A year and a half back, I made this huge decision of moving from a city where I had two families to a city where I had none. I moved from Delhi (to keep references simple I would stick to the city 10 minutes away from my actual hometown Faridabad) to KL. I wouldn't say it was easy. A lot of things changed, both on the personal front as well as the professional front.
As promised in my earlier post, I am trying to capture all that happened in this one year of my life. Doing so in one post isn't feasible, so I will split my experiences. Both of these cities happen to be the respective country capitals so comparisons are bound to happen. This post talks about my observations of Delhi vs KL and I will pour out other details of the last one year in the forthcoming posts.
Coming from Delhi, the grandeur of KL didn't really hit me (at first) as I had expected it to. Tall buildings, broad highways, high-end malls felt like - been there, done that!!
It didn't hit me 'at first' but soon I realised what I was missing in Delhi.
It is so great to be able to see the sky so clear, every single day. It is so good to not have puddles of mud all over the city after the slightest drizzle. It rains all year round in KL but never have I seen mud on the roads; although the traffic is unbearable after rains.
Also, fresh air to breathe in feels awesome. KL is literally green and pollution free. At least to me it is, although locals here wear masks when there is even the slightest haze in the air. God help them if they visit Delhi!!
KL is far behind in terms of IT. For example, I had been taking mobile banking for granted in India for years now whereas a lot of banks are just catching up on mobile banking apps here.
Architecture is much ahead. Yes, we have some great Mughal era monuments but they have a radio tower (KL Tower) that tourists come to visit and pay huge amounts to soar to the top. That's some amazing thinking. And Petronas Towers; the image speaks for itself.
The cultural difference is apparent - not east-west apparent but still quite enough to impact your daily life. No one gawks at you while you are walking down the road. That is huge for someone coming from the part of the world I come from. No one points at you and I mean literally no pointing fingers. It is rude to point with a finger instead you should point with the entire hand or thumb even when you are giving directions.
On the other hand, it is not considered rude to make a 'talk to the hand' gesture.Car drivers voluntarily stop to give way to pedestrians. So when they stop for you, you can give them a 'talk to the hand' to show gratitude.
Talking about car drivers, people drive in a straight lane even when their lane is slow and crowded and the turning lane beside them is completely empty. It took me a while to digest that (you can judge my driving all you want but I can drive in Delhi and that speaks for itself).
Food is much more affordable in KL. Being able to buy three curry puffs for one ringgit amazes me coz that means even the lowest currency note can help you eat a tummy full. Public transport is much better as compared to Delhi. Local trains don't scare me anymore coz there are no creepy co-passengers and all the trains are air-conditioned. Some of the Light Rail Transit (LRTs) are automatic. My jaw dropped when I saw the driver cabin empty for the first time!!
The most common language here is Malay which is their local language. Close to it comes, Singlish, the dialect of English used here. It has just as much resemblance to English as Haryanvi has to Hindi. Replying to a query in - 'Yeah, that can be done' is too much trouble so people just say 'Can' (in a sing-song tone). You are left on your own to 'go figure out what they Can'. Every sentence, even in official communications is suffixed with lah, leow or loh!! What these words mean is something I still have to figure out.
While I am learning and settling here, I do miss Delhi. There still are some things that only 'saddi dilli' can offer in the whole wide world. Of course, it's home to me and my families are there. But how yummy is the chat at BTW(must visit if you are in Delhi). No chaat in the world beats that!! The lanes of Lajpat Nagar central market and Hauz Khas sometimes haunt me in my dreams.
The concern of neighbourhood aunts that ask you 'how was your day?'. The love in occasional statements like 'badi der ho gyi aaj office mein, aa ja chai bana doon' before you have even stepped into your home, is incredible.
So yes, I do miss all the food and warmth and love of my hometown but for now if you ask me whether I can happily live in this city with it's clear sky and rainfall so high, I would say 'Can' (in a sing-song tone) :)
As promised in my earlier post, I am trying to capture all that happened in this one year of my life. Doing so in one post isn't feasible, so I will split my experiences. Both of these cities happen to be the respective country capitals so comparisons are bound to happen. This post talks about my observations of Delhi vs KL and I will pour out other details of the last one year in the forthcoming posts.
Coming from Delhi, the grandeur of KL didn't really hit me (at first) as I had expected it to. Tall buildings, broad highways, high-end malls felt like - been there, done that!!
It didn't hit me 'at first' but soon I realised what I was missing in Delhi.
It is so great to be able to see the sky so clear, every single day. It is so good to not have puddles of mud all over the city after the slightest drizzle. It rains all year round in KL but never have I seen mud on the roads; although the traffic is unbearable after rains.
Also, fresh air to breathe in feels awesome. KL is literally green and pollution free. At least to me it is, although locals here wear masks when there is even the slightest haze in the air. God help them if they visit Delhi!!
KL is far behind in terms of IT. For example, I had been taking mobile banking for granted in India for years now whereas a lot of banks are just catching up on mobile banking apps here.
Architecture is much ahead. Yes, we have some great Mughal era monuments but they have a radio tower (KL Tower) that tourists come to visit and pay huge amounts to soar to the top. That's some amazing thinking. And Petronas Towers; the image speaks for itself.
The cultural difference is apparent - not east-west apparent but still quite enough to impact your daily life. No one gawks at you while you are walking down the road. That is huge for someone coming from the part of the world I come from. No one points at you and I mean literally no pointing fingers. It is rude to point with a finger instead you should point with the entire hand or thumb even when you are giving directions.
On the other hand, it is not considered rude to make a 'talk to the hand' gesture.Car drivers voluntarily stop to give way to pedestrians. So when they stop for you, you can give them a 'talk to the hand' to show gratitude.
Talking about car drivers, people drive in a straight lane even when their lane is slow and crowded and the turning lane beside them is completely empty. It took me a while to digest that (you can judge my driving all you want but I can drive in Delhi and that speaks for itself).
Food is much more affordable in KL. Being able to buy three curry puffs for one ringgit amazes me coz that means even the lowest currency note can help you eat a tummy full. Public transport is much better as compared to Delhi. Local trains don't scare me anymore coz there are no creepy co-passengers and all the trains are air-conditioned. Some of the Light Rail Transit (LRTs) are automatic. My jaw dropped when I saw the driver cabin empty for the first time!!
The most common language here is Malay which is their local language. Close to it comes, Singlish, the dialect of English used here. It has just as much resemblance to English as Haryanvi has to Hindi. Replying to a query in - 'Yeah, that can be done' is too much trouble so people just say 'Can' (in a sing-song tone). You are left on your own to 'go figure out what they Can'. Every sentence, even in official communications is suffixed with lah, leow or loh!! What these words mean is something I still have to figure out.
While I am learning and settling here, I do miss Delhi. There still are some things that only 'saddi dilli' can offer in the whole wide world. Of course, it's home to me and my families are there. But how yummy is the chat at BTW(must visit if you are in Delhi). No chaat in the world beats that!! The lanes of Lajpat Nagar central market and Hauz Khas sometimes haunt me in my dreams.
The concern of neighbourhood aunts that ask you 'how was your day?'. The love in occasional statements like 'badi der ho gyi aaj office mein, aa ja chai bana doon' before you have even stepped into your home, is incredible.
So yes, I do miss all the food and warmth and love of my hometown but for now if you ask me whether I can happily live in this city with it's clear sky and rainfall so high, I would say 'Can' (in a sing-song tone) :)
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