What is life like in India. Interview with Oksana Ukhlina: life in India as it is

When my husband and I moved to India, I immediately registered on the Indian Wives Forum. I wanted not only to get more information about the new country of residence, but also to get to know the people who inhabit it.

One of the first people I met then was Oksana. I enjoyed reading her sensible forum posts, watching photos and videos on Facebook, and chatting in person. In addition, I was surprised and impressed by such a strong and positive integration into Indian life.

So, when I thought again: who should I interview? Without even a doubt, I thought about Oksana and was very glad that she agreed.

Oksana has been living in India for 8 years

So, Oksana was born and raised in the city of Pavlodar, in Kazakhstan. Having received a diploma in economics-management, she worked for 10 years at her native university in administrative positions in the economic service, and also taught a little for students of the university and its affiliated college.

In 2008, Oksana married an Indian and began to "develop" Asia. Not having time to properly taste the taste of a highly organized, tempting life in Hong Kong and Singapore, and, having fallen into the millstones of the economic crisis, at the end of the same year, Oksana and her husband were forced to return to India.

Being at home to care for the child and, being limited in movement around the city, Oksana began tophotography and blog about life in India. Currently, Oksana with her husband and daughter Katrina live in southern India - in the city of Hyderabad.

Husband of Oksana Srikanth, Oksana and their daughter Katrina

Hi Oksana! How long have you been in India?

Hello! J I first came to India in 2007, came to get acquainted with the country and the relatives of my future husband. I have been living permanently since 2009, however, with breaks for waiting and the birth of my daughter and quite long summer holidays almost every year.

Tell me, how did you meet your husband and was it easy for you to decide to get married (and go) abroad?

My husband and I met in ICQ ( ICQ ). At first, of course, they just talked, got to know each other. About half a year later, he came to my hometown to get acquainted “live”, and then we already decided that everything was serious. The decision to marry is hardly given to anyone easily, regardless of whether it happens in their hometown or in another country. Here faith in the person with whom you are going to connect your life is important. I believed and therefore went to my husband in Hong Kong, where he then worked, to get married and start our journey together called “family”.

How did your parents, close people, friends react to your move? Do you visit relatives and how frequent are such meetings?

Relatives and friends reacted positively to the changes in my life, supporting and sincerely empathizing. I try to visit my family regularly. Previously, it was once a year. The last 2 times were with breaks in two years.

Oksana at an exhibition organized as part of the Hyderabad Arts Festival

Relations have changed in the sense that we now communicate virtually because of the separating kilometers. However, with someone it works even better than in real life, and there are friends who do not use the possibilities of virtual communication much, but who are always happy to meet when I am in my native country.

Was it difficult to accept the new culture? And how much do you think you accepted it?

I consider cultural diversity one of the most beautiful things in our world. As for acceptance, everything rests on individual cultural aspects. For example, I listen to Indian music and watch Indian films with pleasure, I easily accept the nuances of everyday and festive attire, I participate with interest in national and religious celebrations if I am invited. At the same time, it is also important for me to maintain personal self-identification with a set of cultural values ​​that have been instilled in me since childhood and consciously accepted.

Baha'u'llah's birthday celebration in the Baha'i community of Hyderabad. A girl performs a classical dance of the Telugu states (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) - kuchipudi.

Now we live with my family in Hyderabad. After we got married, we lived for a few months in Hong Kong, and then a couple of months in Singapore. In India, I also happened to live in Mumbai and Pune.

What are your general impressions of living in India, in particular in Hyderabad? How different is life in different Indian cities?

In general, my impressions of living in India are such that, on the one hand, this is an everyday challenge and overcoming difficulties, on the other hand, there are a lot of opportunities for new knowledge and discoveries not only in the outside world, but also in oneself. I don’t find any special differences in those cities of India where I managed to live. Naturally, life here does not stand still and everything develops. I can say that in some aspects life in Hyderabad, in my personal opinion, has changed for the better. The most striking example, perhaps, is the development of a taxi service.

Woman buying guava from a cart by the road

As you correctly noted, all people are very different. If you try to generalize, you can highlight the following points that differ from the inhabitants of our countries:

· low general level of primary education. Those. I'm talking about skills such as the ability to write and read;
· the most powerful social stratification of society, manifested both in everyday matters, and in access to secondary and higher education, in the possibility of professional realization, etc. etc.;
· rigidity in views and traditions, hypertrophied conservatism;
· gender inequality, which sometimes manifests itself in forms that are even difficult to imagine in our countries;
· the cult of the "white man" and, at the same time, the desire to "use him" in any possible way;
· relaxation in life, read - disorganization, clearly manifested in all aspects of life;
· optional, constant "breakfasts";
· the habit of not refusing, even if they know for sure that they will not be able to come, visit, participate or do something;
· a shift in the concept of personal space, concerning both early unannounced visits, and uncomfortable questions, and a bunch of other things related to the need for tact;
· and others

At the same time, I can say that on my way I met a lot of sincere, benevolent, ready to help, versatile, educated, tactful, polite and delightful people.

