Watch: How I Returned to India After 24 Years in the US

4:11 This thought always in your mind you know even in the after doing the Masters and time fly flew by and then it's 24 years but is there some trigger point that made the decision yeah this is the time that we have to move back yes I think so right before Co I think we were seriously like evaluating coming back to India but then when Co hit I think things collapsed for us we just locked oursel in in a room for two years and lost track of time but at the same time kids were growing up right so I have I have a teenager at 14 and 10 so two kids boys getting into Middle School postco so it was like okay if I don't go now once I get into Middle School completely and get to high school it's can be very difficult for me to make the journey back right it's unfair for the kids too because once you've given them so much out there so we kind of agreed as a family that we'll give it a try for a couple of years in India and see how it goes and then make that final

5:13 Decision of permanently being back in India and there's another driving Factor so my my wife's family Mom and Dad left back in India and they have two kids my wife and her sister and the mother my mother-in-law has a knce challenges and she wanted to get her surgery done so it's not just one KNE it's both the knees at the same time so we wanted to make sure we were here for her give her support rehabit help rehabitat her and get her going so my wife was there for her mom so that was one of the driving reasons and then my in terms of my dad he was flexible he's like wherever you are let me know I can always travel as long as I travel and then I'll settle down with you so he stayed back in the US for another six months to make sure he gave his room to be able to settle down in Hyderabad once he saw that we're settled down he moved back from the US joined us and now every 6 months or so he'll make a visit back to see my sister we're all well well connected so that's pretty

6:14 Helpful so sounds great so sounds like I think it's the age of the kids and you know and the need for some help with the family members back in India I think made the decision to move back so and also I think you mentioned that you moved as an internal transfer with the Comcast is that right it's not a transfer so I got an exception working with them saying because of my family reasons for some time right but eventually the com comp company does not allow internationally work for too long right so when that point of time came in where they wouldn't allow that anymore unless I transfer back to their local office in Chennai which I was not keen on doing because that's in Chennai and Hyderabad it would and I have a lot of things that I wanted to be doing in Hyderabad to help the family restructure their finances and all that stuff so based on that we decided it made sense for me to call it quits but I think if I were to go back I'll definitely look explore Comcast as my first choice because I

7:15 Have I've had a fabulous team and we all as a team we've we great great management as well as my team that that reported to me also was we've been like a family together for 10 plus years so okay that's an amazing yeah so I think now that when you made a decision since because you have lived in us for almost 24 years and it's a big move maybe is there anything that you want to explain or provide some insights in terms of the actual physical move some of the logistics anything that you want to highlight and also anything that you can suggest for the future aspirants maybe from your move like you know are there something that you can suggest to them absolutely I mean I think so the first things first I would encourage enage everybody who's thinking about coming to India to join one of the return to India groups or written abroad groups there a lot of discussion boats out there like join find a community online right with similar mind folks that's super helpful right U second thing is have a hard look at your

8:17 Finances right that's a key thing I think when we originally took a spreadsheet few years ago and said okay what does it cost to live in Hyderabad I think inflation in Hyderabad people say it's about 8% or 9% but I think realistically when you put these maths it's about 25% sometimes so but I I mean I think it all depends on what your expectations in life are right so I was at a point living quite luxuriously in the US so one of my goal was not to overly compromise but still find a middle ground somewhere right so I that that's one of the reason I think it delayed us such a long time 20 plus years trying to build those finances to be able to come and live over here right and the second thing is try to move like I think again I said join the communities first move into a like-minded u I think moving into a like-minded neighborhood is super helpful right so for us we we

9:17 Looked we first looked at an apartment complex in in the downtown area because we liked it but then we said okay then we gave the choice to school kids to school and said where do you want to go to school so we explored all the international schools did a drive for a week in Hyderabad like six months before we actually made the move right so we came down visited all the schools kids didn't really like all the schools there's one school that sort of fell at the borderline and only one kid liked it and we kind of said okay no both kids have to go to the same school so So eventually we narrowed it out as Indus and because Indus is in off the city limits in moila right and my father-in-law my in-laws live in Viner colony which is like in a traffic nightmare Hub just past mam so we wanted to find a middle ground somewhere that's equ distance from the school to as well as where it is so we picked gandipet as an area and started looking for an air place to live and then eventually

