Single Expats in India (or other places)

[Cruiseclimb]

I was considering a contract in India and was curious what the lifestyle would be for a single pilot there? I know India is more conservative in some ways than other parts of Asia and certainly would not want to arrive and offend anyone in a new host country. I had a friend who is there flying at the moment tell me many of the cabin crew are somewhat cold... any information would be nice.

Also, if not India, what would you recommend?

[NGFellow]

India will be great for anyone who is "open" to the third world and is willing to give it a chance. India is a lot more progressive culturally in terms to the pop culture. Western stuff is quite popular. English is widely spoken and you can get almost anything that you could get in North America. Be prepared for the mass of humanity (you will notice this as you leave the terminal), traffic, pollution, poverty etc etc. After a while you will get used to it.

If you are single you should have a pretty good time. As far as the F/A's being cold. Hmm Could be a personality thing (isolated) or perhaps they have been told to behave a certain way with the pilots. Maybe a lot of contract guys have done some "touch & go's"
Remember, the F/A's in India vs North America--very different attitude. First off, in India and in Asia you are in a very elite category as a Capt/Pilot. You get treated very differently than in NA. You are always Capt. The F/A's jobs are very sought after and most gals are college graduates etc. However the average F/A makes between $500-1000/month tops. Whereas an average Capt makes $10,000-$15,000 per month. India is very class conscious and so you can get the picture. A F/A would be quite lucky to "bag" a pilot.

Indian girls can be quite attractive. But just like anywhere else you cant put them all in one basket. Some F/A's are from very good families and wealthy, just doing the F/A thing for adventure and travel. Kingfisher, Jet etc have some real hotties, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Good luck. I think India might not be too bad.

[Lembrado]

CC,

In reality mate you will spend most of your time in whichever hotel they (the company) have placed you - on your lonesome!

I'm doing a couple of trips per month to Mumbai at the moment, I notice the same contractors without much to do on every trip (somewhat generalizing).

In my experience of Mumbai, it's a very inaccessible city to just go out and grab a coffee or find a nice bar to sip a drink (and meet people). Unlike Cape Town, Vancouver or Rio etc. One needs to battle through endless traffic first of all and there is no getting around the cultural differences of etiquette.

I get the impression that people do it just for the money.


I would suggest going there on a short holiday before signing a contract - you may in fact totally disagree with what I've said and love it!


L.

[jai6638]

Honestly, as an Indian living in the US, there is definately a difference in what constitutes as "etiquette". Here in the US, if I walk past someone and smile, they'll smile back. If I do that in India, they'll probably just walk past me .. In fact, once I was smiling at someone walking past me in India, and the person was like "Are you smiling at me?"! I think they look at you with suspicion if you smile since its not the norm. Infact, I hardly smiled at someone who walked past me before coming to the US either. It was not because I did not want to be polite, but its probably because it was not the norm back home! This is a gross generalization ...

Ofcourse, that isnt to say that the US is exempt.. There some things that US lacks in etiquette ( from an Indian perspective ) but thats all part of the culture so can't do anythin about it.. Just need to adapt!

I don't think you will should have a problem adapting if you go with an open mind..

[Cruiseclimb]

Great inputs, exactly the kind of information I was looking for. I appreciate your time. I think the suggestion for taking a holiday is one I will start looking into. Fly Safe..

[Pretzel]

You guys seriously make me laugh...


All i can suggest is go and do some precision approaches before going to india.. cos i m sure most of you will get to Decision and be told go around a few times!

Jimmy... make up ur mind... u wanna eat noodles or pick up chicks... chicks dont want noodle eating subway sleeping wannabie pilots...

[chrislikesblue]

Ofcourse we l do a precision approach before going to India,a good pilot is always keeping up the skills!
I dont disagree with u,we might have to go around a couple of times,well thats a part of life,it will improve our technique and make us shoot a better approach the next time!
keep up the noodles Jim,techinique is the secret of the game,it doesnt matter what u eat!

