A Canadian man shares the experience of living in Bengaluru with his wife’s family, and says he loves Cubbon Park.
A Canadian man shared his experience of moving to India, Bengaluru, permanently, with his wife and how frustrating and rewarding his first five months in India were. Five months have passed but the man has not been able to open a bank account.
He goes back and forth at the bank a lot because he is a foreigner and now needs an Aadhaar card and PAN number in India. The man said international cards are not accepted and no one has money, so his wife pays for everything.“I went to a bank to open an account. The woman at the front desk told me they don’t open accounts for foreigners. That’s not true. I came back a few days later and was told I needed to register with the FRRO. That meant a lot of going back and forth with the government portal and convincing my parents to authenticate my marriage certificate in Canada.
Got FRRO, went back to bank, now they need Aadhaar and PAN. Aadhaar requires 182 days in the country. 5 months later, I still can’t pay for things.
International cards are not accepted outside of delivery apps, and cash doesn’t work because no one changes. “My wife pays for everything when we’re out,” he wrote on Reddit.The Canadian man is also unhappy with the products available in India, where he says there are a lot of lies and fakes.
He regularly faces a language barrier and has no real friends in India, but he said he and his wife quit their jobs before moving to India, and now organize tours of Cubbon Park, rock climbing groups and so on.
“Still the right decision…”
The Canadian man said that despite all the negatives, he feels they made the right decision. The cost of living is much lower than in Toronto, and Bengaluru has an emerging energy that he likes. “Even with all of this, I still think we made the right decision.
The cost of living is much lower than in Toronto, so our runway is much longer here. Having a maid frees up a lot of time. Incredible south Indian food. Real ingredients and very cheap.
I can eat ghee podi masala dosa every day. I’ve lost 14 pounds since I got here. And almost everyone I meet here is building something. Lots of founders. “This is the energy I wanted to be in,” he wrote.“It’s taken 5 months, but I’m finally settling into a good rhythm and working on things that excite me. No commute. No committee rejecting every idea. No panic attacks like I used to have my banking job. I can go to the gym in the middle of the day, take the afternoon off, work late, whatever I want. The bad things are mostly one-time inconveniences. The good things are I get to do what I want every day on my own schedule. This is where we are now.”
Whether it’s forever, who knows. He added that air quality and traffic are real concerns, especially for children.
