Vinny’s Blog

This post is long it’s 5 page long but this is the longest page other pages are more like photo journal..so you will go through them fast. I hope you like this one too…..

Though it may sound like I make the case strong for India specially Pune and I almost sound biased. But only if you knew that I am not a fan of returning back to either India or Pune you will appreciate what I have written here.

My wife thinks otherwise about India and Pune. This city (Pune) drew my attention years ago only due to it’s close proximity to Bombay and what it had to offer in terms of growth. Investment decisions made all the sense back then, as it was a success story that was waiting to happen, and ˜happened’ it did.

Anyway, let us move on to daily life here. I will cover as much as possible on food, shopping and travel (outside city), housing, living , entertainment and infrastructure. I am sure what I write here will apply to other cities in India too, of similar nature.

Food “ If you’re vegetarian then it’s a paradise. So many choices for vegetarians are available in India only. Right from Indian traditional Rajasthani, Gugrati, Marathi, food to all the way up to Italian and Chinese and Mexican it’s all available here. Fit Subway, Pizza hut and McDonald in the middle. On vegetarian side, prices are reasonable and people are enjoying eating outside.

We ventured into a lunch buffet at Royal Orchid, recommended by my sister-in-law for a small celebration and wow ! what a treat, it was excellent. Besides excellent food, good service was also part of it. Cheap labor again is put to best use. Every time we got up to fill our plates from buffet table, we were given fresh silver and water in the cup never ended. Though it was buffet we were served soup and appetizer right at our table. If we had shown some more laziness my guess is they would have served us food from the buffet to our table itself. But that would have been too embarrassing for us.

Total expenditure of this luxury treat was 1000/- for two or approx 25 dollars. In US I could spend that much in some mom and pop Indian joint for buffet with much lesser selection and service. Service does not exist at all for buffet in US. Royal Orchid is not an ordinary join (it’s a 2-3 start place) where you will NOT be eating everyday, specially if one was earning in India. However it is a place where one might indulge once or twice every week for food. Generally speaking people spend average around Rs. 100/- to 150/- on lunch. Don’t forget there are endless cheaper joints - road side - from Pav Bhaji to omelet where you don’t even have to spend 100/- on food. Rs 25/- will suffice and people do that too as they seek change and will go for it.

Restaurant Dinner “ So Royal Orchid was a very noble buffet what about dinner dining ? We went to another restaurant called Moti Mahal and it was all about formal sitting and dinner from the menu. Good vegetarian selection again and of course if you eat any type of dead animal you have much greater selection. Taste was good, they recommended north Indian food in this restaurant and good that we asked, it was excellent. They had live DJ to play music during dinner and before we could finish our food they dimmed the lights and bar tender showed some awesome fire tricks with whiskey bottles. He stuck a wick in couple of bottles, lit them, and started juggling them to the tune of music DJ was playing. Very good show..I have been to many bars in US from TGIF to Ruby Tuesday to Apple Bees to Jose Tjejas these are known for being bars and none of these places have a show like this one. Again I don’t think every place in Pune has a bar like this but even if some have they provide a different flavor of entertainment. Show was free again all inclusive in the price of our dinner. Unfortunately I did not carry my camera and have no pictures to post.

Lunch while traveling Outside“ We went to a hill station pretty close to Pune there are actually 2 of them called Lonavala and the other one is called Khandala. Khandala made famous by that Aamir Khan’s movie and song ˜Chalti kya Khandala¦’ Not sure if one could separate one from the other but none the less these are 2 different towns.

Cost - Very expensive, Indians have money and they are spending it. Every place you want to go to is crowded and packed with people over the weekend. These 2 joints are only an hour drive from Pune and hour and a half from Bombay. You can imagine, even if you have a motorbike (which most college kids do) you’re there. Lunch buffet here cost us 450/- per person and was not worth it. After eating in that star restaurant for the same price this was a disappointment. May be if I was here first and in the star restaurant next it could have different point of view.