[CAPTAIN WOOBLAH]

Children children, kids these days...........................:confused:
Pilots are pilots and Pu$$y is probably the most talked about subject in the cockpit even if the Captain is a woman :ok:
India is a contradiction of life, dreams and cultures. Such immense wealth, such abject poverty. It is the only place I have seen a turd ejected horizontally into a wall or stepped over a dead body on the way to the most luxurious brothel I have ever seen. Steak is a no go in general and if you see it on the menu it is usually buffalo as cows are sacred. Again such a contradiction. A devout Hindu would rather starve than eat a cow, and there are so many cows around. India has tremendous beauty especially in the north, the lake in Srinagar Kashmir and the back waters of Cochin and Calicut in the south. Man the house boats the on board cook & waiter the mysterious Indian FA babe dressed to kill and a gin tonic or kingfisher in hand. Wonderful I reckon you have to love it. But alas it is not for me long term I have visited many times both on night stops and on holidays. There are things I love and things I hate but alas I think I will stay just where I am.
Have fun in India to those that venture there and do tell us how you fare.:ok:

[sec 3]

The answer is easy... You wanna fly a jet? go to India and fly your bag off. If you don't like it, leave when your time is done. If your scared to live in India, stay where you are and fly turboprops. To see some of the poverty is unavoidable, but you will stay in good accomodations and have a driver to and from the airport every flight. What you do on your time off is up to you. Go out and experience the culture or lock yourself in your room. I was there for 3 months working for Jet and I loved every minute of it, wouldn't trade that experience for anything. Jet is a great company with great people working there. Go and experience it:ok:

[NGFellow]

If you are one of those guys with low time and no jet experience then you really should not worry too much about pay etc. Just go there and get your experience. After that you can do whatever you want and be picky as to where you want to be. Here in the US, it used to be pretty hard to get a turboprop F/O job unless you had a minumum of 1500 hrs with 500 multi. Now things have changed somewhat, but you still need some time.
It seems that with Randhem etc guys are going in with less than 1,000 hrs and no real airline experience to speak of. Now, I'm not knocking the lack of experience--everyone has to start somwhere-all I am saying is don't sweat the pay etc--get your time and then you can be more picky.

[Superjimby]

I'm going to india for better flying, more money, and to get laid like bricks.

[fly2fly]

Guys, I heard there's gonna be few nice and hot chicks on the Randhem scheme.
You might be able to shop BEFORE even getting to India!!

Good Luck.
And always remember: STAY OUT OF TREES!

[oddjob1952]

I spent 7 years in Bombay from 1990 to 1997 went with 2 small cases and single came back with wife two kids and a shipping container. I would go back no problem. Thing with indian women of all ages you have to get past the family who will guard her against all, once past the mother treat with respect and you are home and dry.
Join your local h3 drinking club with a running problem and you will have a good time.

[elfransa]

hi guys
im from montreal canada and i was considering tolook for a job in india, but what are my chances on landing one since i don't have any jet time, i only have a little over 400 hrs which includes 100 multi?

will it help if i was to to get a type rating before applying?

any help would be greatly appreciated

Franco

[fly2fly]

That's today's requierements for expat pilots:
Minimum of 500 ME Hours or 1000 TT or 100 hours on type.

[Al Fakhem]

Lots of misconceptions about the food in many contributions above - much like the McDonald's simplified version of thought.

Just because a majority of Indians are Hindu, this does not mean that everyone else has to fall in line. In fact, Hindus in, for instance, Kerala, do eat beef.

You will find reasonably good local beef served in many 5-star hotels nationwide. Once you have settled in, you'll even find a good local supplier. For instance, there is a very unassuming meat shop near Ulsoor Lake in Bangalore, run by a Muslim. Excellent beef, available in various cuts, including steaks. He even ships India-wide in insulated containers chilled with dry ice.

Supposedly dry states such as Gujrat are drowining in alcohol - the prohibition is only in place to line the pockets of the local politicians.

Cheer up: in India, there's always a way around what appears to be an obstacle.

[Oz_TB10]

The people in Kerala who do eat beef are the Christians not Hindhus. Ulsur Lake...brings back memories , remember siting in a rowing boat there about 15 yrs ago, stayed in Commercial st at my grandmas place during school holidays. Bangalore is an awsome place if you get to know where to go, and its the same with any place, seek and you shall find. But as the rest have said matey, go there, pull ya finger out and bite the bullet and it will treat you well at the end of the day, atleast from what i gather. Good luck!

oz_tb10

[capson]

Any country you go to has it's good points and it's bad....
Learn to lived with the bad, and cherish the good..
my one cents worth..:ok:

[powerstall]

Thanks for all the insights and opinions, i'll be flying there in a month, so we'll see what everybody is arguing about.

:D

[CL604Driver]

CAPT WOOBLAH hit the turd right on the head. Just be prepared for your current standard of living to be brought down (way down) to theirs period.

As far as going to India as a low time pilot you better watch your tale because you WILL fly with pilots who have less time and possibly not even have an Inst rating or ME rating. DGCA allows this somehow.

[MYROSTERSUCKS]

"possibly not even have an Inst rating or ME rating. DGCA allows this somehow."

