'India teaches you to be patient'

Expat zone

After completing his graduation, Narek Gevorgyan launched a company that developed apps. The Armenian entrepreneur branched out to China and Russia before coming  to India four years back. This was his first encounter with the country and since then, he has travelled back and forth multiple times.

Narek says, “I didn’t know about Bengaluru then; my first stop was in Chandigarh. So when I decided to stay back in India on a business visa, I realised that Bengaluru is a good place to start. Unfortunately, that company didn’t do so well, so I went back to Armenia.”

A few months later, he came back to set up another company. “Though there are a lot of startups here, registering a company in India is very difficult. I ended up staying for four months instead of two like I had planned. Finally,  I decided to move here and take care of things.”

Today, Narek owns multiple businesses in the country, that help in app developments, consulting and registering business services.

When Narek is not busy thinking about business, he enjoys going to parties. “The places in Indiranagar are great and UB City also has good options to hang out during weekends. When I do have the time, I head out to places near Bengaluru like Wayanad.”

Ask him if he had a problem adjusting to the language here, and he laughs. “If anything, my English has improved after coming to India. People are very helpful here. If I hear someone speaking English in a rather poetic manner, I find a way to hang out with them and better my language.”

However, food was a big  problems. “In Armenia, meat is an important part of the diet. I tried being vegetarian but that didn’t last more than three days.”

One of the other issues he faced was the timing of the eateries. “For a place that has many startups, it’s weird that restaurants close so early. Most employees will be working late and by the time they get out, there won’t be any place that serves food. That’s why I moved closer to ‘Empire Hotel’,” he laughs. He adds that he would usually forget to buy water before the store closes and would have  to resort to a liquor shop to keep him hydrated.

Talking about his life in Armenia, Narek says, “It’s a quiet town that has a small population, almost one-sixth of that of Bengaluru. It used to be a very popular city but not anymore. Due to the frequent  earthquakes, a lot of capital cities were destroyed. I remember feeling tremors while I was sitting at my computer table. I could feel that  shake for the next two months.”

Whenever he visits his hometown, he ensures that he stays out late and eats all the food he has missed out on. “It’s not at all noisy over there; no one honks. Once I went to a party at 12 am thinking I was late. The host told me that I was early,” he laughs.

Narek’s mom, Seda Grigoryan, has also been living in Bengaluru for the last two years. She is working on starting an Eastern European catering business in Whitefield. Narek explains, “She loves it here and she’s happy that she doesn’t have to shop for four different seasons.”

As he has been living here for a while, Narek says that he feels at home now.

“Many locals ask me for directions now. I’ve also realised that India teaches you to be patient. People here are easy going and less materialistic. I hope to stay here as long as I can,” he concludes.