Research trip in Bangalore

Back to Europe, let’s think about our week of exploration in Bangalore.

As a reminder, Gérald, Joséphine and I explored Bangalore for a week.

At the end of the week, Gérald stayed there permanently and Josephine and I returned to Germany.

What can we say about this week except that it flew by and left us very little time to think about what was happening and to analyze the things around us?

However, I can affirm one thing: this city lives at a hundred miles an hour on all levels!

The traffic is crazy (it often takes more than 1h30 to cover 25 km), the construction projects are enormous, new restaurants and bars are springing up like mushrooms and, despite a chaotic appearance, everything is hyper-organized because the bureaucracy is crazy ( everything is listed). There are beauty salons, massage salons, nail bars, hair salons, botox or hyaluronic acid clinics, chai tea spots, thousands of clothing stores, juice bars, American ice cream style, creperies, Belgian waffles and a real French cheese shop run by a Frenchman ;-).

It’s the city where everything is possible!

As Europeans, this gave us a real breath of fresh air in terms of “economic gloom”.

In Bangalore, the economy is growing and this is felt everywhere.

On the other hand, there is a two-speed economy.

In fact, there are two parallel economies; one for those who want and have the means to consume Western food and one for those who consume Indian food. I think the ratio between the two in terms of prices is often 10 times or 15 times more.

Let’s take the example of Starbucks in Bangalore (There are lots of Starbucks in Bangalore 😉). The prices charged are more or less the same as in Europe; so paying 6€ for your coffee in India is really expensive while coffee bought in a street bar will be 30 cents and often much better 😉.

You choose!

I'm using this example to show the price’s difference... I'm not particularly a fan of Starbucks!

Otherwise in Bangalore, people have great taste, the craftsmanship is magnificent, the fabrics, the furniture, the ceramics… everything is beautiful!

Amazing decoration shops that I found are the “Nicobar” (see the link below) and "Green Earth". Beautiful! There you can also find a nice café.

Otherwise, what is sold in the shops along the road is wonderful.

Gérald has already found a madras mattress to put on the benches in our house in Crete.

The man we bought it from has his little workshop in his shop.

He wanted 800 rupees for it and we bought it for 600 rupees (+/-7 euros).

In terms of food, we eat very well in Bangalore!

You can find all the cuisines of the world and at all prices...

But if you choose an American fast food restaurant (there are plenty of them) you will pay practically the same price as in Europe.

Chic restaurants are also the same price as in Europe (not the prices of Paris or Brussels of course!).

On the other hand, if you eat on the streets, in small stalls, it really doesn't cost much.

(Example: 30 cents for dosas (savory Indian pancakes) or samosas)

You just have to make sure that the seller uses clean fat and filtered water for his preparations... Never take a juice with ice cubes for example, unless the water used to make the ice cubes is filtered water.

Otherwise the juices sold on the road are almost all pure juices without added water so it's ok.

But you always have to ask...

If you eat Indian or Asian in a nice but not luxury restaurant it will cost you €10-15 for two people.

It's reasonable.

But, wine is expensive in Bangalore, local wine costs €5 a glass (there are vineyards north of Bangalore) and international wines often costs €9 a glass.

This was the most difficult part for us 😅 because we live in a wine-growing area in Germany, where a very decent table wine costs €4 per liter, so we are used to being surrounded by delicious and unexpensive wine!

I will definitely miss Silvaner!

But maybe we will find a local replacement…

After my week of observation, I still ask myself the question of how India will manage the transition between its traditions and the modern world... This is a real challenge because traditions are strongly anchored and the modern world is really desired 😊 but indeed the future will tell us…

What I remember as my first feeling is that, in India, there is a “freedom of doing”.

I did not feel people oppressed by any power or government. The economy is on the starting blocks and I can feel that, here, an entrepreneur can succeed in building a story, still.

Of course, on family level, there are still many obstacles; young girls are often less considered than boys, they still have to (sometimes) marry a boy who is chosen by the family, a young girl does not have a boyfriend and the dress code is rather strict, neither the shoulders nor the legs are exposed!

But times are changing, I saw very scantily clad young Indian girls in Bangalore!

I think it also depends on which region of India they come from because each region has its own rules and especially certain regions are more liberated and avant-garde than others.

India is in the process of changing with tradition colliding with modernity but as here everything flows and mixes to finally achieve a certain harmony, I do not doubt for a second the success of its mutation.

We’ll come back to that…

We didn't enjoy Bangalore as tourist; we didn't visit any temple (shameful indeed) because, honestly, we had not time! The only visits we have made are visits to schools, houses and equestrian centers…

This is essential if you want to emigrate to India; find a school for your children and a house or apartment that is pleasant for your wife (because she is the one who will ultimately stay there all day 😉).

It was also important for us to visit stables so that Joséphine could continue the horse riding (that she loves!).

