So I have finally moved to Mumbai. It used to be called Bombay when I lived here over 13 years ago. Well, where do I start from. Traffic sucks and takes a lot of time from your daily worklife, meaning you start your day early and come home late.
Now Mumbai is a mini-India, whereas you find people from all walks of life, all regions, languages, cultures, class in the city. So it is like re-entering India, repeating the same experience like when I came back to India early this year.
We have gotten a place in an area called Bandra, it rocks and the locality is the most happening in Mumbai, lots of great eating joints, very lively and Bandra-Khar is the center of the metropolitan area. All in all not much has changed in the 13 years, property prices are still very high, schools are tough to get admission into, all the corporate houses still exist though some have moved their headquarters, Borivalli is not considered a far off suburb, trains are more packed then ever, but overall feel of the city is the same, only traffic has become much worse.
People are very professional (compared to rest of India), and most of the work is point to point. Now on the personal front outside of my observations about one of the largest Metropolitans in the world.
The son refuses to believe he is in Mumbai, and wants to return "home" to Bangalore. The little girl refuses to crawl, more so in Mumbai because there are no people who can take her 'Godhi'. Wifey has started using the local trains (something even I am scared off), and swears by it when commuting to work. Still opening boxes, kind feels weird goign from a luxury apartment to a small place in Mumbai (still large by local standards). Hey did I mention, we have started selling our MapmyIndia Navigator Feel free to pick up one.
More till next month. Btw I am linking to this search engine such that hopefully this message of my blog goes to more and more folks. Blog Search Engine
Cheers,
Shiva
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Move to Bombay - Mumbai
So after spending 8 months in Bangalore, the technology hub of India, we are moving to Mumbai formerly known as Bombay. Everyone is asking the question -- WHY?? Well the simplest answer is travel, over the past 2 months, I have been continuously traveling to Mumbai for work, and if I were locally present in the city, then I am sure it would be easier to meet clients and develop my GPS navigation system.
On the home front, the little boy has hurt his toe, and hence refuses to walk, even though nothing wrong with him. He wants to fly to all the places i.e. me or wifey have to pick him up and put him from place to place, it is cute and irritating both.
The Stock market in India is booming, defies all the logic, and does not make sense. Same goes for the real estate market, is this the great boom before the bust, only time will tell. It might also happen that the market goes to 25K BSE-Sensex, but hopefully that does not happen.
What else, baby girl is speaking a few words, and it is really fun to communicate with her in the baby way. Other than that, looking forward to a winter break, as am really exhausted with daily negotiations. Will keep you posted.
Cheers,
Shiva
On the home front, the little boy has hurt his toe, and hence refuses to walk, even though nothing wrong with him. He wants to fly to all the places i.e. me or wifey have to pick him up and put him from place to place, it is cute and irritating both.
The Stock market in India is booming, defies all the logic, and does not make sense. Same goes for the real estate market, is this the great boom before the bust, only time will tell. It might also happen that the market goes to 25K BSE-Sensex, but hopefully that does not happen.
What else, baby girl is speaking a few words, and it is really fun to communicate with her in the baby way. Other than that, looking forward to a winter break, as am really exhausted with daily negotiations. Will keep you posted.
Cheers,
Shiva
Monday, September 17, 2007
Current Status
Hi All,
Interestingly enough bunch of people are reading my blogs, people outside my immediate friend circle. Thanks for taking time and reading my postings. So what is new ?
GPS Navigation - MapmyIndia Our GPS Navigation system covering the entire country is now available on sale, with detailed maps for around 20 odd cities and high level data for around 100 odd cities with villages, towns etc. That is on the professional front. Have learned quite a bit about map making and i got to tell you, it is bloody difficult, time consuming, tedious, but the end result is fun as you can build location based services (LBS) on the same.
On the Personal front, I have totally integrated into the indian society, living in the US now seems like a distant place, heck I am not able to even correlate to the US after spending most of my 20's in the US. I have started driving again (driver has become erratic), I have learned the major road network of BLR.
