asksaurav : My R2I (Hyderabad) Experience / Diary

asksaurav · Post by **asksaurav** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:25 am

Hello everyone,

I was lurking around this forumn for quite sometime. Thanks a lot to everyone for all the valuable information.I will try to help in my own little way as a way of giving back.

I lived in US for 5 years completed my MS and worked for some time. Was always in two minds where to settle. Never started the GC process fearing the X+1 syndrome.My reasons for R2I was more of "Where do I like to stay". Heart was always in india . Mind said stay back for all comforts and organised life.
Well somehow my decision was made very simple as both me and my wife had the same opinion. retun back.

We made an excel sheet and did our calculations . Came out that India had less number .Next we tossed coin and still america won. All said and done we closed our eyes and asked where do we belong and what do we want out of this short life. Short answer was happiness. Then we asked ourselves were we happy while we were in india or when we stayed in US. Answer was india.
Why ? we don't know but the answer was just India.
Can we still be happy in india with less pay and chaotic life and all the disorganisation. Answer was why not. We were born there and completed our studies and worked in india for sometime. We were not unhappy then. What pulled us to US was money. Now the question is how much money is enough. Thats subjective.

So I took the plunge. I just boarded the flight and came to india. I came as an indian pure indian. I tried to be what our fellow indians are. No attitude no comparison with US. First thing I did the following morning was had some coffee. Wow Indian taste . It brought back the old memories of tasty food. Next I saw 7:30 AM breakfast is ready. Had sumptuous idli and sambhar. Without any effort from my side had a good start in the morning. No more eating cereals no more cooking food or eating leftovers. Good tasty food ready.

To be continued.....

chaloIndia · Post by **chaloIndia** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:33 am

Congratulations on your R2I. I can totally relate to your decision of listening to your hear and returning back.

Altough life in USA could be more prosperous and comfortable. Some people like us are just wired for the homeland.

Good luck!

DosaiLvr · Post by **DosaiLvr** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:05 pm

OP,

Which city did you R2I too? Are you originally from your R2I city? Did you have a job on hand in India prior to R2I'ing? Do you rent, if so, how did you find the place? Kids? School?

Any facts/tit-bits that could be helpful to members would be appreciated.

Welcome and enjoy your cereal-less breakfasts :)

--DL

ILuvHyd · Post by **ILuvHyd** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 8:48 pm

Great post. Looking forward to more episodes :)

nelly · Post by **nelly** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:38 pm

asksaurav;83525

... First thing I did the following morning was had some coffee. Wow Indian taste . It brought back the old memories of tasty food. Next I saw 7:30 AM breakfast is ready. Had sumptuous idli and sambhar. Without any effort from my side had a good start in the morning. No more eating cereals no more cooking food or eating leftovers. Good tasty food ready.

To be continued.....[/quote]

Hmmm.....awesome!!
You know what they say -- the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach and the best way to a woman's heart is through your wallet :) (not sure if either is true in your case) but the sounds of the morning breakfast seem very very welcoming.

Did you move into your existing home or are you renting? I had similiar questions to others in terms of which city etc.

ILuvHyd · Post by **ILuvHyd** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:43 pm

nelly;83596You know what they say -- the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach[/quote]
Nelly,
I am not so sure after watching "Omkara" movie starring Ajay Devagan etc. There was a mention of a slightly different theory :emwink:

dhavala · Post by **dhavala** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 1:23 pm

asksaurav;83525

.......So I took the plunge. I just boarded the flight and came to india. I came as an indian pure indian. I tried to be what our fellow indians are. No attitude no comparison with US. [/quote]

asksaurav....Grrreat leap forward anna! keep up that adventurous attitude and the rest is history! For those crunching the numbers ...... R2I (or for that matter zindagi) is all about the heart and the attitude and less about the cool calculations .... (make sure, though, that both hearts are into it!!)

asksaurav · Post by **asksaurav** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:10 pm

asksaurav;83525Hello everyone,

I was lurking around this forumn for quite sometime. Thanks a lot to everyone for all the valuable information.I will try to help in my own little way as a way of giving back.

