India is making huge strides in solar energy development.
VVDN stands for Video Voice Data Networking, but the company is branching out into some pretty interesting solar products, based on some of the R&D they are doing for their main business.
VVDN reps came to my house Saturday to install a small solar 3-light system. It consisted of a small 1’ square cube that included the solar battery and the controller, wires, LED lights and the solar panel itself. I was surprised at how small the panel was, only about 4 square feet.
The setup was fairly straight forward. They went up to the roof terrace and placed the solar panel in the right place and threw the wire down to my place on the ground floor. They drilled a hole through the French doors to accommodate the wire. They installed the lights then ran the wires back to the box and connected them inside. They connected the wire from the roof and that was it. The battery comes already fully charged, so the “ready” light on the front was already green. Each light has a switch on the front of the cube, but the installer said the next version of the lights will have a pull chain so you can turn it on and off at the lamp.
This system holds enough of a charge to light all three lights for six hours, more if you have less lights on the system.
The LED lights are specially designed to use very little power per lamp. The standard bulb used in India today, the CFL bulb (compact fluorescent lamp), lasts a maximum of 8,000 burning hours while an LED light lasts for 50,000 burning hours while using less energy. VVDN has built an interesting circuit board that enables the lights to use much less energy while still producing a great deal of light. All I know is that when I’ve used solar lights in my gardens at homes in the U.S., they were way too dim to be useful for much, other than keeping people on the path, not nearly as bright as hard-wired systems. These lights are a really elegant and bright solution. You can read by them with no difficulty.
The box features a solar battery, the same as all batteries used for electrical purposes, such as inverters, the difference being that it charges and releases slowly. It lasts a lot longer than your standard car battery (car batteries last 1-2 years; solar batteries last up to 8 years). They’re built differently with different chemicals and internal structures. Yu Yu Din, Founder of Renewable Spirit, an NGO planning to implement solar panels systems in Burma, stated, “You could use a car battery to power your house, but it wouldn’t last very long. They are designed to produce a huge amount of power to start a car; you couldn’t use a solar battery for the same application because you can’t get that amount of power at once – that’s why it lasts so much longer.”
The controller developed by VVDN is really special and is designed to control how the battery charges in order to make it perform at its maximum efficiency. The small system is completely encapsulated in a waterproof, tamper-proof plastic box that makes it not only easily deployable, but re-deployable whenever a family moves from one structure to another. Plus you wouldn’t have to tinker around with the technicalities. The system engineer who came to install the system at my house, Parveen Sangwan, said that VVDN is developing modules that are plug and play so that folks can just plug the system in with even less installation time.
In the developed world, I think I would use these at home for exterior projects, like a garden room or pergola, small cabins in the woods, any place where getting electricity to the structure would be expensive and difficult. In rural applications and off-grid applications worldwide, VVDN’s systems are a perfect solution for how most of the world lives and empowers those either completely off-grid and those with unreliable power, like myself, with a solution that is completely sustainable and affordable. I was thinking that these systems would be ideal for emergency situations where people are relocated to temporary housing, such as in Hurricane Katrina, Darfur and other areas where refugees require electricity for daily living. Because they are repeatedly re-deployable, the systems could be used to help many people in need with minimal cost and no harm to the planet.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Coming to Live in India, the F.R.R.O. and Trying to Leave the Country
Funny thing. A fellow blogger asked me to confirm the address for the FRRO and I spent a half hour or so describing that exquisitely painful experience known as the FRRO. A few hours later, on an email list (Gurgaon Connection), a brilliant person had much better information for her, me (since I've trade shows to do in June), and everyone else who's trying to come in or go out requiring the services of the "lovely" officers at the F.R.R.O.
BTW, a joke...what does FRRO stand for? Next post, kids, or maybe check the comments. Enjoy... :-)
Hi there,
It's Mathanaseelan here again. I had asked some of you about the procedures that needs to be done before leaving India for good. Now, here are my findings after running around for 2 years. I am safely in Malaysia now and thank you for the people who did send me a lot of good advice while I was there.
1) FRRO registration is needed if you are going to stay in India for more than 6 months, and you need to do it within your first 14 days in India.
1.1.1) Find out from the FRRO officer what is the correct Challan code to quote when you are making your payment.
1.1.2) Go to a local State Bank. Eg: In Hyderabad I had to go to the State Bank of Andhra to pay this.
1.1.3) There was a guy OUTSIDE the bank with the form. Pay him and tell him the "challan code" and he will fill it up beautifully for you, with all the nitty-gritty.
1.1.4) Queue, Make payment, and take Receipt to be shown to FRRO Officer. Ensure receipt quotes the correct "challan code" otherwise you just paid fine for something else. (This challan code experience was in Andhra Pradesh, it may differ in Haryana)
1.2) You're required to bring with you at registration:-
1.2.1) Pasport size photo (x 4 to be on the safe side)
1.2.2) Letter from organisation stating that you are staying in so-so address and that they are employing you for "X" duration to be in India and your passport and visa details in that same letter as well.
1.2.3) I think the Delhi FRRO actually have a template online how that letter is supposed to look like. I know i saw it somewhere.
1.2.4) Rent Agreement showing the proof of your address of stay in India. This has to be done on the Indian "legal" paper which you would have to buy and fill up the agreement and both parties sign on it. Verbal agreements and anything lesser than that "legal" agreement is unacceptable as Address proof.
1.2.5) Employment agreement showing the number of months you are going to be working with the company in India.
1.2.5) Go at 10am. Office opens 9am - 3pm. Lunch (1:30 - 2:30). The Gurgaon FRRO office main guy was late both times i went there.
1.2.6) The real FRRO Officer is actually the Deputy Commissioner of Police of Gurgaon who sits in a bigger office somewhere else in the building. The guys who we see in the office all report to him. If things get too late at the FRRO office in the morning and the DCP is not there, you'll be required to go again to the Mini Secretariat the next day to collect the signed FRRO Papers.
*Note: I might have missed something important here and please if there is something else to be here; add it in.
1.3) Location of FRRO Office Gurgaon is at the 3rd floor, Mini Secretariat. Travelling south on Nh8 (away from Delhi); turn right at Rajiv Chowk and you will see it on your left.
2) After registration, during your stay you need to have your FRRO papers with you wherever you go.
2.1) I think those who register in Delhi actually get it in a card form. So no point getting confused. Gurgaon-ites get it in 2 pieces of paper, stapled together, that is signed and stamped and has your picture.
