JC in India

When I first came to India my goal was threefold with these journals. Firstly, to capture for my own future recollections my impressions of this country and some of my key experiences here. Secondly to be a means of keeping friends and family updated. And finally, I wanted to provide insights into living and working in India for other expats looking to do similar. When I was researching my impending move, I could find some textbook style articles and a few books, but nothing that really spoke from someone’s personal experience.

As much as these individual journals will dip in and out of certain topics and provide personal context, I felt there would also be a need to provide very specific content which anyone looking to do what I have done, could refer to. And hence behind the scenes I have been putting together some content for this, and it is now live on the site –www.jcinindia.com/practical-advice

In this I try to cover off some of the more useful topics and give advice on how to navigate a range of issues such as banking, accommodation hunting, food, medical, and a range of other subjects. Realistically most of you reading this will not have much need for some of these finer points, but it is there and available now so feel free to review! I will evolve and update this over time, as other ideas, or subjects I think may be useful come to mind. My website development skills are pretty limited though. WordPress, for all its hype as being user friendly, is actually anything but when trying to create specific layouts. But it is fine and even if a little clunky it should be fairly easy to navigate. One day I may invest more time in really trying to tidy up the look and feel of the site, but for now it will suffice – even if it is not the slickest.

When I leave India, I shall post links to this site on more tailored expat forums and the like, so that it will be more accessible to find for people with a genuine need or interest. But I am going to wait till I have gone before I do that, so I can present a more complete storyline out to a wider audience.

India is a challenging place to live at times, and as I have spoken of before you quickly realise the value of friendly and supportive connections, and advice on how to navigate some of the finer sides of this country. Therefore, I hope over time this will be useful to some, and interesting to others.

So far, the start of this year has been relatively calm. I was supposed to have travelled to the Philippines this week, but that trip has now been pushed back to the end of the month. And to start this year we have had some shorter working weeks also. Last weekend was a holiday on the Monday for a festival, so a three-day weekend. Next weekend is the same, with Republic Day on Friday 26^th January meaning another long weekend. And then out of the blue last night (Saturday) an email was sent saying this coming Monday 22nd (tomorrow) is now also going to be a holiday to enable people to celebrate the inauguration of a new Hindu temple in a city called Ayodhya. I find it somewhat curious that this has been announced so last minute (not that I am complaining about an extra day off for sure!). Most office staff will not access their work emails until they are in the office. So, I can imagine a reasonable number of people will go into the office tomorrow morning and log on only to find they are not required to be there. Still, that is India – it is common for such last-minute changes to occur, and people are generally accustomed to this style. In fact, last Monday’s holiday was similarly announced with short notice, just not quite that short or over the weekend.

The reason for the holiday – the inauguration of the temple – is not without controversy though. This is a large new temple to honour the Hindu God, Lord Ram. It is being built on a site that up until 1992 was home to a Muslim Mosque – the Babri Masjid. Ayodhya is believed by Hindu’s to be the birthplace of Lord Ram, and history suggests that 500 years ago the site was originally home to a Hindu temple before the Mosque was built. Hence the belief that it is being returned to its former state.

When the Mosque was demolished in 1992, this was a time of great strife in the country, with thousands dying in the fall out and the skirmishes that resulted. Thus, the inauguration of this temple (which is not yet finished) is controversial and does have the potential to see some disturbance.

Religion and politics go very much hand in hand in India. The governing Party led by Prime Minister Modi, is the BJP (the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party), and there is plenty a tale of the pushing forward of Hindu causes, sometimes at the seeming expense of other religions. India is a predominantly Hindu nation, with around 80% of the population presenting themselves as Hindu, with Muslims representing around 14%. In fact, India is home to 94% of all the worlds Hindus. I remember when I visited the border town of Wagah in my early travels around the country many years ago listening to the chants of “Hindustan, Hindustan” emanating from the Indian side, versus “Pakistan, Pakistan” from the other.

This year is an election year here in India, and it is commented in media that the inauguration of the temple is almost a kick start to the campaigning. It is widely expected Prime Mister Modi and the BJP will retain power, and when you see the scale of Hindu nationalistic rhetoric, and campaign principles such as this, you can understand why.

Ayodhya therefore has the potential to become a pivotal location in this country, and the temple may become to Hindu’s what the Golden Temple in Amritsar is to Sikh’s – a real centre-point of their religion. The Government is pushing the city to become such, having recently opened an airport there and ‘encouraged’ airlines to commence services straight away (which translates to leaders from the domestic airlines in India being summoned to a meeting with relevant Ministry officials a few weeks back and told they had to).

It is not my intent to present my own view on either religion or politics. Each to their own, and I respect everyone’s right to believe what they want, and support who they want. I just wish everyone could accept likewise. The world would be a far better place if there was not the desire to impose one’s views on others. I hope the Ayodhya celebrations go well and go peacefully.

The way it will affect me most though is by having a nice three-day working week, with both Monday and Friday being off days! Although the activities that go with this will be limited in the main to staying indoors in the apartment to avoid the terrible air quality and the cold. The temperature gets to low single figures at night, and even though it gets to mid-teens during the day, the buildings are designed to keep the heat out. So, it still remains fairly cold indoors, and as I have mentioned before requires a good blasting of the small heaters I have scattered around the apartment and some thick clothes to be worn.

From the end of the month though, temperatures will again start to gradually climb and by the end of February should be pleasant with March being the sweet spot – where it is nice and warm, but not too hot, and the air quality will just be poor, not terrible. It is during March that I can actually sit on the terrace for a change, rather than just looking out at it through the window.

The combination of colder temperatures and terrible air quality has led to some heavy overnight fog quite frequently over the last few weeks. The airport has seen many delays and cancellations, and these have been worse than usual due to some runway works which has meant one runway has been out of service during this period. Not ideal, and the media has not been kind, but things should start to improve in the coming weeks.

The drum beat of 2024 in India is therefore well and truly underway. The seasons are turning as always, and warmer days and better air are now only a few weeks away. Business has recommenced, and even though the weeks have been shorter, work has kicked off in earnest. There has been a big air show underway down in Hyderabad (Wings India), which is the Indian equivalent of the Farnborough Air Show realistically. It is a largely aircraft / operational event though so no need for me to attend. I remained in Delhi and was a guest at a Malaysia Airlines gala dinner event instead.

We also saw two major new route launches this last week, one between Frankfurt and Hyderabad (Lufthansa) and the other between Doha and Medan (Qatar Airways). For me these are big wins which were achieved earlier last year. The actual start of the services is just the coming to fruition of that work done a year ago, and seeing them start was rewarding and a nice conclusion.

So, the wheels are turning again, and momentum for the final lap has been gained. Whether it will be a full lap though remains to be seen. But that is a story for another day.