Son has finally started speaking in Hindi, he speaks cool hindi, with words of Maghi/bojpuri also mixed into the same. Baby Girl is on the way to turn 1, and now cries when you leave her alone.
Hey also i have changed my maid one more time, the last one hit a jackpot, as her mom died and left her lots of jewellery, so she quit work, this is the 4th maid in 6 months, open to advise on how to get long lasting maids (even after I pay her quite a bit). The son has learned that if you cry things come your way, so when he wants to play, all he has to do is 'WAAAAAAAAAA' and ohh-yes, he gets what he wants. His aunt (based in bbay) has been telling me, ignore his crying, but it is irritating, son knows this fact. His new thing is that he wants 100 ruppeees because 'I want to buy something'.
I used to think what is the use of mobile phone repair shop, but I recently found out that little baby daughters can eat a mobile phone, short circuit the connections and then give it to mommy/daddy, who need mobile phone repair shops. So dont give phones to babies, it is bad for everyone.
No travel plans on the future, want to visit Ooty or Kodai,but not sure i ll have the time.
Ohhh, i forgot, I recently went into the kitchen and made a bowl of rice after 9 months (dont miss that factor), dont like cleaning and cooking, do not really miss that part from the US :)
Chalo keep posting, let me know if you want me to cover anythign special from my prespective.
Cheers,
Shiva
Interestingly enough bunch of people are reading my blogs, people outside my immediate friend circle. Thanks for taking time and reading my postings. So what is new ?
GPS Navigation - MapmyIndia Our GPS Navigation system covering the entire country is now available on sale, with detailed maps for around 20 odd cities and high level data for around 100 odd cities with villages, towns etc. That is on the professional front. Have learned quite a bit about map making and i got to tell you, it is bloody difficult, time consuming, tedious, but the end result is fun as you can build location based services (LBS) on the same.
On the Personal front, I have totally integrated into the indian society, living in the US now seems like a distant place, heck I am not able to even correlate to the US after spending most of my 20's in the US. I have started driving again (driver has become erratic), I have learned the major road network of BLR.
Son has finally started speaking in Hindi, he speaks cool hindi, with words of Maghi/bojpuri also mixed into the same. Baby Girl is on the way to turn 1, and now cries when you leave her alone.
Hey also i have changed my maid one more time, the last one hit a jackpot, as her mom died and left her lots of jewellery, so she quit work, this is the 4th maid in 6 months, open to advise on how to get long lasting maids (even after I pay her quite a bit). The son has learned that if you cry things come your way, so when he wants to play, all he has to do is 'WAAAAAAAAAA' and ohh-yes, he gets what he wants. His aunt (based in bbay) has been telling me, ignore his crying, but it is irritating, son knows this fact. His new thing is that he wants 100 ruppeees because 'I want to buy something'.
I used to think what is the use of mobile phone repair shop, but I recently found out that little baby daughters can eat a mobile phone, short circuit the connections and then give it to mommy/daddy, who need mobile phone repair shops. So dont give phones to babies, it is bad for everyone.
No travel plans on the future, want to visit Ooty or Kodai,but not sure i ll have the time.
Ohhh, i forgot, I recently went into the kitchen and made a bowl of rice after 9 months (dont miss that factor), dont like cleaning and cooking, do not really miss that part from the US :)
Chalo keep posting, let me know if you want me to cover anythign special from my prespective.
Cheers,
Shiva
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Been Raining and it is lovely
Bangalore and India in general has been seeing lots of rain (ask people in the state of Bihar, where 20 million are homeless), but as for Bangalore, the rain has kept the weather really cool and pleasant. I did not know but BLR is at an elevation of 2000 ft, hence the great weather.
Life cannot be better, my little one is now 9 months old and we are both sitting together and writing this blog. She loves to coo and is picking up new words daily. Btw I come home for lunch and get to spend a good 45 minutes each afternoon with her (one of the perks of having an office 3 minutes away in the next building). The son has also grown and has learned how to fight, is picking up interesting kannada words of which we have no clue. He says something, smiles and then runs away, and as usual we have no idea. Wifey job is comign along great, she has settled into the grove.