10:19 We did some research found a neighborhood which had about 20 to 30% of expats like us because that's helpful because I think when kids come in completely into a new neighborhood with no EXP they'll struggle I mean I even they struggle even now with 20% 30% expats but I think just in their perspective having a very like-minded Community will be helpful it also helps with when you go walk around the community right you meet people similarly who just come back from the US or going to us or have some connections with the US you still feel bounded same thing with goes with my wife too so I think even for her just finding around walking around finding people it's a little easier right complete El because we do have a house in sindabad where I grew up as a kid right and the original plan was to go there but going there that was a classic old neighborhood which is not a which is a very U old community so going there I think kids would have definitely struggled because they would have not find too many people who are who have returned from the US right most of them

11:20 Have sent their kids to the US but their kids have returned and living somewhere else so that's why we wanted to live in a gated community and I think that's one of the first things you should explore as U even though it's temporary the transition during your transition time until you feel super conf comfortable stay in a g community and then try to have relatives close by so you can always lean on them yeah makes sense so when did you actually moved and then when was the decision made so we made a decision let's say in 2022 between Co right and I think I think come January 20 2022 we said we're we're packing up and going and we gave ourselves six months like actually no I mean I think 2021 is is a core decision point I would say we sort of been talking for a while we had we had mixed feelings High emotions in the house running back and forth I mean it's not it's not easy but once you made that decision we sort of decided

12:21 Okay we need to start start cutting back a few things so we put our primary resence on on sale got it slightly and quickly got it renovated and then once that was done we decided just called in the movers and locked in the movers saying this is the date we want to go so so far I've only been in the in India for about 14 months or 15 months roughly so I I we came back last June July time frame and that was a final move for us so okay great and I think you kind of touched about this with the school so just wondering like how the kids has been coping up with the school adjusting you know especially when you mentioned that in the teenagers getting into the middle school and so on so just curious if there's anything that you can share on that aspect I mean it's difficult you can't meet every expectation right I think kids I me I think I've been

13:22 Fortunate that my younger one joined a class with an amazing class teacher so his his first year of Journey was much better so he and he's now in the fifth grade but but the Elder one also the school what they did was they put all the xat kids into a single classroom so it was fun it was a fun ride for them as a kids but I think now with the second year where things are a little more mixed kids are I mean it's I mean they always compare saying it's it's better in the US in terms of Education because that's something that you cannot fully meet their requirements so but we have tried to give them enough Comforts in all the way like even though U we may not have it we ensured that they're they're a little busier with activities in terms of after Sports and playing outside and we've definitely deemphasized a little bit on education we said okay we're not aiming for like a top 1% 2% or 3% but we want to make sure

14:24 That you're self-c competent and then you're able to go forward so we're trying to give them a more holistic approach on education so it's it's it's a journey I would say compared to my first day to now I've achieved 25% of success rate there's still 75% to be done and I think that's going to be a tough Gap to fill got it so maybe in terms of I know you mentioned it's been about 14 to 15 months so how has the life or social life for you for your wife so anything that you can share like you know your expectations before the move and reality that you know the things that you like and things that maybe you know for people to consider before the move so that could help them in the planning purpose so I mean it all depends right so i' I've definitely stayed quite disconnected from Hyderabad like we came in every other year to India right so my footprint in terms of because all my first cousins

15:25 Live in the US U so in terms of that sense we we're slowly trying to find friends I mean I I do have couple a few good friends back from college that are still in Hyderabad and one of them moved back just like me a few years ahead of me so he was an inspiring that was an inspiration for us too so and then I think just finding friends in the neighborhood I found a few friends in the neighborhood same with my wife I think just because most of most of the college Friends by now have all moved out to different countries that everyone's gone somewhere so it's it's I think that the social life is is is is not 100% what we think it would be there are gaps but again then I think we're trying to find friends within the r2i groups now right who like minded people so there's I mean if you look around there's opportunities the goal is you should be looking around right and second thing is time with Hyderabad traffic where people are scattered all all over Hyderabad you would assume that

