Watch: Mom with 2 Kids Returns to India After 6 Years in US: Entrepreneur Journey to Pune

4:10 Because what I wanted I wanted to be with him and I got the space there I want I was I was at home and I was looking after him it felt really good for two three months but after two three months I realized oh my God what am I doing like I'm just I'm just taking care of the kid nothing else so that struck me I know that's not a very good good thing to say because most of the moms do that and that's a wonderful thing to do but for me like it's a very personal opinion I feel that if I've got the capacity if if I I can be productive or financially like contributing to the household finances why not so for next like I used to take care of the sun I I I used to be good like everything but that extra energy that was not channelizing so I I had that initial years in the US like one or two years I was little lonely and I feel anybody who's shifting there would feel that because the kind of Lifestyle we live in India is very different from what we live in US Summers were good because we

5:11 Shifted in summertime it was good for first three four months but at the onset of winters I we went the we went New Jersey so it has like real harsh Winters and we are literally house arrested so I I still remember my first Winters in us oh my God it was terrible I was like I'm I'm my husband used to come from I like I'm suffocating I want to go out I want to go out and literally I used to like wear my jacket and and like bundle up and I used to go out irrespective weather like I remember even like walking at minus 20 degrees Celsius outside yeah so it was like so the first few months were quite lonely as I told you and inventors I I used to feel that need to get some fresh air always so and of of course the thought of not doing anything apart from the household work or taking off the baby all was always there but but still slowly and gradually but somehow I started enjoying my life there like from the next Summers you can say

6:13 Next summer we started going out we started going on road trips and we really really enjoyed and my and it was like and first two years we actually visited India two times because it was my sister's wedding and my sister-in-law's wedding like six months apart so we were very frequent to India so till the first years went by and then then after that as my son grew he became two years three years we noticed that my son had a speech delay like since till three years also he was not speaking okay so we were very worried and now since I I my energy was not channelizing my my thoughts were all diverted to him my why is my kid not speaking so all my energy everything went into it and we got him into early intervention he got therapy and everything and by by the age of three and a half or almost four he started speaking so we like relieved at least everything is okay we even evaluated for for if he's on the Spectrum but thankfully everything was fine he was good it's just that he he Blossom

7:14 Very late yeah so a lot of people back in India they told us oh because you in us because there's nobody to interact because there's no family that's why your kid has had a delayed speech but I I I I somehow didn't believe those things because of course you have people around that's a IST to make your kids speak but that cannot be the only reason that your son is speech delayed there has to be some other biological reason too yeah so yeah so all my since then then we got him into enroll into preschool and slowly and gradually I started interacting with mothers of preschool teachers of preschool and even his therapists were there I used to interact them with them a lot and then when he was three years Co covid struck all around the world yeah so everybody was house arrested and all that and we were really worried about our parents back here because they were all alone my my parents like they have my brother living with them so I was a little relieved on that front but my husband's my husband is the only son he and a sister so since that time everybody

8:15 Was all aloof and his parents are old and they were there and we were really worried for them like we used to call them literally three to four times a day to just ask them are you guys okay are you guys okay even a little sneeze if they sneeze we like oh my God what's happening so actually that was the time when we realized that we how much ever we enjoying our lives there but somehow everybody I think every Indian Indian who's living abroad they have this thought at the back of the Mind what if something happens to a parents there what if something wrong happens right that that that thought is always lingering somewhere in the background yeah so how much ever we enjoy and Frankly Speaking after after a year or so I started my I started enoy enjoying my life in us and I literally Started Loving It the kind of independent it gave me the kind of infrastructure the beauty and everything I started loving it and even even my son's school teachers therapist they were so good so generous so kind so I like oh my god do we find such setup in India so somehow I

9:17 Started comparing and somehow like no no no this is a Wonder Place wonderful place to be yeah so but still that thought was there of parents that they're growing old we have to be back so then what happens in us if you if you spend like more than two three years it's like a magnet you don't want to leave that place and that happened to us that no like it's so good here why do we leave and then at that time after they they started buying properties of their own they started moving into the independent houses yeah so and we were stuck we couldn't buy a house we couldn't go back to India we were like sitting on the fence what do we and literally two years we spent sitting on the fence that do we have to go or do we have to stay but I don't know somehow that thought was so triggering that a andone there what do we do with something happen that was so triggering and so pulling us here so we like no we have to take a call and then I think

