The Two Year Report Card

Its been 2 years now since we moved back to India from the USA. I had written a one year report card on completion of our one year in India. And now is the time to write the two year report card. Time really flies.

Most things that I had mentioned in the first year report card still hold true. The same Ups and Downs that were in first year report card can be included for second year too. Driving is still my number one gripe in India. People are just inconsiderate when they get behind the wheel. Everyone wants to get ahead. And very few drivers have any concern for the pedestrians. Driving brings out the worst in me and later on I always regret my outbursts while driving. Dimple is a witness to my road rage.

This past year saw us buy an apartment in Pune and getting some interior done in the same. The flat buying experience was different than our USA house buying experience and more difficult in my opinion. More paperwork and more things to be careful of.

Most of those who buy a flat in India need to get some interior done. :-). And that is another roller coaster ride by itself. Dealing with contractor, missed deadlines, too many choices to make, wrong material, etc, etc. Everyone who has got interior done in India will have many interesting stories to tell. And of course the fact that we have not moved in yet into our own flat even though we bought it in Nov 2012 is an indication of how things have been over the past year. 🙂

We have come to terms with some of the things that were troubling us in Year 1. Mentally I think we are much stronger now. In India you have to be. There is always a challenge to be solved here. :-). One gets resolved, another crops up.

Still Like Pune better than Mumbai even though Mumbai provides more social life for us. Pune’s weather is simply awesome. And not as bad traffic as some of Mumbai’s roads. More affordable, more facilities in buildings and more open spaces in Pune. I find folks in Mumbai more aggresive and have witnessed more quarrels in Mumbai then in Pune. Folks travelling in trains are too much on the edge and quarrels can be witnessed more in and around trains.

It is not that easy here to step out during a weekday evening to get some things done. It was easier to do this in USA. Impromptu meetings (like picnic in park) are also hard to achieve. First of all the parks dont have picnic type facilities. :-). And then the folks are busy with something else and other commitments. Social life for men is much worse compared to that for women or kids.

Food is a positive here of course. The variety and tastiness of food here is awesome. Many good restaurants catering to different cuisines. Kairavi now follows Hindi kids serials and is hooked onto Hindi songs too. Suravi follows Kairavi. Both are hooked onto Bollywood Dancing. Both can speak reasonably good Hindi now. Education wise I think they are being appropriately challenged as per their ability. If I rank “Driving” as the biggest negative then I will rank “Kids Indian Exposure” as the biggest plus. For some of the other differences between India and USA you will need to personally speak to me. :-). Different folks will have different experiences based on their situation in USA and in India. India definitely has improved by leaps and bounds in some areas. And there are definitely many good things to look forward to here as well.

We still miss USA and KVites and the kind of things that we were able to do in USA. Although some of the things have now slowly started to fade from my memory. Sometimes I wonder whether our USA stay really happened. :-). However Thanks to WhatsApp, Facebook, Kutchvalley.com we are still in touch with the happenings that are going on in the Bay Area. The Pune Kutchi Youth Mandal does do interesting events every 2-3 months. We are thankful for that but still miss our very own KV gang.

Thank you to those of you who have taken time to talk to us over phone, visit us while they are in India and catch up on email. We really feel good when someone from our favorite Bay Area visits us. So whenever you are in India please make a trip to our humble abode in Pune.

Lets see which adventures this roller coaster ride take us in our Year 3.