Delhi: India Support Group and Drinking Society?

jalebiwallah

Alright, so here's my situation. I'm in Delhi for the next 8 months and then I'm gone for a couple of months and then I'm back again for a couple of years. I love it, but I go a bit crazy at times as I live and work in a very tight knit community (a grassroots NGO). I am realizing I need a support network of friends (specifically foreigners) to help me "escape" and also to share our experiences of the absurdities of life in India - People who want to have serious discussions about living consciously in India and who also appreciate a good laugh (and maybe some espresso or a decent beer). Anyone else up for this kind of thing?

puchoo

If the Indiamike meetups dont do the trick im sure we can come up with other alternatives as well!!

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Sidharth

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machadinha

Indeed, my thought as well

New Delhi Meetups

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jalebiwallah

Thanks for the IM meetup suggestion. I'd love to go. Let me just say that I see it as a separate issue, though. I want to make more Indian and expat friends, that's for sure, but what I'm talking about in this thread is sort of a foreigners-only thing. Sounds terrible, doesn't it? It's just that I need for an hour a week or so (maybe two hours every other week) to escape India in some sense or at least be somewhere where everyone else is as confused as I am. Well I've said it - am I the only one who feels that way? Please understand that at this point I have one American friend and a dozen Indian ones. Working at a grassroots NGO I don't have any of the built-in isolation of the "typical" expat lifestyle. Sorry if that seems blunt, but India is certainly helping me get over my fear of hurt feelings...

vinayverma

There are many expat only social groups in Delhi, which are formed on the basis of nationalities, or common interests.
I've heard of expat social group that runs every weekend ending with food and drinks. There is gaining popularity of Sunday Brunch expat meetups. Then there are many chamber of commerce from America, French, Germanany etc and I guess they can be a good starting point for making some more expat friends.
Maybe some of our expat IMers living in delhi would be more helpful with more accurate information.

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puchoo

I am not being able to find the thread but i remember there being one regarding expats meeting up at the Hyatt in Delhi every Sunday for brunch....will post if i can find it...

atala

What you actually need is what is technically called psychological supervision, someone like a professional coach with whom you can work out your work issues, your emotions, thought processes and confusions, once a week. I know that that is hardly available in India, since the supervisor would need to be a foreigner able to see thru your issues and sympathize with you thoroughly.

You are really challenged to the max psychologically by being in constant close contact with a culture and lifestyle so socially intense and intrusive on privacy as is the one lived in India. I sympathize with your need to have a time for yourself where you do not get impulses to which you have to react with self-protection.

Social gatherings are certainly one way to escape this. Another way would be to adopt some practice of meditation, in which you learn to escape from yourself, from your mind, once in while, like once every day. Another method could be to evolve a practice for an hour a day which you do entirely for yourself, an activity like wood-sculpting, embroidery, or the like. If you are in a village setting you could ask a potter to teach you pottery, and then ask him whether you could come do that on your own once in a while (hmmm, well, here again you are visiting a local family, a thing you want to avoid).

A more direct way is dealing with your issues in a therapeutic way, addressing them directly by talking about everything that needs to be talked about, by developing a relationship with a capable friend perhaps in your home country, with whom you could have regular sessions via skype or (better) Google-talk. Talk about things rather than washing them down with alcohol and momentary forgetfulness.

Good luck anyway.

Aishah

Some details for meeting folks from your country and other ex-pats -most of the Embassies have an ex-pat kind of 'club'. So you could enquire at yours.
Delhi Network, which meets in the Hyatt Regency, has coffee mornings for newcomers every Tuesday (I think 3rd Tuesday is Meeting morning but newcomers can go then too and have the coffee and chat after).Contact details: Delhi Network Office - 011 66771505 or email: delhinet2003@yahoo.com. The Tuesday mornings start at 9.30 a.m. They also do organised outings and functions. Delhi Network is a group of ex-pats living in Delhi.

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machadinha

Sounds like a decent tip, Aishah. http://www.delhinetwork.org/

Aishah

Thanks for that link, Mach - I didn't know they had a website - I have a newsletter, several months old, and no mention of a website. It looks good.

machadinha

Oh, I just googled it up, no problem. It's not like I have this stuff lying around -- but it takes me little effort to look for it. So no problem, and y'r always welcome.

mmmmdave

I'm a little late to this thread, but I'm definitely interested in this kind of thing. The Hyatt at Tuesday, 10 AM does no good for someone with a job in Gurgaon... a nights or weekends thing would be perfect. I'll make a proposal: Tuesday night at that bar "Tonic" in the Siri Fort complex. Anybody with me?

machadinha

Again, MDave, this thread is the better bet for ongoing meetups: New Delhi Meetups.

The next one's on april 5th '08, so be there, or be a little square thingy.

(None of this is to keep you guys from organizing your own expat get-togethers of course, so do fire away.)

jalebiwallah

The Metup sounds good (I'll post over there to RSVP), as does the Delhi Network. I'd also be up for something for expats on an evening, preferably in South Delhi and on a fairly modest budget. Let's say April 11th as a tentative date. Let me know if anyone's interested.

KateW

Just seen this and agree that clinical supervision is the best idea. I have always worked in jobs where I needed to offload constructively on a regular basis and this was always acknowledged and provided for me and I would provide for others. Works on a preceptorship basis. Then you go for a beer
Putting two replies togther could do The Tonic Bar on the 11th for people who live in South Delhi.
Haven't a clue where the bar is though. I've been to Siri Fort a few times but that was with the kids so wasn't looking for a bar.

BTW Delhi network by nature of the time is very female orientated.