Rohan left Sweden for Hyderabad in July 2025 with a job already secured. One year later, he values the opportunities for both spouses and being closer to family, but misses the working week he left behind. His commute, rent surprise and workplace adjustment show what an offer letter cannot tell you.
Rohan had the India job before he packed. What he could not pack was the working week he had grown used to in Sweden. A year after returning to Hyderabad, he is weighing two careers, family time and a daily commute that still makes him question the decision.
A life he liked, not a failed experiment. Rohan grew up in Mumbai and studied mechanical engineering in Pune from 2014 to 2018. He initially wanted to pursue a master's in the US. A professor suggested Sweden because of his interest in sustainability, and his own research made the country increasingly appealing.
He moved in 2018 for a master's in sustainability engineering and management, finishing in 2020. Studying alongside people from different countries gave him the international exposure he wanted. Travel mattered too: Europe appealed to him as a football enthusiast, and he enjoyed exploring places he had wanted to visit.
Graduating during COVID made the next step less straightforward. He joined a battery-manufacturing business and worked in different parts of Sweden, including the far north. The long winters and darkness eventually became too much for the life he wanted. Moving closer to Stockholm brought him back towards city living.
From August 2022, he worked for a global automotive company near Stockholm. He remained there until returning to India in July 2025. By then, Sweden had been home for nearly seven years. He had studied, worked, travelled and built a routine. Returning meant giving up real benefits, not simply correcting a bad choice.
The intention to return had existed since he left India. The missing piece was a date. Marriage changed the calculation: his wife joined him in Sweden in 2024, and they spent months trying to find work for her.
That search was difficult. Rohan describes language requirements and a job market that felt less promising to them at the time. Those are his observations about their search, not a claim that every newcomer faces the same prospects. For this couple, however, waiting longer did not look like a reliable route to two working lives.
His own career assessment was changing too. In the automotive and electric-vehicle field, he felt the Indian opportunities he was seeing offered a better direction than the European projects available to him. He also felt he had already fulfilled much of what he had gone abroad to experience.
Family proximity supplied another reason. They wanted to share festivals and milestones, visit their families more easily and have their families visit them. Moving to a third country was not their preferred solution; both already wanted India. Towards the end of 2024, that preference became a job search.
The best time to return to India is therefore not just a calendar question. In their case, the trigger was the combination of two careers and a life they wanted nearer family. One person's attractive job was not enough to settle the household decision.
Direct outreach led to an internal referral. Rohan started contacting people in his industry through LinkedIn while still in Sweden. He reached out to business HR contacts and hiring managers, explaining his work, interests and the value he could bring to an organisation.
Most messages did not produce a response. His description that nine out of ten people would not even read the message reflects his own experience, not a measured response rate for overseas applicants. The useful part is that silence did not end his search.
One contact referred him internally to the company where he now works. He completed the interviews, accepted the offer and organised the departure before relocating in July 2025. He was also speaking with other companies during the search; the referral was not the only conversation he pursued.
For someone following this approach, the message needs more than a wish to move back. Name your field, describe the work you do and make the relevance to the employer clear. Rohan also mentions reaching industry contacts on Twitter as another possible channel, although LinkedIn and the referral explain the role he actually secured.
His positive view of India's EV and automotive opportunities remains a personal career judgement. It is not a guarantee that a particular city, company or salary will suit another returnee. Confirm the role itself, decision-making responsibilities and working arrangements before treating an offer as a complete answer.
Once the offer was confirmed, Rohan worked through the arrangements that would remain abroad. Banking access mattered because leaving Sweden did not make his remaining financial relationships disappear.
He describes renewing BankID and keeping access on an alternative phone in case his primary device stopped working. That was his approach to avoiding a loss of access. Your bank's overseas-customer and identity-verification requirements may differ: ask what happens after a change of address, how credentials can be renewed and how you would recover access from India.
He also contacted the relevant retirement agency about his accumulated funds. Separately, he checked with his former employer about a bonus payable in later instalments. His account shows why a departure checklist needs to include money that is not due on the day you leave, not only the cash currently in your account.
