Almost time for 6-month internship in Pune; some general questions

Hi everyone!

In the beginning of next month I'll be traveling to India for an internship of 6 months in Pune. I'm a Dutch national and have never been to India before, but I'm doing my best to prepare. I've gotten all my shots (so I don't give anyone there rabies, presumably :-p) and recently, finally, managed to obtain a visa. I've read a bunch of books and watched a couple of documentaries, but from what I hear from others, India really is something one has to experience for oneself to be able to really get a 'feeling' for it. Guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks! Can't wait!

The company I'll be working for got me an apartment near Oxford Village Society Road (in the south/southeast part of the city). Anyone familiar with that area? Any tips for good places to eat / shop / hang out? Also, since I'll be landing in Mumbai I've arranged for travel by cab from Mumbai to Pune with 'KK Travels'. Anyone familiar with this organization? Are they reliable?

Other than those things, what I'm interested in here is really not very specific; I'm just looking for general pro-tips that can help me avoid SFS (Stupid Foreigner Syndrome)

Edit: read everything in this topic: All about Pune
:-)

If you'd like to chat with some folks before you leave, preferably in Amsterdam, hook up with us at Netherlands Meetups, scroll to the end of that thread for the latest.

You'd be seeing me at least, Dutch India traveler & IndiaMike junkie, and probably an Indian member (Indojingai) who lives here. We were thinking of hitting the Pint Bock Beer Festival actually on Sunday Oct. 31st & asking others to join in on that thread, though have yet to finalize it. I visited Pune earlier this year btw, though as a visitor couldn't really tell you a great deal about it.

Similarly, check out the Pune Meetups thread; this has never been greatly active I think, but give it a shot, and there seem to be some members there more determined to make it work these days

Many say India is not for all - so keep that in mind and dont come with any pre-conceived notions. And strangely you chose to come to India though surprisingly you had never heard about it

Accept the fact before coming to India that -

• There will be things you will love and tons of things you will hate about India or pune to be specific.
• There would be good people and bad like every where on the planet.
• Also understand the cultural difference and prepare to handle it.
• Keep in mind that the language barrier can make a simple situation complex and frustrating.

and the list can go on not to forget the post which Machadinha usually recommend about meeting people and being safe. I need to find it in some of his post if he has not yet suggested it to you and another suggestion is go through the Scams in India section so you know what to beware about.



6 months is a long enough span for you to absorb India, many might not be able to absorb the impact in 10-15 days and leave the country confused or disheartened.
This can be a fantastic opportunity to explore a new country
and take back a wonderful experience. I hope you will love it and miss it when you go back.

And for now hang on to Indiamike and explore it to learn more about India.

- Missed out to say the KK travels is a good option, you are doing fine.


a good observation !

Ah, yes, you mean the Women/Men looking for travel partners thread (it's a sticky thread, so on top, in the travel partners forum, if you need it again); it hadn't struck me as immediately pertinent here, but it's always good to exercise some common sense, of course. Even if someone "nice" like me invites you to a meeting

The scams & annoyances forum would be here btw: http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams...s-in-india-f8/. I'd not get overly worked up about it, but there's some good basic schemes to be aware of. More likely to affect a visitor there than someone staying long-term really, I think. Although you'll probably have a lot of it to wade through by way of an introduction to the country. Heck, I take it many born-and-bred residents get suckered from time to time, even.

btw There's also the Moving to Pune (sub-) forum if you hadn't seen it already; find the whole site's forums structure at http://www.indiamike.com/india/, it's under the "forums" button at top left of most pages. On general migration issues, people moving to other cities, also found there (namely under the Expat section), will have faced many similar questions of course.

LOL it was more for the OP to have some quick tips on what to keep in mind when meeting strangers while traveling, which everyone knows but tend to overlook them when they are to be kept on top of mind during situations.

Not to make the OP too paranoid and lose out the fun of his stay but then just a reminder of common sense


About the scams - I hope he does not fall for one on the first few weeks while strolling on MG road or Koregaon park and think ohhh wow this is some quick buck in India and then realize later it was the most common scam

No, yes, you are of course very right; I found Pune really very friendly, but then I guess I can safely say I know my way around in India pretty well by now, I'm sure there'd be the usual characters ready to pounce on the unsuspecting newbie at the drop of a hat.