I lived in US for 5 years completed my MS and worked for some time. Was always in two minds where to settle. Never started the GC process fearing the X+1 syndrome.My reasons for R2I was more of "Where do I like to stay". Heart was always in india . Mind said stay back for all comforts and organised life.
Well somehow my decision was made very simple as both me and my wife had the same opinion. retun back.

We made an excel sheet and did our calculations . Came out that India had less number .Next we tossed coin and still america won. All said and done we closed our eyes and asked where do we belong and what do we want out of this short life. Short answer was happiness. Then we asked ourselves were we happy while we were in india or when we stayed in US. Answer was india.
Why ? we don't know but the answer was just India.
Can we still be happy in india with less pay and chaotic life and all the disorganisation. Answer was why not. We were born there and completed our studies and worked in india for sometime. We were not unhappy then. What pulled us to US was money. Now the question is how much money is enough. Thats subjective.

So I took the plunge. I just boarded the flight and came to india. I came as an indian pure indian. I tried to be what our fellow indians are. No attitude no comparison with US. First thing I did the following morning was had some coffee. Wow Indian taste . It brought back the old memories of tasty food. Next I saw 7:30 AM breakfast is ready. Had sumptuous idli and sambhar. Without any effort from my side had a good start in the morning. No more eating cereals no more cooking food or eating leftovers. Good tasty food ready.

To be continued.....[/quote]

sorry I was not able to complete the whole experience in one shot.

Ok so now I am in india for 2 months. What are my experiences. Yes one thing I observed is nobody sticks to time. And punctual people like me always have to pay the price for it. And that is wait wait and wait infinitely....Next the traffic is chaotic. I miss my fast car in US and the long comfortable drive. But the added advantage is i got my pot belly reduced dramatically by walking walking and jumping from buses to autos and back. It is all enjoyable. All this chaos makes you feel how boring life in US was. So much action in India. Just take it positively and you will not feel bad about loosing a different life in US.
Next is looking for good jobs. Yes being from US and armed with an MS and US experience it was easy to get interviews. But indian recruiters bargain hard wrt compensation. So dont expect big compensation at this low time. Jobs are plenty but you have to reduce your expectations wrt compensation.
My wife after landing immediately hired a Bai to take care of our kid. We were lucky of having a fulltime bai who is prepared to saty with us. We hired a bai who does all the household chores for us. So now me and my wife has the opportunity to spend some quality time .
Whole of india has gone through tremendous change. New buildings , New airport, Chool taxis, Now metro in HYD will start. India is going through tremendous transformation.There is a place in hyd known as malysian circle. if you go there it will feel that you are in singapore. Now more such places are coming up . In nalagonda etc. In 5 years india will be different,. All major companies have offices in Hyderabad. The other day I walked around hitech city . It felt I was in US with some autos moving around to remind me that I am in India. But once the nano comes into being then there will be no three wheelers.

silver1267 · Post by **silver1267** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 9:00 pm

I read ur experience in India. We are planning to move back in this June 2008 to Hydreabad with our 11 year old son. We are exploring all the schools but very hard to find admission in 6th grade. Can you please suggest the schools near Madhpur area. Also is there any Gujarati community there. Which language do they speak in general. Is it Hindi or Talugu?
Also we are originally from Gujarat and we are new to Hyderabad city? what are the good areas in Hydreabad? Your reply will help us,

pvk16 · Post by **pvk16** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 9:32 pm

Lot of Gujarathi's in Hyderabad. You can find them all over the city and concentrated in Koti and Paradise areas. You can get by talking Hyderabadi (mix of Urdu, Telugu and Hindi)

silver1267;95055I read ur experience in India. We are planning to move back in this June 2008 to Hydreabad with our 11 year old son. We are exploring all the schools but very hard to find admission in 6th grade. Can you please suggest the schools near Madhpur area. Also is there any Gujarati community there. Which language do they speak in general. Is it Hindi or Talugu?
Also we are originally from Gujarat and we are new to Hyderabad city? what are the good areas in Hydreabad? Your reply will help us,[/quote]