Czechered Careers

IT was called Czechoslovakia when I first went there and it was one of the loveliest, though one of the dreariest places on the planet at the time. Today the name has changed to a spellable single syllable. It is not dreary and everything is available. In them good old days the national pastime was standing in queues. They were even queues to stand in to join larger queues!

They queued for everything. Today all that has changed! Shopping has become the national pastime with MNC retailers swooping in as the Soviet Army moved out. The economy may not be booming but its in line to join the EEC.

The developed world is reversing the Czech trend by queuing up to invest in the country! With a population of ten and a quarter million the country has everything it needs with ample left over for the expatriate worker!

It will cost three of you a minimum of about CKS 650 (USD20) to travel from Prague's Ruzyne International Airport to your hotel, home or hostel very comfortably with an English-speaking guide et al. Alone it can cost as little as 12 Kcs by bus/metro (very uncomfortable) Otherwise there are shuttle busses which take thirty minutes and cost around 90Kcs

Actually the transport system in Prague (or Praha, as you will need to pronounce it) is one of the best in the world.

They have busses; trams and the metro underground rail where you can buy a single ticket valid for a ride on all three systems that you can use for 60 minutes after you first punch it in.

The underground metrorail is efficient with a strange system of the platform clock indicating the time of departure of the train that has last left the station rather than the expected time of arrival of the next train! I prefer the trams as they seem to follow scenic routes and the view is far better than the blackness of the tunnels underground, or the blur outside the bus windows!

Always offer your seat to the elderly since they can (and will!) demand it in stentorian tones much to your eventual embarrassment! Don't expect a conductor to amble up to you to sell you a ticket; you have to pre-purchase them from vending machines at metro stations or from any kiosk or cigarette shop near a bus stop.

An adult fare that allows you to travel on any mode for 60 minutes costs 12Kcs. A single trip (4 metro stops or 15 minutes travel by any other mode) will set you back by 8Kcs.

Remember to stamp your ticket when you get on the transport, otherwise, even if you have one, unstamped, you'll be hauled off and held in durance vile for travelling ticketless.

In the event you are changing travel modes within the hour all you need to do is to brandish you stamped ticket vaguely to everybody in sight and put it back in your pocket.

The most unsafe way to travel in Prague is by taxi. They consistently overcharge, take you on a world tour and jiggle the meter so that the fare will probably support their family for years to come! Working meters generally start at 25Kcs. With 20Kcs for every kilometre thereafter.

Crime is present, but it isn't any worse than any place in Eastern Europe. The best is to avoid making your wealth show! Don't flash the big bucks, and if attractive and friendly ladies in Vaclavsky Namesty accost you, hurry away! Bury your hands in your pockets (easy since its generally freezing!) and see your purse is safe if you are gawking up at one of the several beautiful landmarks of Prague. Beggars are common, as at home, and its almost nostalgic to see young mothers with babies begging for alms. Hang onto your cellular handsets like glue, as they are easily resold. There will be the usual con artists who may even convince you that you have committed some heinous crime and will absolve you of sin and wrongdoing if you give him all your money! If you are sensible though the place is quite easy to get around without getting scalped, mugged or conned!

Expats can't buy a house in Prague. Renting a house, apartment, room or a park bench is the only option. While park benches are free, the weather is so awful, you'll freeze to death on a summer evening! Besides the police wont let you sleep for too long either. They rather frown on people littering their parks! Getting furnished accommodation is a toughie, but not impossible.

A reasonable, fairly central place can cost you about Kcs7000. Which is about USD 225/-. This would be a smallish, studio apartment.

For larger places you could spend anything up to USD 11000 for a mansion in Prague 6, which is very, very upper crust! Prague 1 and 2 are in the city centre and only apartments are available, and not too cheap either. Kcs10-15000 will get you a single or a double room place.

So, how much do you have to earn? Actually, life in Prague is a lot cheaper than most of Europe, and the conveniences are great. With transport the way it is, nothing is more than half an hour away, and I have only been caught in one, front-page-news traffic jam!

This was, it is true before last year's flood, but now that the debris has been cleared, traffic jams will still make news.

Food is cheap. Eating in a resteraunt is remarkably cheap (Kcs 80-130) if you don't mind the local cuisine, which isn't bad, if you are non-vegetarian. Vegetarians have a difficult life, only because fresh vegetables are rare except in supermarkets, which import from sunnier climates miles away!

Milk and dairy products abound cheaply, and a glass of milk (Kcs3) is just a little more expensive than a glass of beer (Kcs 2.50) This may encourage alcoholism among babies, but they will tend to be rather quiet after a bottle or two!

Your grocery bill will be anything from around Kcs 1500 - 2000 per month and a transport pass for the month valid for travel on all forms of transport is Kcs 420.

The most expensive outgo for you is accommodation so, all in all you could make do with as little as about Kcs 15000 per month.

The lifestyle would not be unlike you earning the same number of rupees in a place like Bangalore, with the advantage of a cleaner environment.

However, since you are going abroad, you might as well earn enough to send money home to the folks, so a salary of Kcs40- 70000 would allow you to certainly command some of the elegances of life.

As I said, everything in Prague is easy. Everything that is except the language. There are cryptograms that are more intelligible! It is amazing that this is one language that sounds like no other.

First they forget all about vowels. I suspect that because its such a cold country, people don't like opening their mouths to articulate a vowel sound, so what emerges from frozen lips are buzzing and hissing noises that slip past their teeth with all the sibilance of a crazed pit viper. But don't give up!

The language bears up well in terms of logic and grammar, and is great to assault the guys back home with, so learn it and use it with the people who will be delighted that you tried. Most Czechs are warm friendly people who will take you to their hearts once they get to know you.

Sometimes to extraordinary extremes. I must confess that I once told my team that I loved them and every lady in it felt I had made a special, individual term of endearment that took me some time to sort out. Still, I'm not complaining, they were very warm and this in a cold country is very welcome!

Though Czechs have been sometimes thought to be very dour, they actually have a very self-deprecating sense of humour that is enjoyable.

However, expats from Hyderabad will feel really at home since the Czechs are terrible time managers. Punctuality is pointless, and laid back is the attitude-of-the-day!

Despite all the warmth, beware of the Czech national weapon. This is slivovic, a colourless fluid that smells like pressed plums and tastes like rocket fuel. It burns its way down your gullet, gouging a trench down your oesophagus and melting a hole through your stomach. After that all is well and the world stops mattering so much!

Working in Prague is delightful because of the people and the sights of this old-world city.

Of course the fact that Pilsner Beer was invented in this country(at Plzen)should not influence your decision, nor that Budweiser took its root in this country (at Cesky Budeovic).

Base it on the fact that the living is easy, if a little thermically challenged, and the pay is good! It may interest the young bachelor that the male-female ratio in this delightful country is 1:3.

S.RAMANUJACHARYA

professor1@sify.com