10:17 2022 yeah my my younger one yeah I got pregnant after Co like in 2021 and my younger was born in 2022 so we had made up our mind after Co in 2021 that we would Mo move back to India that it so we meally made up that after Co one it passes we are going to be there for our parents but then I conceived and in 2022 July 4th my younger one was born that's a like American independence day wow he's supposed to be here then our friends were like no no no no you guys are supposed to be here since your younger one has Bor born on the Independence Day of America you guys are supposed to be here so we like whatever now he's born now our next Target is is to like find a job in India and get settled and get get things moving yeah so and and you know what the biggest practical challenge in moving back to India most of the people face because since I have an insta page and a lot of people send me their queries about how how do we like how did you manage your finances that's a very big question

11:18 And that's a like you can say literally that is the reason why people avoid shifting here because they feel that they cannot match the lifestyle there to the lifestyle in India right so so it's like and and and I think it's it's it's true like the kind of salary you earn there that you you cannot match it in India so somehow we were very mentally prepared with the idea that we would have to compromise somewhere on the salary part but my husband were trying to like trying to get calls for the interview and all but six months I think we tried but still he was not getting a job somehow this is there that if you in US you and you're trying to find a job in India it's very difficult to get calls like no I would be calling you if you like if you even shortlisted like out of five only one one you will go through the interview part so somehow those things are there those are practical hitches then we were like what to do we cannot

12:18 Go jobless then even at one point of time we thought okay let's leave all this we'll start from scratch we'll go there jobless and we'll see what will happen even that thought cross the mind we have to go what to do yeah but obviously that is not a very wise thing to do so then I then somehow you know it says that whatever you wish very ardently like whole world and whole universe comes to make it true that happened with us actually that that happened with us so my husband internally he got a shift like in the company so he he took it up and then we started and then everything like we decided on a date that this is the time we'll be moving and even the location we chose like they gave us an option since we are from we hail from basically from Northern India so we had an option to go to North North India or we had an option to come to whichever city of our choice so Pune was by choice it was not by chance yeah like we had

13:19 Been in Mumbai as I told you initially yeah so we we always like the work culture of Maharashtra so we since we did not want to be in the hustle bule of Metro like Mumbai so we thought what better than Pune yeah it's like a perfect combination of a big town and a small town the Comforts of the small town and luxuries of a big town yeah so that that's how we decided on Pune we decided a date we booked our tickets and then we packed the entire life of six years in like eight suitcases and we just left the place of our Dream oh my God I still I still miss us I know there a lot of people who curse me for that but I'm I'm not shy to say that that I don't miss us I miss us in a lot of respect yeah and but having said that I miss us that doesn't mean I don't like India yeah India is my birth place I've been here for 30 years of my life so I love my country equally not equally more than being there but there are certain things which are factful which will remain a fact but that's okay all the countries are different all like

14:21 Every the lifestyle is different economies are different everything is different and both have their own set of set of Duties so I think it's all depend on personal choices and priorities basically so our priority towards our family basically my husband my in-laws bought us back to India and yeah and one more very big reason which I did not mention about my son my both the sons since my older one he he had so much therapies and everything and so he he started speaking very late as I mentioned so he somehow skipped on the Hindi part okay he he he he couldn't catch up on Hindi so you won't believe even today it's been eight months we in India he cannot speak Hindi he's just on English and he has a total American accent people are mesmerized when they hear that accent of him but still he's not able to catch on Hindi we talk to him in Hindi we would love him to learn our mother tongue but still somehow he's lagging behind in that but I I feel

15:21 That's fine that boy has been literally so brave and he has transitioned so smoothly so we were really worried about his academics we were really pressurized about his schooling that because in India of course the academics are a little on the aggressive side yeah as as compared to us right so we always had it in mind that we are never going to put him in ic or cbsc because since he he had already done his prek through grade one in us so we thought it would be difficult for him to cope up Suddenly in a cbsc or icsc structure so we chose International SCH vard for him to be very specific we chose Cambridge board for him and touch board by God's grace it's working really well for him cool I know there's a lot of information just to quickly summarize some of the things there it was the parents the in-laws I think that brought you back you know the primary reason and I think that one of the thing that you mentioned about you know career transition or the planning you know