Those conversations were about his arrangements. They do not establish a universal pension entitlement, payment route or tax outcome. Likewise, do not use an anecdotal bank conversation to decide when an NRE account should be redesignated. Indian banking residency and tax residency are separate questions that need confirmation for your circumstances.
Before departure, obtain the provider's current answer for your actual account or plan. Keep contact details, account references and the payment schedule accessible. If a payment arrives after the move, clarify its treatment with a qualified adviser rather than assuming the destination account settles the tax question.
Flights, additional baggage and two weeks of short-term accommodation in Hyderabad. That support reduced the immediate burden of moving and gave the couple somewhere to stay while looking for housing.
His wife left Sweden before him. Rohan stayed to finish the housing and other departure logistics, then followed. The sequence was practical for their circumstances; it does not mean every family needs to travel separately.
Temporary accommodation created a useful starting point, but it was not a permanent housing solution. They still needed to choose where to live and understand what the local rental market would cost. The city followed the job offer, even though their families were in Maharashtra.
If your employer offers relocation support, separate the confirmed items from the assumptions. Ask what travel and baggage are covered, how long accommodation lasts and what you must arrange yourself. For belongings beyond the flight allowance, the what to ship and what to leave conversation tackles a different part of the move.
The contrast appeared on his first day. He asked HR where his work phone was. There was no separate device: his personal phone would also be used for work communication.
Rohan had grown used to a different boundary in his Swedish workplaces. He remembers Friday afternoons ending with coffee and sweets, followed by a weekend without checking the work phone. In his current experience, WhatsApp, after-hours contact and weekend calls became part of the adjustment.
Decision-making felt different as well. He describes more decisions coming from senior management, compared with the flatter hierarchy he had previously worked in. Addressing some colleagues as sir or ma'am rather than by first names was another habit he had to learn.
These are comparisons between his workplaces. Neither country has one uniform employer culture. The value for a prospective returnee is knowing which questions to ask the actual hiring manager: who approves decisions, which channels the team uses, how urgent weekend requests are handled and what availability the role expects.
The commute added a separate cost. He says he spends almost two hours a day in traffic, roughly an hour each way. A stated nine-to-five working day did not describe the full time away from home. The journey could consume the time that looked free when he was considering the offer abroad.
“When I'm stuck in the traffic jams every day, I get that thought every day ... why did I move back to India?”
That thought does not cancel his reasons for returning. It shows that a decision can remain worthwhile while an ordinary weekday still feels hard. After a year, he says he has become more accustomed to the workplace differences, rather than claiming they no longer matter.
The housing budget. The estimates they made from Sweden did not prepare him for the rental figures he encountered in west Hyderabad's gated communities. He describes a three-bedroom home costing around ₹60,000–70,000 a month, plus maintenance.
That is his account of the homes and area they considered, not an independently surveyed rent for every Hyderabad neighbourhood. Size, building, location and timing change the comparison. Maintenance also matters: a quoted rent is not necessarily the entire monthly housing bill.
He recommends trying to live closer to work to reduce time in traffic. That connects the housing decision to the daily routine rather than treating rent and commute as unrelated budget lines. A cheaper home farther away can cost more time; a nearer home needs to be judged against the actual household budget.
There were meaningful gains. His wife found work in Hyderabad soon after their return. Neighbours in their gated community were friendly, and celebrating festivals together strengthened their sense of belonging. He contrasts that with his own limited contact with neighbours in Sweden, rather than describing every Swedish neighbourhood.
Family visits became easier in both directions. Their families could visit Hyderabad; the couple could travel to Maharashtra for festivals and important occasions. When he weighs those moments against the commute, family remains one of the strongest reasons he values the move.
For Rohan, the return brought benefits he wanted: a career direction he preferred, work for his wife, community and closer family ties. It also cost him some of the everyday boundaries and ease he valued abroad. His answer is a trade-off, not a declaration that one country wins.
