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Article by Mohan Babu

Returnee-speak: Mohan Babu
Mohan Babu 
has left pristine Colorado and gone back to work in Bangalore . Some reality tips from the returnee.

After spending nearly six years in the U.S. , most of it in pristine Colorado , I recently packed my bags and decided to head back to Bangalore . As is to be expected, the move was wrought with trepidation and involved some bit of soul-searching. I was giving up a “nice” job with Compuware, a mid-sized S&P 500 company, where I had spent over five years working with some great people, and was heading back to Bangalore where I had begun my whirlwind career in IT nearly a decade ago.

It’s been a little over four months since I moved back and things are finally getting into a groove. I am enjoying working with some of the brightest and driven people at Infosys’ SETLabs. Along the way, I started receiving my paycheck in rupees. Looking at my paycheck, intuitively converting it into dollars, I was not surprised at why all the multinationals are flocking to
India : the paycheck is indeed a “fraction” of what I would have received in the U.S. for a similar job. Once settled, I started fielding calls and mails from friends in the U.S. , most of them of a similar genre and questions about my move and life now in India . Here are some of the most common questions and a few of my thoughts.

How are you coping with the crowd, traffic and pollution?
It hits you the moment you step out of the international airport (maybe even during the immigration queue) that things are different in India . The level of pollution and the amount of traffic are definitely more than one would see in most cities in the U.S. However, for those of us who were born in India and spent the majority of our youth here, it takes just a few days to regain one’s bearing. Even after spending years cruising along interstates and driving on the right side of the road, it took me just a couple of days to hit the road in our Maruti, and I realized that the “Indian road sense” hadn’t really left me.

Bangalore is unquestionably polluted. However it might surprise you that the level of pollution has reduced in the past few years thanks to the new ring-roads and flyovers. I don’t want to give you the impression that things have turned utopian overnight, but they are definitely moving in the right direction. I hear from friends that the same is the case with other metros including Hyderabad , the other major silicon hub.

What is the job market like?
The job market is quite vibrant, definitely more than in the U.S. This is especially true because of the influx of software giants including IBM, Accenture, EDS, Microsoft and others. Requirements for technical skills range from demand for programmers with knowledge of wireless and embedded systems to mainframers. Yes, surprisingly, mainframes are making a comeback in India , especially because of the number of large legacy systems being outsourced. Companies like IBM, Microsoft and Intel are also hiring professionals for their R&D initiatives. Call centers and BPOs are the other niche market employers.

How senior where you in your U.S. job and what seniority are you at Infosys?
Interesting question: Many organizations in the U.S. have “flat structures,” especially for people in the technical track with the billing rate/salaries being the major differentiator. Compuware had a dual-career track for people in the services side: technical or management (read marketing and account management). I was in the technical track during my tenure with them—managing projects, architecting solutions and so on.

At Infosys, I got a lateral move as a project manager with their SETLabs (Software Engineering and Technology Labs) which involves a mix of research and “consulting to consultants.”

How is the cost of living, versus the salaries being offered?
I cannot give you an exact amount, even an “average” that a techie in India earns since it is highly variable and depends on a number of factors including experience, technology, company, location, and so on.

With an average Project Manager or Senior Architect’s salary you will definitely be able to rent a two or three bedroom house in a fairly decent locality (like Indra Nagar, Jayanagar, JP Nagar in Bangalore), pay for all the essentials: food, clothing, servant, entertainment and so on.

However, the affordability of a good chauffeur may be questionable. Even when drivers or chauffeurs may be affordable, most techies prefer company buses to being driven around in chauffeured cars. (Personally I love the convenience of traveling by the Infosys chartered bus that leaves from a stop about 10 minutes walk from home)

Perhaps the key is to learn NOT to convert back to dollars what you earn in Rupees because even though the amount may be about a third of what you were used to, a Rupee still goes a long way, at least in India. Saving potential will take a hit on moving back, especially since the salary package will go down considerably.

Would there be a way for you to continue your greencard if you don’t get to travel here?
My lawyer advised me to apply for a “re-entry permit” before I left the U.S. , which I did. I am not sure of the legalities involved in continued stay out of the U.S. if I don’t get to travel there. However, given the vibrant market and global opportunities, I don’t consider lack of travel opportunities a major deterrent.

How is the work culture in India (as compared to the American work culture)?
Although it is too early in the game for me to form an opinion, the atmosphere at Infosys does live up to some of the hype. The atmosphere around the Electronics City campus is classically collegiate. In a way, I guess I am glad to get back to a “campus” after WORKING for over nine years. I hope to spend some time here experiencing the much hyped “great culture organization” that they have created. The organizational culture, policies and work environment is definitely global.

Work culture is similar to that I have experienced in the west, probably because most of the seniors and managers have been exposed to work culture in the west and they are comfortable “importing” the best practices.

Thinking in Java (apologies Bruce Eckles) is what Java programmers do whether they are in Bangalore or Boston . Another way of looking at it: shorn of all the jargon and buzzwords, the underlying “mechanism” a.k.a building-blocks in most technologies remain the same. At the end of the day, technologies and techies are there to solve the business problems faced by users and the “right” technology is just a tool. Bottomline: Work and technologies, project cycles, implementations and systems are still universal, especially since the clients of Indian software companies are predominantly American.

Mohan's Article, originally published in Silicon India (October 2003)

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About the Author

  • A Bio and profile of the author, Mohan Babu, can be found at his homepage
  • Mohan has authored a book on Offshoring and Outsourcing (Publisher McGraw Hill, India), a link to which can be found here
  • Mohan has also authored an Online book on "Life in the US," available for free download.
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    ©Mohan Babu: All Rights Reserved 2005

    Mohan Babu is an international consultant trying to find the ‘sweet spot’ where IT meets business. E-mail: mohan @garamchai.com He is also the author of a recent book on "Offshoring IT Services"

    All rights are reserved. Mohan Babu ("Author") hereby grants permission to use, copy and distribute this document for any NON-PROFIT purpose, provided that the article is used in its complete, UNMODIFIED form including both the above Copyright notice and this permission notice. Reproducing this article by any means, including (but not limited to) printing, copying existing prints, or publishing by electronic or other means, implies full agreement to the above non-profit-use clause. Exceptions to the above, such as including the article in a compendium to be sold for profit, are permitted only by EXPLICIT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT of Mohan Babu. 

    Disclaimer: This document represents the personal opinions of the Author, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Author's employer, nor anyone other than the Author. This Article was originally published in Express Computers

     

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