JOIN USGiacomo Burato, an expat from Italy has been living in the city for past five years now. As the managing director of Dinamic Oil India Pvt. Ltd., Burato has been enjoying his Indian experience and feels very much at home in the City.
Finding Italy and India somewhat similar to each other, he tells Metrolife what keeps him hooked to Delhi.
Before setting up the company here, Burato came here for the first time in 2005 on a leisure trip when he also discovered the ‘young’ country and its rich heritage.
“My company decided to open a factory in India. They asked me if I wanted to operate from India and I was positive about that.
This is how I came here with my family in 2009 and zeroed in Delhi, for it being the capital city. Today, we have a factory in Bahadurgarh,” he says.
Although it took Burato and his wife a while to adjust to the buzz and rush of the City, he says with a certain amount of pride and indulgence that his five-year-old son has ‘gelled completely with the city’ and ‘is more than happy living here’.
Over the years even the senior Burato has learnt a bit of Hindi and now “understands some Hindi words, speaking a few occasionally” as also the “Indian gestures that people do here.”
Though blessed with a placid temperament and Burato is a workaholic, bursting with energy and infusing the same spirit in his collegues at work. He loves football and is a self-confessed foodie and keen cook.
“Indian food is spice laden in whatever one cooks. Whatever may be the dish, the spices remain nearly the same, yet there is a change of tastes. Whereas in Italy, everything revolves around the main flavour of the dish and spices are added accordingly,” says Burato who “can now cook the Indian-style-butter-chicken and chapattis” all by himself.
Though its been a while, he is yet to adjust to the extreme Delhi weather. “Summers are too hot to handle, winters are too cold to manage. Only spring: the April time is bearable as it matches the weather in Italy, to which we are used to,” he exclaims.
Describing the Delhi experience, Burato tells Metrolife with a smile in his voice that continues to be dumbfound by the traffic chaos in the City. While conceding grudgingly that though traffic chaos is an indispensible part of a bustling metropolis, yet in Delhi it is too much and
harmful for the environment as well.
“Living in India is a joy in itself. People here are very friendly and welcoming. Not only do they open the door for you warmheartedly but one can also feel the positive vibes in that welcome.
The best part of the country is its youth; India is a young nation and people that I usually interact with are realistic, away from the dream world, which is good for progress.
Also, the perfect characteristic of Delhi is that people do not discriminate agaisnt you on the basis of black vs white, which shows brotherhood.
That is enough incentive for me to live away from the home-country,” he sums up.