He says the planning largely worked as intended, particularly his wife's finding a job soon after arrival. That can be true alongside an underestimated rent budget and a frustrating commute. A move can succeed at its central goals without delivering the daily life you pictured.
Before accepting an offer, compare the household rather than only the role. Write down the working-week expectations, a realistic route to the office, current housing quotes, the spouse's career plan and the relocation support actually promised. Then identify which losses you are genuinely willing to accept.
The reasons families struggle after returning to India often sit outside the offer letter. Rohan's story puts some of them into focus without pretending his experience predicts yours. Knowing what you value helps distinguish a temporary adjustment from a compromise you never wanted to make.
You can watch Rohan's full conversation with Avinash for his own account. Career comparisons, rent figures and workplace experiences here are personal observations. Banking, pension and tax decisions require advice specific to your arrangements.
Use the return-to-India planner to organise the decisions around your move. If you need help coordinating the transition, explore Cross-Border Transition Packages.
From the published captions
0:00 From career point of view, I thought India was growing quite a lot in terms of EV and electrification and also the government was pushing a lot towards this initiative. So I thought like when it came to my career uh prospect, I think India offered me a much more better environment than Europe, Sweden. Like people usually uh finish their work by Friday 3 p.m. It's they have a thing called Fica where you have like coffee and sweets and just end up uh your week and they don't even touch their phone until Monday morning. day one when I joined um so I went to the HR and said like hey where's my work phone said and then she said like oh you don't have any work phone you just have your personal phone and that's it like you use that for your communication even for work people like calling after work and like during the weekend as well so that is also really thing like a big thing which you need to adapt uh when you come to India I'm stuck in the traffic for almost 2 hours in a day like 1 hour in the morning 1 hour in the evening but then when we eventually landed in Hyderabad especially towards the west Hyderabad And I think I was like kind of shocked. Has it ever occurred to you that why did you move to India?
1:05 So thanks a lot Rohan uh for joining us. Uh let's start with uh what was the dream that you are chasing and what made you to move to Sweden. Yeah, I think that's a good question. Uh so uh maybe I just to give a bit of background about myself first. So I'm basically from Mumbai uh Maharashtra did my schooling there. Uh then I went to Pune for my bachelor's in mechanical engineering. This is from 2014 to 18. So during my bachelor's in my third year I actually wanted to go to the US. So I've always I was always was fascinated by uh doing my masters in the US. Then I was speaking to my college professor. Um so he kind of suggested me Sweden as an option uh because I always wanted to pursue my masters in sustainability field and the Nordics in Europe like they are amongst the top when it comes to sustainability field. So then I started to research a bit about Sweden overall and then I was reading like
2:07 blogs and watching online content about Sweden. So I got really fascinated by this country. I said like okay I want to move there and explore um how Sweden is and all kind of uh other activities as well like in terms of traveling across Europe and also me being a big football fanatic I was always fascinated by Europe. Uh so I yeah I didn't uh look behind after that. So I decided to pursue my masters in Sweden from 2018 to 2020. So this was in sustainability engineering and management. So that's how I kind of landed up in Sweden. Got it. And how was the life in Sweden? Um you know you went for masters and uh like you work there and so how did it go? Yeah. Yeah. So I think uh life in Sweden was quite good. Um so as I told you like I was always fascinated by the winters there and also the Aurora lighting that you can see in the Nordics. So I was always fascinated by that. So when it
3:08 come to my masters in Sweden, uh it was kind of really good. Uh it gave me an overall picture of sustainability field and where I also had the pleasure of interacting with different people from all over the world. So that kind of gave me a global exposure. Um so that was for my masters and then working there. So I graduated in the peak of COVID. So I didn't really have much options uh back in 2020 when I graduated. So then I decided to join uh one of the biggest European startups back then uh when it came to cell manufacturing uh in terms of battery industry. So I decided to join that. So I worked one year uh in a city called Westeros in Sweden. So it was really nice city overall and then I moved to the north of Sweden uh a place called Kfio which is like 200 kilometers south of Arctic Circle. So it's like really really up in the north. Um so I think that was a really uh unique experience I would say. So in KFCI at