2.2) The registration number is important and please note it down somewhere in your mobile so that even if you are caught without your papers, you can quote the number and they can check your registration with the Gurgaon FRRO officials.
2.3) Due to the important nature of those papers, I think keeping the originals and taking a photocopied set on your person is a safer option. After all, it's the Registration number which is importantly noted when you leave the country for short visits etc.
3) Leaving India after registration.
3.1) Leaving India within 6 months of your entry, either temporary or permanently, the Immigration officers couldn't be bothered less cause people staying less than 6 months don't need to register anyway.
3.2) Leaving India temporarily, after 6 months of arrival in India.
3.2.1) MUST have ORIGINAL FRRO form otherwise you'll be kicked out of the airport by immigration and your suitcases would be returned to you. Your ticket would be booked as a "No Show Passenger".
3.2.2) You can go to nearest airline counter within airport to re-confirm the tkt for some other date. Best is to do it then, cause if they ask any questions you can get the actual immigration officers who kicked you out to talk to them as well.
3.2.3) Make sure you tell them it's a visit and you intend to return to India and prove it by showing the return tickets. The immigration officer then checks your Registration number and HANDS YOU BACK THE ORIGINAL FRRO FORM.
3.2.4) If you don't have the return tickets booked, I think you just have to tell the guys nicely and they would listen and give the ORIGINAL FRRO FORM back to you anyway.
3.3) Leaving India for good, after 6 months of arrival in India.
3.3.1) MUST have ORIGINAL FRRO form otherwise you'll be kicked out of the airport by immigration and your suitcases would be returned to you. Your ticket would be booked as a "No Show Passenger".
3.3.2) You can go to nearest airline counter within airport to re-confirm the tkt for some other date. Best is to do it then, cause if they ask any questions you can get the actual immigration officers who kicked you out to talk to them as well.
3.3.3) In Hyderabad, you need to go BACK to the FRRO officer and get a clearance stamped on the FRRO form by him, stating he has no objections of you leaving the country. The FRRO guy in Gurgaon told me I just need to surrender the form at port of exit (in my case Chennai airport, since it was cheaper to stopover in Chennai before going to Malaysia) and I don't have to get any approvals from him before leaving.
3.3.4) For those who were EMPLOYED in India and leaving, there is another form that you need to be able to show to the immigration officers before you leave the country. You need to have completely filed your Income Tax with the Indian tax authorities, paid them, get your CA/company Finance or Accounts dept. to get you an Income Tax Clearance Certificate after the payment has been made completely. It's a simple document which is to be signed by the tax authorities of India stating I have paid everythign and they have no objections in me leaving the country.
3.3.5) The FRRO guy in Gurgaon told me to have the tax clearance certificate in hand to show the immigration officers before leaving. They just need to see it.
3.3.6) The Immigration officer at any airport would take and KEEP the FRRO form if you are permanently leaving India. They then send the collected FRRO form to the officer in Gurgaon, where he closes your registration I guess.
4) PAN Card. Please do not make the mistake I did. I joined a small company who asked me to get the PAN Card done myself. I had no idea how to do it, didn't take too much of an initiative to do it for almost a year. Bottomline: lazy.
4.1) www.tin-nsdl.com
4.2) Find an agent location near you and ensure you call and try out the numbers as some of them, I irritatedly realised, had cancelled their number so you cannot be sure if those agents are still operational in the given addresses. I finally found a man named Rajesh from Janakpuri among that list, who was kind enough to come to my house and do it for me.
4.2.1) You have to fill up the form they have.
4.2.2) You need to provide 2 photographs which is at a non-normal dimension. So, I did it in Khan Market where I told the guy how I wanted the dimensions to be and he adjusted it. (25mm x 35mm) [Editor's note: Yu Yu simply took my regular passport sized photo and cut it to size with scissors. Much less hassle.]
4.2.3) You need to provide a Proof of Identity and you need to provide a proof of address. Mr. Rajesh used my original bank account statement from ICICI as a proof of address and proof of identity. (The bank statement had my full name and my full address). Check the website for details of other documents that can be used.
4.2.4) There is a payment of some INR 160+. I cannot remember clearly. I just gave the dude INR 200 since he had travelled pretty far and met me in my home after work hours and I felt that was actually worth some tip.
4.3) Within 3-4 working days I got the PAN Card number SMSed to me and within 7-8 working days the PAN Card itself was couriered to me. It was actually that easy to do it personally.
4.4) I think it's easier if you actually work for a bigger company, they get it done for you because every month your salary slip should reflect the PAN No., to indicate where the tax deducted from salary is being deposited. This makes it easier then for you to get your Income Tax Clearance Certificate.
4.5) PAN No. is also used to send larger amounts of money home, exchange large amounts of Indian currency to your home currency, apply credit cards and open any type of account; it has your residence address and your picture, making it a proxy for an identification card.
4.6) As stupid as it may sound, the FRRO registration papers are not enough to be shown to Vodafone or any India based companies as an identity / residence proof. It had my address and picture as well but for some reason, they refused to accept it whenever I gave it to them. They looked at it and then they asked for an official govt. document. I showed them the stamp of the Deputy Police Commissioner of Gurgaon, but that just wasn't "government-ish" enough for them. Personally, I feel it's stupid to make us do a registration which just has to be surrendered at time of departure, in the meantime we cannot use that in our daily lives in India.
5) Bonus Chapter: Sending stuff through Air Cargo.
5.1) You need: Copy of Flight tickets, Copy of Visa, Copy of Front and back pages of Passport to be given to the Freight Forwarders.
5.2) If you can call people to your home and afford the trucking charges to the airport then do that. Otherwise. I booked a cab and sent the boxes to an agent myself.
5.3) I called MASKargo straight. They told me a rough estimate of their air frieght charges and told me I cannot do the customs clearance at India side myself. They recommended me to use Scorpio Freight in Janakpuri District Centre.
5.4) Not too sure about other airlines but basic MASKargo freight charges has a cut off at 100kg, as of now. Below taht is 75 rupees / KG. Above that is 65 rupees/KG. My boxes were 102KG in total, so I benefitted about INR 800. Therefore, whoever you talk to make sure you know their complete tariff plan to make better decisions.
5.5) The Scorpio Freight guy had everything itemised so I could be sure that there were no "hidden" charges so to speak.
5.6) When my goods arrvied in Malaysia 2 days ago, some agent caught whiff of this news and called us to say for RM 400 he can do all the paperwork and deliver it to our doorstep. Not sure if they actually have a tie up with MAS or was this just someone exploiting inside information.
