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
Friday, May 11, 2007
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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