Watch: 9 Years in India Taught This American the Biggest Advantages of Living Here

3:13 The concept of social enterprise or social entrepreneurship using business as a as a means to address social and environmental problem problems at a large scale. And through study of that and just getting involved with it as a college student, I started getting exposed to India and and hearing about on the one hand the huge market and need that is here and then on the other hand the really incredible success stories of businesses, organizations that were building at a large scale to serve the needs of the masses and also doing so with homegrown technology. And that that was very inspiring and and fascinating to me even 15 years ago as a as a college student. And I just sort of

4:16 Knew at that point I eventually want to come to India and work here in some capacity. I never, you know, necessarily thought that I would end up spending nine years here and getting married to an Indian, but I I had a curiosity and I saw or you know I I was bought into the India growth story long long back. Got it. So sounds like this curiosity that led you to explore India. So did

4:48 You visit India or did you move to India directly after the college or did you travel some other parts of the world and then like what brought you to India? I know you have this idea but like what made that decision like strong or made the you know take for you to take an action? I I graduated college and I started a social enterprise in Brazil. Got it. And I was in Brazil for total of maybe two years. And I I had started a very unconventional travel business in Brazil, bringing mostly foreigners into homeays in informal communities called favllas which have a really negative reputation for crime, poverty, drug trafficking, and they in many ways don't get recognized for all of the incredible cultural aspects, community aspects that they have. So I through a long journey

5:50 Ended up going to those places and then feeling inspired to start a business that would bring others into FLLA family's homes and at the same time generate income for families who are opening up their homes. Yeah. And I ended up running that in 2013 2014 and I received a lot of I had a lot of customers who were traveling throughout Brazil, Latin America, the world and I got jealous of them. I I wanted to wake up and have every day be new and exciting. And yes, I was I was living in Rio de Janeiro, which is an incredible place that not many not many Indians visit, one of the few quarters of the world that not many Indians go to. But I wanted to have this newness every day. So I ended up

6:50 Taking a backpack and traveling to 17 countries in Asia over 15 months. with one country it's like many countries in one so I needed to spend more time there I ended up in India at the end thinking that I would also start a business here and I I met with different entrepreneurs did field visits got very inspired but realized as as now is the saying on social media India is not for beginners. Yeah. so I didn't speak any Indian languages. I didn't understand Indian culture. I didn't have a network here. So I realized that it was too soon for me to start a business.

7:41 And around the same time I got introduced to a interesting Indian company founded by an ABCD returnee, a Stanford PhD raised in California who shifted back to you know his family's native state of Gujarat and started a a business there and I ended up working there for 5 years. Got it.

8:11 So sounds like I think you know you explored the entrepreneur I think you know you realized immediately that it's not for the beginners and went into the this role and so how was the life I mean initially the plan was to explore work for some time and like it's been 9 years so how is the life in India? so life now in India is very different for me because I I when I first came I stayed in Mumbai and I was I was a bachelor and I really enjoyed the chaos of Mumbai. I kind of at that point in my life sought out chaos and it was it was fun and exciting and entertaining and just like an all sensory overload for anyone who's ever been been to Mumbai or stayed in Mumbai now life is different. I wanted to escape the chaos, especially postcoid when there ended up being so much construction, traffic, pollution in

9:13 The city and I had quit my job and had really no reason to be there. other than the fact that my wife's family was staying there and now we shifted about a year ago to Goa and life in Goa is incredible like I wish I had I wish I had come to Goa far sooner because it has a lot of the pros of India in terms of the like community aspect fascinating culture tradition history. but without a lot of the negatives of cities and particularly metros of overcrowding, pollution, chaos, trash, higher expenses especially talking about Mumbai. so life here is is

10:13 Awesome. I couldn't imagine staying anywhere else in India. brought it and

10:18 Like how did you pick up Goa? like you know when you're planning to move out of Mumbai just curious like how did you end up there versus any other remote place or Yeah. So we actually didn't come to Goa first. my wife was very keen on shifting to Rishies. So actually our our first trip together was to Rishiesh as a couple in 2020 when in India there were different COVID restrictions different co travel restrictions in different states and Utraan was open trip together which was very memorable. So my wife is also a ex lawyer turned yoga teacher and I think she was drawn by that aspect as well. Got it. Of of Rishies. So we first escaped Mumbai and shifted to Rishies and we were there for eight months and for the first

