Why This British Expat Chose India For Life

There's lots of opportunity to have a much better lifestyle here, than you could in the UK -Meet Jamie Originally from the UK, he moved to Delhi almost three years ago Jamie told me how living in India made him handle any level of spicy food, whether he's faced any prejudices for being British here, and what are the biggest misconceptions that Westerners have about India I'm Max, an entrepreneur and YouTuber based in Singapore Let's dive in -Is there any misconception about India in the West? -L

oads, loads One of the worst things that was ever produced about India, even though it wasn't a description about India and Indian culture, was "Slumdog Millionaire", the film So that painted India, and it just amplified the stereotype People are poor, they live on the streets, they rob, they steal, all that kind of stuff But actually, that happens in every society across the world That isn't just in India And actually, the food here is amazing, the people are amazing There are some stunning pla

ces to go and visit here I've been to Aurangabad, which is about 45 minutes, an hour, that's probably wrong, outside of Mumbai And the caves that were built, that humongous cave, I've never seen anything quite like it I didn't even know it existed, until I got to India And lots of people in India were like, "Oh, you went there" So, there's lots to see here and experience And lots of people say, "Oh, you're either rich or poor in India" And that isn't even... You know, there's multitudes of level

of society here Much the same as there is elsewhere in the world And that kind of stereotype, that you're either rich or poor, it couldn't be further from the truth Education is so important here, because there's so many people here So families will push the kids quite heavily, so, making sure they're getting good grades, like the top grades You know, they rank your class performance in the newspaper That's how aggressive it can be, because you're challenging against, you know, 1.4 billion peop

le here And the universities only have so many places and there are only so many good universities and they want to send their kids to study in the States and in Canada They need to get top, top marks So there's a big pressure from that perspective, but yeah, I think people can assume from any kind of meteoric rise, definitely -Have you ever felt this, resentment towards you because you're from Britain and theres's a colonial past -I think there's always... Definitely, I've had experiences where

people have been, kind of, a bit brutal, about things I may have... I may post something about me going back to the UK or something And then people, will then, say something And if there are things happening in the news, people might post stuff about Britain, and the history Most of the time when people talk about it, it's banter And, you know, I wasn't here then it wasn't me that did anything You know, that's all my defense is The only thing I would say is, I'm here now and I'm helping to cont

ribute to the economy and the country is amazing and I'm living here, so it can't be that bad -Was it easy for you as a native English speaker to understand locals, with how they speak English? -Yeah, I think I'm better at understanding locals and drivers and people that come to the house and stuff I think people struggle to understand me That is a big, big problem And I've had that problem a little bit more, since I've moved Mumbai I try and slow down, but I naturally don't talk that slowly I t

end to speak quite quickly So I'm finding myself having to slow down quite a lot and use less, not complicated, but less colloquial words and stuff Don't use those words, and just simplify everything I'm trying to say And my accent, some people go, "Your accent is so difficult to understand" And other people are like, "Oh no, your accent's fine" So I try to learn Hindi, but it is difficult to learn The sentence construction is different to the UK The way that sentence is constructed is very, is

complete opposite to the UK And therefore, when you're trying to speak Hindi, my brain is trying to rework which way round to say the sentence It's very difficult And therefore, when the locals would say in English, they're doing it in the same way as they speak Hindi And therefore when it comes out, it seems like the sentence is backwards, but that's the way they speak in Hindi So, that's fine But, you kind of get the drift But I end up, kind of also, like... When I write emails, I'm using the

same kind of grammar in my emails So I make it easier for people to understand And also it just happens Like, you do just end up merging into the environment that you live in When you hear people talk like that, that's how you end up talking yourself -What's the biggest difference for you between living in London and living in Delhi? -I think the amount of food is a massive thing in India Everything revolves around food They say that food changes every 10 kilometers, and dialect changes every 20

kilometers, which is definitely true I've traveled a bit But yeah, the food is very different I think, you know, I've always liked spicy food, before I came here Now, I can take anything My spice level's gone through the roof When I go back to the UK, I struggle with food, because it's so "bland" in comparison -Yeah -So that's a big difference -What's your favourite food? -Butter chicken would be it, if I was on a bad day, it's like, that's my go to Breakfast, even now, I would say, Masala Dosa

