JC in India

Well, that’s that then. The time has come, and tomorrow morning I will (subject to no last-minute curve balls…) be boarding my flight out of India, and back to London. I have wrapped up all the administrative formalities, I have left my apartment, and I have concluded all matters with my Indian employment. All that remains now is to see through the last night here, a short taxi ride to the terminal, and for one final time to be shepherded through the departure process by the Minions. I am spending this last night in the Roseate hotel in Delhi Airport’s Aerocity zone – the same hotel I stayed at when I first arrived in the country. Deliberately concluding my time here in circular fashion.

It is a huge relief to be finally at this point. The last few weeks have been particularly ‘dragging’, as my sheer persistence in pushing through the formalities, and insistence that things are done quickly actually worked, meaning the sheer volume of admin was done quicker than I predicted. However, the time has afforded me the chance to ensure all my work is handed over properly, and it has given me a bit of downtime to focus on getting everything wrapped up. 

I have been juggling four different administrative roads concurrently; leaving my current employer, leaving India (which primarily is biased towards ensuring all tax affairs are up to date), leaving my apartment, and administering the joining requirements of my next employer for when I return to the UK. The Indian side of this four-way workflow has been most cumbersome with the need to chase and at times be ‘persistently annoying’ to ensure things were done, but in fairness it worked, and I am – as far as I know – good to go.

In truth therefore, these last few weeks have been particularly boring. My day job has reduced in intensity very quickly, and once the admin was in motion, there was little to do to move things on other than the routine nudges and prompts. Until the last few days, it was too soon to be packing up, too soon to be cleaning, and too soon to be emptying the fridge (figuratively and practically). However, I have used the time as constructively as I can, pre-reading materials for my next role in the evenings and weekends, and taking the time to ensure my life is well organized. The contacts list on my phone is well and truly tidied up now, and my photos have never been so well sorted!

Leaving the apartment has consumed the most energy. I lived there since I moved to India back in January 2022, so had become very settled and it was my refuge away from the hustle and bustle that is India. Over that time though, signs of wear and tear were showing, particularly on the outside terraces. The climate in India is not kind to exterior facades, and there was a fair amount of re-plastering and re-painting needed along with some other general maintenance. As a result, once I told my landlady I was leaving she commissioned the works to renovate and repair what was needed, which led to most of my final two weeks having a team of workmen in the apartment each day doing their thing.

I was quite firm that they only work while I was out, and not at the weekends. To be fair they respected this, quickly packing up and disappearing as soon as I arrived home each evening. I should have asked for these repairs a year or so ago, as the apartment looks much better now!

The biggest frustration though has come in the form of my landlady’s approach to re-letting the apartment. By sheer coincidence, my departure lined up perfectly with another expat (Sanjeev) moving over from France to take a contract with my company. Thus, it seemed ideal that he could simply take over the apartment from me when I left.

I duly served my notice to leave, and at the same time informed my landlady of the interest of a future potential expat and she was happy I show it to him, which I did. However, when he arrived, he came with the broker that I originally used and who – for some completely unfathomable reason – the landlady does not like at all, to the extent she gets very agitated any time he is spoken of. Had I known Sanjeev was going to be accompanied by this broker I would have advised him against it straight away. Being India, the chatter behind the scenes meant that my landlady found out quickly that the broker was involved and that was a red flag to her immediately. I managed to persuade her otherwise, and she did finally agree that Sanjeev could take the place. Although not before some messages about the rent being increased were received…

Unfortunately, there was one problem. Sanjeev was in fact of Indian heritage, and my landlady did not want an Indian in the apartment. Even if he was a well-employed senior professional. Soon after he returned to Paris, believing the apartment to be his, he was told by the landlady he could not have it. A frustrating outcome, as it could have been a seamless transition with food left in the cupboards and other simple things to welcome and transition to a known new tenant, making life easier for both of us. However, it wasn’t to be.

There also ensued a negotiation about some household items I was hoping to leave behind, including an armchair and the treadmill. I suggested an offset of their values against my final weeks rent which was finally agreed to, but not without some back and forwards. In addition, a debate was had over whether I was due my deposit back. Which of course I am entitled to, even though she had a different view. Seems the perspective was that a deposit is not required to be returned. Anyway, we had that little chat, and I am assured it will be returned to me online tomorrow. I will be checking that does happen for sure. The continual battle over money and seeking to protect one’s own financial benefit at the expense of anyone else, is something that I will not miss about some people in India.