We visited two schools.

The first one is the Indus School of Bangalore.

A magnificent school with a gigantic campus!

A dream for parents but, as the visit progressed, I saw Joséphine's little face turn pale as they put so much emphasis on performance.

You should know that the pedagogy of schools in India is often based on the excellence of grades and the ranking of children in class, they absolutely do not have a holistic approach to teaching, which is more the trend today in Europe.

So, if your child excels at school, is very keen on math, science and computers (Bangalore is the “silicone valley” of India) then, yes, the Indus is a good choice.

On the other hand, the school is not very « international », only the curriculum is international because they offer the International Baccalaureate (IB), but the teaching staff and children are mostly Indian.

In fact, during our week in Bangalore, we saw very few international people, the city is predominantly Indian.

To get an idea, out of 18 million people, there are 600 French people (adults and children) listed.

A little drop of water ☺️.

The second school we visited is the Canadian international school of Bangalore.

Here, everything is more relaxed and more "American way"!

The school emphasizes sports, drama, music and arts.

During the visit, I saw Joséphine regaining color!

Finally, she could imagine herself one day in one of these classes.

The teachers are from almost everywhere in the world and the students too, 60% are Indian but 10-15% are American, others are Korean or Japanese or even European (4%).

So, this school suits us better, we do not want an extraordinary academic level for our 13 year old daughter but rather a holistic approach through which our daughter is fulfilled, balanced and at ease in her head and in her body.

So we made our choice : Joséphine will go to the Canadian International School of Bangalore.

We are relieved to have found the school because depending on the choice of school depended the choice of home.

The school is north of the city, towards the airport, about twenty kilometers from the city center.

Gérald is working in the city center, so he will have to make the “effort of the journey” every morning and evening. He will have to drive between 25 and 30km, it takes between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 minutes.

But here, a European does not drive, he has a driver. It is not being snob but just a question of security.

In fact, Indians drive on the left side and on a two-lane road there are cars, rickshaws (a sort of tuk tuk), mopeds, bicycles and pedestrians!

Sometimes there are 10 vehicles on the same line!

Pure madness!

On the other hand, no aggressivity or violence, people honk to warn that they are there but not to be aggressive, then everyone slips away and (I don't yet understand by what miracle) everyone passes, even the pedestrian crossed without being noticed 😉

Incredible!

Another lesson to learn from the Indian people!

But hey, let’s get back to our houses!

Having chosen the school, we had to visit houses in the surrounding area...

We had so many options!

The only constraint as Europeans with children is to live in a gated community.

It's almost impossible to choose a neighborhood and rent an apartment in that neighborhood, it's not secure enough.

And in order to find a house, you need a real estate agent, he or she will help you to find the perfect location and above all, he or she will negotiate the price of the rent with the owner.

Yes, in India, the rent is negotiated and sometimes you go from 2.5 Laks to 1.7 Laks!

In general, you have to add maintenance costs to the rent (often around 20,000 rupees), these costs include the maintenance of the complex but also the water and the electricity of the house, what you have to pay on top is the internet subscription but it is very cheap (around €10 per month)...

So a house or apartment for 4 people with maintenance costs costs around €2000.

It’s expensive for India so it’s good to know that before negotiating your contract!

Normaly in Bangalore, these are 11-month leases and often the agent asks for one month's rent as a salary for his services.

Then, you will also have to pay the deposit, which is often 6 months' rent.

In our case, it is the company Gérald works for that introduced us to an agent.

We had to be very clear about what we wanted, but then we visited great houses in amazing communities! She understood rather fast what we were looking for.

We were looking for a house with at least 3 bedrooms to accommodate our 3 daughters and also our visiting friends.

The problem is mainly choice!

But, pretty quickly, we realize what is important to us in the community, like a small supermarket, a swimming pool, activities for children, a gym, and so on!

We didn't want to be too far from the riding school where Josephine will continue riding nor too far from the school. Josephine will do horse riding at the Embassy International Riding School.

So there you have it, we opted for a magnificent residence with everything nearby…

(I will write a next article on the different communities we visited in order to help some people in their choice.)

We opted for a house in the "Assetz Earth and Essence" community".

We chose an unfurnished house because we are moving our belongings from Europe but furnished houses also exist... or even half furnished, if you only need beds for example.

In fact everything is possible in India, you just have to know what you want and negotiate accordingly.

Even if you really like a house but it is furnished, you can negotiate with its owner to have it empty!

But here we are, we are relieved: we have a school for Joséphine, a place to live that we like and a great spot for Joséphine to continue horse riding!

The dream come true!

And, as I write, Gérald has also finalized the car and the driver...

So there you have it, we also have a car and a driver!

Now I can't wait to be there... Can't wait for July!

But hey, there are still a lot of things to finish here in Europe before departure 😊