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GOING NATIVE

Working ties with the city

ADJUSTING TO KERALA LIFE Percy Barraclough

Sitting with his laptop in his room at Suntec Office, Kuravankonam, is the company's chief technology officer, Percy Barraclough. Finding just enough time to raise his head from his work to talk about his life in Kerala, Percy says it is his work which keeps bringing him back to the city.

Ask him about how he landed in India, Percy, who is originally from the North of England, talks about his software work which started in 1984 and brought about his association with Suntec years later. He joined as a full-time employee of Suntec in 2000 and this is his tenth year with the company.

For Percy, it is some months here in the company guesthouse, and then some months with his family in the United Kingdom (U.K.).

The family has got used to his ways and Percy says his wife teases him about his love for Suntec.

Percy was in North India for a while before joining Suntec. He remembers pushing a car down a road in Mumbai with his boss once. But what made Thiruvananthapuram different from the streets of Mumbai, Delhi or Chandigarh was that one didn't have to think twice before roaming about the streets at night. “There I wouldn't dream of doing it,” says Percy.

A problem he faces in Kerala is being treated as an expatriate. “I like to be one among the crowd. I don't want to stand apart, stand different.” He admits it could be the language which he never managed to pick up that makes it difficult for him to merge into the crowd.

Due to his work load, Percy has seldom been able to go out and see places. “They keep me working seven days a week,” he jokes. He likes going to Kovalam and he enjoys having fresh fish cooked there. But he admits that is not too fond of the spicy food in Kerala.

Traffic

What puts him off about Kerala is the traffic. But Kerala is heaven compared to Bangalore, admits Percy.

Has he tried driving here? Yes, he has. “But then my company asked me to stop. They now send me a driver,” laughs Percy.

Finding Kerala a lovely place, he adds that “some of the things unfortunately which are more to the taste of Europeans, are to me, negative because they are impinging on Kerala, like some big hotel chains here. They are not targeted to enhance the local environment.”

Percy is also concerned about Bangalore luring youngsters from Kerala to its workforce. He wished the environment here would be encouraging for young people to stay on.

Although settling down in Kerala did flit through his mind, the climate (which he has yet to adjust to) and family back home crosses it out.

He says, after his work here is done he may most likely return to the U.K. for good. But yes, he will definitely miss this little state. “I have such a long association with Kerala.”

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