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After 5 years in India

Well, I am back to talk about the "topic" of having moved to India and the pros and cons. After 5 years, I have an absolutely clear picture of what I gained and lost.

I have certainly gained the experience living in another country where I had to strive that extra mile but the rewards were really great. Here somehow the work gets done by hook or crook ;)

Question now is after having moved to India, how different have things been? After all this is the country where we all spent our childhood, adolesence.

Answer is once you reach a certain age in life especially 25+, you start thinking about what you actually want to do in life, pursue a career, get married, buy a home etc. Privacy nowadays has become a sought after "jewel". All the above things work in unision when you are abroad. They seem to fall in place like a well-oiled machine. You get quality time with your spouse because there are a very few friends and releatives around you to take your time. You are able to focus on your career really well without the small additional headaches. Buying a home is a process you actually enjoy because of the step by step method and abundance of information and research available on the internet.

Now, all these things abroad work very well, but at times you really yearn to be at home with friends anf family. No festive spirit like the one you see back home. Everyday chores has to be done by you. No luxury of a driver/ maid easily available as in India. Bringing up kids is a toughie with the right mentality for "indianess".

Once in India, you get all the small time luxuries of a maid, driver, etc. Yuo somehow manage to get a home that is a whopping amount for a small flat which could have earned you a mansion in the U.S
Privacy has the value of gold here. You can get it, but it's really expensive :)

Bright side is bringing up kids here with a really good education system, a lot of activities that also have culture interlaced works out in your favour.

I have has friends who moved from the US, stayed here for a couple of years and have moved back. It is ultimately a case by case decision.

As for me, I terribly miss the U.S. I do have my own home, have managed the privacy aspect to a certain extent, my child goes to a fantastic school. But when I went for holidays to the U.S recently, I discovered what I missed the most was the independence and the convenience that the country offered was fantastic and for India to catch up would be a long time.

The day consumerism hits India like a tidal wave, that day you'll have more NRIs Yahooing for India!!

After 3.5 years....

Life is going on here pretty well, though I do miss the States a lot in terms of things to do outdoors/ travel etc. Pretty well settled in all other aspects.

I have to say that only if you are convinced that you move to India has to be done within a stipulated time frame, both the husband and wife must have the same wavelength. It is easier if you are single and tougher if you have kids.

But once you have decided to move, look forward to your move instead of feeling bad as to what you are going to leave behind. You should stay in India for a couple of years to judge for yourself what suits you best. Minor adjustments are the name of the game. But looking at the bigger picture, India is now on a war-footing to be recogonised as one of the top growing economic country of the world. So, rest assured.

It is easier to move now, than it was 10 years back. After all, this is the place you once called home.

Our move to India

Well, here it goes. The process of moving to India is pretty much a mind set. We always wanted to move some day, but the date and time was the question. I think that is the hitch for everyone.

We thought of moving in 2004. Having decided the year, moving at the end of the year was decided. We had enough time to wind up slowly. Also, had a chance to make a trip to all the places we had been planning to go for quite sometime.

All that taken care of, we thought of
making a list of what we owned,
what we wanted to sell (all furniture, books etc.),
list of people/companies like phone, cable etc to be cancelled,
list if financial details like bank accounts, share details etc. consolodate them
list car ads on all possible sites - lots of free ones out there
bought a few things we needed to take to India

Look up this site for more information as to what you could take to India: NRIOL.com

Here is a list of Shippers: Shipping sites

A very resourceful page on things to do when moving to India: Nriol.com

Resourceful tips during the final Return to India. Shipping cargo, relocation

Then we decided to move some of the things we owned. Now came deciding on the Shipper.

If the company decides to move your stuff, pack on. Otherwise, think practically in terms of what you really need to take back. Memories, Durable items, eyc. Electronics are a good choice to move provided you are sure to get converters for them. Also since we have a weight and dimension constraint, try to dispose of as much as possible so packing becomes easier.

We decided to go with Air7Seas. They were pretty good with the packaging( although we had packed all our items with UHaul boxes, foam and bubble wrap). All our items were non-perishable and packed quite well.
Thankfully when the items arrived 2.5 months later, evrything was intact. The best part was that since we had catalogued each box- item wise.

It was easy to unpack in our home. Also a note, try putting napthelene balls while in storage to avoid insect infestation.

Return to India

Return to India is something most of the NRI's contemplate, but factoring in reasons like children, job opportunities etc. they seem to have second thoughts. But not anymore, all that is changing and more. More and more NRI's are moving to India because of the job opportunities, upbringing of children and most of all a sense of belonging.

In our case, we took the decision of moving one day and thought out all the pros and cons and moved in about 6 months from then. Life has never been better.Of course, we would be lying if we say that we do not miss the U.S but at the same time we enjoy the small things that this part of the world has to offer. We are more closer to our parents who can now meet us more often!! :)
Children seem to enjoy better here in India because of the number of festivals, functions and interaction with other kids with different backgrounds.

True, it is easier said than done, but a lot of thought and action needs to be carried out before the move. One cannot plan for everything but if we mostly cover the basic needs and wants, we should be happily sailing smooth.

The only difference between living in the US and in India is that, in the U.S right from the common man to a billionaire can afford a decent lifestyle can afford to splurge once a while whereas in India the lines are clearly drawn and u need lots of money when it comes to affordability of a good lifestyle. What was decent in the U.S seems a little steep here.

Privacy and independence s something of a compromise here in India. But economy on the rise is giving rise to more jobs, things are certainly looking good for India. We might be slow but are certainly steady to win the race in global rankings for a great upcoming and powerful nation .

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