Get a load of this - Hotel rooms in this area (Duke’s Resort 1 room) for stay from 12:00 Noon to 7:00 PM on weekend ( Saturday) Rs. 9000/- (225 USD) that did not include lunch. Yeah Right ! Obviously I skipped staying and we returned back to Pune (it’s only an hour away). Though I would like to know who rents these rooms as they ought to be making a awful lot of money, sitting here in India. One thing is for sure those days of feeling rich when visiting India from US are over. I don’t think anyone here (in India( gives a damn about where you’re coming from. Locals are happy as it is. Probably much more happier than people visiting from outside. They actually get a giggle realizing that someone from US cannot afford to stay in these resorts when locals are filling them up.

Talking about money in Pune there is no shortage of it¦..

œThe report says Pune is far ahead of Hyderabad and could be compared with Bangalore, the cities considered as rivals with regard to investment in IT, in terms of the per capita income. “Pune’s per capita income is Rs 46,000, which is 50 per cent more than India’s per capita income, is also much higher than Hyderabad and comparable to Bangalore,” the report says.

œThe education sector is also responsible for economic growth as the city attracts about one lakh students from 62 countries.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Citys-per-capita-income-is-double-that-of-India-ESR/343944/

Sorry guys from Bangalore I don’t want to rub it in¦but rubbing it in I am .

If I am still right on this city my bets are going to pay off even bigger going forward, they already have and I am not complaining but I am talking about 4 times the bonus amount one usually dreams of. Not all written in the article above is great about the city as there is mention of slums etc. but that is bound to be¦everywhere in India¦ good part is they are outside the city and being moved there or being eliminated fast from within the city as the property rates have soared builder are getting them out. It’s only a matter of time before they are gone away from the City. Money talks and it’s doesn’t talk as much else where as much it does in India.

Here is another piece of news that compliment one above.

Pune region allots highest percentage of PAN cards

œPUNE, June 18: Pune Region has become the first centre in the country to have achieved the highest percentage exceeding over 70 per cent in the allotment of permanent account number (PAN) cards in the new series. Pune region consists of the whole of Maharashtra excluding Greater Mumbai. The region covers Pune, Thane, Nashik, Kolhapur and Nagpur.

Unless you have income you don’t apply for PAN card so this sure indicates strength in the region.

http://www.expressindia.com/news/ie/daily/19990619/ige19137.html

Housing - It’s directly proportional to how much money you have and then what kind of living you want to have. Homes are very comfortable now a days. They have more European touch then US though most people have traveled to US not Europe. Modest housing (most of them) have maids for cleaning the house, washing dishes and cooking food and washing clothes. However things have changed a bit. Maid for washing clothes first asks if you have a washing machine ? ( go figure) ! Dishwasher is becoming all too common, solar water heaters are becoming common too. Most rooms in the house will have Air Conditioners. Only thing lacking is dryer for drying clothes, they are available but not selling as much. I guess only those who return from abroad are buying them. Though it’s only a matter of time before locals realize their value. When you have rainy season with lot of moisture in the air clothes don’t dry as fast and even when they do, they are still damp. Dryer takes care of that completely.

Generally houses in India are not insulated so cost of heating and cooling were higher. Pay attention I said ˜were’ not is. And that is because now a days there is some new technology (material) it’s chemical that is bad conductor of heat is mixed with concrete and then it is applied as normal concrete mixture. This promises to lower the temperature almost by 10 degree inside the house. Whether it works that way or not I don’t know but one of my houses that is under construction is going to have this and I will be able to confirm this myself by next year.

Driver is considered luxury and not everyone has one. It’s difficult to find one and they don’t come cheap, even if you find one, remain ready to loose him as they will find another job fast. I found one after loosing 2 or 3 for a cost of 5,500/- per month. He is already demanding more salary god only knows what will be retention price in the end. I want to see how long this guy is going to last. He is 25 year old and so his driving is very aggressive, reminds me of when I was of that age in India, problem is there is lot more traffic now on the road.