16:25 You would meet them once a week I think it's just once every three months that you actually people so that's one thing and you get bed down into a lot of micromanagement of labor in Hyderabad that just takes away half your day be the maids be the drivers be it the your deliv guy be the swiy guy Amazon guy like all of these the the bar level of expectation in the US versus the bar level of expectation it's a lot of convenient you do a lot of ordering and stuff but you have to manage that process it's not like a smooth process that takes up a lot of your time so I think that's something expectations need to be reset right I think people value for time is very limited people like just like I I I think I'm part of the problem too because sometimes I blow off things but I think in general I've seen that people don't understand the sense of urgency over here in Hyderabad you tell them I need it by tomorrow and you think

17:26 It'll be done and you go to tomorrow he's like oh no I it's not done yet so you have to get used to that right you you should start buffering some time around that if you're not able to get if you if you can't manage that process or you're not able to get getting used to that sort of culture then it's going to be very frustrating and I think you'll explore packing your bags pretty quickly and that's that's one thing I think needs to change overall but overall I think we have a lot of facilities in Hyderabad that are coming up and I think it's a very it's a very growing City so there's a lot of opportunities to be made both socially as well as investment wise or in terms of what you can do to improve the process too so we just need to find a lot more people who are who are in the same boat and kind of do something different about it so cool I know I things you know which which is not like the nice right I mean know which are the things that you have to work through these are the things that you know part of

18:28 The reality is there anything that you enjoyed or like anything that went really well than your expectations you know before the move you know you had certain expectations yes I think so I mean I think just living so I had some I I had a very lot of apprehensions of living in a gated community right so I think living the the housing situation right my neighbors my community friends like I think once you pick the right Community I think things will fall in place quickly and I think that takes up half your burden so I'm very happy that where I live in the community where I live amazing people right and every every person isn't brings the shares their own experience with you so you do a lot of learning so in the last 18 12 months plus I've already learned a lot of things right and people are very helpful you just need to ask like be a friend saying hey I'm stuck over here I need help people will come and help you right that's one that's one thing is great

19:30 About Hyderabad right even though I complain about slow processes but if you seek out for assistance a lot of people will reach out to you saying how can I help you got it that's one thing and then in terms of like the service I complained about service levels you have to manage the service levels and stuff but there's a lot of convenience in food delivery man that's amazing you the environment is great I mean think this is like we we have very opens of about school environment right the school I think the teachers in the international school they have slowly leveled up I mean then like they're getting trained they're getting the lot of training I mean there's a lot of new Talent being recruited by the schools I've seen in the past 12 months so there's a there's a shift in in in the city to make things better right I think that's what I feel that's made me very comfortable even though it's it's not really tangible like saying okay this one thing made you better but I think the holistic effort of a lot of people doing things to make things better I feel is is making my life easy yeah got it I

20:34 Think Switching gears a little bit I think you kind of touched about this a little bit maybe you know making sure that you have U you know looked into your financials and making sure everything is good before the move right I don't know from your perspective if there's anything that you want to touch base on that or give some insights for people who are considering to the move like how how they should approach it for example so anything that you can share that would be great sure again going back to your other questions around the finances right keep money for two years right understand your expenses what you need for 24 months right if you if you have done investments in Hyderabad understand how liquid they are if you need cash if you have not done any Investments try to have you don't really need to buy a house that's that's up to everybody's choice but have enough finances that you will you'll cover all your basic facilities your travel your pleasure trips your housing needs your car needs server needs main needs

21:36 And add like think about all the extremes that you will go to to do in US account for two years worth of money on that yeah so and then make that decision right if you don't have two minutes worth because things are expensive I mean you could you could get hit pretty hard I know if you go to a smaller town right and my and I'm very focused in Hyderabad so cost of living is high in Hyderabad again it depends on where you live in Hyderabad right you could live in the older part of city where the rents are like 10 15,000 or you can live in the western part of the city where the rents start from around 75,000 up north right again it's up to you what you want to spend but whatever you want to spend do a research saying what does it cost where do I want to live and then compute them finances and say okay do I have enough for 24 months right even though you may think you're doing a lateral transfer and you're going to come down and work right situations can champ if the recession hits the first thing that happens is all the people who have transferred might get chopped right depends on

22:36 Organization to organization so you have to be ready for at least some time to give you some stability right and cost of Education in India is expensive again if you again it's only expensive for expats who are trying to move back because they want to give similar education lifestyle so International School prices every year are going up by 10% so if you've done your finances two years ago redo them now understand where the current pricing is so having that amount is good and if youve done Investments yeah completely Echo that I think India is one place where you can see such a wide range of Lifestyles that you can live right I mean I think as you said even in a big Metro like in Hyderabad you can find a place where it's like 10,000 versus like one or two lakhs per month and the same food you know you can get on one end while also on the other end of the spectrum also so depending on the lifestyle that you want to choose make sure about your cost of living and ensure that your finances is sorted out before the move and keep in mind the cost of living