5.7) A few hours later MASKargo themselves called and told us the Terminal Handling charges on their end is RM20 plus RM22.60 to buy the Customs Declaration form. If you include my petrol charges as RM50; I got my boxes back home in less than RM100. That and I had to go through the whole customs clearance process which was about 1.5 hours. Definitely better than paying 4 times more money to someone out to make a profit.
BTW, a joke...what does FRRO stand for? Next post, kids, or maybe check the comments. Enjoy... :-)
Hi there,
It's Mathanaseelan here again. I had asked some of you about the procedures that needs to be done before leaving India for good. Now, here are my findings after running around for 2 years. I am safely in Malaysia now and thank you for the people who did send me a lot of good advice while I was there.
1) FRRO registration is needed if you are going to stay in India for more than 6 months, and you need to do it within your first 14 days in India.
1.1.1) Find out from the FRRO officer what is the correct Challan code to quote when you are making your payment.
1.1.2) Go to a local State Bank. Eg: In Hyderabad I had to go to the State Bank of Andhra to pay this.
1.1.3) There was a guy OUTSIDE the bank with the form. Pay him and tell him the "challan code" and he will fill it up beautifully for you, with all the nitty-gritty.
1.1.4) Queue, Make payment, and take Receipt to be shown to FRRO Officer. Ensure receipt quotes the correct "challan code" otherwise you just paid fine for something else. (This challan code experience was in Andhra Pradesh, it may differ in Haryana)
1.2) You're required to bring with you at registration:-
1.2.1) Pasport size photo (x 4 to be on the safe side)
1.2.2) Letter from organisation stating that you are staying in so-so address and that they are employing you for "X" duration to be in India and your passport and visa details in that same letter as well.
1.2.3) I think the Delhi FRRO actually have a template online how that letter is supposed to look like. I know i saw it somewhere.
1.2.4) Rent Agreement showing the proof of your address of stay in India. This has to be done on the Indian "legal" paper which you would have to buy and fill up the agreement and both parties sign on it. Verbal agreements and anything lesser than that "legal" agreement is unacceptable as Address proof.
1.2.5) Employment agreement showing the number of months you are going to be working with the company in India.
1.2.5) Go at 10am. Office opens 9am - 3pm. Lunch (1:30 - 2:30). The Gurgaon FRRO office main guy was late both times i went there.
1.2.6) The real FRRO Officer is actually the Deputy Commissioner of Police of Gurgaon who sits in a bigger office somewhere else in the building. The guys who we see in the office all report to him. If things get too late at the FRRO office in the morning and the DCP is not there, you'll be required to go again to the Mini Secretariat the next day to collect the signed FRRO Papers.
*Note: I might have missed something important here and please if there is something else to be here; add it in.
1.3) Location of FRRO Office Gurgaon is at the 3rd floor, Mini Secretariat. Travelling south on Nh8 (away from Delhi); turn right at Rajiv Chowk and you will see it on your left.
2) After registration, during your stay you need to have your FRRO papers with you wherever you go.
2.1) I think those who register in Delhi actually get it in a card form. So no point getting confused. Gurgaon-ites get it in 2 pieces of paper, stapled together, that is signed and stamped and has your picture.
2.2) The registration number is important and please note it down somewhere in your mobile so that even if you are caught without your papers, you can quote the number and they can check your registration with the Gurgaon FRRO officials.
2.3) Due to the important nature of those papers, I think keeping the originals and taking a photocopied set on your person is a safer option. After all, it's the Registration number which is importantly noted when you leave the country for short visits etc.
3) Leaving India after registration.
3.1) Leaving India within 6 months of your entry, either temporary or permanently, the Immigration officers couldn't be bothered less cause people staying less than 6 months don't need to register anyway.
3.2) Leaving India temporarily, after 6 months of arrival in India.
3.2.1) MUST have ORIGINAL FRRO form otherwise you'll be kicked out of the airport by immigration and your suitcases would be returned to you. Your ticket would be booked as a "No Show Passenger".
3.2.2) You can go to nearest airline counter within airport to re-confirm the tkt for some other date. Best is to do it then, cause if they ask any questions you can get the actual immigration officers who kicked you out to talk to them as well.
3.2.3) Make sure you tell them it's a visit and you intend to return to India and prove it by showing the return tickets. The immigration officer then checks your Registration number and HANDS YOU BACK THE ORIGINAL FRRO FORM.
3.2.4) If you don't have the return tickets booked, I think you just have to tell the guys nicely and they would listen and give the ORIGINAL FRRO FORM back to you anyway.
3.3) Leaving India for good, after 6 months of arrival in India.
3.3.1) MUST have ORIGINAL FRRO form otherwise you'll be kicked out of the airport by immigration and your suitcases would be returned to you. Your ticket would be booked as a "No Show Passenger".
3.3.2) You can go to nearest airline counter within airport to re-confirm the tkt for some other date. Best is to do it then, cause if they ask any questions you can get the actual immigration officers who kicked you out to talk to them as well.
3.3.3) In Hyderabad, you need to go BACK to the FRRO officer and get a clearance stamped on the FRRO form by him, stating he has no objections of you leaving the country. The FRRO guy in Gurgaon told me I just need to surrender the form at port of exit (in my case Chennai airport, since it was cheaper to stopover in Chennai before going to Malaysia) and I don't have to get any approvals from him before leaving.
3.3.4) For those who were EMPLOYED in India and leaving, there is another form that you need to be able to show to the immigration officers before you leave the country. You need to have completely filed your Income Tax with the Indian tax authorities, paid them, get your CA/company Finance or Accounts dept. to get you an Income Tax Clearance Certificate after the payment has been made completely. It's a simple document which is to be signed by the tax authorities of India stating I have paid everythign and they have no objections in me leaving the country.
3.3.5) The FRRO guy in Gurgaon told me to have the tax clearance certificate in hand to show the immigration officers before leaving. They just need to see it.
3.3.6) The Immigration officer at any airport would take and KEEP the FRRO form if you are permanently leaving India. They then send the collected FRRO form to the officer in Gurgaon, where he closes your registration I guess.
4) PAN Card. Please do not make the mistake I did. I joined a small company who asked me to get the PAN Card done myself. I had no idea how to do it, didn't take too much of an initiative to do it for almost a year. Bottomline: lazy.