4:11 least you had like 7 to 8 months of uh winter more or less because it's so up in the north and also like uh you we all saw the darkness there. So I had to deal with that kind of u yeah scenario and then yeah ultimately decided that it was too much of an extreme uh condition to live in. Then I decided to move uh a bit closer to the city life because I was kind of missing that. So I moved a bit closer to Stockholm um where I was working for a global automotive MNC. So this was back in August 2022 and I stayed there and worked there for 3 years before uh finally relocating back to India last year in July 2025. Got it. So why the thought of moving to India uh started brewing and uh when did it start occurring to you? Yeah, so the intention of moving back to India was always there. Uh even when I left uh India back in 2018 so it was not
5:15 a new thought for me. Uh so thing you thing was like I didn't have a timeline set like when I want to move back to India. So then uh like in 2024 I got married. So my wife joined uh with me in Sweden. So like we tried our best to find her a job there. But it was kind of challenging as well uh when it came to Europe especially after the Russia Ukraine war the economy went a bit downhill let's say overall in terms of Europe. So the uh economic u opportunities were kind of dwindling um and also they were giving preference to the local candidates which kind of makes sense uh over like immigrants and migrants. Um so we tried really hard from 2024 to 2025. So it was kind of challenging for my wife to find a job there and also you have the Swedish language uh requirement that you need to be at least intermediate to fluent which kind of takes time as well. uh to build some kind of proficiency uh to get working there. So like and also in my
6:19 case I was kind of feeling yeah I've already lived uh 7 years in Sweden. So like I already pursued whatever my interests were I completed my lifelong goal of visiting UK like traveling across Europe and all this kind of stuff. So and also from career point of view I thought India was growing quite a lot in terms of EV and electrification and also the government was pushing a lot towards this initiative. So I thought like when it came to my career uh prospect I think India offered me a much more better environment than Europe because as I said like in Europe after the Russia Ukraine war the economic uh conditions were not that good let's say and all all of the big projects in battery industries they were kind of like on pause or getting cancelled. So I thought okay let's it's better to move back um to India uh especially for my career as well as from an emotional point of view. So I I could be a bit closer to my family and also enjoy the different moments and festivals and all this kind of stuff.
7:20 Got it. Have you thought about moving to some other country where the economy is doing okay? Maybe from a career side it might have more opportunities. Uh was that thought ever good? Uh uh I think majorly I would say no. Uh like we always wanted to move back uh to India. um just from an emotional point of view just to be a bit closer to our families to enjoy all the different festivals and milestones. So that thought never occurred uh for both of us. Uh so I'm talking about me and my wife. Um so the intention was always to go back to India. So it was quite clear for us. And then uh how did you select like it's going to be 2025 like was that like you're applying for jobs the milestones that you trying to hit uh before making Yeah. So as I told you my wife joined with me in Sweden in 2024. Uh so like we already completed like almost 6 to 8 months towards the end of 2024. So we already saw like okay the economy is not doing that well and we didn't have any positive outlook about Sweden's economy.
8:21 So we were not that optimistic that she would land a job anytime soon. So I kind of started my job hunt uh in 2024 towards the end. So where I was like cold Daminguh a lot of people who are in this industry in India. So that kind of uh worked out for me. So one of the person uh he kind of internally referred to the company which I'm working in right now and that's how I landed up in India in 2025. So where I had to um get all the interview processes done um accept the job offer and also kind of u finalize my relocation there in Sweden. So I kind of completed my three years in Sweden and then I decided to move back in 2025 July. I know this is a a common question for a lot of people who are living abroad. Hey, I wanted to land a job before moving back but sometimes uh you know they're not sure where to start. They try to reach out in the network or they try to apply they might not get the calls. Any tips and tricks uh from what you have gone through what worked for you? uh anything that you would advise for people in that similar situation?
