[GTO]

This discussion randomly came up on the weekend, and it just had to be continued on Team-BHP.

If you just had to move to another place in India, where would you move & why? Not fantasy, let's talk real and a place you could make it work (personally + professionally).

I just love Bombay! The speed, energy & spirit of this city, the varied cultures, the fun we have & long list of entertainment / music options, mind-numbing lists of cuisines & restaurants, the ocean, amazing places you can road-trip to (e.g. Pawna, Lonavla, Mahabaleshwar, Goa), relative safety of women (they can drive without worry even at 2 AM) and generally acceptable law & order, bollywood + theatre + art + comedy clubs + live gigs, the sheer number of shopping options, the money-crazy mindset & ambition, how we celebrate all festivals...

But if I were hypothetically forced to move to another place, it would be Goa. Goa is a solid no.2 for me in India. Whenever I holiday in Goa, it's for a week and I enjoy that week as much (or more than) most holidays abroad. The music of Goa, the fun vibe, action on the beaches, shacks, crazy amount of restaurants, partying & nightlife, F&B is surprisingly value-for-money, beautiful homes (especially the old style ones), spread of laidback places & happening ones, innumerable options of beaches, the local culture, the churches, the love for Jeeps. I totally see myself living in Goa. The nature of my work means I can be productive anywhere, as long as I have my laptop with me. Bombay is just a 1-hour flight away. I am so happy when in Goa that my siblings joke I was probably a Goan in my past life. There is always something new & interesting to do in Goa, including all the fun festivals they have.

What about you?

Why I love Goa!

[shankar.balan]

If I didn’t live and work and enjoy my time in Bangalore, the only place which is to me, worth considering moving to on a permanent basis is The Nilgiris.
Because the Nilgiri Hills are the Home of my entire School Days, my father worked there for years and years, lots of my friends are there, I have club memberships there and more or less everything that I hold close to my heart as my ‘Happy Place’ is there.
I can enjoy driving my cars on those gorgeous twisty Nilgiris roads. The people are nice and affectionate. My dog can have all the fun she wants. Lovely Golf courses to play and test and improve one’s game. And the air is clean and the outdoors life beckons. And the blue skies of the Nilgiris are legendary as can be seen. The sight of those sheets of tea always evoke great happiness in my heart.
But there still aren’t sufficient medical facilities within easy reach and thats truly the only drawback.

[madhukarmohan]

No matter how much people curse about Bengaluru's traffic and much more, I love the city a lot. If I am forced to pick a city to move, that would be my hometown Mysuru. A peaceful clean city with places of religious importance, great palaces, one of the best zoo in India. If I am bored of it, I love to drive and hike Western Ghats (Ooty, Wayanad, Coorg, Sakleshpur, Chikkamagalur) and most of the hill stations are approximately equidistant (120-200 kms) which gives me options to pick. I love to see animals in wild and within 100-120 kms I can find one of the largest concentration of tigers and elephants (Nagarahole, Bandipur, Mudumalai) along with other animals. The beaches are not so far (<300 kms) as well. And now with the new exxpressway to Bengaluru, I can get what I don't get in Mysuru within a couple of hours. To sum up, this is the place for me

[Shreyans_Jain]

As someone living in Delhi NCR, this is a question that has been pondered over very seriously many times. As much as I want to shift to a less polluted place, I have not been able to identify any with similarly good healthcare, education and connectivity, while providing better weather and air quality. While you can consider 50 different options as an individual or as a couple, things are not so simple with kids and parents added to the equation.

[AltoLXI]

Thanks for starting this thread.

For me, this question has no easy answer. Every decade or so, in everyone's life, circumstances change, priorities change, interests vary based on age, health, mental makeup. What might have appeared to be a great place a few years back may not be attractive place to settle a few years down the line. Personal experience.

I have stayed in Bengaluru for half of my life, but could never connect with the city - it is more of a karma bhoomi rather than a place where one can settle forever. Believed जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी and off late the place I was born and would have loved to move later, has become very commercialized, it feels like a mini Bengaluru. Disappointed.

Again, we only know what we know. We experience a place, as a tourist maybe, and fall in love with it. Decide that this is a great place to stay put. Then who knows what the place turns out to be unless we live there quite for sometime. Went to Karwar and Goa, a few months back. Andamans a few years back and loved these places. A child in me wants to move there forever. Maybe I may want to stay for a few days, not as tourist though, and see if I can connect with these places.

A nomadic lifestyle maybe more romantic. Practical? Not necessarily.

Milton said - The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.

So for me, inner peace is more important than the place itself.

[Sreesh1009]

Bangalore has been home since day 1, could never imagine leaving this beautiful city!

However if given the opportunity to move, it would be Mumbai. Gives you a taste of a struggle, hardwork and an opportunity to live your dreams. Apart from the philosophical aspect, I absolutely love the variety of options when it comes to food, entertainment and things to do! It is the definition of Modern and Cosmopolitan.

