Destination: Mumbai - 3 month internship

tenfold

Hello IndiaMike:ers!

Me and my significant other have been offered the opportunity to travel to Mumbai, India, for 3 month internships starting in February.

Well, first of all I am 22 and the epitome of the stereotyped White Boy. I’ve been to Mumbai once before with my girlfriend and the plan was to check the city out before taking the train down to Goa. What happened was the overwhelming heat, smog, dirt, dust and conniving looks from the locals convinced us to just immediately find the train station. Stepping out of the taxi at the wrong station and getting hassled for more money from the driver left us in the middle of starved children grabbing at our pockets and not another tourist in sight. Before we were on the train 4 hours later we had paid for train tickets twice, entered a bathroom with feces and blood smeared over the walls and witnessed an infant die in the heat...

We didn’t get robbed and we enjoyed Goa very much.

So that’s my former experience with Mumbai. Call me crazy but I want to go back. I think we were slightly unlucky and mostly just insufficiently prepared the first time around.

What I’m interested in knowing is what all I need to think about when making my preparations. The studio I’d be working at is located near Veera Desai Road in Andheri West, so I guess it would be smart to live somewhere around there. My boss recommended Lokhandwala. Having looked at google maps Lokhandwala seems very far away from Veera Desai Road, but he said it was a 15-min walk.

Here are the exact addresses of our internship businesses:

507 Dilkap Chambers
Plot no. A7
Off : Veera Desai Road
Andheri (w)
Mumbai : 400053

and her's

Remi Bizcourt, C Wing, 7th Floor
Veera Desai Road, Andheri West
Mumbai -58 India


Making all of the arrangements myself was one of the conditions my boss laid out first of all. I can ask him stuff, but he’s not going to help with finding an apartment and this is the biggest hurdle at the moment. I'm gonna be coming by myself for the first month and I would love to be able to seal the deal before I arrive so I don’t have to stay at a hostel or hotel until I get an apartment. So this is where you all come in

* What choices do you see for me and my woman in this situation? Basic Apartment, Furnished Westerner Apartment, Packaged Hotel Deal..?

From what I’ve talked to people it seems like the cheapest and best way to take care of this is to contact an agency that has furnished apartments and take 1 month rent for their services. Obviously it would be great to live cheap but the important thing is that I am relatively safe and can relax and concentrate on what I came there to do, so I’m thinking 20-40,000rs/month for a fully furnished 2 BHK.

I mean there must be some place for us white boys to hide out and live in ignorance away from the poverty! No but really, I’ll donate to charities and stuff just having to confront dead infants all the time will put me off of my game while trying to get the most I can out of my internship.

I’m really a bit lost. I have an internet friend in Mumbai that will go negotiate and look at some apartments for me if I set up the meet.

Here are some results that google provided:

Semifurnished 2BHK 32000rs
2BHK 32000rs (huge deposit)
2BHK 15000rs

..but I'm starting to think that this is not what I'm looking for. I think I'm looking for fully furnished package deals, with small or no deposits, right? I mean I can't very well be buying furniture and also I've heard there's a minimum 11 month requirement for new rental contracts that I'd have to bribe my way out of.. It all seems so messy.

Maybe if I'd find a reliable agency/broker they could set me up and take care of everything.. is that the way to go?

I also found this place Mumbai Real Estate
listing these two:
2BHK 40000rs
1BHK 33000rs

And a site called Quickr came up with these:
2BHK furnished 24000rs
3BHK 45000rs
3BHK 40000rs
2BHK 38000rs


I've also contacted a few realty agencies that I found online. Two replied, one offering very expensive (65,000-120,000rs/month) apartments in Juhu and Andheri West and the other assuring me that I had found the right agency and that he would get back to me next week with pictures of furnished apartments available for 3 months. (note that their website mentions nothing of their broker services..)


I just don't know what to think and believe and would need some input from you guys on what method is the smartest for me to choose.


whew. so other things I was wondering about than the living accomodations dilemma.