Don,t think so!!!!!!!:=

[Superjimby]

DGCA does not allow people to fly without all their ratings, however people obtain their ratings without even taking the test so its almost the same thing.

[CL604Driver]

MYROSTERSUCKS"possibly not even have an Inst rating or ME rating. DGCA allows this somehow."

Don,t think so!!!!!!!:=


FACT I have witnessed this personally Take it for what it is worth

[plinkton]

You guys have such a way with words...

If you are single you should have a pretty good time. As far as the F/A's being cold. Hmm Could be a personality thing (isolated) or perhaps they have been told to behave a certain way with the pilots. Maybe a lot of contract guys have done some "touch & go's"


Pilots are pilots and Pu$$y is probably the most talked about subject in the cockpit even if the Captain is a woman

It is the only place I have seen a turd ejected horizontally into a wall or stepped over a dead body on the way to the most luxurious brothel I have ever seen.

I spent 7 years in Bombay from 1990 to 1997 went with 2 small cases and single came back with wife two kids and a shipping container.


This is the funniest, yet most informative thread I have ever read on PPRuNe, Keep it coming! :D

[flightknight]

Bangalore, Brigades Road is probably the only place i am aware of for singles to hangout. There are some good websites that have single events in other cities. India has a small town mindset , where you need to become acquainted with the culture before you can enjoy single life.
Yes, you may end up with a wife instead of just a girlfriend. Indian girls usually want you to meet the family on the first date.

[Rotorhead1026]

Indian girls usually want you to meet the family on the first date.


Which would immediately generate a "run for your life" reflex in most of us ... :)

[Nevrekar]

Run Forrest! Run!! LOL

[shuchim]

hello nevrekar sir could u pls help me in getting apprentis in spice jet .i have done aircraft maintenance engineering and now want to do apprentership and these days no airlines taking apprentis without jack. what is now reality of indian aviation

[major123]

This nothing that's really related but just to give us a fair idea about the cost of a coke in different parts of the world.

US - 20 oz (591ml) - 1.29 1.29 China - 355ml can - CNY 2.20 0.3 Taiwan - 355ml can - TWD 18 0.56 Japan - 355ml can - JPY 110 1.03 Belgium - 500ml bottle - .65 euros 0.9 UK - 355ml can - 60p 1.2 India - 355ml can - 15 Rs. 0.3

[vagabond 47]

Just about the only reason to go to India.

[CaptWUFF]

There are many reasons to come to India...

1 Flying
2 Money
3.......

Many refers to more then 1 right? Like I have many friends (2)

Positive Rate, Gear up!

WUFF

[NZ X man]

caravanguy 2001
SOunds like the street I live on, are you near buy mate!:}

[GSMini]

Oh c´mon! Do we all live on the same street?? :}

Well..F/A..I´ll tell you the next story. Absolutely veridic. Expat F/O gets phone# from nice F/A. He then decides to call her to see if they can go to have a couple of drinks etc..Phone ringing..male voice answers.
F/O then asks if he could talk to xxxx. Male voice turns out to be the father of the F/A, asking about plans of future with her doughter.
F/O then replies..well I would love to get out with her for some time to see if there´s any future (of course lying like a b**ch, all he wanted is some "action" ).
Father replied : Then, there´s no future. And hunged .

As a general rule, 95% of the girls in India looks for marriage. Try and find the girls on the 5%. I did it once!!:D

Of course that story didn´t happen to me, but to another F/O :E.

When flying here you´ll find that there´s no crew. It´s pilots and on the other hand F/A.
Oh, and not to mention how often you´ll find "smelly" Captains or F/O. And ground staff..ouch:yuk:

Going out and meet people is not that hard. Mumbai is quite an open minded city. It´s not my base city, but I´ve gone out there to a couple of places, one in the Marriot hotel, and the other one is the Hawaiian Shack..Cool places.
Goa..is a must. Nice beaches, nice clubs, nice lounges, cleaner than the rest of India..Calangute beach is the place. And the area around Tito´s is the best. Also you have the saturday night bazaar. Nice place, hippy style.You can buy a looooot of things at an incredible low price. Between October and March is the best time to go to Goa. A lot of foreigners, specially UK, Americans and Finnish.

If you go to Kolkatta, go to the HHI hotel. Nice club called the underground, and nice girls also ;)

Everything taht´s been said here is true. Specially a couple of things.
#1: You´ll love India, or you´ll hate it.
#2: You´ll never again complain about the little things that annoyed you in your country. You´ll appreciate the value of all your possesions and little things that makes you happy.

