hi Friends, This is such an interesting forum. Hope all are well. I am Jennifer Kumar. I am an American (caucasian) married to an Indian (born in India, in US past 12 years). I in the past lived in Chennai two years as a single (unmarried) student, lived in hostels and families homes (for the most part only American most of the time). Currently we visit Kerala every year to see family for past 4 years. It is possible that someday we may relocate to Kochi (Trivandrum would be a close second, but doubtful). I am wondering if anyone on this forum has any experience moving back to Kochi after time away. I know Kerala offers unique challenges that possibly other states do not because of it's unique political set-up with frequent strikes and other related concerns. From my experience in Chennai, English can easily be peppered into Tamil and that made it very easy for me to follow with little Tamil knowledge (though I like to learn and did learn Tamil), but this is not the case as much in Kochi from my limited experience. Much less English is used in Malayalam, and though people know English spoken outside school/college is less noticable to me than in Chennai. I have been trying to also learn Malayalam past four years so that it may be a bit easier to do more of that there itself, living there, I mean. Of course language may be least of the concerns since hubby can speak .. but I am curious what are anyone's thoughts about Kochi, social life, work life, and culture in general. Any tips to successful relocation? Any tips of things to avoid? Anyone know someone who moved back and had to leave again? What caused this? Thanks. Jennifer <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
Hi Alavani Just joined this forum. Hope I have not been too late in responding to your query. We recently moved from Bangalore to Kochi. The only good thing I felt was the pace of life was really relaxed. Life is much simpler here when compared to Bangalore. People are friendlier and basically very simple. If you have kids, then education is going to be a major issue. Standard of education is really bad except in a few select schools like Choice and Global Public School. A recently opened school sounds interesting - MGM School in Tripunithura, Kochi. Everything is taught for the sake of exams, not to impart knowledge. English is at its worst even in the best schools. Accent will be the least of your concerns. Kids are hardly encouraged to speak in English nor are their books corrected properly by the teachers. Kids are not free to express their opinion in anything. Some teachers are quite rude even to the toddlers. My kid is not at all happy here. Buses are overcrowded and it is not safe to send kids in private vehicles likes vans or autos either. Extracurricular activities are negligible in majority of the schools except the ones that I mentioned above. Focus is only on academics/marks. If you have a child with special needs, please do not relocate to anywhere in India Like you said, language will be last on your mind. The attitude of people here is not too good, especially towards outsiders, though it has been changing in the past few years. They tend to get too personal and too nosy in our lives, which I could not tolerate much. You could consider living in a closed/gated community so that you do not mingle with the locals too much on a daily basis. It is very very important to find the right school and a good place to stay. Put these two things in place and you might actually enjoy your stay here in Kochi. We are only concerned about the quality of education here and that is the only reason we are thinking of relocating to Blore!!! Socializing will not be an issue as there are quite a few malls here.... Safety of women especially foreigners is highly questionable in any part of Kerala...especially so in Kochi.....so u need to be really careful while venturing out alone. There are issues of abuse in Kochi.....physical and sexual......need to be really careful about that while choosing where you stay and where your kids go to study/play/coaching classes etc. These are issues which need to be considered in case you have kids....like i said earlier, basically choose the right place to stay and study (for kids) and u will find Kochi to be a really happening city. All the best and keep me posted. ' take care.
Neilsk hi! Thank you. We have come to Kochi in March 2011. I'd like to be in touch with you. Are you a Malayalee by birth? Or your hubby got transferred to Kochi to Infopark? (or other job) It has been a difficult transition. What you say about education I have come to learn a little about but did not realize it to this extent. I don't think I can put my email ID here but my website URL is my user name alaivani. Alaivani dot com. If you come there see my email ID. Or search Authentic Journeys- Kochi. Thanks! Hope to be in touch. regards, Jennifer
Talking about the crisis with English- there is a volunteer group I tried to join to tackle this problem. Anyhow I am doing English coaching as well. I made a video on this very topic. Not sure if it will be moderated but here's the link - The Crisis and Secret in Kochi India? - YouTube
Dear Neilsk, Nice to know about kochi. Hi I am a 42 year old Living in Mumbai last 42 years! I am married with two kids aged 17 and 12. My husband is a Malayalee and I am a Maharashtrian. We are looking to relocate to Kochi in the next 2 years. But having lived in Mumbai all my life, I have serious concerns about being able to adjust to the place. Yes, Mumbai does get on our nerves these days with increasing population, lack of civic sense, garbage dumps, slums, bad roads etc and the thought of living in Kochi is inviting at times. We have a flat at Kadvanthra and its an apartment that we love! My concerns are: 1. Whether I will be able to like the place? 2. My daughter would be in XI by then (younger one). I am more worried if she will find friends, if there will be a cosmopolitan environment at school. By the way how are Choice School and Global Public School? Do they have kids belonging to other communities (other than malayalees)? What about Navy Public school? Is it possible for non-Navy kids to get admission there? Would appreciate a reply. Thanks a ton. georgeradhika
myself born an brought up in kochi,, I ll say the best place in world to live is kochi. From my experience, people from other parts of the country comes here,lives here and loves this place. And if you have a flat at Kadavanthra, it will be more interesting. I have heard Naval Public school gives admission for non Navy kids. Choice school has good standard. There are some other good public schools like Gregorian Public school also.
HI All, We are currently in Dubai and plan to relocate to Kochi in next 2 years.A bit concerned on our little ones education,primarily on the English communication side.I had a review of different schools at websites and could find different opinions,however unable to conclude what could be the best school to go forward, focusing mainly on Academics and quality English communication. Highly appreciate if you can share your honest opinion on this. Thanks in advance....
