Moving from Paris to Chennai

[Ajeet Jose]

Hi,
I am planning to move from Paris/France to Chennai/India in Q2 2004.
About me..
+ MSc Physics 1993, PGDCS 1994 (both Univ. of Madras)
+ 9 years of IT ( 4y in C/UNIX, 5y Java, 3y J2EE/WebSphere)
+ 5y Europe, 4y Middle east
+ SCJP, SCWCD, SCBCD, IBM 158, 157, 486, 483, 484, 489, 340, 341, 287, XML, DB2
+ worked for big names in Europe
I left Chennai/India in 1994, do not know current IT market
Any advice from Chennai guys?
Thanks
[ December 16, 2003: Message edited by: Ajeet Jose ]

[Karthik Guru]

Paris to Chennai uhhm . But either way, i w'd strongly recommend that you relocate to Bangalore ( just 6 hours by train / 25 minutes if you fly from chennai) You have lots more options here when compared to chennai / for that matter any other city in india if you are doing IT. CTS is big in Chennai. Other than that am unable to recollect any big names there. But in Bangalore ofcourse, everyone has set up a shop of considerable size. Pay scales are far better and hopefully better life style.

[Pradeep bhatt]

hopefully better life style

Dont forget the bad traffic

[Ashok Mash]

Almost all major Indian IT firms have development centers in Chennai - Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Satyam, HCL and many more.
Depending upon the individual, Chennai could be hot, humid, over-crowded, polluted, filthy, and exhausting but on the other end, its cheap (property, eating out etc) and has tremendous growth potential. Its up to you, really.
Yes, they pay relatively less in Chennai.

[Karthik Guru]

Originally posted by Pradeep Bhat:

Dont forget the bad traffic

Chennai its even worse and the climate/weather the less said the better.

[Karthik Guru]

Originally posted by Pradeep Bhat:

Dont forget the bad traffic

Btw, where are you put up? where do u work ? we s'd probably meet up sometime i wonder how many folks here work out of bangalore

[Karthik Guru]

Ashok,
Any big/medioum sized MNC in chennai?. I found verizon the other day , not sure how big it is. Other than that c'dn't notice much.

[Ajeet Jose]

Thanks for the response.
Someone could comment from the prospective of a mid 30's with family and kids?.

[Al Newman]

Originally posted by karthik Guru:
Ashok,
Any big/medioum sized MNC in chennai?. I found verizon the other day , not sure how big it is. Other than that c'dn't notice much.

Verizon is a huge telecoms firm in the US. A combination of Bell Atlantic, Nynex, and GTE. Verizon Wireless is one of the big cellular firms in the US (half-owned by Verizon, half Vodaphone). Don't know how big they are in India.

[Ashok Mash]

Originally posted by karthik Guru:
Any big/medioum sized MNC in chennai?.

I don't know, to be honest! However, here is a list of customers of Chennai's primary technology complex, the Tidel Park. I noticed many familiar names, including CA and EDS.
Cheers!

[Karthik Guru]

Thanks a lot! for the information about verizon and the link to the tidal park.

[D. Rose]

Hi Ajeet,
If you have family etc, I will advice you to be cautious.
I think you have stayed outside India for long ( 9 years). In my opinion Visitng in vacations does not give the real picture.
A have seen a lot of change here in just 3 years. Social scene is also changing. In metros, culture is more or less like western culture ( people are not much helping )but day to day problems remain like water , commuting , pollution etc. so I think life has become more tedious.
I would say you should not close all doors for going back. May be you can try coming on deputation and find out more rather than making a final jump.

[Ajeet Jose]

Hi,
Thanks for the idea. It sounds wise. Since the India I see is only from the internet. In the past 9 years, I just visited 4 times of each 2 to 3 weeks.
That also I just visited my family in interior tamilnadu and not even a full day stay in Madras.
Guys talking here about Bangalore, which I visited only once in 1991 for 3 days. It will be totally new + risky in terms of lang, socio, politic,culture etc.
I clearly have no idea (just something from samachar.com) about social, political, economic info.
Your advice in already in my heart. Because Iit is too easy for a 25 year old single guy to move arround anywhere, not for a family man.
A. Jose

[R K Singh]

Originally posted by Ajeet Jose:
Guys talking here about Bangalore, which I visited only once in 1991 for 3 days. It will be totally new + risky in terms of lang, socio, politic,culture etc.

Till now I have not faced any such problem. People here are cool and loving except when it comes to Kavery (atleast for Tamilians). And at that time also max they do is to ban the Tamil movies
But tamil movies are so much in demand that that ban does not last for too long

[Ajeet Jose]

Thanks for the reply.
In Bangalore, will there be language problem?. Since I do not know Kanadam or Hindhi or Telugu. Is that OK with English everywhere especially for families.
Particularly any problem for Tamil families?.