So what about myself, well I am heads down working on improving our maps. Our new Mapmyindia website has been launched. It has great driving directions which is landmark based. The quality of the maps has improved exponentially.
Recently we (family, the son, daughter, wifey and baby sitter) went to visit a waterfall near Bangalore called Sivasamundra. It is quite famous in the south. The location is on the way to Mysore (west of bangalore). I had heard quite a bit about the roads from BLR to Mysore but was disappointed. Bombay Pune highway, on which I had travelled 7 years back was better than the BLR Mysore highway. Roads in the south, specially Bangalore have a long way to go (from what I hear Bihar is getting better roads, no kidding).
My office is humming, got a great bunch of folks working, who i think practically work atleast 16 hours a day plus half day sunday. So you can imagine the output we are generating. Great bunch (has taken me a while to get this group of people).
I have put on lots of weight (one of the negatives of living in India), lots of great food, maybe one of these days I ll hit the gym. Still to try out the pubs in Bangalore (literally no time), will write a special blog about the same.
Chalo, enjoy the new Mapmyindia, get to learn about new places. Adios till then.
Shiva
Life cannot be better, my little one is now 9 months old and we are both sitting together and writing this blog. She loves to coo and is picking up new words daily. Btw I come home for lunch and get to spend a good 45 minutes each afternoon with her (one of the perks of having an office 3 minutes away in the next building). The son has also grown and has learned how to fight, is picking up interesting kannada words of which we have no clue. He says something, smiles and then runs away, and as usual we have no idea. Wifey job is comign along great, she has settled into the grove.
So what about myself, well I am heads down working on improving our maps. Our new Mapmyindia website has been launched. It has great driving directions which is landmark based. The quality of the maps has improved exponentially.
Recently we (family, the son, daughter, wifey and baby sitter) went to visit a waterfall near Bangalore called Sivasamundra. It is quite famous in the south. The location is on the way to Mysore (west of bangalore). I had heard quite a bit about the roads from BLR to Mysore but was disappointed. Bombay Pune highway, on which I had travelled 7 years back was better than the BLR Mysore highway. Roads in the south, specially Bangalore have a long way to go (from what I hear Bihar is getting better roads, no kidding).
My office is humming, got a great bunch of folks working, who i think practically work atleast 16 hours a day plus half day sunday. So you can imagine the output we are generating. Great bunch (has taken me a while to get this group of people).
I have put on lots of weight (one of the negatives of living in India), lots of great food, maybe one of these days I ll hit the gym. Still to try out the pubs in Bangalore (literally no time), will write a special blog about the same.
Chalo, enjoy the new Mapmyindia, get to learn about new places. Adios till then.
Shiva
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Mid year review
Been about 6 months that I have been working in India, have had the opportunity to meet various VP's, CEO/COO etc over this time frame. Office in Bangalore is working, map collection and enhancement is going great. Mapmyindia is going to get a new avatar. Now focus is on Navigation Device, which is working. Heck I am even using it to go places.
What are my learnings for the last 6 months -
1. Do not believe anything you hear unless until you physically verify the same.
2. Way too many employees grand mothers have died, specially when they go for other interviews.
3. Kids adjust to new environments faster than you can imagine and they pick up new languages very fast (Heck the little boy is speaking Kannada words) :)
4. Weather rocks in Bangalore, cooler than almost all cities in India, do not need fan or air conditionining, like the Bay area.
5. Sales cycles are long but it does come around, persistance pays.
6. India needs MANY more movie theaters.
7. Most of the folks are many times more tech savvy than the US.
8. Electricity comes and goes :)
So now that I am all set, and functioning, I am going to focus on opening new offices in Bombay, Kolkatta, Hyderabad and Chennai. Hopefully some of these will open up by mid of next year, (bombay for sure).
Building a travel guide, planning on visiting Mysore this weekend, so looking forward to that. Have learned to manage churn in employees and staff (11 people have quit out of 20), 2 maids have quit, 2 drivers have quit, but heck now I do not get stressed out, as I have figured out how to replace one with the next (Great Learning). Ask for advise, if you so desire. India is a hard place to do business but there is truck loads of money to go around, only have to figure out how to collect the same.
