Living in south India for a year?

Hi all,

Bit of a brain dump really…

Quick background. 25 years old, got a decent “sensible” job, but not finding it very interesting at all. Living in the Midlands, which means I have pretty decent access to mountain biking, hiking, climbing, and can wakeboard, snowboard (Alps) without too much hassle.

I may (far from certain at the moment) have the opportunity to work for a year in India, in Pondicherry (2-3 hours south of Chennai, on the coast) from this summer. I’m confident that the work would be much more interesting and closer to what I want to do long term. I have been keen to live abroad for quite a while.

However, I am a little concerned that, without wanting to sound silly, there won’t be much to do out there.

I think it will be great for getting into yoga, local culture, dancing, local cooking, languages etc (all of which I am keen for), but I’m thinking more about sports etc, which are important to me.

I imagine I’d have to give up mountain biking, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of hiking/climbing/outdoor activities in the area at all. There is a surf school nearby but not sure if that caters for much more than visiting tourists. Snowboarding is of course possible in the Himalayas, but not really comparable to the Alps (I’m not a avalanche savvy powder whizz).
My friend who was recently in the area said even going for a run gets odd looks, and pretty much nothing in the way of “extreme” sports due to cost.

Also, I think it will require a bit of travelling around to see some of the more impressive sights of India – I don’t think Pondicherry is particularly touristy. On top of this, Pondicherry has a lot of French/European influence, so I don’t really see it as “India proper”…!

From speaking to people, it seems you could fly up to somewhere like the Taj Mahal, stay there a few nights, food etc for about £100 all in – which as a bench mark for a weekend trip, is pretty decent – could definitely get a few trips in.

Anyway, struggling to get my thoughts down, don’t really have a specific question. I guess I’m a little worried that it may not be the most interesting part of India, plus not a huge much to do sports-wise. Has anyone visited this area of India? What did you think of the area? Decent stuff to do on a day trip? Anyone lived in India? Is travelling around the country once a month or so going to be fun or frustrating?

Any thoughts would be great 🙂

Ta,
Duane

Way too much thinking. Just do it. You’ve wanted to do something like this for years and have nothing to lose apart from a handful of bike rides. It’s only a year, if you don’t like it you’ll be back to reality in no time. You’ll regret it if you don’t try it. Total no brainer for me.

Do it.

Just do it……!

You want to go to India?

Just do it … Go to Leicester … yes? 😛

Tang to the forum!

Do it !!

JFDI.
Worry about growing up and the real world when you get back.

Life is not about doing easy stuff .

Oh and learn Kabaddi .

My comrades speak truth.

Just do it.

It’s one year, and even if you discover difficulties you didn’t expect, you will overcome them and not for one moment regret that you did.

Enjoy!

Do it! By the sounds of your post you are open to get the best out of this opportunity, which is absolutely the best attitude. India will do the rest.
Edit: just ride Indian bikes, great fun and bomb proof.

Get your shots and avoid tap water and ice

immerse yourself in the place, go for it.

It’s only a year. You might as well

Definitely do it

APF

2-3 hours south of Chennai, on the coast

It’s hot.

I did some work in Delhi one December and the folk coming up from Chennai could buy winter clothes on expenses, as they’d no reason to own any.

And India is HUGE.

There is no “less interesting” part of India – it is amazing, sometimes bad and sometimes good. It will change your life. And potentially your bottom 🙁

Himalayas no good for skiing? Maybe. But probably there are a couple of extreme outdoor activities you could find up there.

**** Kabaddi – learn kalaripayattu 🙂 And how to cook!

Just go.

Hiking surely isn’t an issue just out some boots on and go exploring.

Regard India as a continent, not a country. The script and language in Pondi / Tamil nadu is different from elsewhere, (10 different scripts on currency notes, I believe) so don’t expect that getting places will be instant. The Himalayas and Agra are long flights away. But you can go hiking /walking easily enough and there are some excelent beaches. Don’t risk cycling on the roads! Pondi is quite Europeanised, so probably a good place to base yourself.