23:38 Inflation is much much higher and different you know please check and look into that you know things are not same as it was two years back so definitely do a reality check on that especially you know before the move so J is there anything that we haven't touched that you wanted to convey to the audience who are aspiring to move to India so let's I mean I think there two first thing is you need to answer the why question why do I want to move to India right if you're on the fence right it's nice to move to India because I have family that is great but you need to have a clear reason saying because sometimes once you I have a lot of friends who moved and moved back to us right they had similar reasons like me but then you should have the clear why defined saying if I'm going to India right do I understand what the impact is right maybe you're about to get promoted

24:39 In the current job in the US right and if you go back to India you're going to lose that are you okay to lose that right you should never regret saying I came back to India and I lost my opportunities right so I think the why component what whether it's financial reasons or whether it's personal medical reasons or whether it's family reasons the why part needs to be clearly defined right and the second thing is you should be able to adapt right and know coming to India for six weeks during vacation time is much different than coming to India and living for 12 months like in six usually what happens is when you come down for six weeks everybody around you will take time for you they'll come and visit you they'll take you out for dinners so life is very cruising every six weeks so even though I came I I've have come in for so many years right now once you tell people that you're here for 12 months or more right they're like okay I'll meet you next year whenever I have time and you have time right so things like that you have to get used to it right people people time accommodation for you is diluted drastically as soon as they know you're

25:41 Not you're here for a long period of time that's one thing and then in terms of medical facilities you need to you need to kind of under set your expectations clearly right because the culture is much different you have medical insurances even though you have insurances in Hyderabad the volume of patients that you find in a clinic is 20x so like in the US if you go to a hospital you might be in and out in a couple of hours right if it's a busy hospital if you go to your doctors you'll be out in 30 minutes where else we here you will go in and you never know when you come out right it could be like six hours eight hours or 30 minutes right so that's something you have to account for and second thing is you would not find the answers that you're looking for in your first try so there's no holistic medicine there's no general practitioner who will work with you and say okay let's do a physical let me review it over here even though you get a physical in a big hospital like AIG they'll send you to 20 different doctors and every doctor will deal with

26:42 A specific problem like cardiac and liver like again so you'll have to manage that whole process so you should I mean so that's one challenge but I think it's getting better though I think the insurance policy defines a lot of U frequent health checks now so I think a lot of hospitals are recrating their processes and packages more friendlier towards people but it'll take time but I think so you need to kind of factor that in because I think we struggle to find a doctors I think even today you ask me can you give give me a referal I'll struggle to give you any referral because I'm still looking for that nice doctor that I can reach out on the phone and say hey I got a problem can you help you so yeah it just takes time to settle and especially when you lived in a different country for 24 years years and then you are starting almost fresh right I mean I think it just takes time to create your own U you know your accountant CPAs your doctors you know all these aspects it just takes time to settle in yeah cool jashan so thank

27:45 You very much for taking the time and sharing your insights especially your journey and you know how the things have been here since you moved and how the kids has been adjusting so really appre appreciate you taking the time and talking to us today oh thanks a you you're doing a great Fabulous by recording these videos and sharing them online to your subscribers I think one shout out is to the whole family right I think the journey is not a single person journey is a family so I think if my family didn't support us right I think it's a collective decision but everybody's a stakeholder in that decision I think I know kids kids have a say in it too but I think you got to get more credit to the wife to be able to adapt because it's difficult for them perspective too so I would give a shout out to my whole family for moving along to India with us so yeah completely agree it's not it's a mutual decision and everybody has to be on the same page yeah great thank you very much and have a great day you to take

28:49 Care thank you all for joining us on this insightful journey of Dy return if you enjoyed this episode and want to explore for more stories and expert advice make sure to subscribe and hit the notification Bell don't forget to leave a comment below with your thoughts and experiences by the way check out the links in the description below for our Facebook group and social media for updates and engaging discussions as well as connecting with fellow Thea wrers thank you once again and until next time may your Des written journey be filled with joy growth and endless possibilities