Egg, Welcome to Pune forum!! 6 months period is pretty long and I believe you would enjoy your stay in Pune. Hopefully, you will find some time to explore other regions of India as well. This would certainly add to your lifetime memories.
Hoping to see you soon active on Pune Meet up thread

Wow! Thanks for all the replies! People here are really helpful Even though Amsterdam is on the other side of the country from where I live, I like the idea of a meet-up. (Also, given the size of the Netherlands, being on the other side of the country isn't so big a problem as it would be in, say, India!)

Just to clarify something that I said earlier; the internship proper should 'only' last about 4 months, but I have a 6 month visa so I should have some flexibility

I've already been warned by multiple people about some of the things mentioned here, and my general strategies for dealing with scams and theft are;
- Scams; don't accept anything or agree to anything that you didn't arrange yourself and certainly don't entertain business propositions from people you meet on the street.
- Theft; don't have a lot with you at any given time. I heard that it is sufficient for foreigners to have a copy of their passport and visa on them when outside. The actual documents I plan to stash in a safe the minute one is available to me and to keep them there as much as possible.

I have one of those leg-stash things that you can wear under your trousers and I plan to keep most money and other important stuff in there if I absolutely have to take some with me. I also have one of those 'security wallets' with a chain, etc. so that should help.

Being a man, I don't suppose harassment will be too much of an issue

About culture shock; it is amazing how many different stories you hear. One guy I spoke with said that of all the 'developing' countries he had visited, India scared him the most and he hardly dared to be outside by himself. Another guy who went to Pune for an internship of 3 months, traveled around for two weeks by himself and said that he hadn't felt uncomfortable for even a moment. I guess it really comes down to what kind of expectations you take with you; I heard stories about a german girl who was constantly complaining that everything was old, dirty, dangerous and / or corrupt. The problem here was, of course, that she went to India fully expecting everything to be exactly like what she was used to back home. I will not make the same mistake.
Still, I can't predict what my own, personal reaction will be. I do, however, expect that it will be extreme; either I'll hate and and be on the first flight back home, or I'll love it and they'll have to deport me after 6 months!

Nice to know that you will have 2 extra months for seeing other places in india. well, let me know if you need any help regarding rajasthan
have a nice tour with pleasant memories!!!
take care

It will be unpredictable, yes; some take to it like a fish to the water.

You can expect Mumbai to be a bit of a shocker at first (any metro where you land would be); just take it easy at first, and you really don't have to start running around and see the whole city from day 1.

Pune will then be calmer, it's still a huge city though, so you may not really notice for lack of comparison If you don't feel so well at first, it could be helpful if you could plan it so that in your first few weeks you can take some time off to visit some smaller places in the area; this might help you to ease into things, and gain something of a perspective.

After that, I guess moving anywhere will just come with its ups and downs. Pune of course has a large student population and IT crowd and plenty of nightlife, so there should be enough to keep you busy. Have a look at http://pune.burrp.com/ to see what's on (this chain of sites covers quite a bunch of larger cities, so you'll find a Mumbai Burrp etc. as well. They don't link on to one another for some reason, just look them up on the web. If you'll be spending some time in Mumbai, get a hold of TimeOut Mumbai at most newspaper sellers, the site isn't very useful, the magazine is excellent, and covering any array of interests you might need.*) Pune struck me as a friendly and happening and pretty modern place; a little costlier for it than some other places maybe, and naturally you'd think. While I spent another short week or so here, it was at the end of a trip though, I mostly took it easy, which is why I can't tell you all that much about it.

I'll try and finalize with Indo what we're gonna do, I'll keep you posted. A'dam would currently really be preferred to me; though we could meet you halfway in say Utrecht (or Leiden, or whatever's handy for you).

ps Theft in India really isn't that much of a concern; though stuff happens of course, notably of the pickpocketing/petty theft variety (snatch-and-run type action. Not a lot of any of it even, I'd say; over several trips and about a year there in all, I've been pickpocketed just once, out of Rs. 150 or so, so that's not half bad. But I know many folks who'll have had a camera go missing or so at an unguarded moment, sure, it can happen.) Violent crime against visitors would be extremely uncommon.

