PHOTO: Sailing with family in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai Harbor, India
Meenal and I are experimenting living in Delhi for a year. At the end of the year, we’ll decide if we want to commit to India longer.
HOW will we decide if we like India or not?
Continue reading: What will it take to make us like India after moving back?
PHOTO: Cyber city in DLF Phase 2, Gurgaon, Haryana where many MNCs in India have offices
I had heard that employees in India change jobs very often. Having been here for a month, I’m beginning to see some of the reasons for all the job hopping.
My opinions below are derived from conversations and experiences with several professionals across various MNCs in India.
At the entry/mid-management level, a 2-year career with the same company is considered long. Employees are constantly on the lookout for another job and are sometimes actively poached by competitors. I’m told this is because there are substantially fewer “qualified” people than there are jobs. And with more and more MNCs growing their operations in India, this problem is expected to get worse.
Continue reading: Work culture in India is weak compared to America
Returning to India makes you miss public facilities like the Boston Commons and the State Parks. Parks in Delhi, where available, aren’t well maintained. You can’t walk (let alone run looking up for a disk) without looking down all the time to avoid bricks, dogs, debris, etc.
Thankfully, Saumya Kanoria organizes Ultimate Frisbee on Sundays in his beautiful farm – green everywhere you look, 6-10 players, and a lot of running. It’s my favorite afternoon of the week!
Continue reading: Playing Ultimate Frisbee in New Delhi, India
I’m apparently the best person in THE WHOLE WIDE INTERNET to answer this question today: Do you get comforters in Gurgaon, Delhi?
My grandkids will hear about my day in Google sun!
New Delhi has a fantastic new airport. And someone there has a sense of humor (or a funny non-humor personality). I love it!
PHOTO: Meenal trying out mattresses in Sikandarpur Market, Gurgaon, India
Surprisingly, buying a mattress after returning to India was quite straight forward. All of the major brands- Kurl-On, Sleepwell, etc.- can easily be found in most major markets with same day pedal-rickshaw-delivery and cash-on-delivery payment terms. This was a pleasant surprise after our mattress shopping experience in Boston (the entire industry is shady and worse than used car dealers).
Continue reading: Ship mattress, comforter from USA or buy in India? Our story…
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A few years ago, Surya of New Hampshire had done a business out of India. He had many tales, one of which included an army of rats, his cables and Surya shouting with such frustration that you could see his blood red esophagus (Surya likes to use fancy words). Such a tale would have awed anyone, and it made me fear for my internet kingdom.
Since I am softer spoken than Surya and too modest to show my esophagus in public, I have encased my internet in 2000 pounds of pure stainless steel. If the rat armies manage to break my defenses, it will be the crowning achievement of their civilization and deserve a movie to celebrate it: The Rats of Mahabharata versus the cunning defenses of Jeloka ji.
See BIG pictures of my kingdom’s defenses
Last updated: December 6, 2010January 17, 2011 | US$1 = Rs.47
(Rs.5,65,000)
2 bedrooms used in a larger apartment in Gurgaon, India
Our apartment came with an exhaust over stove $150 (Rs. 7000) and water heaters (Geyser): $160-$225 each (Rs. 7700-Rs.10,000).
Your landlord may or may not provide these.
As healthcare consultants in India, we work a lot with the government and institutions such as the United Nations to bring basic healthcare facilities to the poor. And by “basic” I really do mean basic – 24×7 support for deliveries, care for newborns, immunization clinics, emergency care, blood storage units, etc. Next week, I will make my first business trip to a village to assess a public hospital that serves thousands of people but may not have the ability to do c-sections. Our deliverables – assess the hospital, develop a plan to offer the various kinds of care expected from district level hospitals, and finally execute the plan over the next few years.
In the U.S., our contributions felt more indirect and due to a mature market, the problems we attempted to solve were more “first world”. Our solutions probably affected fewer people and were incremental and evolutionary. In India, our contributions have the potential of being very impactful – bringing healthcare services where there weren’t any or dramatically raising the quality of care provided. The large population exponentially multiplies the effect of our successes or failures.
India is so different from the U.S.
These cocktails are made keeping in mind the high cost and limited availability of alcohol in India and the luxurious access to freshly squeezed juices. So far, I’ve found Vodka (several brands), Rum (Bacardi) and Gin to be decently priced in India.
Shake vodka, coconut juice, ginger juice and lemon with ice. Strain into ice filled glass. Top off with Sprite and stir.
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These cocktails are made keeping in mind the high cost and limited availability of alcohol in India and the luxurious access to freshly squeezed juices. So far, I’ve found Vodka (several brands), Rum (Bacardi) and Gin to be decently priced in India.
Shake rum, vodka and Keenu juice with ice. Add Sprite and stir.
Muddle 3 mint leaves in glass, add ice and pour.
