India Bashing

[Returning_Indian]

One place where anyone will feel helpless is when dealing with Indian judiciary system. Judges are corrupt as hell. Your property, assets or anything is not safe. Police is extremely corrupt as well. You keep on running from pillar to post but never get anything done without bribery. This is boon for rich class but Bane from middle/upper middle class. There are numerous instances even for NRIs where their properties are illegally captured by goon elements who are in cahoots with police/judges. Bank managers have stolen money of NRIs. As long as you do not have to deal with govt/judiciary/police you can live peacefully. This is where US scores very high and makes living sane. I loved that cops were available to help within few seconds. You feel any threat and they are there. You have issue with anyone, you have a fair judicial system to support you and give fair verdict within reasonable time.

Recent case of Atul Shubash brings the problem that men face in India. Girls file fraudulent cases. Female judges presiding know all the truth but give unfair verdict to extract money. Police involved know all the allegations are fake and still don't do anything. Infact, they ask for bribes on every step of the way. Judiciary is going the medical community way. Just like you feel powerless when doctors over test or unnecessary surgery, same way you feel powerless against the judicial/police system that's standing against you.

[SAPPORO]

Expect the unexpected in India! I thought I was smart in not owning any real estate due to the fear of encroachments since I don't have any connections and even if I had I would be hesitant to use them. So, I had leased my apartment in Bangalore for 10 years. But in a strange twist, I had to jump thru hoops recently to get the owner evicted (not the tenant) from that apartment. He occupied the place 'just like that vonly' since we are living overseas.

[Returning_Indian]

I have watched too many videos and shorts on quality of food in restaurants of India. And it has completely discouraged me to eat outside. The way hygiene is not maintained and compromised quality of food items are used, it just bothers me quite a bit now. Fake paneer, old food items not stored properly, overused oil, too much butter, fake cheese, bad quality butter, bacteria overgrowth, too much maida, too much of spices etc etc. Whenever I eat from outside, I feel bad all night. Maybe it's the quantity of food or maybe it's age. Hyderabad food department has conducted lot of raids and found even top quality restaurants to be in bad condition.

Some say it's better to eat from cart vendors as they finish up their daily content and make everything fresh everyday. But their quality of oil, potato etc can be of very low quality and I am afraid adulterated also. Plus their hygiene is always a questionable item since ages.

I am a big foodie but this is totally left me discouraged. Sometimes it's better to not know.

[r2somewhere]

On my last India trip I ate out quite a bit. Upscale bakeries, brunch places, South Indian and foreign cuisine places were generally good. Quality looked suspect in cheaper, North Indian cuisine places. Quality of groceries is not as good as Blue states or Canada. Most stuff marketed as 'high protein' and 'low sugar' is much lower in protein and higher in sugar than brands you get in North America. Getting protein in India is a struggle without powders and even those are suspect in India. My cousins asked me to get some from US.

[SAPPORO]

After all the hype and waiting for a couple of decades, the interstate highways have not improved at all with a handful of possible exceptions. It took 7.5 hours to travel 350 Kms distance between Chennai and Bangalore twice this week. Even the copyright violations have not changed one bit with almost all the restaurants by the highway named as some variations of Saravana Bhavan.
Probably should have taken the train but it takes an hour to travel 8 kms to the train station in the horrible Bangalore traffic.

[wd40]

On my last India trip I ate out quite a bit. Upscale bakeries, brunch places, South Indian and foreign cuisine places were generally good. Quality looked suspect in cheaper, North Indian cuisine places. Quality of groceries is not as good as Blue states or Canada. Most stuff marketed as 'high protein' and 'low sugar' is much lower in protein and higher in sugar than brands you get in North America. Getting protein in India is a struggle without powders and even those are suspect in India. My cousins asked me to get some from US.

You can have eggs, curd,lentils, chickpeas etc for protein. Whatever you mentioned isn't very surprising or unexpected. India becomes very expensive and non worthwhile for premier products. On the other hand, India is great value if you if you stick to the middle ground.

We had great idly dosas and other south Indian food in Udupi restaurants in Bangalore and also in Udupi. We had great chats and samosas, chicken biryani, beer. We had a great time

We did Bangalore to Udupi a Maruti Alto, we noticed most people now in India buy only SUVs and EVs. Nobody buys small hatchbacks anymore.

My wife's cousin bought Tata Curvv, 22L car, it is so futuristic, there is sports mode economy mode, some 21 cameras and the car has something like cruise control. They have an EV charger in their house and now they do like 400 Kms without any charging on the road.

I am quite excited about India, but I understand in India you must have a lot of money but avoid the upper class bubble. Stick to middle class and enjoy the FIREd life

[Returning_Indian]

I would completely avoid small vehicle. They are very unsafe on Indian roads. Alto is the most unsafe car. Would avoid it completely. You have money now and you should invest in safest vehicle possible with all the airbags for family's safety. Something like fortuner, innova etc

[Returning_Indian]

After all the hype and waiting for a couple of decades, the interstate highways have not improved at all with a handful of possible exceptions. It took 7.5 hours to travel 350 Kms distance between Chennai and Bangalore twice this week. Even the copyright violations have not changed one bit with almost all the restaurants by the highway named as some variations of Saravana Bhavan.
Probably should have taken the train but it takes an hour to travel 8 kms to the train station in the horrible Bangalore traffic.

You get all the points for driving long distances in India. I would have taken flights. Delhi/NCR has best infra in the country and even then average speed isn't very high due to sheer volume of vehicles. 20lane highways are jam packed and they are having to build more. Elevated roads provide temporary relief and with more vehicles joining the streets even they get choked during peak times. Signal free roads are packed with vehicles and traffic jam on flyovers are common. Auto industry boom isn't helping. 350kms in 7hrs is very good by Indian traffic standards.

[wd40]

I would completely avoid small vehicle. They are very unsafe on Indian roads. Alto is the most unsafe car. Would avoid it completely. You have money now and you should invest in safest vehicle possible with all the airbags for family's safety. Something like fortuner, innova etc

Navigating on Bangalore roads, Alto is the best. We do occasional highway driving and I personally believe safety depends on the driver more than the car.

[SAPPORO]

After all the hype and waiting for a couple of decades, the interstate highways have not improved at all with a handful of possible exceptions. It took 7.5 hours to travel 350 Kms distance between Chennai and Bangalore twice this week. Even the copyright violations have not changed one bit with almost all the restaurants by the highway named as some variations of Saravana Bhavan.
Probably should have taken the train but it takes an hour to travel 8 kms to the train station in the horrible Bangalore traffic.

You get all the points for driving long distances in India. I would have taken flights. Delhi/NCR has best infra in the country and even then average speed isn't very high due to sheer volume of vehicles. 20lane highways are jam packed and they are having to build more. Elevated roads provide temporary relief and with more vehicles joining the streets even they get choked during peak times. Signal free roads are packed with vehicles and traffic jam on flyovers are common. Auto industry boom isn't helping. 350kms in 7hrs is very good by Indian traffic standards.

But it takes close to 2 hours from the city to the Bangalore airport and check-in 2 hours prior to the departure!
I can't take this chaos and cacophony anymore and counting down the days to go back home May not visit in the future unless there is an occasion that I can 't miss. Very sad to feel this way, maybe my patience is running out with age.