Internet “ penetration is picking up. Most houses have a connection, Pune is now on wi-max so they install a small dish like thing on top of roof and viola ! you have instant wireless connection. Getting connection through cable/dsl is also available but they have traditional problems when cable is broken (happens a lot as whole city is under construction) or power outage due to rain etc. your connection is broken, Wi-max no problem. Reliance offers it so does Tata for 1000/- a month you get un-limited access 378kbps to the net. I tried this connection speed with video chat (yahoo and skype) it works and I am also able to login to my office network and do my office work. All this when using Vonage IP phone at the same time. However if you need higher speed for additional 700/- you can go online and simply jump to 520 or for another 1000/- 720kbps. One of them will satisfy your needs. Internet cafes are all over the place so that’s another option.

Phones “ Let us not get there¦¦¦I think everyone knows about missed calls and cell phones in India and Indian’s passion to indulge themselves into latest cell phone model. Our driver did not have one (surprise) but here comes the bigger surprise, on August 1st he asked for his salary for 15 days he started on July 15th. First thing he wanted was a cell phone, I mentioned to him get a SIM card and I will try to find a used phone for him. He said no “ HE DOES NOT LIKE SAMSUNG ! he wants a particular Nokia model that costs approx 700/- and as soon as I paid him the money first thing he got was the cell phone and did not forget to call me back and remind me to save that number (his number) in my phone book.

Entertainment “ With Netflix movie on demand service it does not matter where in the world you’re as long as you can establish an account with them you can watch any movie they offer anywhere in the world on your TV with an internet connection. Reliance here is trying to offer the same. Multiplex are everywhere in the city and god only knows how many more are coming up.

Malls “ There are probably more in a metro than you think there are. Here is the bad part. If you have stayed in US for a while ( you are a size or two increased). Selection for you is limited. Most common sizes are the ones local belongs to and they are gone from the shelf fast. I look fatter in front of locals and sure feel like loosing some weight, it’s just a thought in US but here is becomes a priority. Anyway, choices (if you fit in one) are un-limited for men as well as for women and kids. Though I find clothing in US to be cheaper.

One thing that is sure to sting you is¦.where all these people come from and these are all young people..malls are filled with young people. Not that they are trying but you’re sure to feel your age L. Difference is you will probably be able to spend more money with less pain then they would but you are likely to be envy of their youth and lifestyle that you did not have when you were of that age. And it gets complicated again as you are likely to be more cost conscious than them, if they want something they WILL BUY IT ! not matter how much it costs if they can afford it they WILL BUY IT ! we might look for a cheaper alternative.

Infrastructure Roads“ This is a mixed story. Depends on which side you pay more attention to. Fact is a fact cities lack infrastructure it’s not a news anymore. Government is very slow in providing it so blame could be put on them easily. But it’s a two sided story..you get a job salary is 1 lakh a month, you live with your parents what do you do ? buy a small car like Maruti 800 or Hyundai Sentro for 3.5 to 4 Lakhs right away. That is good, 1000s of jobs are created and 1000s of cars are sold that same very month. Road construction however for the whole city where you would be driving that car cannot be completed in one month. That takes years¦good thing is it’s in works and every metro area is having roads constructed. It will take time and until then traffic will be a problem that is a fact.

Highway - Well, this is happy part of the story. They are good big, bigger and beautiful I haven’t seen all national highways but the one between Bombay and Pune is beautiful, they have flower arrangements and change colors every so many kilometers, so the highway looks beautiful. I have taken pictures of it and they are posted along with this article. BTW this highway is also portrayed in WIRED magazine in an ad as one of the 7 roads in the world where you can do over 100 miles an hour. I have the magazine at home (in US) so may be I will scan the page and post it here in case you don’t believe me.

