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

10 comments:

Anjani said...

Hi Shiva,
Congratulations for buying new car. You have hired maid...
Now u will be getting luxury of life....I am getting jelous..
The two things which lack in US always remind me of india - 1. house hold help ( in blr we used to have car washing guy, maid,cook and dhobi) 2. Snacks shops in almost every street having samosa, dosa, chaat....
I agree that setting up office from scratch would be ardous task but definitely interesting. All the best for that.

Anonymous said...

Hi Shiva Ji

Read your story and it amazes me. I am totally jealous of you but Totally Happy for you as well. Finally you are home. We are still here and planning to move bak in another 1 year. I wish I can get job and things like that in india.

Good Luck in your adventure as Everyday is an adventerous day in india.

Vanita from D.C.

Anonymous said...

Hi Shiva,

nice to know that you are having fun. Do keep us in the look. You will be adding a lot of value to our thought processes (for those who plan to go back to India)

Thx.

Anonymous said...

Hi Shiva,
Its not been over a year and I hope things are going well for you. I am a little jealous of people like you who have made the move and a little upset at myself because I keep putting it off year after year. I am also happy for you as you did what you wanted to do. Will be interesting to know how things are going for you at this point and if there is any advise you have for others in this regard.

Cheers...

Anonymous said...

Hi There,

In most cases of returning back to India the primary concern is to find the right mover. Fortunately for me,this website helped:

www.quantabay.com

very useful..

Nea said...

Hi Shiva,

From your post, I understand that you're working in the brand management field? I did my MBA in the US and am working here now since graduation last year. But given the economy here, I've been thinking about moving back as an option too. I was wondering if you could give me an idea about any recruiters or agencies I could contact to explore marketing jobs back home?

Thanks,
Neha

Lets Make India Clean And Healthy said...

Hi Shiva,
Glad to know you are loving India. I would be moving with my wife, who is chinese, from UK to India this April 1st week probably. I have never worked in India so I literally have no idea of the work culture in India. It is quite ironical though as I did finish my engineering from Delhi but soon after that I got a job abroad and for almost 12 years now I have been abroad, mostly the middle east and the UK. I am a bit worried as my move back to India brings a lot more challenges to me and my wife. She has picked up on hindi a bit and is quite funny when you hear her speak. I love India but sometimes I feel afraid of being there as life has no value there. We have social values but do we have community values, which makes your community or the place where you live worth living. There are many questions which come to my mind. But I am sure I will overcome all the difficulties. One thing I am sure I would do is start an NGO which is responsible for the cleaning of streets, gardens . I know it is difficult to think of such an Organisation but again someone has to think about it. I want my country to be clean, organised and beautiful. Our country has got everything. What we need today is restructuring everything into place. I am sure there would be quite likeminded people out there willing to do the same for their country: India. I am very passionate about it and I wont mind even starting the NGO just by myself even if it involves me sweeping the streets. Well, I would like to see via this post as to how many people think the way I think. I invite suggestions, criticism from all educated, concerned Indians of their views on this. Please do post your views in here. We definitely need to change the way our country is looked outside. Lets get rid of that Slumdog Millionaire Image of India. It is we who only can create change, a change which is often the most difficult task to achieve.

To all my Countrymen
Lets Make This Dream Come True!

Abhishek

Anonymous said...

Hi Abhishek,

I happen to read your blog by chance and two things caught my interest.

1) Abt your fear of returning back to India and how things work here given that your spouse is Chinese.

2) about making our country, cleaner, greener and beautiful. I am part of an NGO called Nizhal, which means shade in Tamil and this organization has been doing a wonderful service for the last three years. Can give you more details if you r interested.

Now coming to point 1, I would be happy to assist and guide you at no cost. I am doing this as I work in this field of International Mobility for Standard Chartered Bank and I am passionate about my job and one of the main objectives of my job is to facilitate the relocation for the Bank's expats and their families smoother and easier with not much trauma for the moving family.

I am based in Chennai but having worked in Mumbai and Bangalore can you advise you regarding settling in other parts of India as well.

Awaiting to hear from you,

Raghu

Mausam Kalra said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Hi Shivalik,

Thanks for keeping the blog uptodate. excellent information for people planning to move back. I have also sent you an email, looking forward to hera back from you.

MK