[Samba]

I stay in Kolkata, and I love my city too.
But given a chance, I will love to settle down in a small town somewhere in the Himalaya.
I keep exploring options like starting a small home-stay / hotel, and shift to a place in North-Bengal, Sikkim or somewhere in Himachal. Till now I failed to find a practical solution for this, and continuing my life in Kolkata!

My dream stay will look something like this with a 4wd vehicle parked in front!

[Rajeevraj]

Tough question. Places that immediately come to mind are Ooty - lot of my childhood was spent there and there is always a connection when I visit. Would not mind shifting there.

Another place is Coimbatore. Again partly because of the happy times spent in college there.Practically also a great city that meets all my requirements. Modern with all the comforts of the modern world ,but laid back in its own way.

Lastly my hometown in Kerala Calicut and Tirur. The thought regularly comes in, I wouldn't mind staying here more permanently.

[dicor]

Ever since my company announced permanent work-from-home culture, I've been traveling a lot. I generally set up my base in a particular city for a few months and explore the world around it.

I've lived in big cities, small cities, and remote villages, like Pune, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mohali, Lucknow, Raipur, Bhopal

Eventually, this thread will be filled up with inner soul answers, but I want to answer it with practicality.

Big cities (BOM, PUN, HYD, BLR, DEL etc)
+ Nightlife, Lifestyle, Availability of rare breed cars service stations, Access to healthcare, Perks of 15 mins delivery service like Blinkit. No one gives a damn who you are and what you do. No language barriers.
- Traffic, pollution

Small cities (Bhopal, Chandigarh, Mohali, Kochi, Lucknow, etc)
+ Lifestyle, availability of car service stations, Access to healthcare, Good schooling, Perks of one-week home delivery. Immediate acceptance by the community.
- Traffic but lesser, pollution, No express deliveries in some cities.

Small towns & Villages
+ Peace, lesser expenses (in the absence of Pizza Hut, Shoppers Stop, Brocolli, Zucchini), Lesser show-off culture. Nonexistent traffic.
- Language barrier, poor availability of basic necessities like healthcare, authorized car service stations, no home delivery concept, poor customer orientation by local shopkeepers, and lack of good internet connection. Have to rely on mobile hotspots. No good schools. Constant surveillance by locals. Has to work hard on social acceptability. Everyone wants to know who I am and what I do but they don't ask me.

In short, if I have to reallocate, my heart would say McLeodganj but I would settle in a small city like Dharamshala.

My heart would say Pachmadhi but I would stay in Bhopal.
My heart would say Haridwar but I would stay in Dehradun.
My heart would say Alleppy but I would stay in Kochi.

[harry10]

Goa.
I just love beaches and carefree living. I won't relocate cos of many reasons but if I had a choice this will be my first choice.

If we talk after retirement I will select any north side hill station like Dalhousie/Shimla/Mussoorie/Dharamshala etc. Nature+ Mountains+ pollution free+ Cold weather. Perfect for living a sane life.

[locusjag]

For me, it has to be Manipal or Udupi (they're practically the same place, separated by 5 Km). These have the amenities of any city you can name (including supermarkets, pubs, a hip crowd, flowing liquor...not that I drink anyhow) while maintaining the ambience of a village.

Plus, there's the lush green Western Ghats a 40 minute drive away. There's the Arabian sea coast right there.

I wouldn't settle elsewhere, seriously.

[raptor_diwan]

For me, I was born and brought up in the south, specifically Chennai. My search has always been for snowy and cold areas, seeking a peaceful life away from the bustling city sounds that I dislike. I'm not much of a party person, and the sound of honking horns disturbs my sleep. I prefer to be in places with fewer restaurants and shops. I have a fondness for walking everywhere, surrounded by greenery, forests, and snow. Among the many places I could choose, Himachal Pradesh or Kodaikanal stand out to me as remote areas where I can still have access to good internet for work. These locations would allow me to start a new life surrounded by mountains.

[Eddy]

If I don't have to work - Goa

If I have to work - Hyderabad / Pune

[Kosfactor]

In the opening post I realized that GTO is in a Thar CRDe, imagine that thing topless, powershifting gears and listening to that Turbo down this road.



Ooty, of course.

I frequently visit, sometimes just for a drive up the Sigur ghat, meet my best friend, have some lunch, some shopping and then a night drive through the forest.

I can think of Nilgiris, Kodagu, Kochi, Coimbatore, Mysuru, Bengaluru - perhaps live a little bit everywhere, thats fine.

[mayukh42]

If I have to work, Pune might be the closest to Bengaluru weather, so that is my pick.

If I dont have to work, a distant suburb of Bengaluru, or The Nilgiris (not Ooty necessarily but somewhere reachable through the MDRs).

It is hard to find an alternative to Namma Bengaluru. In my opinion there ain't a better combination of weather and big city amenities like it anywhere in the country.

Ooty is our annual vacation, and the only thing we do there every year is go on a drive through Coonoor-Wellington-Kothagiri or Avalanche-Kundha-Glendale. The vacation that actually rejuvenates.