15^th 22 Aug 2005

© RangaShyam

And so I move on… After nearly 4 years in Japan, I am ready to relocate. I thought I was relocating to India but destiny had other plans. My company had a big interesting profile chalked out for me in the US of A and I started packing my bags to go to San Jose, Calif. This is the bay area, Silicon Valley, birth place of technology startups and dream stories such as Apple, HP, Intel, AMD, Oracle, Cisco and certainly not the least in modern times – Google…and I dare not say “last”. There is something about this place that keeps spawning off technology success stories one after the other. I guess it has to do with the weather – who wouldn’t want to invent and innovate in the near-perfect climate that blesses this northern region of California. The legendary stories coming out of the Silicon valley – of how HP started in a garage or the evolution of Intel always intrigued me, and I could not get enough of business strategy related books to read on these companies and their struggle; so coming to live in this part of the world was something I was looking forward to.

 

But moving away from life in Tokyo, Japan was a mixture of relief and disappointment (as I am sure any relocation in life is, philosophically!). I had got into Japan as a bachelor with truckloads of energy to devote to work. I had been moderately successful at work (heading the Japanese operations of a Silicon Valley startup for 4 years, and being given this opportunity when I was 27 has to be the most fun and challenging thing I will ever do in life, and I would love it for life to prove me wrong!); I got married and was blessed with a son who is turning out to be the topic of a whole set of another blogs…I made some great friends…So there is not much to complain out of the stay in Tokyo. The city itself is unique – something to be experienced. The pace and energy of the people is infectious, they keep the city clean, public transport works and rocks. There is so much to explore in the cities and by-lanes of Tokyo. All I ever needed was to put on my walking shoes, throw a bag over my back, get a city atlas in my hands and walk the roads of Tokyo. Walking miles without an aim would never be tiring – having all sorts of shops spring up from nowhere was exciting and always something to look forward to – ancient Japanese sword shops to antiques to stationeries to discrete electronics to aquarium shops - the fun and excitement never ceased.

 

I never could get enough of train travel in Japan. Traveling by trains had always fascinated me, but you’ve got to experience the routine of traveling b trains in Tokyo, and if possible take the Shinkansen outside Tokyo for a long trip. The sheer energy of the people using the system is contagious, and the meticulous attention-to-detail with which the trains operate is nothing short of a marvel. I always preferred to stand by the door and watch the characters in the train. I had templates into which I could always slot people on the train (without fail, at all times) – the old granny dressed like she were the queen of England, the middle-aged man flipping through an adult cartoon magazine -unabashed and quite oblivious of everybody around him - and nonchalantly flipping the magazine in the overhead storage space on the train when he is done, the group of school children chattering loudly (unmistakable dress – boys with oversized pants and crumpled shirts, girls with e.x.t.r.e.m.e.l.y short skirts and e.x.t.r.e.m.e.l.y long socks!), and oh! How can I forget this – people flipping open their cell phones and playing games or SMSing! I took the Keiyo line train from Hatchobori to Kaihim-Makuhari to work for 4 years straight . The journey was roughly 40 minutes and not a day was boring!

 

So, finally, am I glad I am moving on? It is hard to say, but if somebody put a gun to my head, I would say - Yes. Japan was good, great...while it lasted. It probably happened at a time in my life when I was best suited to live here (although I keep debating if these 4 years in Japan prevented me from cementing my career in the US). The point is - any later in life, with my family to consider, I would not be so open to relocating to Japan – although, let’s see…!!! I haven’t visited a doctor once in the 4 years in Japan and have been surviving on self-prescribed medicines shipped from India, and I am not sure this is a good model going forward. The lack of a big house and a car to drive around is also getting to me – there is only so much grocery you can carry. And I certainly want my dwelling to be bigger than a Tokyo apartment. My work here has taught me a lot about the Japanese way of quality, ethics, and loyalty and it is for me to imbibe these in life – staying here longer isn’t going to teach me any more than I have learned in these 4 years. So I guess it is the right thing to bid Goodbye to this beautiful (is)land that was my home, and kick my heels into the valley of Silicon and greenbacks!

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©RangaShyam, 2005