And when I go back to the UK, I'm a bit struggling for what to eat, because I can't get Masala Dosa -Yeah -I kind of, get into it, and then I've always had a sweet tooth and being in India, there's lots of sweets everywhere here, so yeah, Gulab Jamun, which is like, Indian rice pudding soaked in syrup Soaked in loads of (Indian condiment) It's awesome, but so bad for you -It's there actually a big chance to have real stomach problems, if you're not prepared for local food? -So I think, yeah, to

uch wood, I've not had loads of problems, but I think it's not necessarily because of hygiene or anything like that, as to why people end up with a upset stomach [Max: That's what people say...] Yeah, totally, totally I think it's the change of spice level So there's a lot of flavor that goes into foods, whereas in the UK you've salt and pepper, and that's about it But in Indian food, there is a ton of herbs and spices that go into a food And any one of those, can then knock your stomach out And

it's not to say the food hasn't been cooked Like, some of the best food and some of the healthiest food is on the street Because it's cooked to, you know, one inch of it's life, it's cooking and cooking and cooking There's nothing wrong with it I also think the humidity, that heat, could can also have an impact, you know, if you get really, really hot and you're just continually hot, that can also have an impact But, you know, in most restaurants, the restaurants are amazing Hygiene, there's no

problem with hygiene at all You just need to be careful if you're going to eat street food, which street food places you go? If you want to eat street food, go to the place with the biggest queue So don't go to a street food place if there's no one there If there's loads of locals there, go there Some of the biggest business in India are street food sellers They make an absolute fortune There is a famous guy, I don't want to tell you who he is, but there's a famous guy in South Delhi, who runs

a set of network of street food sellers He has one of the biggest houses in South Delhi -Are there anything that you're still not used to, living in India? -So I think moving to Mumbai, traffic's bad Traffic was bad in Delhi, but you kind of, got used to it Like, if the journey was an hour, you'd know it'd be an hour And it would take an hour Here, I've only been in Mumbai for like, six weeks, but the traffic, even short distances, like two kilometers, can take you half an hour and that's kind o

f, like Google Maps will just keep extending the time and you're like, "Oh, this is taking absolutely ages!" I had a moment two weeks ago where I just got out and walked because the cars just weren't moving So the traffic is pretty bad here, I have to say, I think my biggest shock coming was the weather Yes, it's hot, but how hot it gets and for how long You know, I still get people, when I go back to the UK, they say, "Oh, you haven't got a tan" "Why haven't you tanned?" "It's like 40° C every

day" Yeah, living in 40° C, means that you'd want to escape from the sun You don't want to be sunbathing in it, so you know So from like, especially in Delhi, where it's a lot hotter than Mumbai, April and May, between 12 and 6 o'clock Nobody really goes out It gets 40 plus ° C There were times when it almost hit 50° C When it hits 50° C, they shut the airport because the tarmac can't... They can't guarantee the tarmac in the heat and it's searingly hot And that's what Delhi is known for But on

the plus side, in the winter, it has a very, very nice winter Well, for me, it does for lots of the locals, it was freezing for them But for me, it was like 15° C I was like, "Oh, this is beautiful" And you could just go out and walk around One of the challenges when it's so hot, is you can't go out Like walking is always a little bit difficult in India The pavements aren't really built for walking -Yeah -And especially where I lived in Delhi, there was a loads of places to go and walk, but beca

use it's so hot, you don't walk I used to live in London, you'd go out and walk around everywhere You'd walk from place to place And when it's so hot, you can't do that So the winter, made it possible to then go out and explore India -In the UK, basically you walk or you cycle also -Yeah, I mean people... -Don't cycle I guess... -Yeah, yeah, but here you would be... Dangerous to cycle on the roads -Yeah, you could be killed... -What are the 3 best things, for you, about living in Delhi? -The soc

ial part of it is amazing Like there's a restaurant opening up every day There's bars opening up There's a party everywhere So the social aspect The ability to play sport is actually quite good, like, I've played cricket, There's lots of cricket pitches in Delhi, so that's pretty cool And then the food, you can get any kind of cuisine you want in Delhi it's, kind of a food... I'd say, pretty big for food I think, here, from an expat perspective, living here that's different to the UK, like, the

