Its been more than 2 years with few Regrets but happy R2I

[vkadiyala]

Hi All:
I returned to India after staying in Dallas for 10 years.
Living in Hyderabad for the last 2 years working as Sr. Systems Analyst. (:)) Designation doesn't matter. You will know why).
Even though below are the few breif sentences. Pl. let m ekno wif you wnat me to eloborate more if it helps you in decision making.


Advantages:

Being Close to family and happiness through out. (I missed this in US. Even though I enjoyed the time is US time with physical comforts, friends and family, there used to something back of the mind bothering all the time.) Thats not there anymore.

Cost of living is reasonable. Example: You can get a coffee for Rs. 3 and Rs. 250.

We can lead the same quality of life(at Home) we used to lead in US with Indian Salary. I say more than US.

Getting Used to Roads: Dont worry. I use Google maps with Navigator on Blackberry. You will not get lost for sure. Same with Yellowpages etc.

Enjoy Food. There is no limit for enjoyment in this area.

DisAdvantages/Regrets:

Once you come out of house, you are an enemy on road. Everyone treats you the same. But the best part is: You will get used to it :)). This is the worst thing in India (Or in Hyderabad). Been to Chennai and Delhi where its nice there. There is not a single day I come home with peace of mind.

You will loose the spirit of "I can do this Myself".

Loss of compensation i.e towards savings.

Few cases here: Your team mate is US treats you ..... let me find a perfect example..... "Do you Know how a HeadMaster in a School treats a 1st class student.". Its far better... While you calculate your experience with your US team mate experience and feel surprised. Its like a policeman not wearing a Uniform.:))

I miss US when I see nice roads and Holiday lights while watching movies/sitcoms.

I will add more....

[Hyd ki]

Nice start. Thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to more posts from you.

I have been driving from 6weeks in Hyd. Every time I come back safe so far. But when starting that little burden is there on the back of my mind. But once I am on the road I forget that. I am driving only 10kms or less at a time, so its ok.

Negative things of Indian roads and traffic, we talked about them too many times. So let me talk about the good things.
1.I am always amazed to see how Indian roads and traffic, accommodating ALL, rickshaws, cycles, people, any vehicle that you have, you can bring that on to the road and drive. Is this possible in Western Countries?
2.Compared to the complete lack of traffic sense, the accidents are very less (Accidents should have been at least 300times more, but surprisingly most people are going home safe). I always think that India is blessed, this is the land where God's physical presence is there in all Yugas and Kalas. Indians have lot of devotion towards God, so I feel that is saving them in the traffic, as I dont see any other logical rationale behind this.
3.Hats off to all drivers in India, particularly Lorry drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers........These people drive all their life, I cannot thank them enough for the contribution they are making in every Indian's life. May be they are not aware of it. And they are doing all these for a very cheap price. All Western countries can only WISH that they have such workers, and for that cheap salaries available in their countries.

[MrLong]

Nice start.
2.Compared to the complete lack of traffic sense, the accidents are very less (Accidents should have been at least 300times more, but surprisingly most people are going home safe). I always think that India is blessed, this is the land where God's physical presence is there in all Yugas and Kalas. Indians have lot of devotion towards God, so I feel that is saving them in the traffic, as I dont see any other logical rationale behind this.

The logic here is - in City driving, the speed is hardly 20 - 30 KMS per hr, and accidents in this speed, has very less potential to cause a big impact accident. One could get away with fender/benders.

[dbs]

Abroad the biggest danger is falling asleep due to boredom if not fatigue due to long driving distances.
In India, ther is so much entertainment including roller coaster rides that dozing off is impossible.
____________________________________________________________________________________
At 4th hole yesterday reminded me of princess Grace, as well as above - Should have used a driver.

[gujju]

Most of my interstate driving is on the Golden Quadrilateral and it is amazing, the dhabas, the local flavors, the smell, the stopping by the roadside and watching cricket matches.

My biggest rant before r2i was that I will miss the highways of the US but Thanks to Atalji for the GQ. If you get NDTV Goodtimes watch a show called Highway on my plate.

