Going for visa interview in Chennai– Visit these places in your spare time

Chennai previously known as Madras, is a 369 year old city and a capital of Tamil Nadu state in India. Chennai is famous for many things like Kollywood (Rajnikant) , IT hub, Visa Office, beaches, Cultural and heritage sites, Bharatanatyam etc. We visited Chennai during our visa stamping and had some time to roam around the city. While in Chennai we observed that this city really reflects and sticks to its culture but also having a very mixed population. Chennai is generally very humid place so summers can be really harsh there.

If you like Idli/Dosa, your taste buds will be really satisfied having great food there, although its little different than Karnataka version of Sambhar. Because we were there for just short time and had 1 day to spend, we visited below places while in Chennai:

Marina Beach

This beach is must place to visit if you are visiting Chennai specially in summers. You can go there in evening and enjoy your family time there. The beach is not very clean although but in hot temperature like Chennai’s it really gives you good time in evening. There are plenty of local vendors for food and some rides horse also. So on the whole you should visit there for the long walk on beach and enjoy the view as this may not be very good beach if you are going for swimming purpose.

Mahabali Puram

Mahabali Puram is very close to Chennai , I guess it took us half an hour to 45 minutes to Mahabali puram. It is known for its incredible architectural inventions. You will find old heritage temples and shrines in this city which are really an amazing specimen of Indian architecture. You can see the sites there like Shankaracharya Seer, Mahishasurmardini Caves, Shore Temple, Krishna Mandapam, Arjun’s Penance and Panch Rathas. You can find private tours/guided tours from tripadvisor etc sites but those are generally a day trip so we booked Ola to visit the place as due to limited time and he charged us some Rs. 500 approximately. All in all this is must visit below , check out the pics below:

Shore temple

Rock art at Mahabali Puram

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Bangalore..Garden City Or Silicon Valley of India..What to expect while travelling?

Once upon a time Bengaluru aka Bangalore, capital of Karnataka was a called a Garden city because it had so many trees around and weather was always pleasant but Is it same today?? Although temperature trends are changed in Bangalore due to development and trees being cut, still it is more greener than so many other states in India

Bangalore is developed a lot in last 10-20 years in terms of employment, IT and business. Media has given the name “Silicon Valley” to Bangalore in around 2000 looking after the growth prospects of the city. It is now a biggest IT hub in India. It is a cosmopolitan full of people from different states/cultures in India along with big shopping malls and world’s best cuisines.

So what should a person expect when travelling to Bangalore:

Travelling inside the city is really a pain at times as Bangalore’s traffic earns quite lot negative impression. So plan your travel..try to travel between 11:00 AM to 4:00PM , which are  comparatively less traffic timings. Avoid certain routes if yu can like Silk Board, Tin Factory etc.

Places to Visit:

Wonderla Amusing Park : Wonderla is a place which is fun and thrill. There are numerous rides and all are good. They have a very good water park and worth spending time there. Wonder Splash is very good ride which you must try.

ISKON Temple: If you want to admire the building and Krishna’s gold idols then this place is good and really a worth visiting place. I am not sure I find this place more commercial than a place where I will go to find peace. You cant even go close to the Ironic but true that Radhe Krishna idol for praying if you dont pay. There are different perspective’s though. One thing I surely like about ISKON is there Akshay Patra program.

UB City: If you want to spend money on High end brands than this is the place for you. This is good for window shopping also :p Apart from that they have nice terrace and view is good. Worth visiting even if you don’t want to spend big bucks.

LalBagh: If coming to Garden city, you must visit LalBagh . This garden is always green and clean. They organize flower shows during Independence day and Republic day which is must visit.

Cubbon Park: This park have lots of trees and lot of Bamboos, huge park. People generally go there for post and pre wedding shoots because of the very good natural views. You can cycle around the garden and feel the fresh air.

Commercial Street: It’s worth to visit here, there are many thing to see, to buy, to try, to experience.You can find everything here from high end luxury items to cheap fashion jewelry. You can easily spend a day in Comm Street. If you want to do shopping for occasions or Indian weddings than this is the place..

I have lived in Bangalore for around 7 years and I totally loved this place…. Share your thoughts on this place….

Moving to USA from India…U should read this…..

The reason for craze in most of the Indians to move to US is because no doubt USA is one of the most powerful countries in the world and dollar remains the strongest and most influential currency from decades. It is believed that working in US will advance our career as US is almost more than 10 years ahead of India. So what points should be taken care before moving to US.