4.1) www.tin-nsdl.com
4.2) Find an agent location near you and ensure you call and try out the numbers as some of them, I irritatedly realised, had cancelled their number so you cannot be sure if those agents are still operational in the given addresses. I finally found a man named Rajesh from Janakpuri among that list, who was kind enough to come to my house and do it for me.
4.2.1) You have to fill up the form they have.
4.2.2) You need to provide 2 photographs which is at a non-normal dimension. So, I did it in Khan Market where I told the guy how I wanted the dimensions to be and he adjusted it. (25mm x 35mm) [Editor's note: Yu Yu simply took my regular passport sized photo and cut it to size with scissors. Much less hassle.]
4.2.3) You need to provide a Proof of Identity and you need to provide a proof of address. Mr. Rajesh used my original bank account statement from ICICI as a proof of address and proof of identity. (The bank statement had my full name and my full address). Check the website for details of other documents that can be used.
4.2.4) There is a payment of some INR 160+. I cannot remember clearly. I just gave the dude INR 200 since he had travelled pretty far and met me in my home after work hours and I felt that was actually worth some tip.
4.3) Within 3-4 working days I got the PAN Card number SMSed to me and within 7-8 working days the PAN Card itself was couriered to me. It was actually that easy to do it personally.
4.4) I think it's easier if you actually work for a bigger company, they get it done for you because every month your salary slip should reflect the PAN No., to indicate where the tax deducted from salary is being deposited. This makes it easier then for you to get your Income Tax Clearance Certificate.
4.5) PAN No. is also used to send larger amounts of money home, exchange large amounts of Indian currency to your home currency, apply credit cards and open any type of account; it has your residence address and your picture, making it a proxy for an identification card.
4.6) As stupid as it may sound, the FRRO registration papers are not enough to be shown to Vodafone or any India based companies as an identity / residence proof. It had my address and picture as well but for some reason, they refused to accept it whenever I gave it to them. They looked at it and then they asked for an official govt. document. I showed them the stamp of the Deputy Police Commissioner of Gurgaon, but that just wasn't "government-ish" enough for them. Personally, I feel it's stupid to make us do a registration which just has to be surrendered at time of departure, in the meantime we cannot use that in our daily lives in India.
5) Bonus Chapter: Sending stuff through Air Cargo.
5.1) You need: Copy of Flight tickets, Copy of Visa, Copy of Front and back pages of Passport to be given to the Freight Forwarders.
5.2) If you can call people to your home and afford the trucking charges to the airport then do that. Otherwise. I booked a cab and sent the boxes to an agent myself.
5.3) I called MASKargo straight. They told me a rough estimate of their air frieght charges and told me I cannot do the customs clearance at India side myself. They recommended me to use Scorpio Freight in Janakpuri District Centre.
5.4) Not too sure about other airlines but basic MASKargo freight charges has a cut off at 100kg, as of now. Below taht is 75 rupees / KG. Above that is 65 rupees/KG. My boxes were 102KG in total, so I benefitted about INR 800. Therefore, whoever you talk to make sure you know their complete tariff plan to make better decisions.
5.5) The Scorpio Freight guy had everything itemised so I could be sure that there were no "hidden" charges so to speak.
5.6) When my goods arrvied in Malaysia 2 days ago, some agent caught whiff of this news and called us to say for RM 400 he can do all the paperwork and deliver it to our doorstep. Not sure if they actually have a tie up with MAS or was this just someone exploiting inside information.
5.7) A few hours later MASKargo themselves called and told us the Terminal Handling charges on their end is RM20 plus RM22.60 to buy the Customs Declaration form. If you include my petrol charges as RM50; I got my boxes back home in less than RM100. That and I had to go through the whole customs clearance process which was about 1.5 hours. Definitely better than paying 4 times more money to someone out to make a profit.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Followup Re: Book Sellers in Gurgaon
At last I have found the bookstore of my dreams. :-) Actually, Will found it at the Galleria Mall. It's called Quill and Canvas Bookstore and Artmart and it is situated on the ground floor.
We visited yesterday and I had my list of Indian writers with me and my attitude that I'll never find Steinbeck here in this country. Of course, they had everything, from Sufi poets, Heidegger, the Vikrams (Chandra & Seth), along with a number of American classics (even Steinbeck). The manager, a lovely well-read woman, was a little bit pushy in showing us books, but it came across as a love of reading, not so much to push a sale. It was obvious that she had read many of her wares and suggested excellent books based on our preferences.
She remembered Will from the week before and what he had bought then, and suggested more books of the same. I like that in a vendor. We will certainly be back, again and again and again.
Quill and Canvas
SG-082 Galleria
DLF City - Phase IV
Phone: 4050306 / 2574416
Email: quillandcanvas@rediffmail.com
Enjoy!
We visited yesterday and I had my list of Indian writers with me and my attitude that I'll never find Steinbeck here in this country. Of course, they had everything, from Sufi poets, Heidegger, the Vikrams (Chandra & Seth), along with a number of American classics (even Steinbeck). The manager, a lovely well-read woman, was a little bit pushy in showing us books, but it came across as a love of reading, not so much to push a sale. It was obvious that she had read many of her wares and suggested excellent books based on our preferences.
She remembered Will from the week before and what he had bought then, and suggested more books of the same. I like that in a vendor. We will certainly be back, again and again and again.
Quill and Canvas
SG-082 Galleria
DLF City - Phase IV
Phone: 4050306 / 2574416
Email: quillandcanvas@rediffmail.com
Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
What Does An Average Indian Earn?
Geoff asked me a question that became a very long comment, so I am turning it into another blog post...
Okay, first a disclaimer - these are my impressions and not any report based on the due diligence of statistical review.
The average pay is hard to quantify because so much money stays off the tax rolls. The range of pay for people working in multinational companies is a factor of at least 2 compared to Indian companies. Many people freelance and work more than one job if they can find it. Any money they can get in cash is under reported.
Rickshaw wallas and cab drivers pay a rental fee for the rickshaw/cab and keep everything they earn after expenses. In Kolkata, the daily rental for a cab was 500 rupees, plus petrol, etc. That's why a lot of them want to become chauffeurs - one client, much higher pay, especially if they speak English. In Kolkata, the cost (to me) for a car/driver was between 25K and 30K/month. Here, the average charge for the same service with a semi-English speaking driver seems to be around 40K and is typically closer to 60K in the expat world.