16:22 Practical limitations in terms of someone applying from us you know the Employers in India are not considering them very seriously the one thing that I have heard from multiple people you know having an Indian phone number could help but definitely once you move back to India there's a lot of demand for the people who have experience in us or abroad opportun suddenly they crop up that's what we heard and that's what I I I told you there was a point we thought we'll go jobless to India that was the reason because many people told us the moment you land in India you'll get a lot of opportunities so you like okay let's try that out yeah and then I think people take a little bit more serious right because other people might be just shopping around or how how serious they are and then I think in terms of you know the some of the logistics that you mentioned about like packing you know six years of you know the stuff in eight eight suitcases and moving back and you know having the kids settling in the school right I think there lot of things so just to you know wrap up or like you know maybe underscore some of these things I know you have a younger one how difficult was

17:23 It to you know plan all this Logistics of the move you know selling things you know getting everything ready and moving any any advice or anything that you wanted to provide to the audience in terms of that practical like move in terms of the logistics of the move okay now since back we were shifting there like shifting from there that time a lot of people told us why don't you take electronics from here like obviously we upgraded iPhones but still they were like take take a TV take some Electronics like all those things so we were like no because since we did not have a house here of our own so we thought it pointless to take all these stuff because we do not have a space to keep them how why do we take them so we did not consider doing that but now coming so far eight months in India I feel it could be a wise decision to get Electronics like supposing just I just just for example in us we had a 75 Ines

18:26 Big TV and which which costed a as peanuts in Black Friday sale like literally $200 $300 now in India like since we building a house the Interiors are going on we very soon shifting there we just very recently we went for electronic shopping and the same kind of TV like not not 75 65 in TV will cost you around 1.5 lakhs in India so so it's like the cost is too much cost is humongous so even after your custom duty even after clearances and all the cost shipping cost everything you're your TV would be really really like very cheap and and a bigger one you can get from us yeah so that that is one thing and we did not go for anything lot of people get the stuff from cargo from ships that is the most economical way of getting stuff like lot of people get furniture and I feel it's a beautiful thought to get furniture and toys of kids because the quality of toys differs a lot in India and us the kind of toys you get in us are nowhere to be found in India like one of our friends that

19:27 Shifted from us they literally got like cardboard slides and the things we cannot imagine that they get in India I like oh you got all the stuff from America they they said yes I said yeah you you guys are very wise we were not that wise we just got got all our like clothes and everything so that is the thing plus yeah I would advise people to get a lot of branded stuff from us like get grab some Michael coags Coach bags because here they are super expensive that day I wanted to give my sister-in-law a Coach bag but it was super expensive I couldn't do and that same bag I remember I saw in us it was like in in sale I were getting for $100 $120 yeah so so it's like these things small small things are there which I've learned from experience that yes if you have the bandwidth time and energy to to plan all this definitely do that yeah for sure yeah thanks for sharing that I know you mentioned about like you know maybe Switching gears a little bit about your son you know joining the school how has it been going you

20:29 Know how how has this social life been in India like you know mingling with other kids and so on as well and the school so if you can talk a little bit about that yeah that's a very very very important point for us because that was the point which made me really nervous and I also remember crying a lot of times in us just thinking my son I like okay we are born and brought brought up there for us it's no adjustment but what about my seven-year-old son who for him this is his home and the point at the airport he told me Mama I want to go back home I I bursted into tears I like bit a which home like the home in us mama mama the home in us mama I want to go back there I want to go to my home so I I was crying and telling him better now we will have a new home now we'll have a new literally I was like crying like so on the airport I don't know somehow something made made me cry because for that little boy that that that was his house and he had to leave leave his house and come here and he he had no clue what's what new house Mama is

21:30 Talking about so for for his point of view I can I can literally like say it was very difficult and when he came here he was very I he he he loved everything there because somehow I feel my seven-year-old adjusted very soon he got him at the right age when he did not have that much of knowledge of worldly things yeah because of course when you see cleanliness around infrastructure around people around obviously it's more hygienic and clean there so we got him at the right time He adjusted very well literally well like I was really happy the only fact that made me happy and satisfied is that he was happy okay now one thing I remember very distinctly like the second day he when he was here he started crying I said what happened and a moso bit him so he and there was a big red thing here and he like Mama I don't know that some bug bit me bit me here like why there so much bucks in India I want to go back to USA there are no bucks in USA so so so that was that was only thing which bugged him I think

