[binand]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

But for people moving in for new job I don't really understand how its that big a problem?

One is that rental providers in Bangalore often demand large amounts (10 months rent as deposit in most cases) that is essentially an NPA for you. So if you have to switch jobs at a later date for whatever reason, you are limited to a small radius of your home or need to be prepared to brave the traffic - or dip into your long-term savings.

A second issue is getting not just self and spouse's workplaces in reasonable commuting distance, but also schools. Remember that case where buses that left school at 3 PM weren't able to drop kids even by 7 and parents had to come out and take children out of the bus in the middle of the jam?

I've heard people saying "this week I'm working from the Sarjapur road office, next week I go to e-City". Not sure what the arrangement is, but it obviously is a further complication.

[lsjey]

Please check your salary package based on cost differences in chennai and in Bangalore. This will be significant and will surprise you how much percentage of your salary that just evaporates.

I moved out of Bangalore to chennai in 2008 after spending 14 years in Bangalore. In the nineties it was great, but in 2008 it was horrible. Now it is beyond whatever adjectives one can use along with the word horrible. I also had to leave because of health. I had 3 FESS surgeries to keep my sinuses from getting inflamed frequently. Allergy can really take its toll over a period of time.

I'd liken job offers to work in bangalore as if like the frog in water that is gradually being heated.

My advice is stay put in Chennai, where if you know the back roads you can travel comfortably.

Regards,
lsjey

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by binand

One is that rental providers in Bangalore often demand large amounts (10 months rent as deposit in most cases) that is essentially an NPA for you. So if you have to switch jobs at a later date for whatever reason, you are limited to a small radius of your home or need to be prepared to brave the traffic - or dip into your long-term savings.

A second issue is getting not just self and spouse's workplaces in reasonable commuting distance, but also schools. Remember that case where buses that left school at 3 PM weren't able to drop kids even by 7 and parents had to come out and take children out of the bus in the middle of the jam?

I've heard people saying "this week I'm working from the Sarjapur road office, next week I go to e-City". Not sure what the arrangement is, but it obviously is a further complication.

Now rent is a whole different tangent. Here the topic was traffic. Switching job at a later stage is even further drifting away. Am talking about coming in the city with a new job. You have schools almost in all pockets of Bangalore. Finding one closer to where you stay isn't always a problem if you are yet to settle. You can always look for a residential area which is in close proximity to your office and school. And that exorbitant advance(10 months) is still refundable if not whole, atleast 8 months but agreed its a pain upfront.

Switching at a later stage comes into picture only when you intend to settle here. Lot of people come here only for a few years to make some good advancements in learning and salary and then return to Chennai/Hyderabad/pune whichever suits them best.

So coming back to the primary topic I believe for someone coming in for a new job from outside Bangalore traffic should not be the primary worry. Yes rent I agree is something that's atrocious here, specially advance part. Infact the reason why I decided to buy a flat (back in 2011) rather than paying 25-30k as rent. Now that has led to new problem, when I look for a switch, but that's a different topic altogether as I intend to stay here for my job life atleast.

[Traveler]

Unless you are currently working in a mid tier city you will always have traffic. All metros across India are choked. Some less than others. I have worked in NCR and Bangalore and its bad in both places. The pollution levels in NCR are way above Bangalore plus the hot and humid summers and chilling winters. The traffic may be faster but so are distances. Bangalore still gives you excellent weather as compared to NCR and the travel time is almost the same although distances are less.

I would suggest that you take up residence near office and that will more than make up for everything else.

Bangalore otherwise is definitiely expensive for every other thing. So budget a minimum 20% increase in your household expenses over your current bill. Rent is subjective to where you stay in Bangalore. The nearer you go to your workplace the expensive it becomes. So if you have work from home then you can live in a beautiful corner at half the rent.

A 2700 sqft duplex villa in Whitefield, Kadugodi Road area is about 30-35k per month.

[shankar.balan]

You have to decide whats important to you in life. Money. job. Career. Life. Peace of Mind. Family. Travel. Whatever.
No one else can decide for you.

One city is as good as any other, depending on what your priorities are.

That’s the final decider.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by locusjag

I'd earlier mentioned on this thread how I had torpedoed a promising and plum job opportunity just because it was in Bangalore.

I just saw this (India has 14 out of the 15 most polluted cities in the world) earlier post. This is going to be an important issue to consider for anyone with such a condition (if you're prone to cough/dust/allergies) who is considering moving to Bangalore. Bangalore is becoming the allergy capital over the years.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by sam_sant2005

2) HOLIDAY COMMUTE - ...Too many people travelling together is the cause, nothing can be done and painful to see that Tollgates are a BIG failure, even Fastag and Toll operators don't have minimum sense to open gates to traffic to avoid such 2-3 kms queues.

