Ludhiyana - Riga: the road to a new life

The Malhort family has been living in Latvia for eight years, using the opportunities that the country provides in the field of business, education and quality of life. It's just good to live here! Open City met with members of the Malhotra family to find out what prompted them to move and how they live here.

Amit Malhotra and his family came to Latvia from Ludhiana, the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, which borders Pakistan. Ludhijana, which is the same area as Riga, is home to as many people as in the whole of Latvia. This city is considered one of the most densely populated in India, besides, it is a large industrial center, where many enterprises are concentrated, which affects the environment.

In 2016 just a couple of years before the Malhotra family came to Riga, The India Times wrote that the price for the prosperity of this industrial city could be several years of life for its residents. At that time, the level of air pollution in Ludhiana was twice the permissible norms of India and six times the norms of the WHO. It is not surprising that when asked what prompted the family to move to Latvia, which no one from their inner circle had ever visited before, Amit, the head of the family, first of all answered that Latvia is very good for life: there is clean air, there are no serious environmental problems, as well as a pleasant climate - without oppressive heat, and beautiful nature.

The business environment turned out to be attractive

However, one should not underestimate the financial calculation. Mr. Malhotra is an entrepreneur, and new professional opportunities brought him to Latvia. In India, being a pharmacist by profession, he was a partner in a pharmacy business. Having also received a diploma in Management and Marketing in Brisbane, Australia, Amit, upon returning to India, met Austrian businessman Gerald Hopstedter, who offered him a job at his company S Baltic, which provides consulting services in Latvia. Investment consultations, tax optimization strategies for corporate and private clients in various jurisdictions, residence permits in the EU - the list is long.

In his eight years of work in Latvia, Amit Malhotra has witnessed how several foreign companies have successfully opened their offices in Latvia, for example, Tech Mahindra – an Indian company that offers technology consulting and digital solutions to global enterprises in various industries. The total revenues of Tech Mahindra, operating in 70 countries around the world, exceed 6.2 billion dollars. They open restaurants. Many people are helped by integration courses, where you can learn more about the specifics of doing business in Latvia and the opportunities that are opening up in our country.

Now, from his own experience, Amit Malhotra is convinced that Latvia is one of the best countries in the world in terms of ease of doing business, but eight years ago he knew about this purely theoretically.
 

Responsive Latvians

The decision to move to Riga was made by the whole family. Then Amit was 38 years old. By that time, Amit was already married to the beautiful Snehi, whom he met in the circle of mutual friends of his parents, and whom he married after two or three meetings. It was important to discuss everything with the children: son Jasham and daughter Kushi - then still schoolchildren.

Information about Latvia, according to Amit, "a small but very beautiful country," was collected on the Internet. I was interested in literally everything: EU membership, currency, the education system. Latvian was taught even before leaving, mastering the first words labdien, labvakar and paldies with the help of Tilde and Google translate.

Amit says with a smile that he has heard a lot about Baltie Ziemassvētki (White Christmas), but when he arrived, he quickly realized that the clothes he had brought from India were not suitable for the Latvian climate at all: he had to buy new ones, and when he was dressed for the weather, then everything was fine! His wife Sneha was especially fond of the snowy winters in Latvia. Where they live, with its modern office buildings, new buildings, well-kept environment, as well as the Quiet Center, and especially Mežaparks.

All family members are happy to talk about trips to Jurmala, Sigulda, Kuldīga, the celebration of the Latvian holiday Jāņi somewhere by the sea, sitting by the fire. "What peace this is! And how nice it is in the summer at ten o'clock in the evening to sit somewhere on an open terrace and read the news," Amit adds. For the inhabitants of overpopulated, built-up India, being so close to nature is a luxury.

A separate topic is the responsiveness of Latvians. Anything happened, but for the most part, people always tried to help. "When we first arrived in Riga and did not know where the post office was," says Amita Kushi's daughter, "the woman we contacted at the bus stop took us to the post office herself. Her name is Kristina. She is a lawyer. Then we became very good friends. Kristina helped us in mastering the Latvian language. She came with us after work almost every day. We are very grateful to her."