expat world is very welcoming And I think wherever you go, Delhi and Mumbai, the two places I've only ever lived, everyone's very welcoming, everyone wants to know your story, where have you come from, why are you in India, what are you doing, should we go out for a drink on Saturday? And that's a far more sociable... Whereas, I think the UK... Not to say anything disparaging about the UK, but people have their lives, they have their network, and that's it When I first moved here, I wanted... En

gland were playing cricket in India, and I wanted to go and watch the cricket, so I messaged the Instagram Barmy Army (English cricket fans) page They told me of a guy that was living in India, living in Delhi, so I messaged him He was like, "Oh yeah, here's the WhatsApp group for tickets" "So, you're now living here?" I was like, "Yeah" He was like, "Oh, I run an expat cricket club" "Do you want to, do you play cricket?" I said, "Yeah, I played cricket, like, 20 years ago" So, yeah, I can play-

ish He said, "Well, I'm having a party for my birthday on Saturday, do you want to come along, and meet the guys? So I was like, "Oh God, yeah!" "Okay, fine" So, at 40 years of age, I went to a birthday party, with a crate of beer, not knowing a soul And that was, like, the first thing that led me to a network in India, and that was really cool And it's one of the things I always say to people now, that come and live here, and just to expats generally, is the first six months you arrive, say, "Y

es", to every single invitation you get Which I'm sure you're used to Don't say, "No", and you know, 60% of them, 70% of them might be absolute rubbish But you don't necessarily need that many people in your life Anyway, well, I certainly don't And you might find a network And that was one of the big things that I did very early on, and that opened up the network in India -In Singapore, there is this problem that you start feeling after you've been in the country for like three, four, five years

Some people are there for assignment, so you make friends with someone And then, after three years he's gone to another place or back home -True -And then you're like, "Okay, why I invested so much time and effort making friends?" -So, I definitely agree with that So, I had that probably... The first two years I was in Delhi, it was kind of post-COVID, so people hadn't really moved out and people were still locked in Delhi, so to speak And then slowly people started to move out And yes, it is d

ifficult because you make very close connections with people, and then they go, and then you have to start again And sometimes you're, "Oh, I can't really be bothered" And suddenly I'm moving to Mumbai, I was like, "You know, I could just fly back to Delhi" It's an hour and a half on a plane I don't really need to make a network here But you do need to make a network wherever you go But the cool thing about that is, I now have a network across the world So I've got friends in Australia, Brazil,

South Africa, parts of Europe that I didn't have before So you've, kind of, built this network across the world, which is pretty cool That is a transient life and you have to get used to that People will come and go, but the good thing is, people are always still coming -Sometimes, that's the case in Singapore, sometimes, not always, like, foreigners stick together, and locals stick together -I don't necessarily think it's classified by whether you're an expat or whether you're a local I think i

t's about what you like, what your interests are Do I have anything in common with you? Do I want to go out and have a drink with you? Can we chat about anything? And if you can't, then you don't socialize And therefore you don't mix And that's why I think, the groups just... If you've only ever lived in India and you haven't necessarily traveled that far, you don't expose yourself to Western culture, then it's difficult It's going to be a bit harder for us to have a conversation and get into, b

ecause we don't really have that much in common, which is no different to, I think if you lived in the UK and I was talking to somebody that didn't have anything in common with me, I wouldn't be a friend with them But yeah, I mean, I think you do need expat friends, in some ways I had, when I first landed here, three weeks in the company, got this like, orientation guy, and he would tell you what India's like and stuff One of the things he said is, you need expat friends, because you're going to

need that avenue, where you can just talk about what happened in the football, what's happening in the news back home, can you see the terrible weather? Because you've got to talk about the weather because obviously you're British, you've got to talk about the weather to somebody You know, you need that kind of release thing Yeah, I think you just get along with people that you like or don't like I wouldn't necessarily classify it as local or not local -Do you think you obtained any new habits,

living in India for two and a half years? -You get used to some of the benefits of living in India You know, I have a housekeeper, most people will have home help of some kind So when you come home at the end of the day, everything is done around the house And you haven't got to do that, which then gives you opportunity to do other things If you've got kids, then it's a godsend -I heard it's a big thing in India -Yeah, everyone So I think in all levels of society, no matter where you are in the

