I love India! My first impression of taking the bus 2.5 hours to my host’s home in the city was one of only a few negative things. As an American, I was also surprised to see no toilet paper in the bathrooms, no forks at the dinner table, and no shoes in the house. Bangalore is a vibrant, growing city. I enjoyed meals in people’s homes and seeing some of the big tech businesses that make this city the “Silicon Valley of the East”.
The first Hindu temple I ever went inside was the largest ISKCON temple in the world. It shocked me culturally and spiritually. An experience I will never forget. Another cool experience was celebrating Diwali. I had no idea how popular this holiday was and that I’d be in India at that time. My hosts helped me with practical things throughout my stay. I’m so impacted and thankful for visiting this city.
Duration
4 days
Accommodation
Friend’s house (4 nights)
Favorite Food
Butter chicken
Favorite Site
Shiva temple
Cool Person I Met
Pavi. Pavi is one of my developers for Wahi Ride. We’ve had many Skype calls while I was in the states and never thought I’d see him in person. He’s an extremely kind and thoughtful person. We drove around the city on his motorcycle and went to a few great places to eat. I’m impressed by how many hours he works each day. I got to sleep in his house while in Bangalore.
Highlight
Watching so many people “burst crackers” for Diwali
Big Takeaway
It’s no secret that India has become a leading country in the world for outsourcing, particularly in technology development. Bangalore has experienced a tremendous growth in the technology sector, largely due to foreign investment and outsourcing. I spent a few days with my developer, who we found on a WhatsApp group, around the city. My developer along with others I met tend work 10-14 hour days and commute sometimes up to an hour each way. I’m very impressed with the explosion of the IT industry in India.
From experience, I found the Indian developers are about 8 times cheaper than an American one. That is why many companies would prefer to hire 8 good developers instead of one great developer. Outsourcing can be difficult especially with the cultural and language barrier. I’ve met quite a few Indians who have taken out a large loan to pursue a degree in the states. The hope is to secure a job in the states with enough money to pay off the loan. It is quite stressful. One difficulty is being away from family since Indian culture values family extremely highly
Your Turn
Do you support outsourcing technology to India?
How competitive do you think India will become in the global technology market in the years to come?
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.