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!!