9:28 So I was reached out to by a lot of people when I moved back as well and it's the same tip which I would also like to share uh to fellow NRIs. I think LinkedIn is a good tool I would say. Uh so you can always try to cold uh DM on u LinkedIn like just to explain them hey this is what I'm doing uh this is my field of interest uh this is what I can bring value uh to your organization overall. So I would suggest like you can reach out to the business HRs of your industry and also the hiring uh managers. So I'm pretty sure like majority of those people won't respond. So I would suggest don't get disappointed with that. I had to face the same issue. So nine out of 10 people won't even bother to read your message. That's uh the sad reality. But you need to keep trying. Like that's how I uh tried in my case. uh that's how I landed this current opportunity and also like the other one or two opportunities where I was discussing with with other companies. So this is also like one of the options uh you can try out but also like nowadays like you have Twitter as well. So there are a lot of industry people who are active on Twitter so you could also reach out to them uh on
10:34 Twitter like this is my skills and interest and so on. So I think that could also be one of the options. Good. So let's talk about the planning. I know we kind of touched a little bit on the career side. Uh so once you guys made a decision that uh move back to India in end of 2024 let's talk about maybe on the financial side how did you think through it and uh especially for someone who from a Sweden uh you know anything about the retirement accounts bank accounts and all anything that you can talk I think that would be very helpful. we made the decision like at least mutually internally I would say and then in 2025 uh when I was doing my interview process and so on so when we had the final offer from the Indian company so after that we decided okay like let's try to check what are the uh different checkpoints and that we need to uh take into account let's say before uh leaving Sweden so from financial point of view I would say like I had my bank account kind of open which you can keep so I would suggest like uh In Sweden you have a thing called bank ID.
11:36 So I would suggest like you can uh renew that before you leave and also you can install that bank ID in an alternative phone. So let's say for some kind of reason like the primary phone gets uh damaged or broken. So you can have that bank ID in your alternative phone which you can like um like log into uh like your bank account and also like other apps in Sweden because bank ID is quite important uh especially if you are in Sweden. So that is one thing from financial point of view. Uh I think that is kind of the major uh point uh and also from retirement uh account and all this kind of stuff. I had uh called uh to the agency and so on. So they said you're too early right now to even uh like discuss about this point. So they said uh like when it comes to that age uh you can always try to reach out and so on. So that money will be transferred uh to your whatever Indian account or wherever you are located in the country. So that fund is kept like safe and so on. So you don't have to think about it. So yeah it's just a natural thing like when it comes to your retirement age you can reach out to that uh contact details and you can have your money getting transferred there.
12:46 Got it. Anything else in terms of uh like equity stock side or uh uh you know transferring the money from Sweden any of those uh particular logistics? Yeah. So uh like in my last company where I worked so I had uh like let's say like a lock in bonus let's say of around 4 years. So I worked there for 3 years. So my bonus is kind of like uh locked let's say until 27 where my first installment will be released. So I will have my installments from 27 28 29. So when I checked um with them as well so they said okay you can transfer it either to your Swedish bank account or your Indian bank account. So I've also managed to check that with my Indian bank account. So uh initially when you have your NE account so after your first year you need to uh convert that NE account into resident savings account. So you can manage to transfer majority of the junk uh left in your foreign bank account to your NRE bank account and then for the future uh installments you can transfer it directly to your resident uh account. So that is the communication which I have uh received from a bank relationship manager let's say.
13:53 Yeah. So let's talk about other uh planning from a logistics right. I think you know uh I'm guessing you chose the city based on where you got the offer even though parents or family might be in a different city. Maybe you can explain that situation and yeah sure so luckily for me my Indian company uh gave me a relocation package. So like the flight tickets as well as like additional baggages were covered by my Indian company. So that was really nice of them. So uh and also like yeah I kind of uh finalized all the logistics stuff in Sweden, packed my bags. Uh so my wife left uh like before me and then I finalized all the housing stuff and also all the logistic stuff which I brought with me from Sweden to India. And when I was in Hyderabad where I'm currently located in, my company gave me like a two weeks of short-term accommodation where I could stay like me and my wife could stay and parally I could search for the housing in Hyderabad and so on. So that's how like my company kind of helped in all the relocation stuff.