Interestingly, the Tamil Nadu government seems to get its act together before and during holidays like Pongal and Diwali. This Diwali, extra government buses were run, new routes were created for them to alleviate city traffic and many toll lanes were for buses only. Well done, I must say!

3) AIR QUALITY - My kids have cold-cough-allergies most of the time. Personally, I was holding good since 2010 till say 6 months back with a strong immunity but now even I am affected with regular allergies.

Originally Posted by lsjey

I had 3 FESS surgeries to keep my sinuses from getting inflamed frequently. Allergy can really take its toll over a period of time.

I'd liken job offers to work in bangalore as if like the frog in water that is gradually being heated.

My advice is stay put in Chennai, where if you know the back roads you can travel comfortably.

Regards,
lsjey

Originally Posted by NPV

I just saw this (India has 14 out of the 15 most polluted cities in the world) earlier post. This is going to be an important issue to consider for anyone with such a condition (if you're prone to cough/dust/allergies) who is considering moving to Bangalore. Bangalore is becoming the allergy capital over the years.

Well - I have Chronic Bronchitis (smoker's cough), but I do not smoke nor have I ever smoked. Chest specialists surmise that I'm yet another Indian urban pollution victim. That right there is the best reason for me not to consider Bangalore!

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

You have to decide whats important to you in life. Money. job. Career. Life. Peace of Mind. Family. Travel. Whatever.
No one else can decide for you.

One city is as good as any other, depending on what your priorities are.

That’s the final decider.

I guess I had the mindset of "job change or bust" initially, even if it meant going to Bangalore. But given the pollution & allergy angle that people are sharing here, I think I'm getting my priorities straight now

[JohnyBoy]

Say No. You already did that. So keep saying NO to offers in Bangalore. For the traffic.

It's not worth spending 3 or 4 hours everyday stuck in traffic. That's 10-15% of everyday of your life. You are not just losing 3 or 4 hours, it's much more. You get tired, irritated, frustrated; it takes another 1 hour after reaching office (and back home) to recover.

Some of the suggestions given by different people supporting move to Bangalore:
* As you are from outside (and don't own a house), you can find an accommodation near your office. Negotiate flexible working hours and work from home.
-- These are ways by which you can 'manage', not really enjoy. It is ok if you don't want any life and just go to work and come home and sleep. Odd hours, away from other things etc will let you just go to work and stop you from doing anything else.
You can find out the office location, and may be find a great accommodation near the office. What if you have to go for meetings at other locations? What if tomorrow the company grows big and shift to a new location? What if the company does bad and forced to move to a different location?

* Good Climate
-- Bangalore is like Lonavala. 10-15 years ago, both were good places, climate-wise. But today, it is not much better compared to other cities.

* Weekend getaway places.
-- Yes, there are places you can drive on the weekend. Like someone said there are different nearby places of 52 weekends. Yes. But how do you go? Through the traffic, of course. Mysore road and other roads leading outside the city are horrible on Sunday evenings (worse on a long weekend).

* Great pubs and different types of restaurants.
-- Again you have to battle the traffic to reach these awesome places.

Airport is 3 hours from any place. Traveling to airport itself is a big task.

You can consider 'managing' or compromising if this is a life changing opportunity. But it's not.
You are not a lower level employee trying to meet ends who is getting a great opportunity. You have good experienced, may be worked in USA for 3-4 years. So this is not like moving-you-to-the-next-level job.
You were not excited about the role or new aspects of the job. It's mainly only money-wise better.

I know, 'no gain, no pain'. You have to compromise to get something new. But is the compromise worth? No.
You are comfortable in Chennai. Compromise and let go off the possible good things if you move to Bangalore and continue to be comfortable and happy in Chennai.

[sumathindra]

I find this request funny! The primary reason for any job change is monetary, growth and a few more things. Now if the movement is domestic or international it opens doors for various other reasoning. It is a decision which you have to take considering various factors and choose the best possible option. We should also keep in mind that today's situation in Bengaluru or any other progressive state is due to such movements and growth. It is part of life and we must accept it the way we deem it fit rather than crib on the existing situation...

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by sumathindra

I find this request funny! The primary reason for any job change is monetary, growth and a few more things....
It is part of life and we must accept it the way we deem it fit rather than crib on the existing situation...

I was never of the opinion that my predicament would seem like one to others. I knew that it would be seen for what it is - a rant. Believe me when I say I have beat myself up in my mind a lot for vacillating, prevaricating and cribbing about this.
But I have finally come to the decision that I won't move to Bangalore voluntarily. Health is wealth. The absence of it decimates whatever wealth one may have. And seeing my chronic bronchitis and the pollen allergies & pollution issues in Bangalore (and of course the poorer quality of life brought on by the traffic), I guess I've made up my mind. That's that. I've gone off the deep end and made it back again.

