In the early February of 2010, it was confirmed that I will be moving to N1 city in India. After the initial euphoria, it was time to plan the move.
The main component of the planning was, of course, how to get all my stuff back to India in one piece. On the face of it, it did not look like a tough job. I am not exactly the kind of person who owns Persian carpets or mink coats (even if I were, my postdoc salary could not buy me those things). I was also not planning to transport any electronics (except my laptop and iPod, which would be carried by me on person). My furniture was worth less than what it would have cost to move it. So, books/notes, music, clothes and some kitchen things (like my ever-helpful pressure cooker) were all I needed to take back. But, the volume turned out to be larger than I imagined.
The three options were
1) Send them in small batches through post. This would be unnecessarily expensive and full of hassles to me (although it is a great idea for those wise people who have not accumulated excessive baggage and have just a box or two to send).
2) Hire a moving company that would ship the boxes from port to port. Getting the boxes from home to the departure port and from the arrival port to N1 city would be my responsibility.
3) Hire a moving company that does door to door shipping. This company also takes care of the customs formalities- you just have to hand them your passport for a few days after the shipment arrives at the port of entry.
Option 3 was more expensive than Option 2, but I went for it because I did not want to deal with customs authorities in India, nor did I want to hire yet another moving company in India to get the boxes to my house.
After that, I spent about a month researching different moving companies. The price difference between companies was huge, but I also read several poor reviews about the cheaper ones which mentioned hidden costs and unethical practices (for example, demanding a higher amount than what was mentioned before and not releasing the goods till the extra amount is paid up or even threatening to destroy the goods). Finally, I chose a company which had received mostly good reviews and whose head office was in the city from which I was moving. They were more expensive, but at the end of the day, I was very happy with their services.
The second job was the packing. Sometime in mid April, I started packing. For customs purposes and also to be able to unpack smoothly, it is a good idea to write in detail the contents of each box. The company also asks for the value of the goods in each box for insurance. They also ask for total values of each category of products like books, CDs, clothes etc. So, packing and recording every detail, though cumbersome, is essential. The problem gets entirely eliminated if you also allow the moving company to pack for you (at an extra price of course), who will do the packing and listing for you in a couple of hours. But, this was going beyond my budget.*
My initial phase of packing went very well, but I lost my regularity and motivation after a while. A huge chunk of my packing was done in the last week before I left, thereby creating unnecessary stress.
Finally, I had to get rid of the furniture. I advertised on Craigslist and Freecycle groups in my area and these items went away very quickly.
The last two days were very stressful because the boxes had to be moved, furniture disposed and apartment cleaned one after the other. I was also very annoyed at the amount of things that I had to throw out just before leaving. These had been lying around in my apartment for days without being used. I resolved never to accumulate unnecessary things again and I am glad that my tiny apartment at N1 ensures that I follow my resolution.
Receiving my shipment at N1 city was quiet an experience. I was told that I will receive it within 4 - 6 weeks. After accounting for "Indian Standard Time", I put down the time to 8 weeks. The goods arrived at N1 exactly 14 weeks after I saw them last! Apparently, I had miscalculated Indian Standard Time!
My shipment arrived at the destination port city two months after departing from North America. I was required to go to the customs office in the port city where they verified my passport, visa etc in person. I was also quizzed about the value of my music CDs and a box which was supposed to have "fragile shrine items". They were concerned that I was importing gold statues without declaring them! An agent from the Indian partner of the moving company was with me. He instructed me to play dumb and let him do all the talking (which I did happily)- I suspect that he was handling their subtle demands for bribes, but am not sure because I do not understand the local language. The agent followed a "don't ask don't tell" policy with me. One point that created some trouble was that my passport had a North American address and the authorities would not accept my house allotment letter at N1. So, we had to go out and get an affidavit made.
It was a tiring day, but that was the end of my involvement with this whole business.
I had to give my passport and residency card to the company agent. After that, the company dealt with the port authorities and delivered my goods- this took a total of six more weeks. It was not exactly a pleasant experience to be left without my passport for six weeks.