14:57 Okay, got it. Cool. Um, so it's been about an year. So how is life in uh India? I think uh yeah I kind of I think published my article I think back what was it two months before on LinkedIn just to have my reflections uh the reverse cultural shocks and I think that kind of blew up on LinkedIn because I had almost 90,000 impressions. So I got reached out to by a lot of NRIs outside and also uh people who just recently re relocated back to India. So I think the sentiments kind of remain the same. Um so I think in India the biggest like positives I would say is just to have the proximity to uh our families in Maharashtra and so on. So we could always go there and also like our families could visit uh us in Hyderabad. So that was the biggest positive and also celebrating all the important milestones and festivals. So that was also one of the biggest uh pros in our case. And when it comes to the not so good side of course you have the reverse cultural shocks. uh when I touch upon the work life balance aspect especially
16:01 because you know right like the Nordics in Europe they are amongst the top when it comes to work life balance for example in Sweden like people usually finish their work by Friday 3 p.m. It's they have a thing called Fica where you have like coffee and sweets and just end up uh your week and they don't even touch their phone until Monday morning. That was kind of the trend in uh Sweden. Uh and here I feel like yeah the work life balance is definitely impacted. You're working like from morning uh what is it 9 to5 but then also you have to factor in the traffic conditions uh especially in tier one cities it's getting like worse and worse. Uh also when it comes to Hyderabad as a city so you kind of spend time in traffic so I kind of uh I'm stuck in the traffic for almost 2 hours in a day like 1 hour in the morning 1 hour in the evening. So yeah of course like the work life balance get gets impacted and there are of course different reverse cultural shocks which I faced u which takes a bit of time uh during this transition. uh but I would say after one year you get the hang of it like how Indian work
17:05 culture is and so on when it comes to hierarchy and all this kind of stuff. So I would say yeah it's definitely a lot of reverse cultural shocks. Um but I would say if you're mentally ready uh if in let's say when you're taking that kind of decision in Europe so I would say you are 50% almost there. So if you're mentally ready uh then I think it will be a easier transition for you to move from Europe to India. Got maybe you can give a couple of examples of these cultural shocks that you have encountered right like uh and then like slowly you said you were able to adapt within year like maybe just paint a picture and then people can get a better understanding. Sure. On top of my head I I can say like day one when I joined um so I went to the HR and said like hey where's my work phone said and then she said like oh you don't have any work phone you just have your personal phone and that's it like you use that for your communication even for work. I said, "Oh, okay. All right. Understood." And then uh like when it comes to uh like hierarchy and so on. So I think yeah, it's kind of different to
18:08 how like I was working in Europe where like it's more of kind of like flat hierarchy in Europe. But here like the decision making is kind of centralized in let's say top management. So whatever uh needs to be decided has to come from the top management where I like in Sweden where I was working in a flat hierarchy. I didn't really need to go to the top management every time to make any kind of decisions and all this kind of stuff. So that is also one of the thing and also like third thing what I observed is the communication channel. So in India people rarely use teams as a tool uh to communicate let's say like in India I felt like they prefer to use WhatsApp as mode of communication which is kind of really shocking for me because WhatsApp like we I never touched upon in Sweden. So yeah, I think that is kind of really shocking for me and it it took some time now I'm a bit uh kind of accustomed to using WhatsApp and also like when it comes to addressing people like in Sweden you used to call or let's say in the west let's say like you used to call people by their first names