Send us a postcard, bye.

Twenty-five years old, working over there for one year… DO IT! 🙂

Sounds brilliant. No, I’m not jealous. No, not much.

biking ‘just over the hills’ to the west:

HOME

Get out there…..

As other have said, what an experience.

It’s hot, it’s busy, is risky different culture.

As with most of the globe, the place is full of folk from around the world, I bet you will meet some Brits/Aussies/Chinese/yanks etc.

(Indian born here, my father until this year has lived out traveled there fit 50 years. He has made masses of friends all over India, of all nationalities and backgrounds…)

never been to india BUT i will add you cant be travel enough.

the people you meet on the road can be awesome. Just last week i was speaking with a malaysian round the world cyclist who slept the night before in a bulldozer cab….. he was riding between balkanabad and turkmenbashi before taking the ferry to azerbaycan

JUST do not be that expat living like a king in the seedy strip bar – hes the one who takes nothing out of the experiance AND generally the one who gets robbed……. see it alot in my work – get out and see the place your in.

Im just back from backwoods Turkmenistan and the mrs T-R is heading to Rwanda in the summer – she was like you questioning should i do it or not …. I told her the fact shes even considering it means she should do it.

you can’t travel enough

+1

You don’t say how much you have travelled outside of Europe before, but if you are tempted then you should go for it. It looks like you’ve done some research anyway. Would it really be such a deal-breaker to give up a few ‘sports’ for a year? Even if mountain biking as a sport doesn’t exist there will be lots of tracks to wander on a bike to explore and you could get into watersports outside of the monsoon season – surfing, kite-surfing, wind-surfing or scuba.

Get yourself an enfield and enter some bike races guy martin style? One year, sounds awesome, do it.

India was a shocking place for me, I got quite sick, felt awful for months afterwards, the poverty, the dirt, the smells, the disrespect for human life. The guys grabbing me as I walked down the street, desperate for money…it’s a tough place to go, so go with your eyes open, not some kind of romantic dream!

OP, you have no excuse now!

It may not work out how you intended, but this is the whole point of trying new things, yeah?

That’s what I mean ploeb. Be open and India will do the rest! I lived there for 3 years and have a home there, we get over most years. I did live there as a monk with no money in service to an old Sadhu, we were on the road most of that time. However, that was a long time ago and now we head over in a more conventional way.

I’ve been back in the UK for a year after 5 years working in India. It’s certainly an experience, and you’ll come back with a slightly different perspective on life as a result!

Pondicherry is a lovely spot, lots of colonial influences. Auroville host a famous trail marathon every year which is very popular. I have cycling friends who live there, so there must be some biking to be done – you certainly won’t be short of things to do.

It’s only a year, even if you hate it, it’ll be over quickly, but I’m sure it’ll be fulfilling and interesting.

DO IT!

Cheers, Rich

Is he still here? After spending 6 months in North India I can’t tell you the joy of being in my mums kitchen and drinking straight from the tap! Loved and hated the place. Must go back soon cant believe it was 20 years ago.

Thanks for all the replies – looks like that’s my question answered…! 😛

To be honest, I’m not hesitant about making the jump and leaving the UK etc, it was more about if people knew much about the area etc etc.

Anyway, I’ve not 100% got the job yet, so fingers crossed for that 🙂

I’m going! Slightly different deal to the original one, minimum 6 month commitment, then will see what happens. Submitting visa application tomorrow, hopefully get out there at the end of May.

If anyone is interested, I handed in my notice at Rolls-Royce this week, and will be joining the R&D team at Prakti, a social enterprise producing safe and efficient cook stoves for poor communities and families. http://www.praktidesign.com

Duane 🙂

Good man, you won’t regret it (unless you get some weird disease and your chap falls off or something)

Good decision

Have fun

Wooooooo! Have fun…

Ha ha that’s awesome!