And I´ll add #3 : You will LOVE silence. Ear plugs are a must here.

Poverty is absolutely in your face, but sadly, you´ll get used to it.

About the food. Well actually, you can find everything you want. And yes, that includes meat. And if you don´t, go to a good hotel, or a good restaurant.
On the other hand, when you arrive, be prepared to spend the first week in the bathroom. Once you get used to the "local bacteria" then..everything is good! Hey, I put on some 3 KG!!.

From my experience, I can tell you that I´m one of the ones who "hate " India. Why? Because of the little things. Some examples. Traffic..insane. anarchy, caos.
or..Delhi in summer, 43ºC, 3 pm. Taxi waiting for you, doors opened, car with A/C off and the driver lying on the seat, sleeping, with his feet against the control wheel..Smelling like a horse. By the time the car starts to cool down, you´ll be arriving at the airport, absolutely swet.

Then, Indian timings. Example..5 minutes is 30 minutes. 2 minutes is 20 minutes. "Is coming" is 15 minutes. We already sent, means nobody knows where the h*ll is.

Being in a queue is a total experience. Everybody we´ll be trying to get before you. If they´re not touching your back with their body. Uh, that REALLY annoys me.

Smell..well,awful.

And so, and so...

So hope it helped a little bit. In my case, I found 20% of good things, and the rest of bad things. That varies from one to another, of course!

I know the things I posted here are going to sound familiar to some of you..c´mon admit it!!:E

Cheers!:}

[getsetgo]

GSmini
i appriciate your post
you actually saw the life ,how 1 billion live .
most miss this basic experience of life.
its certainly a big exposure for you .

[Geebz]

Life is what you make it.

The way I deal with India:

1) Try to take AC cabs or get my own car/ driver so that I can avoid the pollution when in the big cities.

2) Jog indoors at a gym on a treadmill when in a major city. The pollution will burn your eyes when you sweat if exercising.

3) Meat? I've never had a problem finding it. But then I LOVE Indian food so it's easy to find meat in the local cuisine. Chicken Korma, Keema Naan, Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Makni... available just about anywhere.

4) Women. They are stunning and, yes, hard to get to due to family protections. But you can meet them if you put in the same effort you would in any country. Like anywhere, just be tactful and respectful. I met and dated plenty of Indian women when I was there... and eventually married one. Parents are suspicious of you there because they aren't aware of their daughters dating in the first place. The moment you start showing up you're the first date they've seen in a while AND you're a foreigner. But once they get to know you, assuming your a nice guy, they'll accept you. No different than America, really.

5) The major cities are for work. Don't get too upset about the hustle and bustle of the city when you're in a major metro. Get out to the countryside or resort areas on your days off and see some true beauty of India.

6) Culture. Embrace it. Just like anywhere you travel to. If you fly from the US to Europe and go to McDonalds you're not going to learn how Europeans live. Same with India. Ask questions. Learn their culture, try the cuisine. Celebrate our differences. They are very nice people and are more than willing to help once they see you are indeed keen on learning more about them.

7) Family. They are a society that is strongly bound by a sense of family. We are to here in America but we tend to shove our kids out once they reach 18. I also think we're more superficial about our family relationships than they are due to our heavily consumer-oriented society (we fill our voids by shopping and buy things). Their more simple existence compliments their relationships by binding them closer together, hence the family protections. Generally, they also keep their children around until they get married then the kids still live at home or nearby even after marriage. This is done to maintain the tight family relationships as well as to conserve since real estate is expensive in the cities.

8) Respect. There is a profound sense of respect towards once elders in society there. I find that refreshing. Give everyone there the same respect you wish to receive and I think you will find it pays off in spades.

The Indians are very nice people. Sure there are negatives but there are plenty of those here in America as well. Every place has its pluses and minus'. The grass always seems greener no matter where you go. As I said, there are PLENTY of drawbacks to life in the US, just as there are to life in India. When I'm there I try to focus on the positive. And I don't get upset about the pace getting things done. Everything takes longer to get done in India (opening a bank account, getting a cell phone, etc) but they are changing quickly. DGCA approval, visas, etc are much quicker these days than they were 8-10 years ago.

Bear in mind also, the US is the 18th most dangerous place on the planet in terms of homicide crime. I feel a lot safer in India.

[getsetgo]

diversity is more associated with india.
one can choose to live ,work & enjoy ........
every thing is possible.
just dial ask me service on your cellular, its free.
(dialing)
kings life or poppers , one can choose to suite.
this is not possible any where.