11:19 Couple months we we loved it. we were not staying in the main touristy area of Rishies. We're staying maybe like 100 meters from Gangaji and in a like semi-ural kind of half village setting and we we were just very happy to be there but then after a couple of months we realized that like no the people here are either pilgrims who are coming for a short time or you get a good amount of party crowd too from like Delhi, UP, Punjab who are coming, they'll rent an Airbnb and go crazy for the weekend or you have like the Gora spiritual seeker hippie crowd and we just did not connect with any of those groups. Yeah. So, we didn't like that.

12:13 And then, you know, there's winters are somewhat cold, albeit not freezing, but there's no heating inside of the homes there. So, we really struggled with that. And after eight months in Rishiesh we left and we came to Goa. Goa was a place that we always loved coming to Goa and I think it's quite common for someone to visit Goa and be like wouldn't it be just awesome if I could live here? Yeah. And you know around when CO had started like I started already thinking that and I was on websites like Magic Bricks 99 acres looking at rental prices and not actually contacting anyone but more like fantasizing and talking to my now wife then girlfriend like you know wouldn't it be cool to to do this and she just she was not interested at all. and then when it came time for us to to

13:15 Leave Mumbai, we we went to Rishih instead. But you know the entire time I I had wished that we had gone to Goa but now we're here. We've been here for a year and it's awesome. Yeah. Thanks for sharing those journey like how the decisions were made. just curious I

13:31 Think in terms of your professional careers like you and your wife you mentioned about you know she was like a lawyer and then now it's a yoga. So is there some flexibility from your professions that you can be at any place and that Yeah, 100%. So that makes that makes it easier. we have no real my business is well my team is Indian. Our market is the US primarily. So I can I can be anywhere. There's no real need to meet up physically with anyone because my team's fully remote. Yeah. it's not like we have an office and my wife primarily teaches yoga online also to mostly US-based students. She does some in-person workshops and retreats in Goa and other parts of India and also in the US but most of her work is online both with individuals and with corporates. and she's somewhat of like a wellness influencer. So she she creates content for brands. so we can pretty

14:34 Much be anywhere there's good inter internet and we for many reasons choose to stay and go now and we're very happy here. Makes sense. So let's talk a

14:46 Little bit. I know you had a recent post about the cost of living in US versus some other countries. So if there's anything that you can share from your experience living in India for 9 years and you have grown up in US you know in terms of the cost of living in terms of maybe the things and then anything on a quality of life. So if you can touch on that I think that would be great like you know from your own experience. Yeah I mean it's obviously way cheaper to live in India than it is pretty much anywhere in the US. maybe the one exception would be certain neighborhoods in Mumbai or Bangalore in terms of rent and I've paid those relatively high rents before in Mumbai. but like I can you know talk real numbers in terms of what we spend in in Goa now like our rent is 55,000 rupees a month. Yeah. for a fully furnished twobedroom flat in a very nice green

15:49 Compound with a pool, a gym, game room. We live alongside a a river and there's a nice like trail out into some salt farms and other farms and it's it's very calm, tranquil and but at the same time like we still get Swiggy Instamart, we still get Blanket. So, it's it's a great mix of of both you know creature comforts, first world amenities and like a feeling of being a little bit closer to nature. Yeah. So, you know that's that's what we spend on rent. Otherwise, you know, we have a relatively you know lower cost lifestyle. because we don't really have to commute anywhere for work. We're mostly at home. OB like you know we we go out and go to the beach. We get into

16:50 Nature, go to cafes, things like that. but outside of rent, maybe like we spend on on groceries and we get some like very fancy groceries, like exotic items on Amazon and through like local delivery services and that ends up probably being 25,000 rupees a month for just me and my wife. and then we have someone who cleans and chops vegetables and fruits, maybe boils some doll or something like that, but doesn't actually cook. who's we're now going to be paying 7,500 a month for, and she comes six days a week. And you know outside of that utilities maybe electricity, internet 5,000 rupees a month.