19:12 so here like when it came to addressing you need to refer like sir ma'am so [gasps] yeah I think that is like kind of also it it takes time it takes some time to get used to that kind of uh Yeah, addressing and so on. So now like my brain is kind of wired so I understand like who needs to be addressed by sir ma'am and who I can address with like first names. So I think those things like come to top of mind when it comes to reverse cultural shocks and also like people like calling after work and like during the weekend as well. So that is also really thing like a big thing which you need to adapt uh when you come to India. Has it ever occurred to you that why did you move to India? Yeah, for sure. when I'm stuck in the traffic jams every day, I get that thought every day like uh yeah, why did I move back to India? So thing is like but then when I think about from an emotional point of view uh at least the biggest advantage is that like our families are quite close. So I could always go there or my wife could always go there uh spend some time with her family or my family celebrate important festivals. So it's kind of tradeoff. So
20:16 which I really I knew I was aware of this when I was making that kind of decision in Europe. So as I told you in in the beginning as well. So uh if you mentally accept these kind of trade-offs you're 50% almost there uh when you're making that move from let's say the west to India. So let's talk about I think on the career side right I mean um because you are in a nonIT um which is not um you know a lot of people uh how are the opportunities uh in the automotive EV industry. You mentioned about its growing field. this is one of the reason why you chose India. So want to understand if that is really true now that you've been living here for an year, what are the opportunities and uh any any input for nonIT folks uh you know thinking about moving to India? So as I said uh like after 2023 in Europe I would say the opportunities seem to be dwindling uh more or less uh because of the economic crisis and so on overall Europe I would say not only in Sweden. So that's why a lot of projects were pushed when it came to EV industry
21:22 let's say uh and also automotive. So uh and when it came to India like a lot of projects were being announced and launched I think since the beginning of let's say 2022 2023 and also as I mentioned from the government side there's a big push towards electrification. So there are like I would say like more projects like on big scale uh manufacturing in different states uh especially like Gujarat uh Telangana, Maharashtra. So there are definitely a lot of opportunities when it comes to EV battery manufacturing and also automotive overall because I feel like uh the automotive uh sector in EV is growing when it comes to two-heer segment, three-wheer segment also four-wheeler. So and you can see a lot of EV vehicles on the road as well when it compared to let's say 2018 2020 where there were only ICE vehicles on the road. So definitely I would say there are a lot of opportunities and also a lot of my colleagues have also moved back uh from Sweden to India. Uh so yeah I would say definitely there are opportunities you just need to check and
22:25 uh reach out to the correct hiring managers uh to get the best out of it. Got it. Are there certain pockets uh that are more um uh established for um these EV uh automotive industry within India? Yeah. Yeah. As I said uh Gujarat, I think there's one uh one big project uh close to Ahmedabad. Then you also have Reliance. Uh so Gujarat is having like almost three to four big like massive scale projects and also when it comes to u Chennai I think there are a couple of companies there also like who are trying to do large scale EV manufacturing projects and also like in my current state Telangana there are like couple of companies here and also when it comes to Maharashtra in Pune it's like a automotive hub so there are also like some local Indian companies who are trying to manufacture battery packs uh or like let's uh automotive components. So yeah, these are the big pockets in India I would say. So if you're thinking of moving
23:25 back to India, you can uh research about these uh cities and the companies around these regions. Got it. Cool. Um I mean I think um we talked about on the career side like on the social life like how are things uh here in India and uh you know how is it going for your wife too like you know that's one of the thing like you know for her to find a job also. Yeah. Yeah. So uh the best thing was when we were planning to move uh so I found a job uh in Sweden and almost at the same time when we came back my wife also found a job in Hyderabad. So for her also like the social conditions were like massively improved when it came to like comparing versus in Sweden. Uh but also like the neighbors like uh like I live like we live in a gated community uh in Hyderabad. So the neighbors are super friendly as well. Like when I compare this to Sweden, I barely even greeted my neighbors. Hi, hello. I didn't even know the names and so on. Like we it's like really cold uh reserved country in Sweden I would say.
