Dragonman,
I moved to Canada in Sep 05. I was in similar position like yours around 8L sal but night shift.

When i got my PR i posted a query on this forum as to should i immigrate or not...there were several positive and megative posts but eventually i landed.

Life here is good but ONLY IF one IMPORTANT and very hard to achieve condition is met:

1) MONEY: Labor is very expensive over here and so is everything food, vegetables, houses, car etc. If you want the spending power
(not quality) of a 6 lakh salary from India you need to have family income of atleast 100,000$ a year which is to be very honest very very tough.
I am saying spending power and not quality of life. What i mean is that in India say you want to stop by a local small shop for a Dosa or buy Samosa or juice or go to restaurants and parks you pay very less. Even when you buy clothes, vegetables, common household things you do not think a lot as is costs very here.
Here every dollar counts and the amount of spending money you will have even with 100,000$ income will be very limited.
e.g If you go with your wife (assuming you are married or in the future) to a normal restaurant and have say 2 beers, 1 soft drink, 1 soup, 1 rice, 1 gravy and say 2 rotis it will easily set you back 40$ inclusing taxes and tip. If you go out twice a week only you will spend 320$ per month on eating out alone. Now this does not include entry and aparking charges if you go out to say a theme park or maybe a lake or a conservatory area etc. I lived in Hyderabad and if i were to conntinue maintaining the same lifestyle i did there i would have spend 800$/month on entertainment and eating out alone.

I work in the field of Networks and i had 5-6 years exp in India, Depending on where you are emplyoed your salary will vary from 45K to 65K a year. If you land a 45K job your take home (for 4 weeks or approx per month) will be approximately 25000pm and if you make 65K your take home will be 3500pm. This is assuning you will get a job in IT. Noone knows how long it will take, this is Canada and not US.
If you rent a 1 bedroom house you will pay atleast 800 rent plus. Cellphone costs 60-70$ for normal use (25c/min outgoing and incoming outside free hours). Your car insurance will cost a lot (mine was 300$/month on a used 5 yr old car) and till you get a job or builf credit histroy very few people will loan you money for a new car..Inspite of all the dirt and corruption India is not so bad. You can still afford a lot of things like maid etc which you cannot over here.

So basically if you make 45K, even if it is 18 lakhs you will not have the spending power of what you would have if you make 6 lakhs in India.
A lot of people end up having labor jobs whcih pays 8-12$ and hour which is 15,000$ to 22,000$) and end up being very frustrated.


As i said earlier your purchasing power will be less buy your quality will be better. The car you will get will have airbags and basic saftey features, your apartment will have 24 by 7 hot running water and will be clean etc. Buying a house here will be much more affordable than in big cities in India.

Loneliness, corruption, water, power etc are very very very secondary issues, daal chawaal, ghar, paani are the issues that you will have to deal with when you will land here..

Since you are in IT, i think you will be ok in 2-3 years but think hard if you would rather live with more spending power and a little compromise in quality or good quality with the frustration of having to deal with very little spending power..



PS: All countires have jobs with late evening/night shifts. My frist job was from 6pm to 4am.. but i did not have the privelege of complaining like i had in india as this was the only job available and i had to pay my bills and buy grocery to stay alive..

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Live and Let Live

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6666729.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6666729.stm</a>

'Start pushing', passengers asked
Train in Bihar
Railway safety is often criticised
An Indian train driver came up with an original idea when the train he was driving broke down unexpectedly.

Rather than face the prospect of scores of frustrated passengers launching a chorus of complaints, the driver instead asked them to get out and push.

Many chose to get out of their seats and do just that, officials say.

It took them more than half an hour to move the electric train 12ft (4m) so that it touched live overhead wires and was able to resume its journey.

Momentum

"In so many years of service in the railways, I have never come across such a bizarre incident," Deepak Kumar Jha, a spokesman for Indian Railways, told the Reuters news agency.

Train in India
Trains carry a huge number of people in India

Officials say the extraordinary display of passenger power occurred on Tuesday in the eastern state of Bihar after a passenger pulled the train's emergency chain, bringing it to a halt in a "neutral zone".

This is a short length of track where there is no power in the overhead wires.

Correspondents say that a train's momentum usually allows it to continue moving through neutral zones.

Dragoman... That's for you ... looks like you love these folks

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Chittesh,

Thanks for giving the real facts about canada and its lifestyle , these are the things which i was really looking for and i have taken them in strong consideration.

Trust me as far as India goes the things are getting expensive here also ... If I go out to night club , or any good restaurant i also end paying like rs 1500 for just two people . Lets say if i go every week then per month 6k-8k. This is like 10-15% of my salary . I am not even talking about 5* or 7* normal roadside clubs and restuarants.

Yeah good things is still u get maids and drivers for a very reasonable price which is a big plus. If you are ready to travel in a bus , auto rikshaw , or metro its cheap, but travelling by car is expensive now becuz of petrol / Diesel (around rs 46 per Litre.) Mobile phones are dirt cheap getting cheaper every day .... insurance is affordable , electricty has becum expensive with some new laws ... I only drink mineral water so costs me around 2k per month . Grocery is affordable but only local brands not made in usa or made in dubai ... Made in India works the best


But the biggest plus point i guess over there is education is free till schooling ... and also the medical ( I have only heard this but dont know the real fact) which take care of most of the expenses .. correct me if I am wrong ?

I have spent 10yrs of my life abroad in different countries of europe and asia .... but didnt like both of them .. Europe you have language issues and in asia lifestyle .. so according to me Northamerica fits in best when it comes to staying ..

ottawa_nerd this HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA >>>> ha ha but on the other hand Indian railways is one of the oldest and is lifeline of INDIA .... but in wrong hands

What Chittesh has written is very succinct precise and honest. Thats what I meant by 'grass being green'. When we reach here we realize that we do get the things that we came in for viz better quality of life , infrastructure , less corruption and an able system but we also come to terms with realities that we could not have thought of whilst in India like cheap labour , services ...... you cant compare .... a locksmith charges you $50/- for opening a lock and a bread costs Rs 100/- aka $2/- . An auto will take you at a lesser price than a public Transit bus here ($2.5 per trip) or Rs 100/- .... but the bus is better then you car

Plus there are other things like the weather and cultural difference that you probably would not have thought of .Imagine no out life for 4-5 months and when you go out in winters you are dressed for war.

Having said that , there are things that you can learn over here like honesty , integrity which are more prevalent here besides very good quality life , system & society. Excellent libraries , pollution free environment, natural beauty and social protection are the big pluses here.

Come over here , stay for 2-3 years .If you are in IT you can always go back ... its a win-win situation.

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Fido.

Ya FIDO I agree to u ! things are not easy in canada initialy ... but may be after some time u adapt accordingly ....on the other hand if the projections goes right ( the chances are very rare!) India would be a developed nation by 2020 .... then there would be no need to even discuss this issue ! we will all stay happily in INDIA only ... but we can just pray for that ...

Folks

Beauty is in the eyes of beholder!

I lived in Singapore, Australia and currently living in USA. I'm a canadian PR holder. I have lived and seen all the places. When specifically comparing to Canada and India, If you get a job in Canada (decent job), Canada is 100 x better

In the end it is the "JOB" that matters. India is not cheap at all. Infact it may be more expensive in terms of Purchasing Power

Thanks