However, that is the negative side. In truth, there is a lot I will miss about the country. I will miss my apartment for one, as I had grown very comfortable in it, and I will always remember the peace and respite I felt while there. It truly made some of the harder environments bearable as it was a venue I could return to, to escape the ‘noise’.

I will also miss the expat camaraderie. The feeling of being unique, and not just one of the crowd. I will miss the genuine warmth and willingness to help that I experienced a lot in my time here, with both friends and colleagues, expats and locals alike.

The job itself did have its challenges, as I have always been open about. At times, it presented numerous frustrations and the underlying bureaucracy across most business dealings was a hindrance I am pleased to be free from. The mindless adherence to completely nonsensical admin requirements is something the country needs to shake, in order to fully unlock its potential. That is not a specific reference to my company though, or to the people I work with. That is the system overall. The culturally ingrained deference to leadership that dominates the working environment makes it hard to change. The leaders do not see the wheels turning in such a hindered manner, and the people doing the work and following the rules are unable to complain upwards and advise of the challenges. When a senior leader shouts, it gets done. When a middle manager shouts, it can take a very, very, long time. The senior leader is none the wiser, believing all is good as when he asks for something it happens. So, what’s the problem?

The business I have worked for is one I am proud to have been associated with, and the positives will always outweigh the negatives. There are some very good people in this business who truly care passionately about what they do and how their company performs, and I wish them all the very best going forward. In this small industry, I am sure a few of us will continue to cross paths for many years ahead.

And so, now it is time to call an end to this adventure. It has been a journey of many experiences. Of many highs and lows. I have written well in excess of 100,000 words in this journal (enough for a regular length novel) and I hope those of you who have experienced India through my eyes have enjoyed the journey too.

There are many parts of India that I did not see though, and I wish I had been more proactive in doing so while I was living here. I have never been to Calcutta, a city that is notoriously difficult to experience, but one that I would have liked to have seen, nonetheless. I did not get to Chennai or Puducherry, down on the Southeastern coast. Nor did I manage to return to the Himalayas to visit the hill station town of Shimla or visit the Dalai Lamas home in Dharamshala. I went many years ago, but sadly did not have chance this time. I had also hoped to visit Kathmandu in Nepal, just a short one hour or so flight from Delhi. And I did not see the tea plantations of Darjeeling or the Tigers of Ranthambore. The sheer scale of this country and all it has to offer means that I have barely scratched the surface.

However, I did see enough to feel truly a part of this nation while I lived here. Aside from spending most of my time in Delhi, I have spent a reasonable amount of time in Goa with my work, and that has afforded me the chance to get to know this Indian tourism region well. Similarly, I visited Kochi in Kerala a bit further south from Goa on the coast, and it is my favourite part of India in terms of cleanliness and friendly culture. I experienced again the bustle of Mumbai, a city very different to Delhi with its smaller and more complex layout and less developed feel. And I experienced the northern cities of Agra, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Varanasi and Amritsar. The Taj Mahal, the Golden Temple, the hilltop forts, and the Pakistan border crossing all being on the tourist trail, and all featuring in my Indian adventure this time around.

I have watched the monkeys, made friends with my street dogs, managed to get around the cows, and shared my apartment with a gecko. I have learnt to traverse life here like a local in so many ways, yet also not kidding myself that I remained very much a foreigner. I have done my best to embrace life here and stay as true to locality as I can. I have tried to respect life in this proud nation to the best of my ability, and I hope I leave India having achieved that.

There is probably no other country in the world that has such advance perceptions of what it is like. Yes, a lot of what is reputed is true, with the heat, the pollution, the calamitous roads, the animals, the pushing and shoving, and the status of developing nation evidently being an accurate description.

However, alongside this is the pride, the warmth, the diversity and the innovation of a country on the rise. A country that is gaining momentum as each day goes by, with an unparalleled ambition like no other. India, incredible India. The slogan justified in so many ways.

Thank you for reading.

So long India, and thanks for all the rice.