Everyone abroad talks about r2i – returning to India. Sooner or later, every Indian settled overseas considers returning home. Regardless how much you plan and how much you look forward to it, the real life experience always brings its own surprises – good and bad ones.
Most of the NRIs romanticize about the life in India. However, those returning to India have their own complaints about life back home:
Traffic: After living in American or Europe for a long time, we get used to the smooth flow of traffic and the traffic rules. Don’t expect the same after r2i. There are just way too many cars and bikes on the road, compared to what we are used to abroad. And remember, the more aggressive drivers make their own traffic rules, most of the time.
Not the same old neighborhood: I wrote a full article on this recently, the home we left behind many years ago is not the same, neither is the neighborhood.
Kids hate it: many parents return to India to raise their kids in Indian culture speaking Indian language. However, the whole experience is very hard on kids. The language, the new place, the new surroundings, the power cuts, the crowd….the whole thing overwhelms them. They like India for vacationing, but forget the permanent living part.
Faded bonds of Family and friends: Many of us return home to be with family and old friends. However, once you go back, it does not feel like the good old days. Everybody is on a different wavelength; they have their own lives to live. Read the rest of this entry »
