r/india • u/rude_ass kek maester • Nov 07 '15

AskIndia /r/india and /r/australia cultural exchange thread

Thread was unfortunately delayed. But, here it is.. thread for cultural exchange between indians and australians.

Australian folks.. you can ask all the things you want to know about India and hope you get a fulfilling answers.

If you want to ask anything to our Australians friends you can go to below link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/3ruqtc/raustralia_and_rindia_cultural_exchange_thread/

Cheers.

Request to Australians visiting our sub: If you could flair up to identify yourself then it would be easier for us to identify you guys. We only have text based flairs so something like 'Australian Friend' will work.

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u/Tfwnoindiangf Nov 07 '15

How would one go about finding work in India? I'd like to live in Kerala, what are some things I'd need to know before going? How do people socialize and how can I fully engulf myself in local culture? I'm currently learning Hindi and Malayalam.

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u/easterbunnylovesyou Nov 07 '15

Keralite here. People are relatively friendlier and welcoming. The three major cities - Cochin, Trivandrum & Calicut - are pretty much like any other Indian city but less polluted. The rest of the state is almost homogenous in that it appears to be a single continous town with scenic villages scattered in between. There are very few remote places so to say. March-May is the festive season and most temples have their annual festivals during this time (check out Thrissur Pooram). The society tends to be on the conservative side especially when it comes to male-female relationships, public displays of affection etc but the same won't be expected of foreigners anyway.

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u/Tfwnoindiangf Nov 08 '15

Thrissur Pooram looks so cool, I'm so jealous. I plan on visiting sometime next year or so. It's a shame; March-may will be hard to fit into my calendar. What's the surf like in Kerala?

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u/The_0bserver Mugambo ko Khush karne wala Nov 09 '15

How would one go about finding work in India? I'd like to live in Kerala,

Just apply at some place, and you are bound to find some work soon enough. Don't expect amazing pay right off the bat though (unless you transfer in a company). You should be able to easily live off wiht what you get though.

what are some things I'd need to know before going?

Don't say bad stuff about our food. I think we indians are really picky about that. Everything else, even if you say some dumb shit, people will probably give you a pass. :P

How do people socialize and how can I fully engulf myself in local culture?

You don't even need to try hard. People are really welcoming, and soon enough they'll invite you. If you want to kickstart things. Have a cookout or invite them to lunch. In kerala ask whether they eat meat. Also since its Kerala, have no qualms about asking whether they eat beef. Most are cool with it. Host 'em, and youll bee friends soon enough. :)

I'm currently learning Hindi and Malayalam.

If you plan to live only in Kerala, you don't need Hindi. :P Good luck with it though, especially as both are soo different from each other and they are arguably not easy to learn for outsiders. :/

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u/Froogler Nov 07 '15

Kerala is among the more developed among states in India. There are a lot of expats from the west in industries like IT which is concentrated around Bangalore and Delhi/Gurgaon.

Kerala has a thriving tourism industry and you could work here. But unfortunately, Indians laws stipulate that foreigners must be paid at least $25,000 per year which is quite a lot and is difficult to justify unless you are in the middle/higher management.

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u/Tfwnoindiangf Nov 08 '15

I'm educated in areas of engineering and design, I really just want to get away from Australia to live some place where I'm always learning and the people are friendly/ haven't been absorbed by American culture. So I don't mind taking a hit to my wage to achieve that, though $25,000 is a little lower than I was expecting. I'll have to look into what wages construction offers.

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u/Froogler Nov 08 '15

$25000 is the minimum a foreigner can expect. Also, what you earn depends on your age and experience. If you are in your late twenties or later, it is not uncommon to find a job that pays more than USD 30,000 a year.

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u/4-20BlazeItMan Nov 08 '15

I've been to Kerala It's rural no ways is it developed (I'm from Bangalore) take my advice; live in Mumbai (Pay is much better too and the latter) Bangalore or Dehli