JC in India

Today marks the start of a new chapter in India – I am now the longest serving expat here in our company. When Gordon flew out for the final time last night heading for pastures new, I assumed this designation. It is a milestone in one way, but equally it also represents a material change in my life here. Over the last two plus years, I have been close friends with a few people here – most notably Gordon and Thibaut, both of whom have now left India. Additionally, the other expats who were here when I first arrived, Regis and Antoine are now also returned to their roles in France, and Patrick (who joined after me) has also since moved on. While Regis and Antoine’s successors – Fabien and Alexis – remain here in India, the social dynamic is different as their remits draw them down different roads mostly. And so, while there are three of us remaining, I am now the one who has been here the longest and face a very different social environment for the remainder of my time here.

Living in such a foreign land requires the comfort of familiarity to help cope with the diversity. This is more so the case where the environment is so different to what we are used to. It is why ‘expat communities’ are such a thing in countries like India. It is not about hiding from or escaping from the local environment and people. Far from it. I genuinely enjoy integration with the Indian culture and have some good local friends. But there is still a basic need to feel ‘at home’ in certain ways and the culture in which you are raised is not something you can easily detach from. Hence why it is very common to form bonds with fellow expats, and to lean on each other for support and guidance as we navigate through the cultural differences of our foreign posting.

Thibaut, Patrick, and Gordon have all departed during the last two months. So, the period has been one of farewells and send offs. For each of them we had a dinner at the local Miss Pinto’s bar and restaurant – probably the best local such establishment and somewhere we are (were) quite regular patrons of.

I shall go again of course, but yesterday’s final lunch with Gordon even saw the staff give him bottle of Indian sparkling wine as a thank you gift!

Gordon’s departure meant I benefitted from him giving me the remains of his food and condiments from his kitchen. Considering he is much more of a cook than I am, this means I am now the proud owner of a fine oils and vinegars collection…

It has also been a time of learning the intricacies of leaving this country. It is a process laden with administrative challenges and heaped in bureaucracy. While I have yet to experience it myself, I know from having observed the guys go through it, I can see what to expect. Most of these challenges revolve around banking and taxes. You cannot formally exit the country for the last time without ensuring all tax liabilities are up to date, and this requires a No Objection Certificate from the government. Additionally, once we become non-residents of India our bank accounts have to change to that status, which is probably the biggest minefield to deal with. For various reasons we will each need to be able to transact financially in India for a while yet, and any bank activity requires one-time passcodes to the registered mobile. But you need to be an Indian resident to have a mobile phone here… There are work arounds for this, but it means there is a need to retain the Indian mobile all the time we have the bank account. For me personally I shall need to keep my number for nearly 5 years after I leave, due to various pension fund transactions that will need to occur until I reach 58 years old. 

Long and short is that there is a lot of admin associated with leaving India. When I go through that journey myself, I will draw on the experiences of the guys who have gone before me for sure.

And so, I embark on this new more solitary chapter of life in India. I do have friends here, and Fabien and Alexis remain, but my day-to-day office life will be much more solo. It was regular that Thibaut and I would go for coffee together each day, and Gordon and I often had lunch. The office will therefore feel a much more isolated environment. I also will now go back to using Uber to and from work each day, as for the last year or so I have been availing of a lift with Gordon and his trusty driver Sanjay most days. I personally am happy to use Uber and the cost is materially less than employing a driver and car, so I am not going to employ Sanjay myself. It is all a function of the vulnerability to employment and life here. There is very little security for someone like Sanjay, and I hope he finds a new client soon.

We shall all keep in touch though, and I am sure will meet again in the years ahead. WhatsApp groups abound amongst us all, and we shall keep our friendly banter alive, and each other updated on our activities. 

I fly out to Malaysia this evening for the coming week to the Routes Asia conference, so I will not experience a more solitary office environment until the week after when I return. The coming week will instead be full of business and social activity blended into one, as I meet with follow industry colleagues who I have known for years. This aviation network development industry is remarkably small considering the size of the airline business, and we all mix in the same circles, and dance the same annual dances of meetings and events, crossing paths on a routine basis. So, the coming week will be a nice change to the office routine, although from experience I know how full on and tiring it will be. I am returning to Delhi next Saturday evening, and Sunday will be a very chilled day of doing nothing in recovery mode I know that already.