Domestic staff prefer to work for expats because they pay a LOT more. For example, a family of five living in the Salt Lake section of Kolkata paid their maid 500 rupees/month with no benefits to work seven days a week. My maid in Kolkata was paid 3,000 to run a household of two. She spoke only Bengali, worked six days a week and was provided with vacations. Here in Gurgaon, my English-speaking housekeeper makes 7,000 salary, 1,000/month for transportation, 2,500/quarter for uniforms, full medical and takes a week off every couple of months. She works six days/week, and hired two women to do floors, wash dishes and clothes. She pays for their salaries out of hers because she said there was too much work. Now she cooks and does the food shopping and supervises the other women. Previously, she worked for one family who paid her 16,000/month with all the accompanying benefits. She'll be heading to London to visit them in the summer. I hope she comes back.
The other thing is that a lot of folks have more than one income. Using my housekeeper as an example, I know for a fact that she works with another expat in the same building because we hired her together. We both pay half her salary, and split her benefits, so she makes a minimum of 16,000/month. I believe she also manages a few other households - at least one other...
Now, looking back at the internet companies I worked for here, linkers had a starting salary of 7,000/month. The security guard at the telecom tower I visited last week in Rajasthan makes 12,000/month. Management level pay is even wider ranging. I had two managers with the same backgrounds - one was paid 1.1 lakh/month (110,000 Rupees) and the other 40,000. No reason given. All I know is that one came from Bangalore and the other Kolkata. Both came from successful dotcoms. Their original salaries were just as inconsistent.
The lack of parity really caused a problem. This situation occurs frequently and HR groups don't have any concerns. Salary ranges for the same job, i.e., linking, spanned 7,000/month to 26,000/month in one company I worked for. Some staff shared with me their attitude of "why should I work hard when I know someone else is getting paid three times more and only brings in 6 links for the entire month? I bring in three times that and get paid a third of what he does." I couldn't have agreed more and couldn't respond adequately. I implemented incentive programs so that higher performing linkers could make more money just to reduce this problem and provide a way to increase overall performance. Only one of the staff actually earned any money, but it made him visible and provided him with access to jobs with more responsibility. The worst example of salary inconsistency was the two Spanish translators at one company I worked for. The woman was a full-time professional who had worked at the company for a couple of years before I joined. She was making 5,000/month for 50-hour work weeks. I hired a part-time Spanish student (still in college) and I found out later he was making 9,000/month for 9 hours work a week! I'm still shocked at this. I tried to fix the situation but my boss refused to allow me to even discuss salaries. When she quit to work in Bangalore, she never looked back. As soon as she got her offer letter, she left the same day...
So what is the average salary? Have no idea. Because there is still subsistence farming and itinerant workers (especially in construction), low end salaries are a few dollars a month. Executives are paid like they are everywhere - sometimes too much for what they contribute. (Not me!) Bottom end executives in Indian companies make at least Rupees 100,000/month (USD $2,000), typically much more. The range goes all the way up to standard American executive packages, translated into Rupees.
Teachers here have the same problem. If you speak English, your salary would be higher because you can teach in an English speaking school. There are local language schools, Hindi schools and English. There are also Embassy schools for other languages. Typical salaries for teaching staff in the International schools (from what I've heard) is between Rupees 10,000 and 30,000/month. I could be wrong - this is just hearsay.
As an expat, I can't think of my salary in American terms otherwise I would become very depressed. I make less than half what I made in the States, but it's a very good living for this country. Even so, my expenses are very high - after paying for rent, private school, chauffeur, housekeeper, restaurants, western foods, books, travel, satellite TV, broadband internet, air conditioning, etc., I'm broke by the end of the month. I pay a premium for my lifestyle. Having a zero balance in my bank account at the end of the month is a grave concern and something I need to address ASAP.
I hope that helps answer the question. :-)
Later, peeps.
Geoff said...
Medical care sounds pretty cheap, if somewhat sketchy. Maybe I should give up this rat race and pull a rickshaw in Delhi. I got a $75 copay just for an MRI!
What can I expect to earn per year as an ... average Indian?
Okay, first a disclaimer - these are my impressions and not any report based on the due diligence of statistical review.
The average pay is hard to quantify because so much money stays off the tax rolls. The range of pay for people working in multinational companies is a factor of at least 2 compared to Indian companies. Many people freelance and work more than one job if they can find it. Any money they can get in cash is under reported.
Rickshaw wallas and cab drivers pay a rental fee for the rickshaw/cab and keep everything they earn after expenses. In Kolkata, the daily rental for a cab was 500 rupees, plus petrol, etc. That's why a lot of them want to become chauffeurs - one client, much higher pay, especially if they speak English. In Kolkata, the cost (to me) for a car/driver was between 25K and 30K/month. Here, the average charge for the same service with a semi-English speaking driver seems to be around 40K and is typically closer to 60K in the expat world.
Domestic staff prefer to work for expats because they pay a LOT more. For example, a family of five living in the Salt Lake section of Kolkata paid their maid 500 rupees/month with no benefits to work seven days a week. My maid in Kolkata was paid 3,000 to run a household of two. She spoke only Bengali, worked six days a week and was provided with vacations. Here in Gurgaon, my English-speaking housekeeper makes 7,000 salary, 1,000/month for transportation, 2,500/quarter for uniforms, full medical and takes a week off every couple of months. She works six days/week, and hired two women to do floors, wash dishes and clothes. She pays for their salaries out of hers because she said there was too much work. Now she cooks and does the food shopping and supervises the other women. Previously, she worked for one family who paid her 16,000/month with all the accompanying benefits. She'll be heading to London to visit them in the summer. I hope she comes back.
The other thing is that a lot of folks have more than one income. Using my housekeeper as an example, I know for a fact that she works with another expat in the same building because we hired her together. We both pay half her salary, and split her benefits, so she makes a minimum of 16,000/month. I believe she also manages a few other households - at least one other...
Now, looking back at the internet companies I worked for here, linkers had a starting salary of 7,000/month. The security guard at the telecom tower I visited last week in Rajasthan makes 12,000/month. Management level pay is even wider ranging. I had two managers with the same backgrounds - one was paid 1.1 lakh/month (110,000 Rupees) and the other 40,000. No reason given. All I know is that one came from Bangalore and the other Kolkata. Both came from successful dotcoms. Their original salaries were just as inconsistent.