Power Cuts “ There are power cutes in selected residential areas during the day time, since most people are out in their offices they don’t feel it. But if you’re at home, most apartment complexes have generator facilities and each house is equipped with something called as inverter that powers few electrical connections including TV. New construction now a days offers inverter connection already.

Water “ Most NEW housing buildings offer rain water harvesting, recycling of waste water for irrigation purpose and recycling of organic food as fertilizer. Due to shortage or rains this year water supply is going to be tight but what that means for residential use is not known yet. As of writing this there is no cut in water supply. Bigger users of water supply are construction industry which happens to be all over the city.

Cars “ Like I said money talks and no where in the world it talks more than it does in India, so which car you want ? Porsche ? Merc ? BMW ? Audi ? which one, they are all available here, if they don’t have it, they will import it for you. Question is can you afford it ? Honda Civic costs 14 Lakhs (35,000 USD) on road in Bombay. Mercedes C200 costs 32,000 USD on road in NJ and guess what lot of people are driving Civic in Bombay not sure if Civic was sold for that price in US could a lot of people afford it ? to top it off, car loans start at 12-13% and most people will like to avoid buying car on loan.

Petrol prices are high “ Rs. 52/- per liter or 4.19 USD per gallon (3.78 liters). One will sure expect to see a lot less traffic on the road because of these prices. You’re wrong again¦¦

Cost of living and Long term outlook “ Though all written earlier sounds well and above expectation, reality is that long term outlook is not as rosy as it sounds above. Economies are global and global weakness is bound to cause some problems here as well. Housing is getting weak, builders are now ready to pay registration and stamp duty for buying a house. Soon they will be offering furniture and refrigerator as well (so I think). That is a clear signal that housing would get cheaper. Last week itself RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has increased the loan rates so auto, house everything is little bit more expensive than it used to be and that will have some impact on demand. NRI won’t feel the pinch but locals will and they do contribute significantly on the demand side.

RBI sees dark clouds over Indian economy

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=329918

Cost of living “ In Pune it is expected to by around 60,000 rupees a month for a family of 4 Mom, Dad, 2 kids. This is the cost for very comfortable living, after having a fully paid car and a house. In 60,000 you must be eating out a lot only once at home (mostly dinner). 75,000 per month will get you lot more comfort than 60,000 would, it would be more like go anywhere and do anything kind of living.

Get this “ starting salary in IT for a normal candidate starts at 60,000 to 70,000 per month.

Though it may sound like I make the case strong for India specially Pune and I almost sound biased. But only if you knew that I am not a fan of returning back to either India or Pune you will appreciate what I have written here.

Here are some latest pictures…enjoy…click on any of these pictues to enlarge….

This is expressway (highway) between Pune and Bombay…it’s beautiful.

What you see in the picture above are flowerpots kept in the middle of 6 lane highway.

Flowers change color every so many kilometers. There are 3 lanes on each side.

Service industry is booming ads prove it. Middle Picture Toll plaza neat and clean…..unlike India you know.

Picture above - Further along the way we found tunnerls on the highway. Highway itself is very senic mountain on both sides and lush green grass carpet is beautiful. Not sure if it looks the same in summer. But who cares I enjoy the ride now…..

This is the same highway mentioned in WIRED magazine. Where cars can do over 100 MILES per hour. Note MILES not Kilometers. There are only 10 or so in the world this is one of them.

Same tunnels closer look…it was raining when we left Pune and this is the best time to visit Lonavala and Khandala. Hill stations are situated high enough so that you feel like you’re moving through the clouds…I have pictures of that too…so keep looking. Actually what you see in this picture that looks like fog mist are clouds and cars pass through that…picture does not do justice you must be there to enjoy it. It;s not sunny…temp is downand good, breeze flows all around you soft and cool.

Getting out of tunnel………

There are rest areas along the highway…they are pretty good..offer both traditional ‘Dhaba’ style and US style. What a contrast….you take an exit and something like this will welcome you.

This post is getting too long click here to view more pictures…of my stay…