Oksana with relatives in Omsk

Yes, Irish, that's right. Moreover, some things that we took for granted in our homeland are either completely absent here or are just beginning to develop. First and foremost for me is the terrible quality of the water. Of course, understanding the scale of this problem in general in India, everything is not so bad in our particular case, but nevertheless. For food purposes, only bottled water should be used. In order to take a bath, you have to add special disinfectant solutions to the water.
Close to the above problem is the rate of dust accumulation in the house. And also a purely female, perhaps a horror story - insects and other domestic animals, with which you often just have to coexist.

It is also possible to note the low level of security in relation to women and children; lack of sidewalks, unacceptable level of public transport, very heavy traffic.

Personally, as long as I live in India, I cannot solve the problem with hairdressing services for so long. I still cut my hair only upon arrival in Russia/Kazakhstan.

Ganesha or Ganapati is one of the most revered gods in India

Tell me, what do you miss in Indian life?

The most important thing is, of course, communication with family and friends. We are flying home with multiple transfers. On the way home in Almaty or Astana we are met by friends. We communicate, share news, learn about plans, joke, fool around and ... laugh. You know, when I start laughing with friends, I understand that for all this time in India since our last meeting, I have not laughed even once, I have not felt that same single wave of acceptance and perception, understandable humor, fun, tomfoolery. ..

Professional implementation? Rather, yes. On the other hand, there is an opportunity to do what is really interesting and important (there is, so to speak, time for yourself), as well as to pay sufficient attention to raising a daughter.

Children's circles are not such a big problem, but compared to their development at home, they are still a kind of test.

Have you learned how to cook Indian food? What are your favorites? What food can you not imagine life without? Let's say if you moved to another country, what would you cook daily or from time to time from Indian cuisine.

Thanks to my husband, who loves and knows how to cook, almost from the first days of my marriage, even when we lived far from my husband's parents and other Indian relatives, I learned how to cook chapati and dal. Gradually I began to navigate the world of spices. I learned and fell in love with vegetables and fruits exotic for our countries. I also really like South Indian snacks - idli and dosa with a variety of chutneys, Gujarati dokla. But I don’t cook them myself yet, I enjoy the wonderful cooking of my mother-in-law.

If I moved to another country, then from Indian cuisine I would certainly leave the habit of using spices in the preparation of any dishes. Be sure to continue to include legumes in the diet, as well as all available vegetables.

The Other Side of Indian Life

It differs only in the ability to afford the use of workers who come or live permanently with the family to help with cleaning, washing, cooking, etc. But I do everything myself in my space, and in this sense, my life is set up the same way as in my homeland.

How is it with languages? Do you or have you learned the local language? Enough English?

I can say that after moving to India, at first there was a huge interest in learning Hindi, and I even started to learn it from a self-instruction manual. But then it turned out that the native language of my husband's family is Tamil, and in Hyderabad they generally speak Telugu ... So I decided to concentrate on improving English, and so far I manage to manage only with it.

I know that you are very active in India - participating in various events, singing, taking care of your daughter, blogging, meeting friends. Tell me about your typical day. And what else are you doing?

I also love photography and knitting. J. My typical day can be schematically represented in this way. The morning begins with my daughter getting ready for school, then my husband and I take her by car. After returning, I go for a walk in the nearest park. Then I have household chores and time for hobbies or a side job. At two o'clock I pick up my daughter from school, and then we spend part of the time together - we have lunch, share our impressions, decide on homework and plans for the day ahead, part of the time everyone goes about their own business. In the evening after my husband returns from work, we spend time with the whole family in the lower part of the house where the father-in-laws live, the mother-in-law often cooks dinner for the whole family. Katrinka likes to stay with her grandparents, and my husband and I can also go for groceries and other necessary things.

Oksana will perform a song in Russian "In the Upper Room" at an Indian wedding

The lifestyle has changed a lot due to the fact that from a workaholic who spent most of his time in the office, communicating with a huge number of people and solving an incredible number of tasks, I turned into a total housewife who had to look for something to do without departing, so to speak, from baby crib. Of course, this was influenced not so much by moving to India as by the birth of a daughter, but still India in this regard is a much tougher limiter than a hometown, where everything is known and where you can rely more on the help of relatives to care for a child.

