Several Software Professionals Returning to India have to Choose Between Bangalore and Hyderabad

chillibreeze writer — Anusha Naveen

There’s a famous saying; ‘Home is, where the heart is’. Most Indians living abroad lead dichotomic lives. They miss India all the time, but they seek to live in a different country due to their own choices and compulsions. They try to make it a point to visit India at least once every year to stay in touch – a hurried ten-day affair. All of this is because of the call of their homeland. Memories of loved ones and the love for their country and culture act as homing beacons, enticing them to return. This is where home is and so is their heart.

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When I talk to most of my friends living abroad about returning to India, it invariably turns into an argument and they come up with these axiomatic sentences like

• The rupee will always depreciate against the dollar (US Dollar obviously- is there any other kind?)
• Inflation will always be higher in India than in the US (Though the economies are incomparable)
• The standard of living is always better in the US than in India.

These have become like Newton’s three laws, people accepting them as some sort of Biblical truth. But let me give you a lowdown on this. Well placed software professionals in India today would be foolish if they quit their jobs to go to the US. The situation in India is totally different today with Infosys, TCS, Satyam and several others employing software professionals in thousands. Sure, many are assigned to projects abroad, but with living standards and pay packets on the rise in India, going to the US for a software job may not be the best solution.

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For people who have been in the US and are returning, the grass is greener on this side for them. They end up with a good salary and their lifestyles can improve drastically. The standard of living may go down, but over all they end up leading better lifestyles. What I mean is you can live like a king here with what you earn, which you can’t do in the US even if you were a millionaire.

There are a lot of questions that arise after deciding to move to India. The biggest of them all is, where in India? For most IT professionals the answer is typically Bangalore or Hyderabad. So, which should it be? Bangalore or Hyderabad?

Bangalore is ahead with plum jobs, more multinational companies based out of there and having the advantage of an earlier start. Sadly though, it simply isn’t the lovely Garden City it used to be. Pollution, congestion, sky rocketing property prices and the overall apathetic attitude of the administration seems to swing popular opinion in Hyderabad’s favor, its hot summers notwithstanding. Bangalore is now on the decline.

Hyderabad is a friendlier city; there is perceivable warmth in the people here. While retaining its old world charm and flavor, it has evolved into a cosmopolitan metropolis which is gathering momentum. The laid back attitude of the people here comes across as pleasant. It has reasonable weather overall, the infrastructure has not yet reached its absolute peak. There’s room to grow and plans being made to facilitate growth.

Does this mean Hyderabad is the best city to live in India? No, not by far as yet and yes it could be in the foreseeable future. Bangalore has its own advantages in terms of weather and it offers a lot of holiday packages around the city for your long weekends. There is nightlife, though somewhat shortened nowadays, and streets like MG Road are bustling and lively.

Hyderabad, unfortunately, may not match Bangalore in terms of weather conditions have as much entertainment, but your day-to-day life is much better in this city than in any other city in India. There may be days when you get absolutely bored and crave for an outing in a downtown kind of set up, which you might have had in the US and which Bangalore may able to fulfill but in Hyderabad you will definitely miss it.

If I had to choose, I would make a decision based on the convenience, real estate rates, quality of schools, people, cost of living and of course recreational options, in that order. Even though Bangalore has several strengths, my scales tip more toward Hyderabad.

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—About our writer:

Anusha writes for chillibreeze.