I was a little nervous about heading to this place with a bunch of kids in tow. I had heard that it was a nice restaurant and I didn’t want to spend the entire evening trying to sit on the kids! I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they had a small children’s play area inside the restaurant. We did go early – around 7 pm on a Friday night, when most Indians haven’t yet headed out for dinner. The place was mostly empty. We had a table right next to the play area and it really was great. The kids mostly stayed in the play area except to quickly eat their dinner. The food was very nice – they have a large menu of Indian, Asian, Continental food items. The wine was also lovely. The location was a little far from us but I really did appreciate the steps they took to make it a family-fun outing!
Archive for August, 2008
Restaurant Review – Bar-B-Que Nation
We have started to try and go out at least once a week with some friends. This generally includes all our kids and therefore we try to pick a place where a little noise won’t be a problem! In general, I find that restaurants in India tend to be more family friendly and kid tolerant than nice restaurants in the US.
Bar-B-Que Nation was a hit with the entire family! We visited the Indiranagar branch but I understand they now have three locations in the city. We sat on the rooftop which was very nice. The concept of the restaurant is that they serve a variety of kebabs (fish, chicken, veg, paneer) which you can add sauces to and finish cooking right at your table. They keep bringing new kebabs as you finish off your favorite. The kebabs themselves are probably enough food for most people but then there is a very nice buffet to finish off the meal. The kids loved the novelty of everything (no sitting and waiting for food!) There was enough to satisfy the pickiest eaters. There were traditional Indian dishes as well as some nice soups and pasta dishes. The dessert buffet was also quite good! We really did enjoy ourselves and I would recommend it for a family outing. The night we went there was also a live band singing in the corner!
Little Luxuries of life in Banglore
There are a number of aspects in living life in Bangalore that can seem a little luxurious to our friends and family back home. Here are a few of them!
Of course there is the obvious – the maid, cook and driver. They are all discussed in numerous other posts so I won’t elaborate here.
The nanny. Many families hire additional help just to help out with the kids. They take charge of meal time, take the kids to the park, basically do whatever mom needs help with. This is especially great for those families that end up here with 2-3 very young children.
The beautician. I and many of my friends have a lady who comes home to do manicures, pedicures, facials, massages, you name it! The price is absolutely right – Rs 200 for one hour pedicure, Rs 200 for one hour facial… My mom was visiting from Connecticut – land of the $40 pedicure and she was in heaven! Had a pedicure every week for two months!
The salon. Bangalore is overflowing with fancy new salons – seems like a new one opens every week. If you love to go for day long spa treatments and to try all sorts of new treatments this is the place for you. Prices range from reasonable to outlandish! The highest prices are generally the salons attached to luxury hotels. There are many destination spas that provide a meal along with treatments.
The trainer. This one I just started but lots of friends have been using one for a while. A trainer will come home (or to your clubhouse) and put you through your workout. My trainer charges Rs 4000/month for three one hour sessions per week for individual lessons. A friend and I are sharing him, however, so we will each pay Rs 2000.
On giving advances to household help…
It is inevitable that you will be asked for a salary advance by someone working for you. While some people have adopted a firm “no advances given” policy, others freely give advances. What will work for you depends in large party upon your own mentality when you give the advance, your expectations, and your relationship with the person you are giving it to. There are a number of approaches I have seen work for people:
Approach One – Large advances to known and trusted employees. We have a maid who has been with us for over two years. Her main expense, as a single mother, is the education of her three children. School tuition is generally due in a lump sum in June. For the last two years we have given very large advances to her to cover the cost of tuition. We then cut a pre-determined amount from her salary every month in order to cover the advance. The first year went very well so we were more than willing to do it again this year. We have set a limit for how much of an advance we will give. We will not give more that what she can comfortably have cut for a 10 month period (that gives her two months of full salary in the summer.) For example, if she is willing to have Rs 3000 cut per month, we will lend a total of Rs 30,000. Of course, as the year progresses we will give bonuses for different holidays and we will give small “scholarships” to each of the children when they do well on exams. We have found this method to work very well with this particular person.
