Monday, January 10, 2011

Europeans in Chennai

Today I read an article in the newspaper about expats living in India.

The number of Europeans living in Chennai has been rising steadily. One sees them in departmental stores or taking a walk in the neighborhood. A woman I see frequently rides a bicycle with her baby tucked in the baby seat behind her. It's nice to see some yellow hair once in a while. A good friend of mind had previously taken the trouble to explain to me the process of determining whether the hair color is natural (or dyed). I use that algorithm rigorously to check the authenticity of the hair color.

Some Europeans come here (Chennai) to learn classical dancing (Bharatnatyam), some come here to fill in on spirituality (whatever that means). Some come here because it's an interesting place and far cheaper to live. Some come here for medical treatment, because medical facilities in India and Chennai in particular are high class and it's far cheaper than in Europe (where you may have to wait months if you want to avail of subsidized medical facility or sell your last pair of trousers if you want to get good medical facility RIGHT NOW). Others work in the IT industry, some are pilots, some are with Nokia and so on.

A couple of years ago I met a couple from Scandinavia who were in India for the summer, traveling. They said that if one didn't include the the cost of air travel to India, it was cheaper to stay in India (in hotels, mind you) and travel around than to stay in their own country.

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