I think this one deserves a mention. To let you prepae yourself before you r2i.
In case you are moving to India with a container or with some shipment from US.....be very ready for one question- Whats your salary?
I have written about how your life is so public and everyone owns the right to comment, advise, criticize you. When you come back with a truck load of stuff or in fact any % of truck load, you come under the radar of inquisitive relatives and friends. They did not ask my hubby directly but whenever they could find me alone, or may be they deliberately take me to a corner, they ask shamelessly how much H is making. Do they ever feel hesitant about asking such a question?perhaps not.
Most of our family lives in North India in towns. And nobody hesitates in asking your rent. So telling them that we pay 25K as rent is insane for them. They imagine a huge bungalow with 2-3 big cars parked outside, a gardner watering the plants, aayas playing with baby, etc. But reality is that for 25K, we live in a very good APARTMENT. I do not blame them because the people I am talking about may be having 25K as the monthly family income. They cannnot imagine the living expenses of metros.
If they happen to visit you, they will have peering eyes into every nuk and corner of your house. "Is this also from US, and this and how about that?", they ask about each and every thing. Even a simple corelle plate - is it US corelle or Indian?
I feel bad but sometimes I think twice before taking out a US crockery piece because it might catch eyes even if it costed me $3!
Sometimes I feel sorry for bringing the shipment.
Also, not only this, their expectations are also very high because you have moved back from US. As per them(speaking generally, exceptions are their but very rare) you can move only for 3 reasons-
1. You have been laid off and did not find a job
2. The US immigration did not find you good enough to retain you in US and kicked your butt
3. You have an extremely lucrative pay package waiting for you in India.
And God help you if you decide to move back to India without a job in hand!!
Your lifestyle, car you own, number of servants, school your child goes to, shop you do your groceries from, everything determines your extravagance and big pockets.
My advise to R2I-ers is- become thick skinned before you move back and design a disaster recovery plan for the salary question.
The way I handle the question is- "I dont know H's salary". It sounds absurd but that is the best I have come up with so far. Any suggestions are welcome.
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Off topic for this thread, but related to the overall blog. Did you ever stop buying the food items you would buy in US? I am struggling (only 1 month down) with adjusting to the local food ... missing the eggbeaters, PAM, specific cereal brands, and so on. Its not that the other food is not there, but sometimes it is hard to become hands on and make breakfast with all these bad habits. So far the only place I have found close to US (but still WAY far) is SPAR. Anything else? [ I am repeating myself, but it is not the question of look and feel, but the variety. ]
ReplyDeleteBTW, I also ended up paying 25K for the apartment. This should be pretty good deal, but the flush water stinks (since it is sewage recycle) and the whole apartment community is having a fight over whether environmentalism is better or paying 500 rupees extra per month for clean water is better. And in such a small community - there seem to be vested interests selling dirty water as nirvana to everyone. Why I am telling this - topic of the day at our apartment.
Have fun!!
Harry,
ReplyDeleteTry MK retail, Namdhari and nilgiris.
MK retail has all varieties of cereal- indianised as well as original 'imported' ones which might cost a lot compared to the indian mfred.
Pam oil is available at Namdhari. Also, Indian version of Pam is available at Nilgiris.I am still using Pam I got from US. But I need to get new one now.
My regular grocery store is nilgiri now. Ventured out at SPAR a few times but not much impressed.
Whr are you staying?I live close to Indira Nagar. If you stay in the vicinity, I can give you a little orientation if needed..:)
I know how you guys must be feeling after paying 25K and still getting stinky water. Our bathroom also stinks whereas I am a bathroom cleanliness freak. Odonil has helped a lot.
Good luck and keep posting your experiences.
Re orientation,I know Bangalore of the old times (pre-1996), but this is a different city. We are staying in a concrete jungle in Bellandur - pretty close to Sarjapur Road and Outer Ring Road - even though my office is in the city, this was the best option given that the kids now go to Indus International.
ReplyDeleteI have seen one Namdhari, looks like there are more. Good. MK Retail - let me check this out.
Thanks.