Approach Two – Small Advances – No more than what you owe for services already rendered. By this I mean if you have a driver who has worked for you for a week, then you can give an “advance” of a weeks pay. He has already earned the money so if he skips out on the job after getting the advance you are no worse off. Sometimes drivers, particularly those with families, will have expenses that arise before the end of the month. If you are willing to help him out, then feel free to do so.
Approach Three – “Gifts to Employees”- There are times of the year when festivals are numerous and when everyone’s household expenses increase. If you know that this is happening, you may want to simply give a “gift” to your employee. With a gift you have no expectation of repayment and there is no burden added on to the employee. The reality is that the differences in the financial situations between employer and employee here are VAST. The difference between what giving a RS 500-1000 gift will mean to your pocket vs what it will mean to your maid, cook or driver is unquantifiable.
Approach Four – No advances. I know many families who swear by this approach. It keeps things simple. They tell new employees upfront that this is the policy. It prevents them from having to track advances and repayments and forestalls any requests for money.
A Year in the life of Bangalore
Here I will post month to month on the highlights of a year in Bangalore.
August – The big international schools start back in mid August so most expat families have returned to Bangalore from their summer trips home. The weather is very nice. We are still in the monsoon. That means we have a HEAVY downpour almost every night. People are sick with all sorts of “viral” ailments – colds, flus, etc.
September – The rains have stopped for the most part. The festival season has started. For us, the first big festival of the year is the Ganesh puja. For those of you who don’t know, Ganesh is the elephant-headed god that you see all over India. He is believed to be the remover of obstacles so many people will pray to him before they start on an important task (a trip, writing an exam, building a house, doing a puja.) The Ganesh celebration is a lot of fun. The markets will be full of Ganesh idols made out of clay or plaster. You can buy them painted in very bright colors or left in their natural state. Because the idols end up being immersed in a local lake at the end of the festival there is a lot of awareness about selecting an idol made out of natural products (clay with no paint.) Little A came to the market and selected a nice idol. We did cave and have a little gold paint and silver sparkles added on to the Ganesh! Ganesh is a lover of sweets so on the day of the puja families will prepare a number of sweet dishes to offer during the puja and then to consume after! Individual neighborhoods will put very large Ganesh idols under a tent or on a stage in the locality. There will be lots of music, color and fun. After a few days (5, 7, 10 – depends on the family) the idol will be taken from the home and immersed in a lake or other water body. Bangalore has taken to setting up mobile water tanks in order to keep the lakes clean and to streamline the process. This has also been the month of Ramadan so your Muslim friends and neighbors may be fasting all day and having a meal only in the evening. If you can get some you must try Haleem – one of the favorite foods used to break the fast.
OCTOBER – This will be a month of festivals! We have Gandhi’s birthday on October 2 which is a national holiday. We then have the Dassara holiday which is a 9 day festival (for most parts of India). Both my kids have one week off from school for that holiday. We are then back to school for two weeks before it is Diwali and another one week holiday. This year Diwali and Halloween fall in the same week so we will be combining festivities in our neighborhood this year! The weather is getting warm. We have not had any rain in quite a few days.
Appliances – to bring or not to bring?
We brought our refrigerator, washer, dryer, television and all our small appliances with us from the US. I would say our experience has been mixed.
I love my American washing machine. It is huge by Indian standards. I can do one load in my machine that would take 3-4 loads in a typical Indian machine. However, I think my machine uses more water, more electricity and does not do as good a job at spinning out all the water at the end. I have a great washing machine repair man and I have had to use him quite a few times. I think operating on the Indian power grid (even through a transformer) is really damaging the major appliances. The machine is not grounded and I have been shocked on a few occasions. Finally, most utility rooms will NOT have a provision for hot water. Your American machine is used to pulling in hot water from one tap and cold water from another and self-regulating the mix. In your house in Bangalore you will most likely only have a cold water tap. You will have to add in buckets of hot water by hand! Indian washing machines heat the water internally so it makes things quite a bit easier. In the end – we should have left this one at home.
The clothes dryer has not been used since moving to Bangalore. It has been sitting outside in the garage for over two years now. At first it was because there was no room in the first house we lived in. Now it is because we have to have some re-wiring done in the utility room to place a 30 AMP plug in order to run the dryer. It would be nice to have because during the monsoon it can take DAYS to dry out clothes – and then it rains on them again! In the end - we should have left this one at home.