Cheers,
Shiva
What are my learnings for the last 6 months -
1. Do not believe anything you hear unless until you physically verify the same.
2. Way too many employees grand mothers have died, specially when they go for other interviews.
3. Kids adjust to new environments faster than you can imagine and they pick up new languages very fast (Heck the little boy is speaking Kannada words) :)
4. Weather rocks in Bangalore, cooler than almost all cities in India, do not need fan or air conditionining, like the Bay area.
5. Sales cycles are long but it does come around, persistance pays.
6. India needs MANY more movie theaters.
7. Most of the folks are many times more tech savvy than the US.
8. Electricity comes and goes :)
So now that I am all set, and functioning, I am going to focus on opening new offices in Bombay, Kolkatta, Hyderabad and Chennai. Hopefully some of these will open up by mid of next year, (bombay for sure).
Building a travel guide, planning on visiting Mysore this weekend, so looking forward to that. Have learned to manage churn in employees and staff (11 people have quit out of 20), 2 maids have quit, 2 drivers have quit, but heck now I do not get stressed out, as I have figured out how to replace one with the next (Great Learning). Ask for advise, if you so desire. India is a hard place to do business but there is truck loads of money to go around, only have to figure out how to collect the same.
Cheers,
Shiva
Monday, June 11, 2007
Productivity and India
Howdy!! So now that I have been working in India for the better part of 5 odd months, what are my learnings -
1. Do not believe anything anyone promises to you, be it a CEO of a big company or be it a maid in the house, majority of the folks just point blank lie.
2. Double check everything, so if someone gives you something, you have to ensure it is upto the mark, as to what you have paid for or what you have instructed
3. Persistance pays off big time.
4. Everything is emotional, people only work hard for you if you have an emotional bonding, professionalism does not exist. Nor do financial rewards or penalties make any difference to anyone.
Been trying to get the folks in my team to work, but no one seems to be interested, now I know why most of the outsourcing projects go down the drain, i.e. there is no single leader who can inspire the trooops.
So what is the point I am making, well there is some special way that makes people tick in India, which is very different than the western world, something that companies like TATA, Reliance have figured out, hence they thrive in the environment, for the regular company, it is finding out the secret receipe, that will take them to heights.
Been travelling alot (nothing unusual about that), Delhi was HOTTTTT.. around 47 degrees celcius, ie is around 120 F, felt the skin will peal off. Bangalore is pleasant.
Some of my sales efforts are paying off, still evangalizing about maps in India, will keep pushing, wish me luck and hope that I can figure out the secret sauce that makes us Indians tick.
Cheers,
Shiva
1. Do not believe anything anyone promises to you, be it a CEO of a big company or be it a maid in the house, majority of the folks just point blank lie.
2. Double check everything, so if someone gives you something, you have to ensure it is upto the mark, as to what you have paid for or what you have instructed
3. Persistance pays off big time.
4. Everything is emotional, people only work hard for you if you have an emotional bonding, professionalism does not exist. Nor do financial rewards or penalties make any difference to anyone.
Been trying to get the folks in my team to work, but no one seems to be interested, now I know why most of the outsourcing projects go down the drain, i.e. there is no single leader who can inspire the trooops.
So what is the point I am making, well there is some special way that makes people tick in India, which is very different than the western world, something that companies like TATA, Reliance have figured out, hence they thrive in the environment, for the regular company, it is finding out the secret receipe, that will take them to heights.
Been travelling alot (nothing unusual about that), Delhi was HOTTTTT.. around 47 degrees celcius, ie is around 120 F, felt the skin will peal off. Bangalore is pleasant.
Some of my sales efforts are paying off, still evangalizing about maps in India, will keep pushing, wish me luck and hope that I can figure out the secret sauce that makes us Indians tick.
Cheers,
Shiva
Friday, May 11, 2007
Office in Bangalore
Howdy All,
My apologies for not writing in such a long time, but been both lazy and busy. I have finally gotten my own office in Bangalore. This location is around 2KM from the airport and 3 minutes WALKING from my apartment, so the commute is very pleasant and fun.