I was also back in the UK for a quick visit since my last journal and managed to hop to Dublin for a night and catch up with some of my oldest friends (not old in age, but in length of knowing each other!). It was Jen’s first time meeting them and was good to finally have the chance to get them together.

Plus, I had chance for a couple of days with Barney, and a few runs out with the running club. I also used the chance of a trip home to start the movement of some belongings back from India, and brought two full suitcases of stuff back, including some plates and cups bought here and half of my book collection. I also took some of my model aircraft back, which means I now have a reduced office fleet…

As I will not bring everything back with me that remains here, it means I can now leave India in one trip and normal checked luggage. Although I still need to figure out what to do with my treadmill admittedly!

The trip home went by in a whirlwind though, and I was soon back to Delhi last Sunday morning. I have not got my next trip back to the UK planned yet. I am waiting for the outcome of some other discussions underway before I commit my next trip. Hopefully not too long away though.

Delhi right now is turning to a nicer climate. The temperature is transiting through the pleasant spectrum, reaching mid 20’s in the day, and low teens in the evening. The air quality is improving and has even been down to as low as 130 on the AQI scale, which is only ‘moderately polluted’. In Delhi terms that is about as good as it gets, so with the warmer day time temperatures it has actually made sitting outside in the day rather pleasant.

I have not yet put the oil heaters away, as sometimes the evenings do get a bit chilly in the apartment, but I fully expect that when I return to Delhi next weekend I shall do so then. That will mark the end of my final winter here, with only the hotter period ahead of me. If I do stay until the end of the year, then I will see the worst of the air again in November and December, but time will tell on this.

For the next month it is going to be relatively pleasant here, and March is by far the best month. The temperatures will be warm, the air will be clearer, and it will be the only month where sitting out on my terrace, or even going for a run could be possible. From April onwards it will be too hot and continue with such excess heat until September or so, plus the monsoon period will start early into the summer.

The drumbeat of animal life here continues too, and as the season is changing seems to be invigorating their activity. The five pack are becoming livelier, and the cows are out and about roaming the streets in their herds. 

I have recently been in a battle with a Chitty colony on my back terrace. “Chitty” is Hindi for Ants, and so I have found myself referring to my new daily routine of Chitty patrol, to ensure they don’t get too entrenched.

I finally got a local extermination company to come out and that seems to have done the trick, with the Chitty count each day over the last week reducing significantly and now seems to have gone away all together. Good news, as I dreaded coming home from a week away to find they had overrun the apartment, meaning myself and Gertie the Gecko would have to share the place with a load of Chitties also. Gertie and I are quite happy in our own world, we don’t want any other unwanted residents thank you very much.

One thing I have recently lost though is the lovely big bushy tree that was out front of the building. A couple weeks back I went out to find a group of guys digging up the concrete around its base, and I was told in broken English/Hindi mix that the tree was not getting water so they were digging to help this.

I was not sure about that, but then I came home from work a few days later and found the tree had gone. They had simply chopped it down and removed it. It seemed a perfectly healthy and good looking tree to me, and was a nice feature on the road. But for some reason its life came to a premature end. I have no idea why. That is one of those ‘welcome to India’ moments. Anyway…

And so, life goes on (well, not for that tree). I move into this new more solitary time here in India aware that the clock to my departure is ticking. It will soon be time to start talking about succession planning for my role in the company, and that will mark a transition to the exit phase of my time here. As I have said in previous posts, there is a possible roadmap which could see me leaving India sooner than the end of the year. I have no job security once this contract concludes so I do need to find other gainful employment for when my time here ends. Moving on to the right thing will be important, not only for my career, but also for my personal life and future. The other potential roadmap would tick all those boxes, so will see how things play out.

As much as I have enjoyed my time here in India, and it has been and continues to be an amazing experience, I do miss home and all that entails. It will be nice to be able to get my running shoes back on more frequently, to rebuild fitness and to lose the excess pounds that a more sedentary, carb biased diet has brought. I am sure that as I now embark on this more solitary Indian time, thoughts of that future will start to become more prominent, and I shall look forward more to what comes next.