"Yes, there are good people in Latvia," adds son Jasham, "Most often I needed help with Latvian. Once I sent a text to a friend for verification, which I needed to translate. I received an answer in three hours, but there were a lot of mistakes in my text." According to Jasham, the current trend in the world is that "every man for himself", but in Latvia, in general, everyone is very friendly - both Latvians and Russian-speakers.
 

 Point of attraction: Faculty of Medicine

The Malhotra family is satisfied with the Latvian education system. Kushi's daughter studied at the J. Poruks Riga Secondary School, and immediately in Latvian, where she was greatly helped by teachers who knew how to work with children who came from other countries, and then at the Riga State Gymnasium No. 3. Son Jasham studied at Riga Secondary School No. 49.

"Latvia has a very good education system. I can confirm this," says Jasham. "It's good that teachers hear their students and teachers can be asked for help at any time." Now both are studying at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Latvia: Jasham is finishing the 3rd year, Kushi is finishing the 1st.

"Learning is hard, but learning medicine is hard everywhere," they say. It's too early to talk about specialization, but Jasham is determined to become an emergency medical doctor. He already has a little experience in the Emergency Medical Center of Stradiņš Hospital and knows how everything works there. He practiced at the Eastern Hospital, where he worked in the emergency department. If he succeeds, next year he will work as a doctor's assistant at Stradiņš Hospital. The opportunity to obtain a high-quality higher education in the field of medicine is the reason why Latvia is attractive to residents of many countries.

The brother and sister study at the fee-paying department of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Latvia, where, judging by the information on the website, the initial fee for the bachelor's program is almost3.5 thousand. euros per year. His loving father Amit pays for his studies, since the Malhotra family is quite wealthy and can afford more than that.

Sneha's wife does not need to work – she takes care of the comfort of the house, where they maintain Indian traditions and pray at the home altar, professing Hinduism. The Riga International Society for Krishna Consciousness has not been visited for a long time due to lack of free time.

Features of Latvian vegetarianism

The Malhotra family is a vegetarian and adheres to the traditions of Indian cuisine. There are two shops in Riga - quite expensive according to them - where you can buy everything you need to cook your usual dishes. One of the favorites is Rajma - red beans with rice and traditional Indian spices, cooked according to a special recipe. Compared to India, ordinary stores in Latvia still have a rather modest selection of products for vegetarians. So that there is a wider selection of tofu cheese, so that you can buy samosas - triangular pies filled with spicy potatoes, onions, peas, lentils and other ingredients, manchurian - deep-fried vegetables seasoned with saucethan similar somewhere in other European countries.

Introduction to the cultural code

In a small Riga, right on the street, you can meet the President of Latvia with just a couple of guards and calmly greet him, which may seem incredible to the inhabitants of India, where there is a pronounced caste society. However, members of the Malhotra family were honored to meet with the Latvian head of state several times during special events dedicated to India.

Living in Latvia, Amit devotes a lot of time to work, Sneha to home, children to study, but there is also time to get acquainted with Latvian culture. Jašam, for example, when asked who among the Latvian celebrities he is interested in, names Kristaps Porzingis, an NBA basketball player who plays for the Boston Celtic, as well as - surprisingly - Māra Zālīte, whose almost autobiographical novel "Five Fingers" ("Pieci pirksti") - the memories of a little girl about returning to Latvia from Siberia in the 20th century after the war - he read it a long time ago, but this book really sank into his soul, as well as the novel "Mātes Piens" by Nora Ikstena, one of the heroines of which - Astra, like Jasham himself, was obsessed with medicine. In these books, he was especially interested in the life history of Latvians and their motivation.

Whe asked about Knushi and Jashan future plan Knushi says as she is studying medicine after becoming doctor she would like to serve the people of Latvia and help old people. In India a doctor is a highly respected and well-paid profession, says Jasham. Amit Malhotra himself connects the life of his family with Latvia.

When asked whether Amit would advise other investors from Asia to move to live and work in Latvia, Amit answered unequivocally: “Absolutely. It is a wonderful country for doing business, for raising children, it is comfortable to live in. I have fallen in love with Latvia with all my heart. And I am sure that other active people from India will also find it very close.”

For more detailed information on the conditions and opportunities for obtaining a residence permit in Latvia, Amit advises contacting support@sbaltic.lv

Text: Marina Alexandrova
Foto: Vlad Suric