24:27 So the social uh elements have definitely improved. uh when we relocated back to India. So in our gated community like they c celebrate like different festivals and all this uh like important Hindu festivals let's say overall. So it's it's kind of it kind of feels like you're in a community like you kind of feel like celebrating together. So that's really really uh helpful uh when it comes to like sense of belonging and so on. Got it. So is there anything um that nobody warned you about returning to India? uh that uh you have to go through. Mhm. I think uh one thing I underestimated the inflation part in India I would say. So thing is like we did our calculation when we were in uh Sweden. So I think that kind of like was just one estimate but then when we eventually landed in Hyderabad especially towards the west Hyderabad part I think I was like kind of shocked by the rental uh uh what is it? Yeah,
25:29 rental uh budgets when it came to gated communities. So, it's like really uh in the higher side like one rental 3 BHK would easily cost you maybe 60K plus maintenance, 70K plus maintenance. So, you need to factor that as well. So I would suggest like keep that uh realistic figures in your mind when you're making that move and also like if possible try to have your uh home close to the workplace where you are. So you kind of like try to save time on the traffic and so on. Got it. Uh looking back is there anything that you would have done differently uh about planning about you know making decisions on the move back? I would say I think it kind of because I'm a I believe in planning perfectly. So I think I would say everything went according to what we planned to be honest. So um as I told you like one big factor was uh my wife's job. Uh so she kind of landed uh quite soon once we
26:35 relocated back to India. So I think from planning point of view I think it went quite according to what we planned in uh Sweden. Got it. Cool. Uh so what would be your advice for people who are thinking about u moving to India? Sure. Um I think when it comes to like my domain let's say EV or let's say automotive domain I would definitely say like there are lot of opportunities coming up uh in India. Uh so if you're thinking from an career point of view uh this is like my personal opinion. I I would say like India currently offers like a better career trajectory or opportunities uh when it comes to automotive and EV domain uh especially when you're comparing Europe uh for example. So uh that is one uh big thing but of course like you need to understand the different trade-offs. Let's say if you really value your work life balance and all this kind of important factors let's say the clean environment and all this uh yeah
27:35 environmental factors. So I would say like think twice uh because I was kind of surprised as well when I moved uh to Hyderabad. So especially around October November the AQI kind of really uh spikes. So you have like around 200 180 AQI in the city. So if you are like um if you have some health issues so I would say like think twice uh about this. Um but of course there are solutions around it. Uh you can always try to have some kind of air purifier installed and all this but it's just a thing that you need to be aware of. So it comes to the different tradeoffs which you need to accept while making that kind of decision moving from the west to India. Okay great. Um is there anything that we haven't covered that you want to bring up? Sure. Uh I think uh like people who want to move especially to Sweden uh I think you need to be aware of uh the demographic change and shift which is happening in uh Sweden as well. So I think if people would follow Sweden they
28:37 took lot of uh migrants uh back in 2015 16. So I think that there has been a huge uh demog demographic shift in Sweden. So with that uh like if you follow the Swedish news there are almost 65 let's say so-called vulnerable zones in Sweden where there are like gang criminal activities and all this kind of stuff taking place. So this is just rising like probably every year. So you need to be aware of all these facts as well. So if you are on Twitter, you can follow Peter Sweden. Uh I think he's a good account and I think he brings up all this kind of facts. So this kind of uh thing like people are not aware like who are living maybe outside of Sweden or Europe. So it's just one thing that you need to be aware of. Uh but apart from that I think uh Sweden is a great place uh to have your um like from an family point of view to have like good stability. So if you really value stability long-term you can yeah you can always go there and also get the
29:43 citizenship uh and passport if you are really into that. Yeah, great. Thanks a lot Rohan uh for taking the time sharing your story uh and uh you know sharing some insights uh through your journey. Really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you Avin. Uh thanks for having me here. So I've seen your videos before I was making this move. So those videos kind of really helped me uh in evaluating our decision. So thanks for having me and I hope uh this video kind of helps your audience as well uh in making this move. It does. Yeah. Thanks again.
Turn what worked for one family into a dated plan across tax, money, documents, and logistics.
