HYDERABAD: Having lived in India since 2005, he moved to Hyderabad in 2011. “After living in Mumbai, I really liked the move to Hyderabad, as it is a much easier city to live in,”says Australian Chris Higgins, president, Annapurna International School of Film and Media, adding, “I can see myself living here for a long time.”
He arrived here from Mumbai to join the team at the Annapurna International School and straight away loved the city. “The school is a really amazing place. In other countries, most big universities have communications or film schools as part of the campus, but in India that is very rare. For the first time I see a school where a student can get a bachelor’s, master’s or MBA degree in film, animation, or mass communication – all in the same place. I joined the school as the head of marketing. In 2013, I was promoted to the president’s role, so I now have overall responsibility for the entire school,” says Chris, who worked in the US and UK before coming to India.
Chris came to India twice before and left before returning for to stay on. “The year after I finished high school, I came to India with my mother and travelled from Kolkata to Darjeeling to Delhi, all by train. I loved the country and came back a couple of years later for a month to travel through Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty and Chennai. Years later, when I was given the chance to actually move to India and work here, I was very excited,” he says.
So what are the best things to do in the area? “Hyderabad has some really beautiful experiences. Climbing Golkonda Fort, visiting Kutub Shahi Tombs or the Khoe Imam Dargah. The Falaknuma Palace is amazing. There are also so many types of food to explore,” he shares excitedly, adding, “I love the weather (except for March and April) and the landscape with all the wonderful rocks. The infrastructure and traffic are both better than many Indian cities. The mixture of food from both north and south India is really interesting. Having a lake with a yacht club in the middle of the city is great,” says Chris and recommends that expats join The Twin-cities Expatriates Association (HYTEA), the local expat organisation.
“It is a great way to meet new people and to learn about the city. HYTEA has partnered with various NGOs so there are also opportunities for expats to get involved in the local community and to see different facets of their current home.”
Quiz him about the cost of living and he says, “I have lived in Sydney, New York and London - so Hyderabad certainly has a lower cost of living than any of those cities. Compared to Mumbai, real estate is much cheaper, but there are lots of small daily expenses that cost more here.”
When asked about any challenges he experiences living here, he makes a poignant comment. “It is actually pretty minor, but the toughest thing after moving to Hyderabad is just knowing where to buy things. There are so many items that people say you can find at General Bazaar or Abids, which are huge areas to search for something,” he laughs. “There are lots of funny stories, but they are usually problems with things that Indians take for granted and so no one explains. When I first moved into my apartment, my gas cylinder ran out. Back home, you re-fill your gas cylinders yourself at the petrol station, so I took it to a petrol station and they had no idea what to tell me. Someone sent me to a gas company office, but they said the cylinder was from a different company, so they wouldn’t fill it. Finally someone showed me how to order gas from home.”
Of Hyderabad in general, Chris appreciates the city from a variety of perspectives. “Another change is that back home you often try to repair things around the house yourself, as tradesmen can be very expensive. It took me a while to learn that a carpenter or electrician could come and fix small things for `50 or 100.”
On parting note, he says, “I will miss the food more than anything, and the way that everyone shares food in the office. I love how everyone you meet between 2pm and 5pm asks first “have you had lunch?” before talking about anything else.”