It is interesting to start your own office, went and got furniture (still havent received all the pieces), got a drinking water filter, computer, printers, UPS, phone etc. I am still missing the blinds and curtains. Hey I even have a cleaning lady that comes every other day to cleanup the place.
So now that I have this office, what have I been upto? Have made a gzillion sales calls for Mapmyindia, trying to sell Location Based Services (LBS), have hired a office manager+data entry operator+plus finance dealings (all in one). Have also hired around 10 folks that will be doing field data collection to enhance my maps.
The family is happy that I am out of their way and now have my own place to work, the son starts laughing whenever I tell him I am going to 'ooffiicce'. He finds it funny that Papa has to go to office. Made a bunch of trips to Bombay/Mumbai on work. Commuting has become dirt cheap, you can get walk up tickets for a 1.5 hour flight for $50 bucks.
I have actually started to like Bangalore, even though the traffic sucks and things are slow, but as a city, everyone has a startup culture. Weather is much better than most of India (that does not mean it is great). Now I know why this city is home to Infosys, Wipro, Dell, IBM, Intel, and a host of major IT companies.
Plus points in the last month - Learning how difficult it is to sell without a big brand name behind you. Meeting people from all walks of life from the office boy to the CEO of banks. Patience. Good South indian food.
Minus points in last month - Still have not figured out all the localities of Bangalore. Missing Kebabs and Punjabi Food.
Planning a trip to Goa, shall keep you posted on the same.
Till I resurface.
Cheers,
Shiva
My apologies for not writing in such a long time, but been both lazy and busy. I have finally gotten my own office in Bangalore. This location is around 2KM from the airport and 3 minutes WALKING from my apartment, so the commute is very pleasant and fun.
It is interesting to start your own office, went and got furniture (still havent received all the pieces), got a drinking water filter, computer, printers, UPS, phone etc. I am still missing the blinds and curtains. Hey I even have a cleaning lady that comes every other day to cleanup the place.
So now that I have this office, what have I been upto? Have made a gzillion sales calls for Mapmyindia, trying to sell Location Based Services (LBS), have hired a office manager+data entry operator+plus finance dealings (all in one). Have also hired around 10 folks that will be doing field data collection to enhance my maps.
The family is happy that I am out of their way and now have my own place to work, the son starts laughing whenever I tell him I am going to 'ooffiicce'. He finds it funny that Papa has to go to office. Made a bunch of trips to Bombay/Mumbai on work. Commuting has become dirt cheap, you can get walk up tickets for a 1.5 hour flight for $50 bucks.
I have actually started to like Bangalore, even though the traffic sucks and things are slow, but as a city, everyone has a startup culture. Weather is much better than most of India (that does not mean it is great). Now I know why this city is home to Infosys, Wipro, Dell, IBM, Intel, and a host of major IT companies.
Plus points in the last month - Learning how difficult it is to sell without a big brand name behind you. Meeting people from all walks of life from the office boy to the CEO of banks. Patience. Good South indian food.
Minus points in last month - Still have not figured out all the localities of Bangalore. Missing Kebabs and Punjabi Food.
Planning a trip to Goa, shall keep you posted on the same.
Till I resurface.
Cheers,
Shiva
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
So where do I stand?
Been over two months since I ve moved back from the US. Getting used to the Indian day to day life. So much has happened, finally got myself a new car, known as the Chevy Aveo - Red in color, reason being, my son and I both love red, wifey is not too concerned with the color of the car. We have moved into our rented apartment in bangalore, which is quite near the airport literally walking distance. Have also gotten a driver and a local maid, who will help out (hey what is the point of living in India if one has to drive by him/herself)?
The son is growing up, and is learning the local languages, sounds quite cute since he is speaking 3-4 languages now and they are all jumbled up, tough to explain it out. The little baby daughter is now 4 months old and she is holding onto things, still amazes me as to how much little babies learn and pick up new things.