Set your priorities right before moving to US

It totally depends on your goals that why do you want to move to another country leaving his/her own country. If your priorities are earning good salary or visiting lot of new exciting places then this is place for you. But the lifestyle here is lot different than back in India. So if you are a kind of person who always want to be surrounded by family and friends then don’t come here alone it can be really lonely place for you.

Here are few differences you may find after moving to US

Cultural differences: I found Americans are very friendly people whereas you may find it difficult to get mingled with Indians staying in US :p. There are few cultural differences in US than in India as People here really mind their own business and don’t interfere or show interest in others life which is sad but true about Indians. Mostly all successful people here have worked as drivers/baristas/word as delivery boys or something similar at one point of time in there life so your work does not attach a status taboo to you in US. Indians are mostly family oriented people but Americans are generally individual oriented society.

Job Opportunities: If you are not moving through your employer to US and coming on dependent visa say L2 EAD , then it might be tough for you to get the job in US. First preference for jobs given are to the citizens or green card holder which is obvious, second is given to H1 B holder and last preference is given to L2 EAD. Also it largely depends on which place are you in US. E.g. I had experience in a technology which is totally obsolete in a place where I live. So either you should be ready to study and upgrade your knowledge or stay at different locations where you find a job.

Food: You will find all type of food in US from Chinese to Thai to Indian as this is land of mixed cultures. In meat , generally people prefer having beef or pork here. If you are vegetarian you might have hard time finding good food as there is nothing called vegetarian here. Either your are vegan which is nothing related to animals or meat eater. But yes the good part of outside food here is you can customize it as per your need, so I being vegetarian generally orders with comments like “Without meat”.

Cost Of Living: If you don’t convert dollars to Rupees before spending on anything which is general tendency for new comers then inflation is pretty much in check here as compared to India. Rest it also depends on which state/area you are living in US as we are living in Seattle downtown and paying rent for 1BHK (in 2017) $1600 whereas my friend staying in Ohio is paying $2000 for 2BHK.

Above article is my thoughts only …share your experiences/thoughts….

 

 

Mumbai – Places to visit while travelling to dream city of India…

Mumbai also known as “Bombay” – The city of dreamers. Mumbai is a hub of beggars ,millionaires,  strugglers, top Bollywood stars, Bombay Stock Exchange, fashion industry , Biggest slum, Outdoor bargain markets and so many other things. I believe I can safely say Mumbai is LA of India. So what as a tourist one can expect in such an ambitious city, Let’s explore the places which you can visit while travelling to Mumbai….

Bandra- Worli Sea Link

Bandra Worli sea link is an amazing stretch between western suburbs and Mumbai’s central business district. The view around this pure delight to the sight. Driving on Badra-worli link is good experience although it passes very quickly but it is worth giving a shot as this is first cable stayed bridge in India and architecture is really to be admired.

Shree Siddhivinayak

This place is must to visit for Ganesha devotees as this is one of very famous Ganpathi Temple in India.This place is always full with thousand of devotees. Indeed when you visit this place you get the positive vibrations. The Idol of Lord Ganesh in the Garbagudi is eye catching and it is believed that this has the power to fulfill wishes of all the people visiting. As this heavily crowded place, try to visit the temple early morning or early evenings. We were lucky to not find much queue when we visited around 4:30 PM in evening.

Marine Drive

This is the famous sit out place in Mumbai and this is called “Queens Necklace” due to its shape. If you want to enjoy sea view and peaceful time in such a fast city , just go there and sit for at least half an hour and you will feel close to nature. The water looks so much better there. You should visit this place specially at night. If you walk towards Nariman point area , you can see Malabar hills on other side.

Gateway of India

The Gateway of India is monument building built during 20th century. If you want to see and appreciate the colonial history of Mumbai then must visit this place. This place is full of tourists and localities all the time. This is just seconds away from Taj Mahal Palace Hotel which is famous not only because of its elegance and beauty but reminds every Indian of the deadly terror attack happened on 26/11. You may get irritated by photographers there as they constant press you for taking pictures there.

Chowpatty Beach

Chowpatty beach is very famous amongst Indians mainly because this is beach most talked about in Bollywood movies and famous for eating chaats there. I was little disappointed going to Chowpatty beach as the water was very dirty so I wont suggest to visit this beach for swimming purpose. But again if you are chaat lover and want to have picnic with your family then this is the place.

Fashion Street

If you want to go away from the malls and online shopping and to revive the old street shopping pleasure than you must visit Fashion street. You can find same product on different prices in this street , so you must have good bargaining skills to find the right product at right price here.

This is just a small list of places to visit in Mumbai, please add if I have missed any must visit place in the comments….