Canadian man shares experience of staying in Bengaluru with wife’s family, says he loves Cubbon Park.

A Canadian man shares his experience of permanently relocating to Bengaluru, India with his wife and how his first five months in India have been both frustrating and rewarding. Five months passed but the man could not open a bank account. He is a foreigner and now he needs Aadhar card and PAN in India, so he had to make a lot of trips to the bank. The man said, international cards are not accepted and no one has cash so his wife pays for everything.“I went to a bank to open an account. The lady at the counter told me they don’t open accounts for foreigners. That’s not true. Came back a few days later and was told I needed to register with the FRRO. This meant a lot of hooping on the government portal and asking my parents to apply for my marriage certificate in Canada. Got FRRO, went back to bank, now they need Aadhaar and PAN. 182 days are required for Aadhaar in the country. So 5 months in, I still can’t pay for things. International cards aren’t really accepted outside of delivery apps, and cash doesn’t work since no one has change. My wife pays for everything when we’re out,” he wrote on Reddit.The Canadian man is also dissatisfied with the products available in India, as he says there are a lot of lies and pretenses involved. On a regular basis, he faces a language barrier and has no real friends in India, but he said that both he and his wife had quit jobs before coming to India and now they are organizing outings at Cubbon Park, groups for rock climbing, etc.

‘Still the right call…’

The Canadian said that despite all the shortcomings, he thinks they made the right call. The cost of living is much lower than Toronto and it’s the startup energy in Bengaluru that they are liking. “Despite all this, I still think we made the right decision. The cost of living is much lower than Toronto, so our runway is quite long here. Hiring a maid frees up a lot of time. South Indian food is incredible. Genuine ingredients and very affordable. I can eat ghee puri masala dosa every day. Since I’ve been here, I’ve lost 14 pounds. And almost everyone I meet here is building something. So many founders. That’s the energy I wanted to be around,” he wrote.“It took 5 months, but I’m finally getting into a nice rhythm and working on something that excites me. No commute. No committee saying no to every idea. No panic attacks like I used to have at my banking job. I can go to the gym in the afternoon, take the afternoon off, work late, whatever I want. The bad things are mostly one-time annoyances. The good things are doing what I love.” Want to do every day on our schedule. This is the right place for us right now. Whether it’s forever, who knows. Air quality and traffic are real concerns, especially for children,” he said.

Srinagar: The women’s wing of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), one of the region’s largest religious organizations with a strong grassroots presence, has criticized the Union Territory’s move to allow the sale of liquor, arguing it could lead to social problems and warning of protests if it is not reconsidered.The women’s wing of the LBA called for strengthening efforts against drug trafficking by targeting supply chains rather than expanding legal alcohol access. The sale of liquor was allowed under a new excise policy approved by Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena on May 31 to curb “the increasing dependence on narcotics and drugs in the Ladakh region and to give people a wider choice of liquor with lower alcohol content”.Till now only beer, wine and ready-to-drink beverages were allowed to be retailed through shops, except in Leh where there was no partial restriction. Under the new policy, 20 liquor shops will be opened, which are now only two in Leh.The LBA women’s wing pointed out that there are limited entry and exit points into Ladakh – mainly Leh airport, Manali-Leh highway and Srinagar-Leh highway. “Increased surveillance can curb the inflow of narcotics and illicit substances into the area to a great extent,” the wing said in a statement.The LBA wing argued that the argument that increased availability of alcohol could serve as a substitute for drugs is illogical and that one social problem cannot be solved by introducing another.The LBA wing said the increased availability of alcohol would have serious long-term social and economic consequences on Ladakh, especially its youth. It warns of increase in domestic violence, increase in road accidents, greater pressure on law enforcement agencies, adverse effects on the psychological well-being of children, increase in crime rates and increase in rehabilitation and health care costs for the government if the sale of liquor is allowed.According to the LBA wing, women have been at the forefront of preserving the social fabric of Ladakh by preventing the dowry system from taking root in the region, campaigning against plastic bags and creating awareness against drugs and alcohol. The LBA wing said that if liquor concerns were ignored, women would launch peaceful protests, including rallies and voluntary market closures, to thwart a policy detrimental to the social and cultural well-being of the region.A government statement on the new policy said its approval followed meetings with civil society organisations, NGOs, religious organisations, medical experts, public representatives and officials in recent months. Under the policy, liquor consumption has also been allowed within hotels, while guest houses and homestays can get licenses to sell liquor for the first time.

Sikhs in Southampton say they are living in fear and avoiding going out after a Sikh man named Vikram Singh Digwa was jailed for the murder of student Henry Novak. Sikh community leaders are warning of increasing racial abuse and intimidation in the city.Community representatives told The Times that many Sikhs are now reluctant to leave their homes, with some afraid to walk to gurudwaras or visit elderly relatives outside alone. Incidents of abuse in workplaces and public spaces have increased, while a planned memorial event for a man from the Sikh community was canceled due to security concerns.A spokesperson for Gurdwara Khalsa Darbar in Southampton said the situation had left people feeling targeted. “We are feeling victimized and people are afraid to come out of their homes. The gurudwara is empty because people will not walk here.”The spokesperson spoke candidly about several incidents of racial abuse, including in the workplace and in supermarkets. “Two people were called p***s at the Southampton cruise terminal where they work, and another person was shopping in Tesco and someone said to them: ‘You don’t need to be here.’ A man working in a care home was refused care because he wore a turban.He said that public discussion about the murder case has increased tension. “This far-right movement has really filled everyone with hatred towards Sikhs, through no fault of ours. We have never been exposed for the wrong reasons, we always lived in Southampton and were friends, and with just one isolated incident Sikhs are bad. Especially the men, who have turbans and beards and kirpans, they are afraid to go out.“He also said that there were no previous problems associated with Kirpan: “But politicians and social media and news, it’s all Sikh, Sikh, Sikh and it’s just against Sikhs. It’s the way social media and politicians have used their words and they have instilled negativity in everyone around Sikhs.”The fears arose after 23-year-old Vikram Digva was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 18-year-old Henry Novak, who was stabbed with a 21 cm Sikh ceremonial dagger known as a kirpan as he walked home from a night out. Digwa later claimed that the victim had racially attacked him. This claim was rejected in the court.Following the killing, an anti-police protest in Southampton on Tuesday erupted into rioting, attended by far-right figures, leaving 11 officers and a police dog injured and several arrests.Police bodyworn footage released this week shows a wounded Novak being handcuffed and interrogated despite repeatedly saying he had been stabbed and was pleading for medical attention, saying he couldn’t breathe. An officer was heard saying: “I don’t think you have, buddy.” He later died of blood loss on the road.The murder and its aftermath have shocked the Sikh community. A member of Gurudwara Nanaksar said the community was in shock and urged solidarity. “It was not the kirpan that did it; it was the person who did it. I am very sad to see people protesting why Sikhs are allowed to carry the kirpan. This is not a kirpan issue; it is a humanitarian issue. The saber is a spiritual object. The murderer should be punished no matter which community he belongs to. We all need to stand together against crime.”A neighbor of Digwa’s family said: “For me personally, I can’t understand it. How can you think it’s a good idea to use a weapon when there is a dispute?”One of the officers involved in the case had resigned last year, while three others remain in service.