I have no intention of moving anywhere fast.

puchoo

I think in the delhi sense it would mean anything from 2 acres plus of land which houses a cottage/villa...... i have seen both types...the one above as well as houses which are larger i.e 5 acres plus and have a substantial amount of land devoted to raising
crops for self consumption..

machadinha

OK, like I would expect a farmhouse anywhere to be.

I.e. and in Delhi (as in most other places in the world), well out of (the massive) town, am I right? I don't imagine these are easy nor cheap to come by (and would probably require quite some maintenance, if only of the land alone)? Sounds really nice if you're into small-scale farming in a country like India, with all the difficulties it may pose to those not used to the climatic conditions. Possibly much less so if you're not.

puchoo

Yes , technically, but one can still get one as close to town as IGI airport (Kapashera area) , Chattarpur and even Vasant Kunj......which now a days is not 'out of town'

jyotirmoy

Many of these farm houses have swiming pools too.

shashank.aggarwal

And those farm houses need a pool full of currency notes to be purchased !!

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brishti

mach:

there are farm houses - with actual farming going on
and then there are
the farm houses
this second category is a villa/bungalow/whateveryoucallit with [like puchoo said] an acre or so of 'garden carpet grass' around.
yup, swimming pool, tennis court and outdoor bar-b-que facilities are some of em facilities which come along with it


:brishti

puchoo

exactly...!! , im actually yet to see a tennis court though in the ones i have stayed/visited ..but ya, not at all be surprised to see one.

machadinha

Yes, thanks. I'd imagined as much.

I was only assuming except for those of us with some substantial dosh on their hands it may turn out more grounds than you can handle.

Am I right in thinking so? Again, it doesn't work much differently with upscale "rural" living where I'm at.

nayan

without substantial dosh, you would not even dream of owning one

brishti

how substantial is substantial!!!
for em folks who do have substantial dosh, it never aint substantial - !!

correct - this farmhouse is akin to them country homes.


:brishti