So what else is happening in my life, i have finally been approved for a credit card (too a freaking 6 weeks), now keeping my fingers crossed that i ll get my first card. Learning the new industry of mapping, which helps me understand mapmyindia.com, working on branding these days, quite a difficult task since it involves so many channels. Getting to spend some quality time with parents, as have not had the chance to spend so much time with them in the past 14 years. Had a chance to fly one of the low cost Indian carrier (Go-Air), was pleasantly surprised with the service. It seems lots of folks who work in the IT industry in Bangalore, fly up and down (delhi-Bangalore) each weekend on their own expense, mostly young folks around 24-25 types.
Was a bit disappointed last week (like other Indians) as India got their butt kicked out of the cricket world cup. Folks in different parts of the country were burning the effigies of the sportspersons - lol, Indians take their cricket (gentleman's game) quite seriously. Will be opening up my office in Bangalore next week, looking forward to that, will be a completely new experience as I wil have to procure everythign from chairs-table, to internet connection, telephones, resources etc. Dauting but will be fun. Of course shall keep you posted. So Namaste till the next blog (dont know when that will happen).
Sayo Nara
Shiva
The son is growing up, and is learning the local languages, sounds quite cute since he is speaking 3-4 languages now and they are all jumbled up, tough to explain it out. The little baby daughter is now 4 months old and she is holding onto things, still amazes me as to how much little babies learn and pick up new things.
So what else is happening in my life, i have finally been approved for a credit card (too a freaking 6 weeks), now keeping my fingers crossed that i ll get my first card. Learning the new industry of mapping, which helps me understand mapmyindia.com, working on branding these days, quite a difficult task since it involves so many channels. Getting to spend some quality time with parents, as have not had the chance to spend so much time with them in the past 14 years. Had a chance to fly one of the low cost Indian carrier (Go-Air), was pleasantly surprised with the service. It seems lots of folks who work in the IT industry in Bangalore, fly up and down (delhi-Bangalore) each weekend on their own expense, mostly young folks around 24-25 types.
Was a bit disappointed last week (like other Indians) as India got their butt kicked out of the cricket world cup. Folks in different parts of the country were burning the effigies of the sportspersons - lol, Indians take their cricket (gentleman's game) quite seriously. Will be opening up my office in Bangalore next week, looking forward to that, will be a completely new experience as I wil have to procure everythign from chairs-table, to internet connection, telephones, resources etc. Dauting but will be fun. Of course shall keep you posted. So Namaste till the next blog (dont know when that will happen).
Sayo Nara
Shiva
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Finally in Bangalore, India
All, My apologies for the late blog, but finally here I am. Reached Bangalore yesterday and have picked up an apartment on airport road (You have to experience the traffic to realize how bad it is). Well in this past one month, I have travelled to Bihar (Bhagalpur) for a friends wedding, logged in 3500 KM (~2600 miles) city driving, finally opened a bank account, and managed to get high speed internet connection at my parents place. So I treat each of these as achievements, however small they might be.
Bihar was fun, took a train journey after 10 years along with my good friend who joined me from Patna. For the cost of an extra large Dominos pizza ($20), one can get a nice sleeper air conditioned ticket that takes you 900 miles. May not be the cleanest conditions but it is cheap. Bhagalpur is the 3rd or 4th largest city in Bihar on the banks of Ganga river, sleepy little town but is experiencing the great Indian boom as the government is spending 100s of millions of $$ for road development.
So back to Bangalore (Blr), it is an interesting place, for those who have not been here, it is a 2 tier city, outsourcing related people, and normal industry related people. Since I am in the normal industry category, am finding things a bit expensive here.
My www.Mapmyindia.com is coming up with a new version, we are going to be launching all India with better algorithms for navigation, plus better local search. So really looking forward to that. India really needs car navigation, 99% of people on the street give you wrong directions when you ask them for a locations address etc. Officially we have a presence in Blr, since I now live here. In the process of finding office space, local tel numbers and some staff, setting up office is a pretty tedious process (ask those who have recently setup back offices in India).
