Home Away From Home: Living The Life Of An Expat

It can be a complicated experience for an outsider who is visiting a country where culture comes in vibrant hues, shades and expressions. Turning it into even a temporary home can be a daunting task. More so if the food habits change with every city and not to forget the language of communication too. Ask the expatriates or expats living in any city in India and they will tell you how intensely they have felt the need to hang on and leave at the same time during their stay here.

Compared to the third world countries, India presents a decent lifestyle for expats. Although the western countries can offer a better lifestyle in terms of better quality of life and education for children, India and China present the best of every opportunity with their starkly contradicting facilities created for the ultra rich, moderately rich, middle class and the poor.

Being an expat isn’t all glory just because one has a high-paying job. It can also mean a range of things for the family involved. Change in the education system for the children, a different kind of lifestyle, varied personal choices, level of endurance, work culture – all tend to get compromised when one settles for the life of an expat. From that point where the choice is made, life becomes somewhat an Alice in Wonderland kind of a saga with the most unexpected twists and turns. Although in the end, an expat leaves a country with memories that are a good mix of bitter and sweet moments, it is never too boring.

Although countries like Singapore, Israel, United Kingdom, France, America, Spain, UAE and others present a very tempting picture of an opulent lifestyle, what plays a decisive role in fixing the tenure of an expat’s stay in any country would be a few primary things – safety, weather, taxes, education and the cost of living.

Singapore has had a reputation of being home to some baffling legal structure. The UK, the US and France are mostly expensive when it comes to living and saving. Although Spain, UAE and China are moderate in their cost of living, expats are exposed to somewhat a monoculture that can make the country predictable. Beyond this, laws are also stringent in these countries, making living in these countries a tricky proposition for an outsider. Israel, though with its claim to have turned into a powerhouse of technology, the violence that’s tearing it up isn’t helping its image.

Living in India can be both heaven and hell, depending on the city where one chooses to live. Some of the favourites are Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad, which have been home to emerging technology.

What makes the life of an expat tick in India?

The cost of living is very low for an expat who commands an overseas salary in the company he/she is working. The support system in terms of domestic assistance comes at a pittance. Lifestyle can be moderate to opulent depending upon where one chooses to live. The local community in any city can be highly accepting of an expat and his/her family owing to the nature of courtesy. And the education system for the children is well within the reach of an expat with every city boasting of scores of international schools.

The process of integrating into an Indian neighbourhood is always easy as it is a post-colonial nation which is already exposed to many cultures from the West. The education system in India is moderately global, making it easier for the children to get absorbed into the existing framework.

The legal framework for an expat in India is fairly simple. If an expat is in for a long haul, it is expected that one registers himself or herself at the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office (FRRO) within the first two weeks of arrival in the country. Failure to do so would attract a punishment of cancellation of the Indian visa. This apart, the basic laws that apply to a local/foreigner would apply to the expat families too, unless any relaxations are specifically mentioned. Mostly, when working with private companies immunity is out of question; unless one is in India on an assignment with the government directly or indirectly.

Laws for drinking, driving, insurance etc work as they do uniformly for the rest of the country. Domestic help at lesser rates is a major boon. Food and local culture can pose a challenge in terms of depth and varied understanding, depending on the city an expat chooses to live. Cities like Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai are global and cosmopolitan in their outlook with pockets of Kolkata coming close to any British colony. This apart, the work culture in corporate companies is not entirely different from that of offshore facilities that an expat would have worked in.