Benjamin Chodroff

This year is turning into the Ben World Tour. Having spent the first week of this year in Costa Rica, my next big trip will be spring break studying in the Netherlands. I’ll be in Amsterdam studying health practices with a class offered through Case.

I just purchased my ticket to Bangalore, India. I’ll be working with IBM India as an intern at their facilities in Bangalore. What exactly I will be doing there is still up in the air. As the offer states, my responsibilities will include “doing various projects from time to time.” Quite vague, but very exciting.

I leave Case on April 26th. This is before the semester ends, but I have talked to my professors and I seem to have everyone agreeing that I can pull this off. My flight to India is on April 27th and I arrive in Bangalore on April 29th at 3:15am their time. Luckily, most flights in Bangalore depart and arrive at this early time and I found out that there are plenty of rickshaws available then to take me where I need to go. I start work the next day, April 30th, at 9am. I’ll be working at a facility on Bannerghatta Road, near the junction with Outer Circle Road - it’s in south east Bangalore.

I am currently looking for apartments in Bangalore. Up until a few days ago, I was mostly hunting using http://bangalore.craigslist.com and http://kijiji.com. However, Goldie, a Case alumnus and a friend of mine who now works at Microsoft, has helped me out by getting me in contact with a friend of a friend. No final details yet, but there is a good chance this person could help me find a roommate near the location I will be working. Even better, the listed rents are very reasonable - between Rs. 1700 and 6000 per month. In US dollars, Rs. 1700 is about $38. It kind of blows my mind that you can find housing in India for a little over a dollar a day. I might not have hot water, but still I won’t be making very money in India - about $270 a month, so I need to pinch every rupee I have. That might not be very much money in America, but it can go quite far in India. I will not be living like royalty, but I will definitely get by. Bangalore, especially the area I will be working in, is more expensive than other cities in India. Bangalore is considered the Silicon Valley of India and has numerous international IT company facilities. I have found apartments that are practically next door to where I will be working, but I would not be able to afford them without having to pay more than what I make from my paycheck. I would prefer not to do this, not because I can’t afford it, but mostly so I can get a true experience of what it is like to live in India.

I am still waiting for my employment visa to get processed. I had to send the India Consulate in NY my physical passport and my worst nightmare is that I won’t get my passport back before my trip to the Netherlands in March. Not going to think about that. That better not happen.

While searching for airfares to India (Expedia.com provided the cheapest), I noticed that all the flights were routed through Paris or London. I figure if I’m already paying to fly across the Atlantic, I might as well take a sidetrip on the way back. For about $85 more, I was able to create a trip that stayed an extra week in London before returning to New York. There is a slight possibility that my parents will join me for this trip in London. That would be nice because I could crash on their hotel couch rather than dealing with hostels. If not, I’ll check my luggage at Paddington for the week and find a hostel.