We all know that India is a land of contrasts. There are both extremely poor and obscenely rich people. Who do you think, to paraphrase the Russian classic, in India live well?

I had to seriously think about the question ... Perhaps, I will answer that, regardless of the material standard of living, in order to live well in India, you need to have an internal state of harmony, the ability to be philosophical about many things that cannot be changed overnight, and the last thing in the enumeration, but not least - to love people. That is, just like that, in principle, to love people ...

Please tell us about your daughter. How different is life in India and Russia (or another country) for a little girl. What are the pros and cons.

Our daughter's name is Katrina. She is 7 years old and is in the second grade. The very first thing that comes to mind is the safety of children. Perhaps, in Russia, she would already be able to go out alone to walk in the yard and go to the nearest shops for bread. In India, I still can't even imagine when I will be able to give her this opportunity. Among the pluses, I can single out natural bilingualism from birth - Katyushka speaks, reads and writes fluently in English and Russian.

Husband of Oksana Srikanth and daughter Katrina at Hyderabad Zoo

I am good with Indian traditional clothes. I really like saris, but I wear them mostly only for holidays and celebrations. I am also good with simple kameez. Comfortable in extreme heat and for trips to Hindu temples. But still, I wear European clothes more, although adjusted for Indian reality - I don’t open my legs and don’t wear T-shirts. Kurtas (tunics) are very comfortable in everyday life, which can be combined with jeans, leggings, and even long skirts.

Are you traveling in India? Where have you already been, where do you want to go and what would you recommend to visit for those who already live in India or are just about to come/move here?

To my greatest regret, we have practically not traveled in India yet. Somehow, everything was not up to this - either a small child, or a busy schedule of her husband's work. At the end of last year, we got out on our first independent trip by car to the neighboring town of Warangal with unique temples and a fort. They were extremely happy. I also managed to visit Goa (Mapsa, Panaji), Agra, get to know Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore a little, live a little in Mumbai and Pune. All these cities have their own attraction, and were interesting for me. Perhaps, I would not even begin to talk about some place in India as a must. But I personally would like to visit Udaipur and Amritsar, visit Kashmir and West Bengal, enjoy the sea in Kerala and visit its tea and coffee plantations, stroll along the promenade in Pondicherry and certainly meet the sunrise and enjoy the sunset in Kanyakumari.

Oksana with Katrina at the observation deck on Lake Gandipet in the suburbs of Hyderabad

To be honest, this question baffled me. To paraphrase a well-known saying, we can say that better than personal experience, there can only be personal experience. You can start with general information about the country on Wikipedia, choose from the many books, music and films from India or about India according to your preferences, you can read forums such as the Bharat forum or the blogs of expats living there.

Tell me, what would you advise tourists to try in India? What new experience to get?

Taste all seasonal fruits and vegetables J and generally try Indian cuisine. As pleasant, useful and tasty things, I would recommend beautiful saris or anarkali, bracelets, incense sticks, sandalwood oil, spices, dried figs ... As souvenirs - actually any souvenirs in the national style.

Women perform dandia (wooden sticks) dance on the final day of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival (Ganesh's birthday). Hyderabad, India.

What can you advise to girls who are planning to connect their lives with an Indian?

Be sure to get to know the parents of the chosen one. Seriously discuss all the points about the distribution of responsibilities in the family, well, visit India and, if possible, in the house (family) of a young man.

Thanks a lot for your answers.

All photos in the interview belong to Oksana, if you want to copy them and use them at your own discretion, please write them

Publishes a story by photographer Katya Peshakova about how to arrange life in fabulous India.

I have been interested in India since childhood. When I was 16, a friend invited me to a Hare Krishna festival. In the Krishna consciousness movement, I was more attracted not by the organization itself, but by Indian culture in its general manifestation. It was important for me to know the essence of India: history, culture, language, religion. I literally fell ill with this country and admire it to this day.

Road to India

When I first visited India, I realized that I wanted to live in this country. It only remained to figure out how to stay here forever. The move was quite painful due to material and visa problems. I was 22, I could not immediately get on my feet, so I had to return home several times a year. My plan worked only three years later.

While I could not work, I simply began to contact Indian photographers and organizations. I needed to understand the process, get an idea of ​​how an Indian wedding works, so I offered my services to the studios for free. Only one responded, and every day I went to free shootings and lived on savings made in Russia.

After some time, they began to pay me a hundred dollars for shooting, although later I found out that the studio was selling my work several times more expensive. When I gained a client base, I decided to open a company and work under my own name. At first there were difficulties, but in the end we overcame everything, and my company has been successfully operating to this day.