Lessons for future academic movers:
1) Start getting rid of excess stuff in your apartment right away.
2) While packing, precisely list the values of all items. Start packing in advance and pack as regularly as you can.
3) Words like shrine items, stuffed animals in the inventory list can cause trouble with customs.
4) If you are moving any electronics, make sure you have the purchasing bills ready.
5) Do not put your school and college certificates in the shipment. These should be carried with you. If you are joining a central government institute, you will be asked to produce these certificates as soon as you join.
6) Delegate the job of dealing with port authorities to the moving company - you really don't want to deal with those guys. The company agents know exactly how to deal with them- I suspect that at the lower level, there is also a working partnership.
7) Wait patiently for the goods to be delivered and for your passport to be handed back to you. There's not much else you can do. So, just chill!!
8)With respect to moving companies, you get what you pay for.
9) If you know in advance what course you will teach on joining, keep the notes and materials related to this course with you and don't ship them. By the time your shipment arrives, it may be the middle of the semester!
My next post will be about administrative matters you need to take care of once you are back in India.
*IIX institutes reimburse travel expenses up to Rs 90,000 for faculty members moving back from abroad. This includes everything - shipping expenses and tickets for you and your family. Depending on the institute, you might also be required to travel by Air India.
The main component of the planning was, of course, how to get all my stuff back to India in one piece. On the face of it, it did not look like a tough job. I am not exactly the kind of person who owns Persian carpets or mink coats (even if I were, my postdoc salary could not buy me those things). I was also not planning to transport any electronics (except my laptop and iPod, which would be carried by me on person). My furniture was worth less than what it would have cost to move it. So, books/notes, music, clothes and some kitchen things (like my ever-helpful pressure cooker) were all I needed to take back. But, the volume turned out to be larger than I imagined.
The three options were
1) Send them in small batches through post. This would be unnecessarily expensive and full of hassles to me (although it is a great idea for those wise people who have not accumulated excessive baggage and have just a box or two to send).
2) Hire a moving company that would ship the boxes from port to port. Getting the boxes from home to the departure port and from the arrival port to N1 city would be my responsibility.
3) Hire a moving company that does door to door shipping. This company also takes care of the customs formalities- you just have to hand them your passport for a few days after the shipment arrives at the port of entry.
Option 3 was more expensive than Option 2, but I went for it because I did not want to deal with customs authorities in India, nor did I want to hire yet another moving company in India to get the boxes to my house.
After that, I spent about a month researching different moving companies. The price difference between companies was huge, but I also read several poor reviews about the cheaper ones which mentioned hidden costs and unethical practices (for example, demanding a higher amount than what was mentioned before and not releasing the goods till the extra amount is paid up or even threatening to destroy the goods). Finally, I chose a company which had received mostly good reviews and whose head office was in the city from which I was moving. They were more expensive, but at the end of the day, I was very happy with their services.
The second job was the packing. Sometime in mid April, I started packing. For customs purposes and also to be able to unpack smoothly, it is a good idea to write in detail the contents of each box. The company also asks for the value of the goods in each box for insurance. They also ask for total values of each category of products like books, CDs, clothes etc. So, packing and recording every detail, though cumbersome, is essential. The problem gets entirely eliminated if you also allow the moving company to pack for you (at an extra price of course), who will do the packing and listing for you in a couple of hours. But, this was going beyond my budget.*
My initial phase of packing went very well, but I lost my regularity and motivation after a while. A huge chunk of my packing was done in the last week before I left, thereby creating unnecessary stress.
Finally, I had to get rid of the furniture. I advertised on Craigslist and Freecycle groups in my area and these items went away very quickly.
The last two days were very stressful because the boxes had to be moved, furniture disposed and apartment cleaned one after the other. I was also very annoyed at the amount of things that I had to throw out just before leaving. These had been lying around in my apartment for days without being used. I resolved never to accumulate unnecessary things again and I am glad that my tiny apartment at N1 ensures that I follow my resolution.
