Hyderabad, India

[RiceOwl 74]

I potentially have the opportunity to relocate temporarily to Hyderabad as part of an outsourcing implementation program (get at me, Trump)...

I’ve been to India (Delhi and Jaipur) before, but never to the south.

Has anyone ever spent any time there? My gut says go for it, since it’d probably be a good career move and even if I hate it, the end will always be in sight... But still, is it so bad that I’ll feel like I wasted four months of my life on this planet? Am I going to want to fly to Dubai or Singapore every weekend?

I’m a 24 y/o single white guy FWIW.

[CooterBrown 18116]

A lot of Bollywood movies are filmed in Hyderabad.

Maybe have a Harvey Weinstein style casting couch for wannabe actresses on weekends to keep yourself occupied.

[millhouse 2709]

Ha, I'm actually here right now! There has been massive growth over the last several years but it is nowhere near as crowded as someplace like Bangalore or Delhi. With that growth, and the Make in India initiative, there is a pretty significant expat community. Get a villa in the right place and you won't have a problem meeting people and will certainly run in some pretty interesting circles.

If you like to travel, it is a great jumping off point for pretty much all of Asia. Cost of living is cheap, and the food is really good. They now have about 8 different breweries here too. Some of them are shitty, but some are pretty good, considering it is India. Has a distinct sweetness to it.

The expat life isnt for everyone, but those that make the best of it seem to enjoy it. Is the assignment only 4 months? If so, I'd say do it. PM me if you have more questions. Overt the last 5 years over spent about 6 months over here cumulatively (one month trips at a time)

[futureman 22566]

1 hour ago, millhouse said:

Ha, I'm actually here right now! There has been massive growth over the last several years but it is nowhere near as crowded as someplace like Bangalore or Delhi. With that growth, and the Make in India initiative, there is a pretty significant expat community. Get a villa in the right place and you won't have a problem meeting people and will certainly run in some pretty interesting circles.

If you like to travel, it is a great jumping off point for pretty much all of Asia. Cost of living is cheap, and the food is really good. They now have about 8 different breweries here too. Some of them are shitty, but some are pretty good, considering it is India. Has a distinct sweetness to it.

The expat life isnt for everyone, but those that make the best of it seem to enjoy it. Is the assignment only 4 months? If so, I'd say do it. PM me if you have more questions. Overt the last 5 years over spent about 6 months over here cumulatively (one month trips at a time)

how’s the local talent? 

[RiceOwl 74]

3 hours ago, millhouse said:

Ha, I'm actually here right now! There has been massive growth over the last several years but it is nowhere near as crowded as someplace like Bangalore or Delhi. With that growth, and the Make in India initiative, there is a pretty significant expat community. Get a villa in the right place and you won't have a problem meeting people and will certainly run in some pretty interesting circles.

If you like to travel, it is a great jumping off point for pretty much all of Asia. Cost of living is cheap, and the food is really good. They now have about 8 different breweries here too. Some of them are shitty, but some are pretty good, considering it is India. Has a distinct sweetness to it.

The expat life isnt for everyone, but those that make the best of it seem to enjoy it. Is the assignment only 4 months? If so, I'd say do it. PM me if you have more questions. Overt the last 5 years over spent about 6 months over here cumulatively (one month trips at a time)

Yeah, it’s a four month assignment... I essentially had to tell them tomorrow whether or not I wanted to be “considered” or not... I told them to consider me so we will see what happens... 

Good to hear that the scene is improving and that there’s a good expat community... I figure I’d spend about half of my weekends in Hyderabad and half traveling to other cities... Kind of like the study-abroad semester I never did, haha!

[Sam Lin 3567]

4mo is nothing, do it for the experience regardless how enjoyable/pleasant it is. Look at it as a paid opportunity to experience another culture and broaden your world. As a young single male there's no better time.

[Wiler77 1591]

9 hours ago, millhouse said:

Some of them are shitty, but some are pretty good, considering it is India. Has a distinct sweetness to it.

That's the shit you taste.

[Longhorn 145]

Your gut is going to have other opinions after about 2-3 days.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

4mo is nothing, do it for the experience regardless how enjoyable/pleasant it is. Look at it as a paid opportunity to experience another culture and broaden your world. As a young single male there's no better time.

Absolutely this. Don’t even second guess it. If I were single, I would take ever foreign assignment thrown at me. I loved living in Brazil.

However, the India thread on the old site was fucking epic and hilarious. As was that video posted from the Chinese tour agency. Holy shit.

[hornbri 1476]

4 months at 24 and single? Do it. You won’t regret it and this is a experience you can’t get later in life. 
 

 

[Post Oak 20358]

This is the only argument you need

 

[Parliament 14412]

53 minutes ago, Longhorn said:

Your gut is going to have other opinions after about 2-3 days.

[next2naus 439]

go

[gecko 1104]

Traveled there in the early 2000s for work - it was still up and coming back then.  I'm sure it has changed massively, but one thing is a constant.....in season it's hotter than raging f**k.

[Txzen 498]

Yeah, I'm kind of interested in when that 4 months is in the year. I was there a few years ago February time frame, and it was just getting into the really hot time. Would not want my 4 months to be March, April, May and June - that's for sure. 

I was there for business - interesting city, certainly lots to see and do, though like everywhere the traffic can be oppressive. Having a company car with a driver and staying at a stupidly posh hotel (yes, humblebrag) meant I certainly didn't get to experience the real city. But I did get out to Golconda, Chowmahalla and the Qutb Sahi Tombs. The last two are highly recommended and I would love to go back to Qutb Sahi as (three years ago) there was a considerable amount of reconstruction going on. It was amazing as it, but would love to see it when they are done. 

I did some solo traveling, self-funded and not posh, after my business trip to Rajasthan (highly recommended). The pollution and poverty is pretty extreme, and when it involves children on the side of the road, it hits me hard. That said, generally the people are absolutely wonderful, and the food is ridiculously out of this world. You think you know that cuisine, but you don't. 

Got hustled a lot, and that wore on me eventually. I like to interact and talk to people, and Indians are generally also very friendly. But certainly in Rajasthan, the hustle was to feign interest in you and where you were from and then explain they were an art teacher at a local school, and would you like to come see our exhibit?...

This happened to me multiple times a day, and when you say no things often turned a little ugly as they were really disappointed that you weren't wanting to come in and spend money. Again, I totally understand given the standard of living, and those hustlers were obviously going to get paid a finder's fee if I came in and bought something. It eventually led me to be less open and chatty with people I met, unfortunately. 

I've done a fair bit of traveling all over the world in my time, and I found it tough there frankly. Both the poverty and the chaos and congestion can weigh on you a bit. Getting a taxi from the airport is an adventure. 

I think it would be amazing to live there as a local/expat for a short amount of time. There's so much to see in that country as well, though the time to travel distances has to be taken into effect as at least driving is a much slower process than you might anticipate given their condition and congestion. 

Edited October 21, 2019 by Txzen