Varanasi

Upon arrival in India, nothing surprised me: I was well prepared for this country, so there was no dissonance. I did not dream of a fabulous India and took all the realities for granted. When you really want something, you stop noticing minor inconveniences.

I settled in Varanasi, and before that I lived in Goa and Delhi. Varanasi is a very specific city, it is especially revered because it is considered the city of Shiva. Many believe that Shiva is present here, and those who complete their life path by cremation in Varanasi will immediately receive liberation, even if they did not deserve it with their lifestyle.

The city is like a labyrinth: new roads are cut into the old part, located on the river bank. Until now, while walking, I find new streets here, although I have lived here for a long time.

I settled in the old part of Varanasi because I wanted to be closer to the river. This area is considered Europeanized. I feel comfortable here, because on the one hand - a European piece of life, on the other - a historical place with many temples within walking distance.

Life is a game

The locals are very open and friendly. Hospitality is one of the principles of Indian culture: the host must treat the guest as a deity. Indians of all Asians are most similar to Russians, so I do not feel a barrier in communication. They can come up on the street, ask about life and immediately become your friend.

I managed to live for some time in an Indian family, thanks to which I improved my language a lot, although I learned Hindi back in Russia. Even though I am fluent in it, I try to take additional lessons from the teacher.

In Varanasi, you rarely meet a native speaker of the Russian language, which cannot be said about Goa. However, the attitude towards our compatriots in these two states varies greatly. In Varanasi, people are more modest, stick to traditions, and in Goa, people are spinning in the tourism business, and this has ruined many. Although Indians don't see anything wrong with making money. In Indian religion, a person must go through four stages to achieve liberation: kama - satisfaction of desires, artha - making money, dharma - spiritual growth and moksha - liberation. Artha is one of the steps: a person is not considered bad if he makes a profit. It's a sin not to make money on tourists!

Indians do not deceive tourists, but play with them. In their view, life is a game. A person with an Eastern mentality has an attitude: "I call a thousand, because we will bargain and reach a certain amount that suits both." The Indian enjoys the process, and at the word “thousand” we turn around and leave without even joining the game.

The older generation at the mention of Russia often says: “Oh, Hindi Rusi bhai bhai!” ("Indians and Russians are brothers"). This is the slogan of Soviet-Indian friendship, which was popular in the 1950s-1980s. People remember this.

Traditions

India is famous for its myriad of holidays and unusual traditions. New Year is an occasion to take a walk for young people. The most important Hindu holiday is Devali. Many set off fireworks, decorate houses with garlands, and businessmen close account books, so in my mind this holiday has become the New Year. The holiday of victory over evil is more important to me, I try to celebrate it with loved ones.

I like to watch wedding ceremonies. In each state they are different, even different castes of one state celebrate this event in their own way.

The wedding ceremony begins with matchmaking. The groom's relatives come to the bride and agree on the wedding. In the morning, a mihendi ceremony is held - the skin of the bride and her girlfriends is painted with henna. In the evening, on the eve of the wedding, a sangid is held - a dance wedding program. The highlight of the evening is the dance of the bride.

On the wedding day, a haldi ceremony is organized. Turmeric paste mixed with oils and incense is used to anoint the bride and groom. On our white skin, it does not look so beautiful - it takes on a yellow tint, and Indian shimmers with a golden color. The wedding is considered completed after the newlyweds walk around the fire seven times.

Housing problem

The cost of renting housing in Indian cities varies depending on the area. Apartments in a residential complex are more expensive, as you need to pay a membership fee. In Delhi, I rented a three-room apartment in a residential area for 25 thousand rubles. Apartments outside the residential complex will cost 10-15 thousand rubles, but the conditions here are much worse.

My area in Varanasi is considered expensive due to the huge number of Europeans, so I pay about 20 thousand rubles for an apartment. But this does not mean that poor people have to live on the street - you can find a room even for two thousand rubles. There is housing for every budget, it all depends on requests.

I use the so-called free medicine - that is, state. Even a tourist in India can count on preferential service. This type of medical care is good, but the hospitals are poorly equipped, and the waiting lists for doctors are long. All poor people use state medicine, because a visit to a government clinic costs only 20-30 rubles.

Detractors

My whole life is vacation. I read a lot, explore the city, do yoga, arrange workshops for European travelers who want to get to know India better. Today, for example, we talked about Indian folk painting. In my free time I blog. My goal is to show India in all its glory.