The lack of parity really caused a problem. This situation occurs frequently and HR groups don't have any concerns. Salary ranges for the same job, i.e., linking, spanned 7,000/month to 26,000/month in one company I worked for. Some staff shared with me their attitude of "why should I work hard when I know someone else is getting paid three times more and only brings in 6 links for the entire month? I bring in three times that and get paid a third of what he does." I couldn't have agreed more and couldn't respond adequately. I implemented incentive programs so that higher performing linkers could make more money just to reduce this problem and provide a way to increase overall performance. Only one of the staff actually earned any money, but it made him visible and provided him with access to jobs with more responsibility. The worst example of salary inconsistency was the two Spanish translators at one company I worked for. The woman was a full-time professional who had worked at the company for a couple of years before I joined. She was making 5,000/month for 50-hour work weeks. I hired a part-time Spanish student (still in college) and I found out later he was making 9,000/month for 9 hours work a week! I'm still shocked at this. I tried to fix the situation but my boss refused to allow me to even discuss salaries. When she quit to work in Bangalore, she never looked back. As soon as she got her offer letter, she left the same day...
So what is the average salary? Have no idea. Because there is still subsistence farming and itinerant workers (especially in construction), low end salaries are a few dollars a month. Executives are paid like they are everywhere - sometimes too much for what they contribute. (Not me!) Bottom end executives in Indian companies make at least Rupees 100,000/month (USD $2,000), typically much more. The range goes all the way up to standard American executive packages, translated into Rupees.
Teachers here have the same problem. If you speak English, your salary would be higher because you can teach in an English speaking school. There are local language schools, Hindi schools and English. There are also Embassy schools for other languages. Typical salaries for teaching staff in the International schools (from what I've heard) is between Rupees 10,000 and 30,000/month. I could be wrong - this is just hearsay.
As an expat, I can't think of my salary in American terms otherwise I would become very depressed. I make less than half what I made in the States, but it's a very good living for this country. Even so, my expenses are very high - after paying for rent, private school, chauffeur, housekeeper, restaurants, western foods, books, travel, satellite TV, broadband internet, air conditioning, etc., I'm broke by the end of the month. I pay a premium for my lifestyle. Having a zero balance in my bank account at the end of the month is a grave concern and something I need to address ASAP.
I hope that helps answer the question. :-)
Later, peeps.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Adventures in Healthcare Here in India
In the past 60 days, both Will and I have had runins with the medical industry here, me with hepatitis and Will in an altercation with a faulty window, necessitating around 25 stitches.
Overall, I have to say that the quality of care is quite good. Cleanliness may not be a primary concern, but the word "care" really is there. With my hepatitis, my first visit with the doctor was direct and forthcoming.
"Oh, my. You should be in hospital. You are really yellow."
I didn't want to go into a hospital, single parent, teenage child, fear of hospitals, all that. My doctor and I discussed my options and she agreed to let me come in daily for a six-hour multivitamin drip, check my blood levels and have a consult with her or a specialist as needed. Each day I would leave my house and and take a bike rickshaw ro the Sitaram Bhartia Clinic at Galleria Mall and would arrive at 9 AM. I would have three nurses fuss over me, watch my bottles of dextrose and multivitamins, check the speed of the drip, and chat. They would clean me up and rebandage my hand every afternoon and send me on my way. I got progressively better. The entire bill of care (so far) is around 15,000 rupees or about USD $300, including all my blood tests, and ultrasound, etc.
My son, on the other hand, was hanging with his friends on Holi, filling water balloons in one of the security guard restrooms on the gorund floor of our apartment complex. He was leaning against a glass window when it broke, shattering the glass and causing a spike to dig deeply into his foream. Apparently there was bllod everywhere, and as teens do everywhere, instead of telling me, they took Will to the hospital. Three hours later, I get a call, because the hospital wants money. Will's friends were great, by the way. They drove him to the hospital, stayed with him, came back for me and took me to the bank to get cash. (Thanks, Sunny and Saurabh - you rock.)
His doctor had to administer local anesthesia in order to give Will two sets of stitches, one set to the muscle inside his forearm, and a second set to his skin (which he told Will was plastic surgery to minimize his scar). The guy was a joke. First, I asked why no one called me at the hospital to get permission to perform any procedures on him. They gave him antibiotics, tetanus booster, anesthesia without my permission. I was PISSED. I had to ask five times what antibiotics they used. They wanted to keep him overnight to elevate his hand. I asked him if it would be placed in traction; they said no. I asked how much it would cost - 10,000 just for the bed overnight. I said no way. His total bill for emergency room visit, shots, sutures, X-ray, "plastic surgery", doctor's fees, etc. was a little over 3,000 rupees, or USD $60. You couldn't even walk into an emergency room in the States for $60, let alone expect any service. The people at the hospital were extremely rude and seemed more interested in getting us to pay the bill and adding more services. We left and Will kept his hand propped up on pillows all night, just as they intended to do at the hospital.
We went back to Sitaram Bhartia Clinic for followup on Will's forearm and tey weren't thrilled with the quality of the stitches, but Will thinks he'll have a "cool scar". As long as it heals well, it's okay.
Last year, I accompanies a friend to a visit with her doctor about a "woman's issue". She was prescribed birth control pills. I recognized the medication's generic name and asked directly, "Are these birth control pills?" and the doctor confirmed. Now, the doctor never asked the patient any lifestyle questions, whether she was over 30, smoked, drank, was sexually active... there really wasn't informed consent. She wasn't made aware of the side effects or the dangers associated with mixing her lifestile with the medication and I thought it bordered on malpractice to me. Doctor's make assumptions because of your gender and that's NEVER good.
Bottom line, our experience with Indian health care has been very, very good and affordable. The only caveat we've seen is to really OWN your health care, even more than you would back home. It's your body - make sure you ask a lot of questions because they simply won't tell you unless you ask. Also inquire about options. Not everything requires hospitalization, and medication (in fact, there is a much higher use of traditional medicines, i.e., ayurvedic - homeopathic remedies along with traditional medications). And the care, really is care. With nursing ratios unheard of in Western countries, you are looked after with skill, professionalism and affection. They have time to look after you, instead of filling out volumes of paperwork.
In case you're in Gurgaon or moving here, Sitaram Bhartia can be reached at:
Sitaram Bhartia Clinic
www.sitarambhartia.org
Galleria Mall
DLF City Phase IV
Gurgaon, Haryana 122001
telephone: 0124 4131111
Later. :-)
Overall, I have to say that the quality of care is quite good. Cleanliness may not be a primary concern, but the word "care" really is there. With my hepatitis, my first visit with the doctor was direct and forthcoming.