* I can probably buy prepaid sim cards for my cell phone ..? How about internet?
* I’ll be bringing my camera, anything special to think about when scowering the city for photo ops?
* How to get around - renting some kind of vehicle vs. taxi/rickshaw for everything vs. trains/buses ?
* MUST see's/do's
* Anything special with the weather Feb-March-Apr to keep in mind?
* Random good things to know
* Encouragements / Discouragements
* Can someone confirm that Lokhandwala is close to Veera Desai Road? And I hear there are two Lokhandwalas: Kandivali and Lokhandwala omplex – which one is the boss talking about?


I'm really stoked about this whole trip, I just want to be prepared so that I can get as much as possible out of it!

I'd really appreciate it if you Mumbai:ers could drop some lines about how all this sounds and what you come to think of. Thanks!

niknik

Can't help you with your questions on accommodation as I don't know much about the real estate scene in Andheri .

Your Lokhandwala is a 15 minute walk from Veera Desai road. You can forget all about the Lokhandwala at Kandivili.

I think foreign nationals can't buy prepaid SIM cards off the shelf (someone please confirm this). It will be more convenient to your internship firm buy one for you.

To move around in the city, use private taxi services like Meru/Mega cabs. If you get used to the dust and sounds go for public transport - it's very safe and a lot cheaper than taxis.

The winter season ends in February but the winter in Mumbai is probably as cold as your summer. It will get pretty hot and humid by April.

All the best with your house hunt!

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costaguana

Lokhandwala and Vera Desai Rd are relatively close, but it's not really walkable. 15 minutes is quite optimistic, and there aren't really any proper sidewalks, so you'll be dodging rickshaws and buses on the side of the road. A better option would be to take a rickshaw, as it would be an easy enough (and relatively cheap) journey.

These neighbourhoods are firmly middle class parts of town, so it is highly unlikely you are going to confront any dead infants during your stay. Also, if you are looking for an experience similar to what you would find in South Bombay, you may be disapointed. Suburban Mumbai is hardly exotic and can be pretty drab actually. Locals want good, affordable accommodation and lots of places to spend their disposable income, so this means a plethora of newish, characterless high rises, and equally soulless malls. To get to the "National Geographic neighbourhoods" you have to travel quite a ways.

The saving graces are the people, so try and socialize, even if you are only around for a few months.

peedeers

For renting accomodation www.magicbricks.com is a good site...
brokers/agents are way to go.. they take 1 month brokerage...
in the suburbs for a decent br house dont pay more than 35k a month... even if it is in lokhandwala... also keep in mind that you have to pay a deposit of usually 10-12 months rent to the landlord... negotiate hard on this - some landlords are happy with 1 lakh rs advance.
Let me know if you need more help/info , I have relatives staying in Lokhandwala.

tenfold

Thanks for reading through my gigantic post people!

So, The Lokhandwala Complex, is the lokhandwala that’s around a 15-minute walk to Veera Desai Road?
This Google Map just throws me off, but I guess google could be wrong

thanks niknik, I’ll see if my boss can’t buy a sim card for me. Are there any kind of 3G packages that could somehow allow me to connect to the internet via a usb to wireless type of deal? I’m looking forward to the insane heat – here in Finland it’s gonna be cold and very dark around February.

costaguana, thanks for the insight. So I guess I’ll take the rickshaw first a couple of times to see what my walking options would be between work and home. I was expecting a really sterile suburb kind of feel with mc Donald’s and stuff. It’s really too bad and will mean that I’ll set off for South Mumbai and maybe further on my days off. I guess I still think living close to the studio will be worth this sacrifice.

hey peedeers, magicbricks didn’t give me anything today but I’ll check back, looks like a good site. So you would say no more than 35k a month even though it’s fully furnished? 1 lakh seems like a big deposit to put out for such a short stay, but there might not be any getting around this.

A friend of mine said there are these type of Apartment hotel deals in Bandra.. That sounds almost exactly like what I need so I’ll check into this more. But he also said he didn’t know of any of these in Lokhandwala, so that would mean travelling Bandra -> Veera Desai Rd every day. How long would that take?

Thanks again!

costaguana

Join the "Bombay Expat Community" Yahoo group. There are many similar pleas for accomodation and helpful hints/offers to meet these needs. Your best bet might be to find a sublet, although don't hold your breath.