There are ill-wishers who see only the bad in India. The question is often asked: “How do you live among such dirt?” I stopped answering that there is something to see in India besides dirt. When I am once again asked about this, I ask a counter question: “Is there really nothing else to pay attention to in a civilization that is more than five thousand years old?” I want people to notice more subtle things, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I recently posted a photo of a man meditating on the Ganges River. The camp of commentators was divided: some wrote, “How I want to be there,” and others, “Why is he sitting in such a garbage dump?” This is an exemplary situation - how differently people can look at the world.

Indian fairy tale

Mom was prepared for my move - she knew that sooner or later it would happen. Real friends supported, and what the rest think - I don't care. This is my life and I don't care how others feel about it.

I've been here for almost ten years. I often receive friends from Russia. I am changing the established notions about India as an unsafe place - with my life and blog, I show that this is just a stamp and a template.

I still do not understand why a positive thinker is told that he looks at the world through rose-colored glasses? Why are we used to the fact that negativity must be taken for granted? I show India as we saw it in childhood: like an Indian fairy tale, like something unusual. Because that's what she is.

India is exactly the country where the beauty and wealth of some people and the sheer poverty of the rest are fully combined.

Having visited this country, your consciousness will turn inside out and never again will you talk about the fact that in Russia some people live richly, and all the rest are poor. Having visited India, and especially not the most prosperous areas and cities, you can see a combination of luxury and poverty.

How do they live

Luxurious mansions with gilded columns, swimming pools, gardens of paradise with the same birds of paradise and miserable shacks in which half-starved and half-dressed children and their mothers vegetate their lives right next to each other. While their fathers are trying to earn at least bread so that the family does not starve to death.

These feelings will visit any tourist who wants to drive through the outskirts of the city of Delhi or its provinces. Around the solid dirt and the presence of sewage thrown directly into the street.
India's problem, not least, is its pollution of both land and water. If everything is clear with water, because probably everyone knows that the funeral procession is accompanied by the burning of the body and the dumping of the remains into the nearby river.

But the land is polluted due to the lack of culture among the Hindus to throw garbage into garbage containers, which is almost impossible to find, at least in the provinces.

on the video how people live in India

Rubbish is thrown at his feet (I bought a bun, took off the bag and threw it at my feet. I drank a cup of coffee and threw a plastic bag at my feet as well.) What can I say if citizens who have their own houses throw waste not somewhere into containers, but directly around your house.
Looking at this kind of beauty of the provinces, you understand how simple and rich people actually live in India.

Lifespan

All this affects life expectancy in India, which is 68.7 years, while men live on average 5 years less than women - 66.3 versus 71.2. But this trend is happening all over the world. In terms of duration, India ranks 118 out of 192 countries. It is noteworthy that Russia is in 113th place. As you can see, it didn't go far.

Standard of living

At the same time, the country's standard of living (economy, quality of life, level of freedom, sovereignty) is at a very low level. For 2014, according to the studies of international organizations, it occupies as much as 106th place out of 108 studied. Compared with our country, Russia is in 32nd place. What can not but rejoice.
So if you look at the indications of the standard of living in India and Russia, then without leaving for this country you can understand how ordinary citizens live there.

It should be noted that the pension system in India is not developed in the same way as in Russia.

Only civil servants are required to receive a pension, for everyone else it is a funded system, but not all employers deduct interest on the employee's pension account, as this is not necessary. There are currently 90 million people in India who have reached retirement age (60 years). However, they can no longer work, and the state does not make any payments.

After seven years of work in the Russian office of Home Credit Bank, I was invited to the Philippines for two years, and from there I moved to the Indian branch - and stayed there for almost a year and a half. I chose India as a professional challenge: the opportunity to take part in the development of a bank in a country where about 1.3 billion people live is not given every day.

When I first came to India "for exploration", it seemed to me that she had a lot in common with the Philippines. In fact, they are united only by the fact that they are in the same part of the world. In the rest, there is little. People, culture, market, business practices - everything had to be re-learned.

India is so interesting and strange that it seems as if you are in several eras at once. Here wild tribes who kill foreigners who come to them. And there are cities with metro, modern shopping centers and the City. There are people who are far below the poverty line and live on the street. At the same time, there are super-rich people. According to a study by Wealth X, in 2017 India fourth place in the world in terms of the number of dollar billionaires - after the USA, China and Germany. According to this indicator, it overtook, for example, Switzerland, Russia and Great Britain.

View from the balcony of the guest house in Udaipur

The ancient city of Varanasi. India is an amazing travel destination

Inhabitants of Varanasi

In the center of Old Delhi

Locals in the center of Old Delhi

Such a gigantic stratification between the rich and the poor is reflected, among other things, in Indian life. It can be said that, in general, the quality of things that are produced for the mass consumer is lower in India than in Russia. But at the same time, you can buy goods of higher quality if you are willing to pay more.