Television – all your appliances will most likely require a transformer so they can be plugged into the Indian plugs. In addition, your TV will need a “converter box.” We did not hook up our tv for the first two years we were here. Now however we wanted to get a flat screen tv so we purchased one at Costco and had friends bring it in their shipment. We made sure to buy one that would work on the Indian power grid. (I am going to have my husband post on all the technical topics!)
Household staff in Bangalore
Here is a brief introduction to the members of your Bangalore household:
Maid - Whether you choose to have a live-in, a full-time, a part-time or a top-down, a maid is actually a necessity for living in Bangalore. As I explained to my husband, the housework is actually twice as much thus making having a maid not really a luxury. Because of the dust, the ants and the general lack of automation there is plenty of work to keep a maid busy! Most homes do not yet have dishwashers and I noticed that my maid spent a good portion of her day washing dishes. Floors have to be dusted and wet mopped on an almost every day basis. Washing will have to be hung out to dry, taken in, organized for the dhobi to iron. A live-in maid is usually cheaper than a full-time maid because she is getting her room and board as well. Many people don’t feel comfortable with the kind of intimacy required from having someone living with you, however. A full-time maid will generally work 9-6 or whatever time is convenient for you. She will generally work 6 days per week. In addition to a full-time maid some people also hire a top-down who comes in for two hours a day and just does dusting, wet mopping and bathroom cleaning – freeing up the maid to do everything else. Maids often help with child care and grocery shopping as well.
Cook – Many homes employ either a part-time cook or a full-time cook. I have a two-hour per day cook who comes in and prepares one Indian meal a day (two curries, rice, chappattis, etc.) Some people just have girl come in to do “prep” work – the cleaning and the chopping. On the other end are the families that have full-time cooks versed in all types of western and Indian foods as well as baking.
Driver – Given the state of Indian roads, you will want to have a driver. Usually the deal is for 10 or 12 hours days, 6 days per week. Salary for drivers is becomming a difficult issue as the new airport has lured away many good experienced drivers to “company jobs.” Driver salaries in my neighborhood range from Rs 5500 to Rs 10,000. It is important to check the credentials of any driver you hire. Talk with previous employers, see the driver’s license and keep a copy of it. Generally, don’t give too much salary in advance – you many never see the driver again! While we have had a few great wonderful drivers during our time here, we have also been scammed and cheated a few times.
Dhobi – Most neighborhoods have someone who comes house to house to pick up the clothes for ironing. There is usually a per piece charge (Rs 2-3 per item) and most will run a monthly tab. It is a good idea for you to count the pieces and note them in a notebook. Our dhobi is illiterate so he depends on a notebook that all the customers write in and keep track of all charges.
Water, water everywhere…but nothing in the tap!
Water problems are common in Bangalore. Whether it is an actual water shortage or an overabundance of rain we definitely seem to be dealing with water issues all the time! Bangalore used to be known as the city of lakes. It is also known for its very pleasant climate. With the spurt of recent development the lakes and natural pathways for water have been disrupted. The lovely cooling rains now flood streets and neighborhoods that have encroached on natural waterways. Development has also prevented much water from seeping into the ground and recharging borewells. Many of these wells are running dry. In my own neighborhood we have a constant supply of water brought in by tanker truck because the wells have gone dry. Many neighborhoods, middle-class and poorer ones, face days at a time without water!
We are very focused on conservation and economical use of water. While people here generally have the driver wash the car every day we try to keep it to just a few times a week. We ask him to use a bucket instead of a hose. Showers and baths are quick. Water is recycled into the garden when possible. Because of some technical problems we actually had a day with no water available at all. It was a wake up call and a good lesson for us all in the importance of taking care of this natural resource.
To the city’s credit, they are trying to reclaim much of the land for lakes and waterways that has been encroached by builders and developers. The problem is, what do you do with those people who put their life savings into buying a flat only to have the city come along later and tell you it is illegal? It is the never ending problem here of doing was is good versus doing what is possible, doing what is right versus doing what is necessary.