Also I have found that highway driving in India is completely different than city driving, there is a code signal for everything and the most disciplined are the burly tata and leyland drivers. Most of the trucks have a cleaner in the cabin apart from the driver so that helps in giving all the signals for overtake, turns, etc/

[nextyear]

I have gone back to India almost once a year in the past 12 years I have been living in the US. Except for the very first time, I have not seen a big change in driving in the city. I almost drove into an oncoming auto in our galli and was about to get out of the car eager to get into a fight when my cousin reminded me that I was on the wrong side of the road. Since then, in-city driving has been pretty safe but sometimes taxing because of the clutch-fest (I think we probably use the clutch more than any other aid in the car including the steering wheel, brake, accelerator).

When my dad taught me to drive on the highways, specially the single lane ones, the emphasis was to respect the oncoming traffic and use of upper-dipper in the night. Unfortunately, I don't see many people use this at all these days. One could easily ram into stopped vehicle or pot-hole or worse an incomplete bridge or obstacle while crossing oncoming traffic. Perhaps, we could improve awareness on such things for the new breed of drivers. A very confusing signal I notice on the highways, at least on the AP roads is drivers regularly turn on their right blinkers to indicate traffic to pass them. I am not sure if this is taught in driving schools but I feel that it is very confusing, what if the guy was actually taking a right or U-turn and you mistook it for "pass me"!

[MrLong]

. A very confusing signal I notice on the highways, at least on the AP roads is drivers regularly turn on their right blinkers to indicate traffic to pass them. I am not sure if this is taught in driving schools but I feel that it is very confusing, what if the guy was actually taking a right or U-turn and you mistook it for "pass me"!

This is supposed to be used only on Highways. When I was driving in India, this used to work quite well on Highways. Remember, the driver will use his righ hand signal to turn right and the cleaner will use left hand signal to turn left. Use the indicator to ' pass me' signal :-). The system works!

I agree, it is quite dangerous and confusing.

[sumachechi]

Practising abroad and aware of the high incidence of constipation and bowel problem( hell, the amount of laxatives and purgatives one needs to prescribe there), I always thought that it was our Indian spicy and fibre laden diet that made the difference between what I saw in the Caucasian population and the previous Indian population I had been treating. But after r2i and noting the daily churning we are all subject to be it public/private transport ,your BOWEL WILL MOVE!!
Just j/k.
Regarding annoying driving habits, why do drivers in India use their hazard lights for everything. Like its an extra pair of lights. We often see on a cloudy / windy/rainy day, everyone uses hazard lights -very confusing!!

[Plan2010]

Being Close to family and happiness through out. (I missed this in US. Even though I enjoyed the time is US time with physical comforts, friends and family, there used to something back of the mind bothering all the time.) Thats not there anymore.

Very true...Family is just 1 hr flight away, and we are on the same time zone so can call up any time. Though each time I call Mom (at different times), she keeps asking me, How come you are calling at this time. :)

We can lead the same quality of life(at Home) we used to lead in US with Indian Salary. I say more than US.

Getting Used to Roads: Dont worry. I use Google maps with Navigator on Blackberry. You will not get lost for sure. Same with Yellowpages etc.

True, you can afford more for the money - driver, maids... but I would've been happier if I was able to drive freely without relying on the driver. Need to learn how to use a navigator, I don't drive much for the fear of not being able to find the way back home.

Enjoy Food. There is no limit for enjoyment in this area.

That's one area I'm worried to explore much , I loved the Gobi Manchurian that we got from a nearby restaurant so we ordered that a couple of times. Then I decided to experiment and try making it myself, so got a Gobi from store, took it out to cut it and found a BIG black worm staring at me. Yuck! through the whole thing away and now can't even imagine eating Gobi from outside.

[boca]

I don't drive much for the fear of not being able to find the way back home. [/quote]
Have mobile phone? Call DH when lost. :)

so got a Gobi from store, took it out to cut it and found a BIG black worm staring at me. Yuck!

Did the worm die? :( I have heard that they taste good.:)