Receiving my shipment at N1 city was quiet an experience. I was told that I will receive it within 4 - 6 weeks. After accounting for "Indian Standard Time", I put down the time to 8 weeks. The goods arrived at N1 exactly 14 weeks after I saw them last! Apparently, I had miscalculated Indian Standard Time!
My shipment arrived at the destination port city two months after departing from North America. I was required to go to the customs office in the port city where they verified my passport, visa etc in person. I was also quizzed about the value of my music CDs and a box which was supposed to have "fragile shrine items". They were concerned that I was importing gold statues without declaring them! An agent from the Indian partner of the moving company was with me. He instructed me to play dumb and let him do all the talking (which I did happily)- I suspect that he was handling their subtle demands for bribes, but am not sure because I do not understand the local language. The agent followed a "don't ask don't tell" policy with me. One point that created some trouble was that my passport had a North American address and the authorities would not accept my house allotment letter at N1. So, we had to go out and get an affidavit made.
It was a tiring day, but that was the end of my involvement with this whole business.
I had to give my passport and residency card to the company agent. After that, the company dealt with the port authorities and delivered my goods- this took a total of six more weeks. It was not exactly a pleasant experience to be left without my passport for six weeks.
Lessons for future academic movers:
1) Start getting rid of excess stuff in your apartment right away.
2) While packing, precisely list the values of all items. Start packing in advance and pack as regularly as you can.
3) Words like shrine items, stuffed animals in the inventory list can cause trouble with customs.
4) If you are moving any electronics, make sure you have the purchasing bills ready.
5) Do not put your school and college certificates in the shipment. These should be carried with you. If you are joining a central government institute, you will be asked to produce these certificates as soon as you join.
6) Delegate the job of dealing with port authorities to the moving company - you really don't want to deal with those guys. The company agents know exactly how to deal with them- I suspect that at the lower level, there is also a working partnership.
7) Wait patiently for the goods to be delivered and for your passport to be handed back to you. There's not much else you can do. So, just chill!!
8)With respect to moving companies, you get what you pay for.
9) If you know in advance what course you will teach on joining, keep the notes and materials related to this course with you and don't ship them. By the time your shipment arrives, it may be the middle of the semester!
My next post will be about administrative matters you need to take care of once you are back in India.
*IIX institutes reimburse travel expenses up to Rs 90,000 for faculty members moving back from abroad. This includes everything - shipping expenses and tickets for you and your family. Depending on the institute, you might also be required to travel by Air India.
5 comments:
Fragile shrine items lol!
This is I prefer to keep things light. Many many times, when checking into long haul flights with just cabin baggage, I get quizzical looks from the airline staff: Is this guy really planning to get off the plane or are we about to go Ka-Boom :)
My sympathies for your trip to Customs. Did you know that ATMs in India located in the vicinity of passport offices, RTO, customs, etc. do better business :) ?
The reimbursement of relocation costs: that is really nice of them.
Thanks for putting down these tips in a post. We moved back to India a few months back and I wanted to share something we found very useful.
We decided to ship our stuff and move out of the apartment about a week before we were due to fly out. We stayed in a B&B for the last few days and lived out of suitcases. During this week we took care of apartment handover, other paperwork, etc. Looking back, I realize that it was a very good decision as it helped us fly out in a relatively calmer state of mind.
We also opted for door-to-door shipping with slightly higher costs because it saved us a lot of hassle in the end.
-AA
TTE and AA, Thanks for your comments.
TTE, I really envy people who manage to keep things light. But, I too am finally learning, although it would have been helpful to learn before I made my big moves.
I still haven't got to the stage of just traveling with cabin baggage, but did manage to restrict my luggage for a five month trip to North America earlier this year to one middle sized check-in bag :)
AA, moving to a B&B a few days before departure is indeed a great idea. I had not opted for this to save expenses. But, in retrospect, saving one's sanity should take priority over saving some money :)
Thank you for your insightful comments. Does your institution offer any relocation allowance?
Relocation with bag and baggage consists of plenty of problematic tasks like time consuming procedure of packing, grouping items in cardboard boxes, loading them, shipping and rearranging at new residence, and so on that make it time consuming and really intricate.
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