"Oh, my. You should be in hospital. You are really yellow."
I didn't want to go into a hospital, single parent, teenage child, fear of hospitals, all that. My doctor and I discussed my options and she agreed to let me come in daily for a six-hour multivitamin drip, check my blood levels and have a consult with her or a specialist as needed. Each day I would leave my house and and take a bike rickshaw ro the Sitaram Bhartia Clinic at Galleria Mall and would arrive at 9 AM. I would have three nurses fuss over me, watch my bottles of dextrose and multivitamins, check the speed of the drip, and chat. They would clean me up and rebandage my hand every afternoon and send me on my way. I got progressively better. The entire bill of care (so far) is around 15,000 rupees or about USD $300, including all my blood tests, and ultrasound, etc.
My son, on the other hand, was hanging with his friends on Holi, filling water balloons in one of the security guard restrooms on the gorund floor of our apartment complex. He was leaning against a glass window when it broke, shattering the glass and causing a spike to dig deeply into his foream. Apparently there was bllod everywhere, and as teens do everywhere, instead of telling me, they took Will to the hospital. Three hours later, I get a call, because the hospital wants money. Will's friends were great, by the way. They drove him to the hospital, stayed with him, came back for me and took me to the bank to get cash. (Thanks, Sunny and Saurabh - you rock.)
His doctor had to administer local anesthesia in order to give Will two sets of stitches, one set to the muscle inside his forearm, and a second set to his skin (which he told Will was plastic surgery to minimize his scar). The guy was a joke. First, I asked why no one called me at the hospital to get permission to perform any procedures on him. They gave him antibiotics, tetanus booster, anesthesia without my permission. I was PISSED. I had to ask five times what antibiotics they used. They wanted to keep him overnight to elevate his hand. I asked him if it would be placed in traction; they said no. I asked how much it would cost - 10,000 just for the bed overnight. I said no way. His total bill for emergency room visit, shots, sutures, X-ray, "plastic surgery", doctor's fees, etc. was a little over 3,000 rupees, or USD $60. You couldn't even walk into an emergency room in the States for $60, let alone expect any service. The people at the hospital were extremely rude and seemed more interested in getting us to pay the bill and adding more services. We left and Will kept his hand propped up on pillows all night, just as they intended to do at the hospital.
We went back to Sitaram Bhartia Clinic for followup on Will's forearm and tey weren't thrilled with the quality of the stitches, but Will thinks he'll have a "cool scar". As long as it heals well, it's okay.
Last year, I accompanies a friend to a visit with her doctor about a "woman's issue". She was prescribed birth control pills. I recognized the medication's generic name and asked directly, "Are these birth control pills?" and the doctor confirmed. Now, the doctor never asked the patient any lifestyle questions, whether she was over 30, smoked, drank, was sexually active... there really wasn't informed consent. She wasn't made aware of the side effects or the dangers associated with mixing her lifestile with the medication and I thought it bordered on malpractice to me. Doctor's make assumptions because of your gender and that's NEVER good.
Bottom line, our experience with Indian health care has been very, very good and affordable. The only caveat we've seen is to really OWN your health care, even more than you would back home. It's your body - make sure you ask a lot of questions because they simply won't tell you unless you ask. Also inquire about options. Not everything requires hospitalization, and medication (in fact, there is a much higher use of traditional medicines, i.e., ayurvedic - homeopathic remedies along with traditional medications). And the care, really is care. With nursing ratios unheard of in Western countries, you are looked after with skill, professionalism and affection. They have time to look after you, instead of filling out volumes of paperwork.
In case you're in Gurgaon or moving here, Sitaram Bhartia can be reached at:
Sitaram Bhartia Clinic
www.sitarambhartia.org
Galleria Mall
DLF City Phase IV
Gurgaon, Haryana 122001
telephone: 0124 4131111
Later. :-)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
What I'm Up Against Part Deux
Passive aggression is a huge battle wherever you go, and when another team uses this behavior, it directly affects your ability to get projects done. Business owners who don't address it and implement accountability, particularly at points where teams interact, are bound to fail. Here's an example of a project that's failing.
Example IM discussing situation:
Reasons Project Will Fail Miserably:
1. No interaction with client - client never follows up. Without timely feedback from client, project milestones cannot be completed to client's satisfaction.
2. Due to shift differences, there is no face-to-face interaction between teams. Other teams do not respond to emailed requests.
3. Dependency on deliverables from other teams - if other teams do not meet milestones and there are no consequences for missing milestones or disregarding documented requests, there is no way to meet project targets for successful completion.
Suggestions for Working with Passive Aggressive Teams
1. Nail down EXACT dates and times for project milestones.
2. Have team stakeholders sign each date/time they've agreed to.
3. Get Executive/Client buy-in to project milestones.
4. Establish consequences for project delays. Make sure everyone understands the consequences.
5. Ping team leaders regularly for status updates. Make them accountable.
6. If working multiple shifts, meet regularly on all shift times so all involved staff are inconvenienced equally.
7. ENFORCE consequences and provide positive feedback for best performing staff.
8. Celebrate all major project milestones and report back to team stakeholders, executives and clients.
It's probably the toughest aspect of management (and relationships!) - dealing with passive aggressive people. Finding the "bait" that makes a passive aggressive person or team produce takes experimentation, but once you find it, either fear, coercion, bribes, kudos, whatever... you'll be much more successful in getting your projects accomplished.
Later.
Example IM discussing situation:
[staff]: hello mam
me: HI! Thanks for getting on GTalk. Can you update me on the stuff we asked [tech mgr] to do?
[staff]: ftp is still not working
me: Is [tech support] there?
[staff]: i called [tech mgr] and asked tech guy do rsolve it
but there are few service issues there
yes
me: okay... It's been two hours.
[staff]: yes
me: Well?
[staff]: he can not resolve it
me: why not?
[staff]: [tech mgr] will do that
me: Why does [tech mgr] need to do it?
Can [tech mgr] do it now.
Have [tech support] call him.
[staff]: [tech support] has talked to [tech mgr] and [tech mgr] aware of that
me: aware is not done. Why isn't it done?
[staff]: [tech mgr] told he will take care of that
me: WHEN?
[staff]: let me call him again
i will let u know whether he could do it now or not
me: Thanks. What about the other points in the email?
[staff]: no reply from there
me: What about the other points in the email?
[staff]: [tech mgr] has told me he can not do that
only the owner has got the authority of doing that
me: Doing what?