17:52 Petrol, gas is maybe 4,000 because we don't travel that much. Yeah. So cost of living is far lower here than almost anywhere in the US. It's definitely lower than Mumbai. Like the same kind of like flat space. there's nothing this green or clean in Mumbai, but maybe similar space and amenities would be at least double the price if we were to stay in a neighborhood like Bandra or K where I was living before. and yeah, life is just overall a lot easier because we don't think about really cleaning doing so many household chores or having to commute. So earn in dollars. Yeah. So that's kind of the ideal scenario and one that especially if you're shifting from the US and you have your network and relationships and

18:53 Career there if you can transition into being fully remote maybe if you're not earning the same salary but earning like half your salary maybe not even working full-time but working online and and serving a company or clients in the US then that's that's a great move. Yeah. from a financial independence perspective. For sure. So, thanks a lot

19:18 For sharing the actual numbers, the details. I think that's very very very helpful. so it's been 9 years that you've been living in India, right? From your perspective, what are the pros and cons like from your own experience living in India? The top three and top three pros and cons. Yeah, I'd say, you know, I will speak more also to you who your audience is. I think you know I have some things in common and some things not in common with them but like the family connection I think is is really critical. I think a lot of people have parents or elderly relatives or other other generations of family in in India and you feel very disconnected from them when you're when you're away. and as much as you integrate into the US or whatever other count's culture and lifestyle, you still miss that element.

20:14 And you know, me not being from that, I still appreciate it because in the US, mostly we have far less close, more fractured families. People tend to live apart from each other and relationships are not as warm or tight or inter interdependent. There are pros and cons to that, but I definitely appreciate the the closeness of of family ties and affection and love that you get either, you know, it comes in the form of Gahana or my mother-in-law every time she goes to a store buying me some new korta, some wedding attire to attend some family wedding. And that's not something that you get in the US. I mean, maybe there are some subcultures of the US where that exists, but for the most part, especially with just like white people who've been in the US for so many generations, we don't have that.

21:12 Yeah. Right. so that's that's one. The other is just like the vibrance of the culture, whether it's the fascinating festivals, the food, the traditions. that's always very interesting and you feel very connected to a history a lineage of of you know many generations that preceded you and that's that's very special. Otherwise, you know, practically there are some huge conveniences of, you know, not having to cook, clean, being able to use like quick commerce apps like Blinket, Zeppto, Instamart, even in places like Goa where you not where you might not think they exist, but they now exist in a lot of even like tier 2, tier three cities, I think. and that just that just saves

22:15 So much time and stress that you would face in a western country where those things would be you know incredibly expensive or inaccessible. Yeah. I I appreciate all those things and you know together just cost of living which we just mentioned and especially being an entrepreneur starting a new business having the say margin of error or a lower cost lifestyle just makes things way way less stressful for running a business. You just have lower lower burn. Yes. as we say in startups and that that makes things a lot better. You know, I could I could talk about from a professional perspective having worked in India for Indian companies, having started a business in India, serving the Indian market. there are like you know the Indian growth story that you read about especially

23:17 With startups tech and even boring businesses traditional businesses there's just so much potential here and to the extent that the average Indian is is actually benefiting and improving their quality of life is yet to be seen but for someone especially coming from the west with education, career, network, etc. There's huge opportunity if you want to start up or work in startups. you know, I'm not saying that you're you're going to earn the same salary that you would in the US, but the upside I think is huge. So those are those are all things that I've appreciated about India. in terms of things that are difficult there power cuts, internet cuts, the roads in Goa, but also I'm sure lots of other parts of India, Mumbai in

24:17 Particular, are often in a really sorry state, a dangerous state. And that can just make day-to-day life difficult, frustrating, slow, especially if you're just used to things working like in the US or Europe and you don't have patience or you have an unrealistic expectation for how your day-to-day is going to run, then that'll make India difficult for you. other otherwise you know the trash and pollution is a very genuine problem gets talked about a lot on social media.