Bandra is a pretty interesting neighbourhood, but it is a fair hike from your listed workplace, and it would also be substantially more expensive than Andheri West. The advantage of this commute, however, would be you would be travelling against traffic, but you could probably still expect a 45+ minute journey in a rickshaw. Lokhandwala is a decent neighbourhood also, and would be much closer.

Having never rented here in Mumbai I can't offer much practical advice to this end, but the Yahoo group is pretty useful, so check it out.

mani

Hello Tenfold,

Everywhere in Mumbai is dusty & crowded.

Lokhandwala / Oshiwara-Mhada is close to both your workplaces and would be best suited for your short stay in Mumbai. & They have a Mcdonals in Lokhandwala...wow.

Best way to get yourself a place is to check out portals like magicbricks.com and 99acres.com and then come down to mumbai, see the places talk to a few estate agents and rent a place as a paying guest. you will not be able to have a rent agreement as that would require among other things, a police clearance. This is too tedious for 3 months stay.

Alternatively look at service appartments. there one at Juhu i think called the emerald. This would be about 25 mins by autorick to your work place on a good day.

hope this is of help.
welcome to Mumbai.
Mani

tenfold

hey costaguana and mani thanks for posting.

I joined the Bobmay expat group and posted my dilemma there, so that is under way. The sublet concept sounds like something meant for me .. these are few that came up on sublet.com, but they aren't very close to Veera Desai Road, are they? It's hard for me to tell what is close when google maps shows Lokhandwala Complex like way far away from Veera Desai Road here:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...,0.264187&z=13



Yes, mani, there is the possibility of coming down and taking care of it when I'm there. There's something that just tells me I'll arrive at the airport and have to search for some sleazy hostel in the heat and then start trying to find an appartment with no phone, internet or place to securily leave my stuff. But no, I haven't ruled out the fact that I might have to live somewhere first while taking care of the apartment. Any suggestions on where that could be? I haven't stumbled upon a positive review of a Mumbai hostel yet..

niknik

You got the wrong Lokhandwala. This map shows the right one:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...17982&t=h&z=15
Google reckons its a 30 minute walk - but the actual distance would depend on where your house is in Lokhandwala.

tenfold

Jeeesh! Finally it makes sense.

thanks niknik

snonymous

Tenfold, have you considered a long term rate in a serviced apartment? Your area would be Andheri Lokhandwalla, try this site:
http://www.bombayproperty.com/index16.html
You can and should negotiate a good rate for a longer term stay.

For the daily commute, assuming it is not an easily walkable distance, you can negotiate a fixed rate with a local auto rickshaw driver.

As you will be here for 3 months, it may be better to short list a few places, stay in a hotel for the first few days, actually see the places you have considered and then finalise the deal. Very often, what is described or what is shown in photos is a far cry from what you may end up with. A few days in a hotel initially would be a wise investment to ensure satisfaction with your abode for the next three months.

Good luck.

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mani

Hi Tenfold,
there are some good hotels near Andheri Stn in an area called Lallubhai Park. This is like 15-20 mins by auto from Veera desai road. Its a quite residential area and we have had guest stay here during family weddings. The name is Karl Residency. I think the tarrif was about Rs. 4500/- per day on the net. but we paid less. http://www.hotelkarl.com/

This place is about 25 mins from the airport so probably you could stay here for a day or two while you sort out your long term accomodation.

hope this is of help.
mani

baadzilla

Rental contracts are often for 11 months. They usually have a clause saying either party can ditch with 1 month's notice. You could in theory get a 11 month contract saying its a long term job and then give notice after 2 months. The downside is sometimes the owner will delay return of deposit until they get another client.

Not sure too many indians living in mumbai will know about such short term leases - not very common.

mani

Hello Tenfold,

Short term lease's in Mumbai language are called paying guest..... and the only way to find these are when you are here.

all the best
Mani

baadzilla

a paying guest typically lives in the same house as the owner. I have done this as a student in mumbai. OK if you are back only to sleep in the night and take a shower before heading out in the morning. very little privacy or freedom.