[reignofchaos]

I'd like to present a counterpoint to the don't come to Bangalore posts. I've been living here since 2005 and to be honest, I'd not move anywhere else in India - at least for the remainder of my working life. There are multiple reasons for this

-> The only place where you find real research(and high end product development) jobs in India is Bangalore and due to the amount of competition for talent, compensation levels are better here than anywhere else. It is not uncommon to see people earning near US level salaries sitting in India if you work in the right domain at the right place.

-> Bangalore still has the best weather out of all major cities in India. Yes global warming is taking its toll but it still is better than most of the other cities listed in this thread.

-> The quality of colleagues and work environment - This is debatable but my personal experience is that I find folks working in Bangalore to be more professional in getting their job done than people in other cities. This again might be a reflection of the quality of the talent pool available here. With good coworkers who do their jobs, work life balance improves too. This also depends on the company you work for too!

-> Gated communities with lots of greenery and open spaces with large houses - The real kicker about Bangalore is that one can rent a villa for reasonable rents. One can get really big houses to stay in without breaking the bank.

-> All the facilities and goods delivered to your home via apps. Saves a lot of time that would otherwise be spent running around

-> Lots of places to hang around serving all sorts of cuisine. Reasonably decent nightlife.

-> Traffic isn't that terrible if you can manage to commute early. I can easily travel the 18-19km from home to office in 30-35 minutes if I leave at 7am. It is the same at 4pm when I leave office. However if you are a late riser, god help you!

[DCEite]

My tryst with Bangalore began in early 2013 and ended in just 1.5 years.

I have both beautiful and not so good memories of Bangalore. Infact, our first child, my daughter was born in Bangalore.

What i liked about Bangalore:

1. Weather compared to Delhi/NCR is a lot easy to go along with. There are no extreme summers or winters but it stays mostly pleasent except for couple of months (March/April) where it gets a wee bit hot.

2. Bangalore has a lot of weekend getaways nearby like Mysore/Nandi Hills etc.

3. Locals are *mostly* welcoming and warm, although there is a small section of "Anti Kannada Gothilla" brigade that sees outsiders, mainly north Indians as unwelcome guests and Hindi as a threat to local language.

4. Local cuisine has good variety and taste. Specially love the smell of Curry leaves tadka

What i didn't:

1. Traffic can get really nightmarish. I think it has partially due to the fact that the roads are quite narrow, compared to say Delhi/NCR.

2. There is a grave water problem. Most apartments rely on tankers and ground water is depleting very fast

3. Cost of living is high. But nowadays, NCR is no better (talking about Noida/Gurugram)

[pganapathy]

This whole discussion is something that depends on what a person wants in life. I am currently working in Bombay and would love to move back to Bangalore to work. However, when I got the offer in Bombay, the first thing I did was figure out where the office was. I then figured out rent in the area and then took the offer. I now stay a 10 minute walk from work. Having my own house in Bangalore means my minimum was half an hour each way drive to work depending on where the office was. My worst was in Ecospace, a 20 km drive from home, which could take between 1 to 3 hours depending on weather and time I left the office. So, to the OP I say, see if you can find a place near the office, since you will be renting a house. If the numbers work take an offer there. Hopefully the additional salary and the rent you get from your current house in Chennai will help ensure you get extra money at the end of the month.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

I'd like to present a counterpoint to the don't come to Bangalore posts. I've been living here since 2005 and to be honest, I'd not move anywhere else in India - at least for the remainder of my working life. There are multiple reasons for this..

A very good post and this is how more or less how I look at Bangalore, except for the delivery apps

Leaving at 4pm is possible if you are an individual contributor, but even if the company policy permits, it doesn't feel right for a manager-type to checkout at 4pm when all the troops are deep in the trenches.

Bangalore traffic is certainly bad but I think if one doesn't have to use ORR, it is manageable.

I exclude large IT campuses, apartment complexes, shopping malls, hospitals, schools, etc. from my life in Bangalore and it feels like a good place. Rent a house, work in a company with office in regular neighbourhood, send kids to mid size or small schools, avoid visiting malls or big bazaar type shops, don't eat out on weekends, don't go to Coorg during a long weekend and the list goes on on. I think I sound like Baba androdev but seriously, Bangalore has a lot to offer and I lived in almost all big cities of India and found this to be the best for a laid back life without giving up on opportunities and big-city-life.

[rovingeye]

Originally Posted by Traveler

A 2700 sqft duplex villa in Whitefield, Kadugodi Road area is about 30-35k per month.

Lucky you! I pay 40K rent for a 1400 3 BR apartment in South Delhi. Delhi rents are ridiculous beyond belief!

Sorry,