Housing

I live and work in Gurgaon, it is a satellite city near the capital of India, New Delhi - almost like Balashikha or Korolev for Moscow, only more (about 800,000 people live there). Gurgaon is considered a major industrial and financial center. Here are the head offices of many international companies, for example, from the field of consulting or IT. Therefore, the quality of life in Gurgaon - not only for expats, but also for locals - is markedly different for the better from life somewhere in Coimbatore or Allahabad.

Flat rent

Many Indians live for several generations at once under one roof: grandmother, parents, son - perhaps with a wife. For this reason, they often own or rent large apartments with multiple bedrooms. The cost of rent can vary tenfold depending on the prestige of the house and the area.

So, an apartment (or townhouse) with an area of ​​​​about 120 square meters. m without furniture and in the usual area of ​​​​Gurgaon can be rented for 30 thousand rupees (27,600 ₽) per month. But in a guarded residential complex with a park on the territory, renting a four-room apartment (living room and three bedrooms) will start from 120,000 rupees (110,400 ₽). To this amount, it will be necessary to add the cost of maintaining the territory, including home repairs - about 30 thousand rupees (27,600 ₽) per quarter. You also have to pay 20– 30 thousand rupees (18,400– 27 600 ₽) per year for access to services on the territory of the complex: swimming pool, gym, cafe, parking. If the apartment is rented without furniture and appliances, all this can be rented (about 30 thousand rupees per month, or 27,600 ₽).

Utilities

The weather in Delhi changes quite dramatically from season to season: in the middle of winter, at night, the temperature can drop to 6– 8 degrees of heat, and in the summer during the day - to reach 48 degrees. In summer, everyone uses air conditioners and heavily overpays for electricity: up to 10 thousand rupees (9200 ₽) per month. There is no central heating in India, so in winter some people turn on radiators - with them you have to pay about 5 thousand rupees (4600 ₽) per month for electricity. The rest of the year, the bills are approximately 3 thousand rupees (2760 ₽) per month.

Gurgaon, golf course and high-rise residential view for wealthy Indians and expats. Smog

Smog haze golf course

In Moscow

My rented apartment in Gurgaon is 15– 20 minutes drive from Cyber ​​City is a corporate business park, something like Moscow City. This roughly corresponds to the Dorogomilovsky district of Moscow (next to the Park Pobedy metro station).

Rent a three-room apartment in the area, Domofond.ru costs an average of 105 thousand rubles per month. A four-room apartment in an elite residential complex"Sparrow Hills" , for example, for 175 thousand ₽. The average cost of utilities for a similar apartment, according to Numbeo, is 8300 ₽.

Directions

Public transport

Gurgaon has a fairly comfortable metro. It can be reached in the center of Delhi in 40– 45 minutes. One trip on the metro costs 65 rupees (60 ₽), but if you buy a travel card, you can save 10%. It turns out that 60 trips per month will cost 3240 rupees (2981 ₽).

Also in Delhi and in neighboring cities, you can travel by shuttle - a bus that travels non-stop to the final station. A package of 30 bus trips costs 2370 rupees (2180 ₽). You can pay for travel and replenish your account through a mobile application.

Taxi

In India, the two main taxi providers are Uber and Ola. They are cheaper than in Moscow, but also of lower quality in terms of cars, cleanliness, skills and knowledge of the driver. Traffic in India is chaotic, with drivers constantly changing lanes, driving in the middle of the road and signaling to each other. It will be extremely difficult to communicate with a taxi driver if you do not know Hindi. Although, in fairness, taxi drivers in Russia hardly speak English better.

The trip from Gurgaon to the center of Delhi by taxi will cost 400– 500 rupees (368 – 460 ₽), depending on traffic. At rush hour, a 30 km journey takes 1.5– 2 hours. For those who often travel by taxi, Uber offers a profitable service: you can buy a package for a month for 250 rupees (230 ₽), and then any trip will cost 39 rupees (35 ₽).

Taxi in Kolkata

In the center of Old Delhi

Five traffic controllers at one traffic light teach motorists to stop at red, Cyber ​​City, Gurgaon

In the center of Old Delhi

Also in India, tuk-tuks, or three-wheel auto rickshaws, are popular. It is curious that tuk-tuk drivers accept payments not only in cash, but also by transfer to a mobile wallet. Imagine: an Indian landscape, a cow is walking along the road and chewing plastic, a tuk-tuk is driving nearby - and then the driver takes out a smartphone, opens an application (it is called Paytm), scans a QR code and accepts payment for the trip. Awesome!