Personal Safety in Bangalore
I don’t want to be negative or scare people away from moving to Bangalore but it is important to have a full picture of life here. Life in India gives a false sense of security, I think, for expats. The reality, however, is that life in India can be dangerous. Indians know this. Look around. Every house has gates, barred windows, sometimes a private security guard sitting in front. People who live here know the dangers and take the necessary precautions. We need to learn to do the same.
Here are a few things to keep in mind regarding safety.
Roads – Road accidents kill numerous people on a daily basis in Bangalore. There is very little you can do to prepare but you should take a few simple steps. Wear your seat belt and insist that everyone else does too – including the driver! Make sure your driver is experienced (take a xerox of his license to keep in the car as well. Keep babies and young children in car seats – even though it is not required by law. Also a good idea to not send children alone with drivers until you know the driver very well and have had hin in your employ for a long time.
Out and About – don’t wear expensive looking chains out on the streets – chain snatching is a favorite crime. Keep your money in inside pockets. Keep your cell phone someplace inaccessible to the outside world. Be aware of your surroundings. Don’t accept rides from strangers (more than one techie has been murdered taking a ride with a group of people.)
At home – make sure you use the boalts on the doors and windows – they are there for a reason! Don’t talk to people about vacation plans. Make sure all outside areas are also locked and secured. Don’t let strangers into the house. It is best if you have a way to talk to people (a window) without having to open the door. Keep valuables stored in a secret location or in the bank. Don’t keep money, cell phones, jewelry laying about the house. You will have to decide how much security you want in your home. Some people lock every cabinet all the time. I couldn’t live that way and early on decided that if I had a maid or someone working in my house that I couldn’t trust – then I needed to fire them. I have been VERY luck with having wonderful people working for me. I keep one cabinet that we lock all the time. We try to confine all valuables to that cabinet. I trust my maid with my children so I also believe I can trust her with all the belongings in the home. So far so good.
Kids – teach kids the danger of live wires. Many, many times children hear are electrocuted by wires lying on the ground or by shoddy wiring of speakers and lights at public events. Teach kids to stay away from stray dogs. While most of the wild dogs don’t ever bother anyone, there have been instances of dogs mauling small children. Teach kids how to identify snakes and what to do if they see one in the yard. Make sure kids know who it is safe to go with and what they should do if no one is at home.
What to do with kids in Bangalore?
We are discovering more and more options for kids activities every month! That being said, there are still far fewer options than what we were blessed with in Portland, Oregon.
One of the main obstacles we find is the distance between places in the city and the horrid traffic you need to face to get from one place to another. Due to the nightmare of driving in the city we really limit ourselves to places and events occurring in neighborhoods that are relatively close to where we live.
Here is the start of a list of places my kids really enjoy as well as places I have heard good reviews about.
Fun City – Oasis Mall, Koramangala. This is a typical arcade and play area. The nice thing is the location next to a good food court. You can also check your children in to the play area and go down and do your shopping at Spar or Lifestyle. The play area will call you when the time is up or if your kids have any problems.
Ameoba – Church Street. This is a much larger arcade that also has a bowling alley and an eatery. There are a number of good restaurants in the area as well.
HAL Museum - Airport Road. This is a very little known but nice airplane museum. There is space for kids to run around, a small snack shop, some planes and engines to look at. It is nice for a few hours out of the house and the entry fee is very small!
Wonder-La – Amazing, world class water park and amusement park. Entry prices are high but totally worth it for the experience! The only negative review I would give was for the food – not a great selection.
Movies - There are a number of nice movie theatres all around Bangalore. The think to keep in mind, however, is the high demand for seats. It is best to book early (yes you can reserve movie seats!) and have the tickets delivered home ahead of time.
The Mall - if you have older children who like to hang out at the mall or even shop – then Bangalore will be a paradise for them! There are huge malls all over the city and many new ones are planned to open in the next few years. One note of caution – malls are generally considered to be relatively high on the terrorist threat list.
Classes – Dance classes, swimming classes, music classes, language classes – find out what people in your neighborhood are doing and chances are you can arrange something for your children too! Lots of people come home to teach “tuitions” in all areas. If you live in a community with a pool and a gym chances are you can joint swimming, “baddy” (badminton), roller skating, tennis, yoga and a variety of other classes. All without having to drive anywhere!