[staff]: actually [tech mgr] was on leave today
and he has told me to do it today
morning
me: Do what?
[staff]: mam he will talk to [managing director] and try to fill all requirements
he is saying
me: When? Why didn't he do it today?
One of the requests is over six weeks old.
[staff]: i am not getting any positive response from his end
we are help less till we get any support from tech. guys
u know it mam
i was coming in morning shifts as well to get the things done
but still we are having problems
let me call him again
me: is there anyway for you to set up new pages in DW in preparation for uploading?
[staff]: i can make pages
i think we are having static pages there
so its easy to do that
me: Great. Let's get the news section set up as a blog. If we can get something ready in WordPress, that would be great, but if we have to use Joomla, see if you can use the same CSS as the site and make the format and interface as similar as possible.
Set up a page for resources as well.
Can you get this done tonight?
At least the resources page...
[staff]: i will try
but how could i install wordpress widout having server acces
we need to install wordpress or joomla first there
me: Okay, but can we get the CSS out of the site? Put it all on the staging server. Prepare all the sections we need so that we can put it all together quickly once we have access?
me: The resources page won't need joomla or wordpress...
[staff]: hello mam
me: If we can have that ready, [tech support] can add it tomorrow.
me: I need to see it first before it goes to [tech support], though.
me: okay. So...
What can you get done tonight?
[staff]: i will do that using our staging server
me: Okay, great.
[staff]: will make a folder for resource and install wordpress there
me: I can see the work from here, yes?
[staff]: ys
me: Excellent. Can you email me when it is completed?
[staff]: ok
before leaving i will mail u
me: Great. Thanks.
[staff]: ok mam
i am going to download wordpress first
then will do rest of the things
me: Thank you, [staff].
[staff]: k
Reasons Project Will Fail Miserably:
1. No interaction with client - client never follows up. Without timely feedback from client, project milestones cannot be completed to client's satisfaction.
2. Due to shift differences, there is no face-to-face interaction between teams. Other teams do not respond to emailed requests.
3. Dependency on deliverables from other teams - if other teams do not meet milestones and there are no consequences for missing milestones or disregarding documented requests, there is no way to meet project targets for successful completion.
Suggestions for Working with Passive Aggressive Teams
1. Nail down EXACT dates and times for project milestones.
2. Have team stakeholders sign each date/time they've agreed to.
3. Get Executive/Client buy-in to project milestones.
4. Establish consequences for project delays. Make sure everyone understands the consequences.
5. Ping team leaders regularly for status updates. Make them accountable.
6. If working multiple shifts, meet regularly on all shift times so all involved staff are inconvenienced equally.
7. ENFORCE consequences and provide positive feedback for best performing staff.
8. Celebrate all major project milestones and report back to team stakeholders, executives and clients.
It's probably the toughest aspect of management (and relationships!) - dealing with passive aggressive people. Finding the "bait" that makes a passive aggressive person or team produce takes experimentation, but once you find it, either fear, coercion, bribes, kudos, whatever... you'll be much more successful in getting your projects accomplished.
Later.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Adventures in Apartment Rentals Part Deux
Today we met up with Sirendar, who had read my post on Yuni-Net requesting information on any fabulous apartments in Gurgaon. He had contacted me earlier in the week to let me know that the ground floor under his apartment was available.
Location is Sector 40. A little farther out than I'd expected, but with a car or scooter, fairly close to the malls and shopping. Much farther away from school. Very difficult to find if you don't know where you are going. It is located in Mohyal Colony across from a beautifully maintained park.
Apartment. Fully furnished, AC. Backup power. Satellite TV. Wireless internet connection. 3 bedroom, 2 bath, including a bathtub! Gas hookup in place, fridge, extremely high ceilings, cool... Furniture is all very indigenous Indian - dark, heavy, low and intricately carved. All this for 18,000/month with a security deposit of one month's rent (not a frickin 100,000 like I have now.) No agent to pay a month's rent to, either.
So, Will, Yu Yu and I looked at the place and seriously, there were few flaws to the place... mostly Will wanted to be closer to his friends (as usual), but that hasn't been the best thing so far here in Gurgaon. We'll need to be more organized about supplies since we can't just call and get something delivered, and we'll never be able to get pizza delivered again. We'll need to hang a mirror in Will's bath.
We could seriously party in this house. Host dinners... I could see us living there and making a life for ourselves... finally. We haven't seen anything else and the few others who contacted us initially never followed through. We made plans to meet up again the first week of April to sign a lease for May 1st. We'll try and post photos as soon as we can.
We'll be renting two apartments in May since we'll need to clean up and repaint the old place. This will give us time to move a few things at a time to the new place and we'll be able to do that even if we use bike rickshaws to transport us. I think that's really cool. :-)
We all breathed a sigh of relief today. It's the start of a new life, something we've all been waiting for and desperately needed. It's a sign that life is making a turn towards the better. :-)
later...
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Location is Sector 40. A little farther out than I'd expected, but with a car or scooter, fairly close to the malls and shopping. Much farther away from school. Very difficult to find if you don't know where you are going. It is located in Mohyal Colony across from a beautifully maintained park.
Apartment. Fully furnished, AC. Backup power. Satellite TV. Wireless internet connection. 3 bedroom, 2 bath, including a bathtub! Gas hookup in place, fridge, extremely high ceilings, cool... Furniture is all very indigenous Indian - dark, heavy, low and intricately carved. All this for 18,000/month with a security deposit of one month's rent (not a frickin 100,000 like I have now.) No agent to pay a month's rent to, either.
So, Will, Yu Yu and I looked at the place and seriously, there were few flaws to the place... mostly Will wanted to be closer to his friends (as usual), but that hasn't been the best thing so far here in Gurgaon. We'll need to be more organized about supplies since we can't just call and get something delivered, and we'll never be able to get pizza delivered again. We'll need to hang a mirror in Will's bath.
We could seriously party in this house. Host dinners... I could see us living there and making a life for ourselves... finally. We haven't seen anything else and the few others who contacted us initially never followed through. We made plans to meet up again the first week of April to sign a lease for May 1st. We'll try and post photos as soon as we can.
We'll be renting two apartments in May since we'll need to clean up and repaint the old place. This will give us time to move a few things at a time to the new place and we'll be able to do that even if we use bike rickshaws to transport us. I think that's really cool. :-)
We all breathed a sigh of relief today. It's the start of a new life, something we've all been waiting for and desperately needed. It's a sign that life is making a turn towards the better. :-)
later...
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