social structure, they will have some kind of home help Either if it's just somebody coming and clean, sweep, someone to do the dishes In lots of Indian families, the mothers will still want to cook So they still won't let, you know... I will let my housekeeper, she can cook Lots of people won't let them cook and they want to cook themselves So they would maybe chopped vegetables Do that kind of stuff, clean the dishes, clean the house, but they'll still cook And it's all levels within India -I

talked to my buddy He's Singaporean He became Singaporean recently He's from India I told him, "Oh, Singapore is so nice, because you have domestic helper" I said, "Life is much easier, so we never go back to Europe because there isn't such an option" And he's like, "Oh, I thought everywhere in the world was like that" "Because in India, we have five helpers, when I was growing up, it was five helpers" -So I've got friends here that have, and they've got kids Two kids under five and got two nan

nies, maids They're not going back to the UK -What's the, let's say, overall typical foreigner's monthly budget? -Oh God, someone's going to tell me I should save more money If you were to go out for dinner in India and you go to some very nice restaurant, you are, I would say, you would struggle to pay more than £10 (12 USD) for a main course If you're paying more than £10 for a main course, you would be raising your eyebrows at that One of the best restaurants in India, in Delhi, there's one j

ust opening in Mumbai, Michelin, I think it's a 1 Michelin star restaurant, does a seven course tasting menu for £49 (60 USD) -This is just crazy -You wouldn't get half of that, you'd get, like, two main courses in the UK, maybe, for that Michelin star, maybe not -In Singapore it would be ten times actually -Oh, so yeah -It would be S$500 (360 USD), that's like, okay, seven times -And then depending on where you live, so alcohol, I don't really drink that much anymore, PT (personal trainer), lis

ten to that But alcohol, depending on where you are, can be quite expensive Anything that's imported generally is more expensive So add wine, you'll pay £15, £12 to £15 (15 to 18 USD) for a bottle of Jacob's Creek, which many people say that's £12, £15 too much! But spirits can be a lot cheaper, especially, like North India, where I was, alcohol was relatively cheap And in some cases, very, very cheap As you come further south, it tends to get a little bit more expensive Certainly here, it's a l

ot more expensive than it was in Delhi Your biggest bill in the house, apart from maybe rent, depending on whether you're paying rent or not, electricity, for obviously ACs (air conditioners), are on quite a lot of the time Anywhere between maybe £100 (120 USD) to £120 (145 USD) in the peak months Depending on how much you put on, which is way less than the UK is now -What would be the price of, let's say, one bedroom apartment, in a nice area in Mumbai or Delhi? -One bedroom, you could probably

get in a, kind of like, expat area would be maybe like £800 (970 USD) a month, maybe slightly less than that, depending on the standards and stuff But yeah, in Delhi, I used to live just outside Delhi, you'd pay close to £2000 (2,400 USD), but you'd be (getting) 4,000 sq ft apartment, gym, restaurant, bar, salon, spa two swimming pools, you've lots of space In Mumbai, you just lose the space because it's so tight for space here So you'd pay kind of similar money, but you'd be half the size -Do

you think there's something that UK can learn from India? -A couple of things, like I think there's a view in the West that the East is trying to mimic the West, yeah? And in certain instances, that might be the case But there are certain instances where the East has the right thing going on, the West doesn't realize From a cost perspective, there's a lot of people here, so things are a lot cheaper Because people tend to be cheaper here So there's lots of opportunity to have a much better lifest

yle here, than you could in the UK I have a personal trainer, cost the equivalent of £10 (12 USD) an hour You know, in the UK, that'd be £40, £50 (50 to 60 USD) You can have home help here I can get deliveries for shopping, like groceries, within 15 minutes I don't have to book a slot I don't have to be in I don't have to spend a minimum of £50 (60 USD) to get the booking, to get the slot like a supermarket does in the UK So, there are certain things that are coming There's some payment modules

here You know, in the UK, there is Apple Pay Here, there's Paytm, it means I can pay a street seller with my card That's awesome So there's lots of things I think, small things, that I think the West could learn I also think the family is so important here Lots of things revolve around the family and how important that is Food, as I've talked about, is an integral part of Indian culture You talk about food and Britain, and people kind of like, "Yeah, just... move on, move on" "What is that? What

is English food?" So that's a big part of society and very, very important And I think maybe the West has, kind of, lost its view on where the family is and the dynamic of that