In Moscow

A card for one trip in the Moscow metro and on land transport costs 55 ₽. It is more profitable to pay for travel using a Troika card, with which each trip will cost 38 ₽. For those who often travel by metro or buses, the most profitable option is to “sign up” a package for 60 trips for 1900 ₽ on Troika.

Popular taxis in Moscow include aggregator apps Uber, Gett and Yandex.Taxi. A trip, for example, from Tsaritsyno Park to VDNH (distance about 30 km) will cost 700 ₽. Approximately the same will cost a taxi from the center of Balashikha near Moscow to the Moscow Kremlin. Taxi trips within Moscow for medium distances cost an average of 300– 500 ₽.

Food

Products

Most Indians are vegetarians, they do not eat meat or eggs (although the trend is changing recently). In the state of Haryana, where Gurgaon is located, eating beef is generally prohibited by law. Instead, it is proposed to eat buffalo meat, it can be bought for 400 rupees (368 ₽) per kg.

The main emphasis on the shelves of stores is on vegetables and all kinds of seasonings. Fruits are sold all year round - bananas, watermelons, pineapples. January is strawberry season, summer is mango and lychee.

My girlfriend and I usually buy food in supermarkets. There are both local (Le Marche) and international brands such as Spar. You can order food online at Amazon.in, they deliver not only groceries in packages, but also fresh vegetables and fruits. You can create a basket that will "come" to you regularly.

In total, it takes us about 15 days to buy groceries.– 20 thousand rupees (13,800– 18 400 ₽) per person per month. To compare food prices in Gurgaon and Moscow, I made a table. For Gurgaon, these are average prices, but for a visitor they can be higher than for a local. It is a matter of choosing the quality of products, knowing the places and bargaining skills.

Source: Numbeo.com Prices are rounded to the nearest ruble.

Cafes and restaurants

There are many expats in Gurgaon, so there is a large selection of not only local, but also European cuisine. In addition to Indian, Italian and Asian restaurants are especially common. True, they also have a local flavor: for example, Italian pizza resembles Indian wheat naan cakes, and pasta or noodles are most often buried in sauce- similar to curry.

The Indians themselves adore national cuisine with tandoori, curry, rice. And bread cakes - they are made from different flours, on water, with or without yeast. At the same time, products cooked in a closed oven, tandoori, are always considered a snack. And curry (pieces of meat, vegetables or cheese in a lot of sauce) is the main dish. One of the most popular Indian dishes among expats is butter chicken, chicken in a creamy tomato sauce. I also love palak paneer, which is an unleavened cheese in a thick green sauce made from spinach leaves. In the south of India, the cuisine is a little different, there is more seafood, and coconut milk is often added to curries.

Flower market in Varanasi

Pan merchant (pan - tobacco with spices that is put under the lip)

Vegetable Market in Old Delhi

Food prices can vary greatly. You can buy lunch on the street - eat dosa (this is a flour pancake from South India) and drink lassi (a spicy yogurt drink) - for 50 rupees (46 ₽). And you can dine in a good restaurant with wine for 5 thousand rupees (4600 ₽), and the main part of the cost will be alcohol, for which the state of Haryana has a very high tax (15%).

In the business centers of Gurgaon, the average cost of lunches is 500– 700 rupees (460 – 644 ₽) per serving. By local standards, it is quite expensive. But the final cost of lunch will be even higher: you need to take into account the amount of taxes of 5%, which is not indicated in the price list, and about 10% of the service charge - it is included in the bill automatically, but you can bargain.

There is a stereotype that in India you need to be very careful when trying food from public catering, otherwise there is a risk of poisoning. My family and I have never experienced this - probably because we avoid "suspicious" places and choose only proven street food. It is also possible that some tourists confuse poisoning with the adaptation of the body to an unfamiliar climate, water and food.

In Moscow

You can taste Indian dishes in several establishments of the Russian capital. For example, in the Jagannat vegetarian cafe you can eat palak paneer for 120 ₽, in the Indian restaurant Khajurao - butter chicken for 790 ₽, and in Darbas you can drink lassi for 300 ₽.

Business lunches in Moscow City cost an average of 300– 450 ₽.

Internet and mobile communication

Until recently, there were three main mobile operators in India - Vodafone, Airtel and Idea. In 2016 richest Indian billionaire another network - Jio. And this served as a tangible impetus for the development of the mobile communications market in India. Jio came with very low rates and the fastest mobile internet in the country and allowed many users to go online for the first time. So, they launched a data plan with a smartphone included, which you can rent for a small fee.

This forced other operators to significantly reduce tariffs. So now mobile communications in India are very cheap. For example, a tariff plan for 28 days with unlimited calls and 1 GB of Internet per day will cost 169 rupees (156 ₽). A package for 82 days with 2 GB of internet per day will cost 499 rupees (459 ₽).

