Indian Samurai इंडियन सामुराई

The website Excite.fr contacted me and asked me to answer some questions about being an expat in India! Here is what I prepared… Thank you Camille for your interest in my blog! 

Who are you and how was your life before leaving France? 

I am a French girl in my thirties, living in India since December 2006, and blogger from the very first day of expatriation!

I started working abroad (in India) right after I graduated from my business school. So I spent my last years in France as a student (at Reims and Spain with Erasmus), then as an intern, then as a traveler (4 months in South America to meet women working for fair trade)... Very rich years! 

What do you currently do? 

I'm manager in a company that sells food for dogs and cats. 

Why did you leave France? 

My escapades in Spain and South America had opened my appetite! I wanted to explore further by working a few years in Chile or Argentina. I found myself in India – me, Columbus of the modern times ;) (It was the only place where I had found a job quickly.) 

Why did you choose India to live? 

As told above, I believe that this is India that chose me rather than the other way around ;)

But I chose not to leave. At the beginning because I had too many things to discover. Then because I had interesting professional opportunities. And finally because I had been here too long and didn’t know better but to stay…

 Would you go back to live in France? 

Why not? At least for a few years. But I am not the only one deciding now, my (Indian) husband needs to agree ;) 

What do you miss the most about France? 

The serenity of the French countryside: the calm, fresh air, good food...

And of course my family and friends! 

And what do you miss the least? 

Difficult to answer... These winter days when you don't see the sun? These Sundays where everything is closed, no way to run errands or get a massage? These situations where no one is there to help you (with your plumbing, your laundry, your errands etc.)? 

Tell us quickly about your experience in India 

I've landed at night in Delhi, in the November cold. At the time I didn't even know it could get cold in India, you see how aware I was of the country! At the end of the exhibition I was attending in the capital I went to join my base in Pune (a student city and automotive hub 3 hours away of Mumbai), where I spent two great years, mostly partying and traveling.

Then came the time to move to Mumbai with a new job in the pocket. I spent the three following years mostly working (and still traveling around the country).

I was then transferred to Delhi for one year. I faced incredible professional challenges out there. And also personal ones since I broke up with my Indian companion of the last five years. But it was also a great year full of learning and fun (and traveling, always)!

 

I then returned ‘home’, in Mumbai. And less than two years later I was married and with a baby. This is where I am today, at the beginning of 2015!