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Comment by sid-ant | Hacker News Reader

That's correct. I live in Bangalore, India and there are a lot more issues than just quality of life.

1. Since, I am from North India, Bangalore treats us like foreigners i.e. if you don't speak the native language, you will be at a significant disadvantage when requiring the assistance of police.

2. Rather, the police has been known to discriminate against `outsiders`. You can even head over to r/bangalore to know more.

3. The income inequality is real and through the roof. We tech people make much much more than any other private profession and this has made the general population unhappy.

4. Lastly, there isn't much to do besides going out to pubs/cafes.

Which is why I've been leetcoding and preparing to emigrate to Canada/UK. While it's true that I can save a lot more money here (in real terms! At PPP, my monthly savings allows me live for several months without an income) but at what cost.

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Not trying to prove / disprove things, but here are some observations.

1. Yeah the language barrier can be a lot - but no matter which city I lived in - I have always had people help me out with the local language. In smaller villages/towns - it can be harder to find people who can do that for you though.

2. I can't say much about this because I didn't have to deal with this in a meaningful way.

3. I think it is more complicated than "tech people make much more". As a point of reference - the street food vendors (pani puri guys for eg.), the uber drivers, the blue collar workers and sometimes even the house help i talked to - they all made more money than the "IT people" they provide services to. And outside IT - my doctor, lawyer, architect friends all earn quite well - while being under a lot less stress. I do see huge income inequality though - but at the same time it is more complicated than I thought it would be.

4. Honestly - I used to think the same too but you need to figure out what/where to look at. We IT folk tend to live in a bubble (Especially when living in another city) and that hides a lot of the cultural aspects of the city from us. I have had friends who are into hiking, cycling, rock climbing, theater, dance classes, standup comedy, music making, painting, cooking clubs. And sometimes, You really might be alone when it comes to some hobbies. But that's when your high PPP can come in real handy and help you get started with your own club. I don't think "I can save a lot more money here but..." would be a problem once you figure out what exactly you want to spend that money on.

Are you seriously claiming that a pani puri vendor on the street makes more than a FAANG engineer in BLR?

FAANG engineers aren't the only engineers in Bangalore.

No I am claiming that pani puri vendors I talked to, make around 60-70000 INR a month - which is more than what many of the "IT sweatshops" (Accenture, Deloitte, Infosys, TCS etc..) pay here (for people with < 5 years of work experience)

> As a point of reference - the street food vendors (pani puri guys for eg.), the uber drivers, the blue collar workers and sometimes even the house help i talked to - they all made more money than the "IT people" they provide services to.

Don't know about Bangalore, but in Pune (another IT City in India), this is not true at all. These people might be earning more than fresher programmers and Testers just starting out but as soon as these freshers get 2-3 years of experience, their salaries get doubled and tripled quite easily. Also quality of life of a programmer working from a AC office and a Uber driver driving for 10-12 hours a day are 2 very different things. Also after 5 years this programmer will be earning much more than this taxi driver.

> if you don't speak the native language, you will be at a significant disadvantage when requiring the assistance of police.

This is true true virtually everywhere in the world.

> This is true true virtually everywhere in the world.

you don't expect it in your OWN country, just moving to a different state, you are an outsider. Its because India was put together just like that, because the British ruled over many peoples and their languages.

> you don't expect it in your OWN country

Which country apart from Papua New Guinea has the linguistic diversity comparable to India? Migrants everywhere understand the need to learn the local language. It's only the Hindi speakers, high on the delusions of national language that see this as a problem.

> Its because India was put together just like that, because the British ruled over many peoples and their languages.

Right, because India didn't have any multilingual polities before the British?

India is not really comparable to other nation-states. India is one of the few extant examples of a multinational state.

This unfortunate take is solely based on a single data point i.e. life of a North Indian in Bengaluru. Such extrapolations when applied to a huge and diverse country like India does not present a comprehensive picture.

> Lastly, there isn't much to do besides going out to pubs/cafes.

I am just amazed at this comment. The wondrous ruins of Hampi are just a train ride away. Then there's the UNESCO protected majestic western ghats few hours away, and not to mention the pristing beaches of Malpe and Udupi. I mean Chamundi hills, Hogenakkal etc is right next to the city.

> The wondrous ruins of Hampi are just a train ride away. Then there's the UNESCO protected majestic western ghats few hours away, and not to mention the pristing beaches of Malpe and Udupi

I agree, there are certainly amazing places to sight-see but I am largely referring to activities like rock climbing gyms (https://www.youtube.com/c/magmidt88), archery, horse riding, accessible national parks and a more extensive board games culture (surprisingly Hyderabad has 2 active clubs)

The Indian society would cast you as an extremely privileged person if you were to bring this up and rightly so, since most people here are trying to live a life first.

I understand that it may not be what everyone wants and this is personal to what I prefer. I would like to be in a place with a better infrastructure (trains), schools and with access to more recreational activities.

>I am largely referring to activities like rock climbing gyms, archery, horse riding, accessible national parks and a more extensive board games culture

That is an interesting comment to see, because a cursory Google Maps search gives plenty of results. I think I can easily say that Bangalore has archery clubs [1], Rock Climbing gyms [2], Equestrian clubs [3] and a National park [4] (with others also pretty accessible). I can't, of course, talk about board games because I can't get that from a cursory Google search, but this is an interesting nitpick.

[1]: https://www.google.com/maps/search/bangalore+archery/@12.890...

[2]: https://www.google.com/maps/search/rock+climbing+gym/@12.890...

[3]: https://www.google.com/maps/search/equestrian+club/@12.89137...

[4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bannerghatta_National_Park

Others have pointed it out but I've got to reiterate: if you don't like Bangalore, just go to another city? There's thriving tech scenes in Hyderabad, Pune and Gurgaon, and in none of those cities are North Indians unwelcome. I can also personally vouch for fun out of work activities in Hyderabad and Gurgaon.

(And while I don't mean to deny your personal experience, I've never faced any trouble in Bangalore despite not being a Kannadiga.)

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