For all you NRI's (Non-Resident Indian) living abroad, I would highly recommend buying some property in India, as the prices will start looking like Tokyo in the next 10 years, there is way too much money chasing too little real estate. Things do get frustating at times, as customer service SUCKS in India, but if you scream loud enough people listen :).
Rest is fine, watch out for the updated site (hopefully it opens up).
Cheers till then,
Shiva
Bihar was fun, took a train journey after 10 years along with my good friend who joined me from Patna. For the cost of an extra large Dominos pizza ($20), one can get a nice sleeper air conditioned ticket that takes you 900 miles. May not be the cleanest conditions but it is cheap. Bhagalpur is the 3rd or 4th largest city in Bihar on the banks of Ganga river, sleepy little town but is experiencing the great Indian boom as the government is spending 100s of millions of $$ for road development.
So back to Bangalore (Blr), it is an interesting place, for those who have not been here, it is a 2 tier city, outsourcing related people, and normal industry related people. Since I am in the normal industry category, am finding things a bit expensive here.
My www.Mapmyindia.com is coming up with a new version, we are going to be launching all India with better algorithms for navigation, plus better local search. So really looking forward to that. India really needs car navigation, 99% of people on the street give you wrong directions when you ask them for a locations address etc. Officially we have a presence in Blr, since I now live here. In the process of finding office space, local tel numbers and some staff, setting up office is a pretty tedious process (ask those who have recently setup back offices in India).
For all you NRI's (Non-Resident Indian) living abroad, I would highly recommend buying some property in India, as the prices will start looking like Tokyo in the next 10 years, there is way too much money chasing too little real estate. Things do get frustating at times, as customer service SUCKS in India, but if you scream loud enough people listen :).
Rest is fine, watch out for the updated site (hopefully it opens up).
Cheers till then,
Shiva
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Two Weeks Later
So I am in India and it has been two weeks!! I am now living with my parents. Life has come a full circle, left home for college, then moved to the US for a Masters, got married, moved from rental to our own place, moved back to rental and then moved to India to live with parents, so within a space of 10 years have come back to the same point from where I started lol!!
So what is new, India is freaking expensive specially housing. Day to day life is good except people specially from the strata of society reading this email are VERY lazy, all talk and no work. The lower middle class, drivers etc, work very hard but office executives only come up with concepts getting actual work seems to be much tougher.
So what are the interesting events that have happened since my move to delhi hmm my son is fascinated with horses and cow. He wants to buy a cow. It is quite cute when a 2 year old comes to you and says 'Papa, I want to buy a cow', dont know how he got this idea. Other than that I fell sick, not because of bad food etc but because I have been eating chicken tikkas and panner parathas etc on a daily basis (enjoying the great Indian food), my stomach has told me to take it a bit easy.
Settling into my new job at www.mapmyindia.com, the work culture is very different, but people are more open to change (as opposed to the US). India is changing, Reliance openeds its first Kirana store, which I think was a big thing as the retail sector is in the process of getting organized. Enjoying the traffic, had gone to bangalore recently, I do not think I have seen such bad traffic in my life (that includes LA), it takes 20 minutes to travel 1 KM (0.6 miles), which has definately got to be the slowest traffic speed. Bangalore has to parts to it, old city with people workign on normal jobs and new city with people working on $$ incomes and spending on the same level. Average Joe Indian is getting crushed between the $$ spend and the regular Indian salary.
Took a flight, I have to say Indian flight personnel are 10X better than the American ones. They blocked a seat on a full flight for our baby was also travelling with us, I would say Indian when they feel personal about something, go all the way to help you.
So nothing else, still to open a bank account, trying to find my moorings and bearing in India. I think it will take 6-8 months to completely get insync with the flow here. Shall keep you posted.
Namaste till then.
Shiva
So what is new, India is freaking expensive specially housing. Day to day life is good except people specially from the strata of society reading this email are VERY lazy, all talk and no work. The lower middle class, drivers etc, work very hard but office executives only come up with concepts getting actual work seems to be much tougher.