Home internet in Gurgaon is also cheap and relatively stable. My tariff includes about 50 GB of Internet per month, and the rest is carried over to the next term - and in 1 year and 2 months I have accumulated a whole terabyte of unused Internet, although I often watch online TV in HD format. Such Internet costs me 1300 rupees (1196 ₽) per month.

In Moscow

In Moscow, a similar story happened with mobile communications - when the Tele-2 operator entered the market. The cheapest package with conditions similar to those in India (30 GB of Internet, unlimited calls within the network and 800 minutes outside of it) costs 700 ₽ per month. Home Internet for most providers is completely unlimited, and its price is an average of 500 ₽ per month.

Entertainment

Gurgaon is located near Delhi, where there are many famous attractions - the 12th century brick minaret Qutb Minar, the tomb of the Mongolian padishah Humayun, the historical citadel of Red Fort. For foreign tourists, visiting each of them will cost about 500 rupees (460 ₽), but for locals it will cost only 20 rupees (18 ₽). The discount also applies to those who work in India and pay taxes here.

Monkey Temple in Jaipur

Evening performance in Udaipur. This woman dances on broken glass

Taj Mahal and surrounding area

Indian cinema is known far beyond the borders of the country, and it is easy to guess that the locals love to go to the cinema. Gurgaon has an IMAX cinema that shows Hollywood blockbusters in English with subtitles - a ticket for such a session will cost about 500 rupees (460 ₽). But in general, Indians are unlikely to be very interested in American films. In the cinemas of small towns or villages, only local films are shown, and a ticket there can be bought for 30 rupees (28 ₽).

In Moscow

Visiting popular metropolitan attractions is not a cheap pleasure. A ticket to the architectural ensemble of the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin costs 500 ₽, for admission to the Armory you will have to pay another 700 ₽. An entrance ticket to St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square will cost 500 ₽. There are no discounts for local residents, but there are benefits for schoolchildren, students and pensioners. IMAX movie tickets will cost 400– 600 ₽, depending on the location of the cinema and the time of the session.

Money

Indians are born negotiators, they love to bargain. They are very reluctant to make concessions if they see the needs of another, and vice versa, they are ready to offer favorable conditions if the need is on their side.

I recently sold my stuff online. And absolutely all potential buyers demanded huge discounts for the fact that things were already in use - despite the fact that they were all almost new! Let's say, for my ad price of 17,000 rupees (15,640 ₽), I received bids of 3,000 rupees (2,760 ₽). Of course, there were more adequate proposals. But all discussions had to be conducted for a very long time, without hurrying.

Payments and banks

November 2016 in India monetary reform: the authorities withdrew old-style banknotes of 500 and 1000 rupees (460 and 920 ₽) from circulation in order to bring the country's economy out of the shadows and force businessmen to pay taxes. These banknotes accounted for about 90% of all cash in the country. For the first few weeks, it was possible to exchange small amounts for new banknotes, but then the government stopped the exchange and left the only option - to put money on deposit. Huge queues lined up at the banks, and there were even riots in some Indian cities. However, the reform gave a big boost to cashless payments and the use of mobile wallets. Partly for this reason, every tuk-tuk driver accepts payment via smartphone.

India has a very complex banking system and is heavily regulated by the government. There are universal banks with a license for all products. There are depository financial companies - those who can only accept deposits from the population, but do not have the right to lend it. Lending companies, in turn, are prohibited from accepting deposits. Literally, each area of ​​activity has its own narrow financial company: someone finances construction, someone finances cars or household appliances.

Salary

Let me remind you once again about the gap between the rich and the poor and about the rather high standard of living in Gurgaon compared to the rest of India. The average salary of yesterday's graduate in the initial mass position, say, a call center employee, is 10– 15 thousand rupees (9200– 13 800 ₽) per month. Specialists from 6– With 8 years of experience, they earn around 100 thousand rupees (92 thousand ₽) per month. At the same time, graduates of good universities that are in the top 10– 20 in terms of performance in their course, they can count on employment in some large corporation and on a monthly salary of about 150 thousand rupees (138 thousand ₽) immediately after studying.

in Moscow in 2018 Mosgorstat, the average salary was 78,946 ₽ - this is also a figure before taxes.

Average spend per month:

Prices are translated into rubles at the rate of 1 rupee = 0.92 ₽.

Total:

India: 96,743 rupees (89,004 ₽)

Moscow: 118 630 ₽

When calculating the total costs, we used the prices indicated in the text. If the price range was indicated, the arithmetic mean was considered. When writing the text Sravni.ru did not cooperate with any company and brand.