Anyway, if you're gonna be living there then leave your stash at home, of course; though not in something like a funky budget hotel. A money belt should do the trick, many Indians use them too for carrying large amounts of cash around. Then keep your daily necesssities in your pocket.

* Come to think of it now, it includes a few pages on Pune I think, fairly limited though. Either that, or they do a Pune special sometimes. There may of course be some sort of event listings in Pune, just ask around. If anything, find out which of the local papers is good for such, in a city that size, there must be a paper or two to cover daily events.

Thanks for the website. Looks like I'm finally starting to get my finger behind Pune's online community. Wikimapia also seems to be popular among Punekars.

Thanks for the tips about taking it easy and one day at a time, I'll be sure to do that... I'm sure India can be a bit overwhelming. I'll be working with people of my age group (mid 20s) and I'm already in contact with some of them, so I'm sure I won't have to live in isolation too much

I have no problem going to Amsterdam. In fact, I'd love to see our capital again, even having to come all the way from Enschede

I'm very glad to hear about crime and theft.. (or the lack thereof) I already got a bit of an impression like that from other threads I read, especially when people compare India to, for example, countries in Africa or South America. The company I'll be working for has arranged for me to stay at what I am told should be a lovely apartment, so it looks like my biggest worry will be surviving the traffic!

Also, I already know how to tell people that my hovercraft is full of eels in Marathi, so I should be just fine!

Just while you are informed and guarded dont be paranoid to talk to people , eat different things, see new places else you might lose out on the real fun of exploring india.

I hope you understand what i mean - just be street smart and I am sure you will have a wonderful time, I wonder if you will be here by diwali.
You would have experienced a wonderful time of the year when Indians celebrate diwali - the festival of lights.

and the 2 month tentative free time should be helpful once you settle and identify where you want to spend some time on a vacation.

Hope to catch up with you in some meetup

That's a good start

Y'r really most welcome, Egg; Enschede, huh? Talk about the other side of the country, indeed I used to live out east, just a little south from you. Anyway, would beer fest over here next Sunday suit you then? I need to yank Indo's ear to see what's up. But something less crowded and noisy at a later date could also be doable (you'll be leaving soon though, I guess?)

Hey, I'm assuming you have a travel guidebook to there, you should, any of the biggies that suits you. Two local titles to look out for once you've landed would be:

Outlook Traveller, http://traveller.outlookindia.com/bookhome.aspx, readily available on the ground. A good series, their Weekend Breaks From Mumbai would cover your region. But see what else they have, and note their out-of-stock titles you may well still find on the ground.

And Eicher Maps, http://maps.eicherworld.com/. These guys are renowned for their maps, they have one for Pune, http://maps.eicherworld.com/MapsGuid...&prodtype=Maps. Check out their guidebooks as well, at http://maps.eicherworld.com/mapsguid...ravel%20Guides. I had trouble obtaining these two years ago, but they were fairly new I think, sellers would mostly think you'd be looking for their maps it seemed. It's possible they'll be easier to obtain as they get more common.

My flight is in the 2nd week of November. Please don't disrupt your plans too much on account of me, though!

I don't have a general guide book of India, but I read through some of them in libraries... none of them were particularly informative or contained information that I couldn't have found / had already found on the internet. I am looking for good maps and guide books for Mumbai / Pune / Maharashtra though, but I suppose those are easier to find in India I must have spent hours by now scrolling around the area in Google Earth and am confident that I'd be able to point out where I need to go on a map.
I have some time between landing and taxi pickup so my plan was to scour the Mumbai airport for a couple such items... Thanks for your suggestions, I'll be sure to be on the look-out for them!

I hope K K Travels has room in the shared cab for my bag... and that I'll be able to find them in what must be an enormous airport! (Note that I'm not always this obsessive; once I get settled and have overcome my initial shock a little bit I'll be more comfortable to just sit back & enjoy the show )

I am not too sure of the commitment KK has given you. But most of the time they have a small mini bus which has 2 sections- the front for passengers and the modified large boot to hold the large travell bags.
I assume that should be the kind of accomodation they have put you in.

They also have other cabs which are usually given to smaller groups. I doubt they would have put you in this. You can mail and check with them just so you have peace of mind.