So what are the interesting events that have happened since my move to delhi hmm my son is fascinated with horses and cow. He wants to buy a cow. It is quite cute when a 2 year old comes to you and says 'Papa, I want to buy a cow', dont know how he got this idea. Other than that I fell sick, not because of bad food etc but because I have been eating chicken tikkas and panner parathas etc on a daily basis (enjoying the great Indian food), my stomach has told me to take it a bit easy.
Settling into my new job at www.mapmyindia.com, the work culture is very different, but people are more open to change (as opposed to the US). India is changing, Reliance openeds its first Kirana store, which I think was a big thing as the retail sector is in the process of getting organized. Enjoying the traffic, had gone to bangalore recently, I do not think I have seen such bad traffic in my life (that includes LA), it takes 20 minutes to travel 1 KM (0.6 miles), which has definately got to be the slowest traffic speed. Bangalore has to parts to it, old city with people workign on normal jobs and new city with people working on $$ incomes and spending on the same level. Average Joe Indian is getting crushed between the $$ spend and the regular Indian salary.
Took a flight, I have to say Indian flight personnel are 10X better than the American ones. They blocked a seat on a full flight for our baby was also travelling with us, I would say Indian when they feel personal about something, go all the way to help you.
So nothing else, still to open a bank account, trying to find my moorings and bearing in India. I think it will take 6-8 months to completely get insync with the flow here. Shall keep you posted.
Namaste till then.
Shiva
Thursday, January 18, 2007
D-Day - 2 (D-day being the 19th of Jan)
Well the time has come to write the blog and share my experiences of these past few months and the hopefully the years to come. We (Myself, Wife, and 2 kids are returning to India after spending quite a many years in the USA). Well to be frank we are a bit scared and at the same time very excited. India that I left many years ago has changed and for all practical reasons it will be a very different country than the one i left.
Our flight is on the 19th of Jan 2007 and we will reach New Delhi on the 20th. I will be joining a great new startup http://www.mapmyindia.com which is one of a kind unique mapping company in India and wifey will be joining a back office for a bank. Kids will be joining their grand parents and rest of the family.
Many of us have asked why are we returning to India or what made us take this drastic decision and to them I answer only one thing - Change. It is good to change life for both growth and excitement. Both of us had very good job multinational jobs in the US but after a point it gets routine. Hence the change. Not doing it for the money or family, but more for a different prespective to life. Also if 1.2 billion people can live in India, then why not 4 more :)
Today we shipped all our luggage and it was a pain, we have way too much stuff. Boxes of papers, clothes, furniture, junk etc. Not sure why we have all these things and not sure why we shipped it (did not have the inclination to go through so much junk). The son (2 year old toddler) was shocked when he could not find his toys, the reaction was worth seeing. Have met most of the family and friends, closed all the finances, credit cards etc, currently unemloyed, but all excited to start a new life yet again. Well keep reading, I ll be posting the interesting events that occur each day or week or month (time permitting) as we move from the New York life to the Delhi life.
India here I come.
Shivalik
Our flight is on the 19th of Jan 2007 and we will reach New Delhi on the 20th. I will be joining a great new startup http://www.mapmyindia.com which is one of a kind unique mapping company in India and wifey will be joining a back office for a bank. Kids will be joining their grand parents and rest of the family.
Many of us have asked why are we returning to India or what made us take this drastic decision and to them I answer only one thing - Change. It is good to change life for both growth and excitement. Both of us had very good job multinational jobs in the US but after a point it gets routine. Hence the change. Not doing it for the money or family, but more for a different prespective to life. Also if 1.2 billion people can live in India, then why not 4 more :)
Today we shipped all our luggage and it was a pain, we have way too much stuff. Boxes of papers, clothes, furniture, junk etc. Not sure why we have all these things and not sure why we shipped it (did not have the inclination to go through so much junk). The son (2 year old toddler) was shocked when he could not find his toys, the reaction was worth seeing. Have met most of the family and friends, closed all the finances, credit cards etc, currently unemloyed, but all excited to start a new life yet again. Well keep reading, I ll be posting the interesting events that occur each day or week or month (time permitting) as we move from the New York life to the Delhi life.
India here I come.
Shivalik
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