25:03 It's unfortunately pretty present throughout the entire country. even in Goa there's places where there's a lot of trash and it's really sad to see. It bothers me a lot, especially, you know, coming from you know, a culture where we shame people who litter in public and find them. so that's that's just kind of sad to see. And then from a health perspective, as we know, a AQI air quality, especially in metros, can be really terrible. that's one of the bigger benefits of being in Goa is that air quality here is pretty good by Indian standards. Maybe by global standards it's average to slightly below average but if I check my AQI for where I live on a daily basis

26:04 It's it's in the 50 to 100 range. Rarely rarely does it go above 100. And so that being said there are parts of India where you don't face that as much. The trash problem I've seen pretty much everywhere though, you know, there are places that claim to have the claim to be much cleaner. I think like indoor some and MP they claim to be very clean cities. I've never visited but or or partially escape some of these problems. So you know those are those are gener genuine challenges. And then from a from a working perspective if you work in an Indian company or serve Indian clients it's a night and day difference culturally. So like there's first of all organizations working culture is very hierarchical.

27:00 Yeah. There it's very much orders being passed down a chain of command and people more or less blindly executing on those orders. not not really thinking holistically about their roles, their team, the company, the client organization and that can be very frustrating and it's hard to find like free freethinking critical thinking analytical minds. They definitely do exist. There are some very elite corners of like you know the Indian corporate and startup world where those people absolutely exist. But you know maybe it's the colonial influence but otherwise you know education system focusing on rope memorization clearing exam after exam after exam versus creative thinking and ownership initiative that can be very frustrating.

27:58 So if you if you come with your US difficult for you. Yeah. No thanks a lot

28:12 For such a detailed answer and sharing that insights. I think completely agree with a lot of things that you said and really appeal. So is there any topic that we haven't covered that you want to bring up and you know share with our audience that could help them who are thinking about moving to India? you know to the extent that you can trial it in a lowrisk way I highly recommend that as opposed to just like diving in like completely cutting off all ties. from whatever country you're in that like logistically it can be painful. I'm sure things have improved substantially in the nine years since I first arrived. But when I first came, you know, I it was my first time in India and I had an entire like litany of of

29:12 Bureaucratic processes to go through just to like exist in this country. So like first of all I needed to get a leave in license agreement. Finding a flat in Mumbai is like finding a flat in New York. It's very landlords. That makes it difficult if you're a bachelor or a single woman or anything that doesn't tick the boxes of very conservative antiquated discriminatory landlord minds. so first just getting a flat then getting a PAN card to be able to pay your taxes then getting an Aadhaar card then opening a bank account. so it actually took me seven months before I could receive a single salary payment from my company. They were acrewing my salary but not able to pay me because I didn't have all those things. Wow. And I imagine that especially if you're someone like who

30:13 Left India or was not who left India at an early age or was not born here then you're going to have to go through that those bureaucratic processes and it can be very frustrating and make like the initial few months quite difficult. Yeah. so just come with that expectation or have great consultants or family members who can help you get stuff done. Yeah. Yeah. I completely agree. I mean I mean if you can definitely do a trial I think

30:41 That's the best part so that you can experience living in India not like visiting and then make that can make you like a strong decision. Maybe a couple of quick questions. So this is more like a rapid kind of questions. So what's one surprise thing that you have noticed in India like from you know this is not something that you expected and that's very surprising to you. I mean it sort of came up in the time that I was here, but UPI is like a masterpiece. It's a beautiful tech system infrastructure. It makes life incredibly simple. The economy, the day-to-day economy runs on it and it's like best-in-class. It beats anything that we have in the US in terms of how universal it is in terms of the the fact that it's instant. There's no intermediary wallet like a Venmo that we have in the US and you can like pay for like almost anything day-to-day with UPI

31:43 It's safe reliable and you know if you come to India with this expectation that India is behind the west I think you'll be ways it's leapfrogged on certain technologies And you know that's makes life a convenience and you know gives us a a foresight into the superpower that India can become. Yeah. And what's your favorite place in India to visit? To visit as a tourist in Rajasthan. Rajasthan. Yeah. just nothing beats like the the histories and romance of places like Ulleur, Jaipur, etc. highly recom for foreigners. That's like number one on my list. Got it. Great. So, thank you very much, Elliot, for taking the time and sharing your real data,

32:46 Right? I mean, your insights, your experiences, a lot of valuable information for people who are considering to move to India. really, really appreciate you taking the time and talking to us today. Cool. Thanks for having me. I hope it's helpful for your audience. Yes, for sure. Thanks,