22:30 Otherwise now if you ask him he says I don't want to go back to us he says mom I want to be her I I love and India he loves per se he loves the city Pune he say I don't want to go to Pune even like we went to my my mother's place like last month he like when are we going back to Pune I I think I like Pune more let's go back to Pune so it's like he just said well and and as far his school is concerned we were that that was number one point which we worried about but since he's in a Cambridge board the teachers are very considerate the procedures are very it is not as per other schools very academically oriented it has a lot of extracurricular activities and and the best part was I were looking forward to is like a balance of academics and and extracurriculars that's there in a school because we also inquired about IB board but I feel IB Bor for a Us return person in India I don't know a person

23:34 Who wants to go back to us it's perfect you can put your son in IB board and after after certain point in time he can go back to us and settle there right but a person like us who who we feel that we have to be in India now IB Bo might not be the best option to go because after 12th what the son your son has to face competition in India right like if you plan yeah so it's like somehow they have have to be groomed in academics as well so IB board is more activity oriented right so that's why the we chose Cambridge board it's a balance between the two it's the like it it has the curriculum some curriculum of cbsc icsc and it extracurricular of IB yeah so so it's like both ways so that's why we chose this C Cambridge board a lot of people ask me this question like how did you chose choose the board so cbsc I were really out of question because of the academic focus and IB board we were thinking but later we thought our son has to be in India so it would be problem for him

24:35 Later so let's not go for that so we chose a middle path so that's camri Bo is a middle path for us and I'm really happy because he he he's happy he loves the teachers he loves the school and He adjusted very well that's the thing if if even one day would he would have come and he like I don't like my school I would have been literally oh my god did we do the wrong thing coming back so but that touch what that did not happen yeah so I'm I'm really happy about it so that's good so just to maybe touch the point one thing you mentioned about the Cambridge right so with that curriculum so do people go to like regular like engineering or like mbbs or maybe any other colleges in India right like would they be prepared for some of these entrance exams in that curriculum like just curious on that just maybe you know maybe that actually yeah actually that question it's a very valid one I also like asked this question like from the principal of the school so they're like kids are

25:36 Equally equipped to go in for competitive exams like I IAS or IIT or whatever about since like My Prerogative was is never to send my son into such kind of competition because somehow living in us for six years has changed my mindset totally I I just do not believe in the that race I do not want my son to go for IIT or IAS or anything because whatever he wants to do he's free but but the principal definitely replied to me that kids are well equipped because they go in for a they also have a 12th board with Affiliated to UK to Cambridge so they have they have like academically and extracurricular wise they are well F this thing equipped to handle other competitive exams in India got it practicality I do not know and even I I am not very keen to know because my is pretty young let's see what will happen as we go by I just wanted his transition to be smooth as of now yeah so that's what has happened so I'm really happy

26:37 About it later on I'll think about if my son wants to do IIT no worries we'll put him extra extra quoting right yeah sure let's see what he want yeah just curious I think because anyway like I think when you are explaining about the different curriculums just curious I think if there was any thought process or you know any recommendation or suggestions that you can no but camp board is a good good board for a US certain person to go with because the other day there was one of the followers like why do you want to put your son on International board when your son wants to be like you guys are in India that is a very valid question I answered to her very politely that this is a reason because because of transition phase I want my kids transition to be very smooth because he's already given up on so many things he's already like his life is turning upside down so at least academics is something I can lower lower his pressure on y so that's what our mindset was to put him in international school so let's see where where he figures out his way I'm sure he'll figure out is be like in international or wherever yeah yeah cool

27:40 So maybe if you can touch a little bit on the career transition I think you mentioned about your husband you know taking an internal transfer did you like resume back to work or you know or just taking some time off or you know just curious and yeah okay okay no I did not resume my work because I'm an entrepreneur now so yeah yeah thank you thank you so much thank you so much so now since I was an S sport I couldn't work in us so I I had done a lot of preps lot of research because I already had I already have that thing that I have to do something on my own and since I I always had that even when I was in my job I was I know I have to do something on my own but since I did not have the time with the job to think about and then initial years with the son I couldn't think then later like you can say 2020 2020 I started a Facebook page with like it was regarding kids activities like fine motor activities

28:41 Gross motor activities cognitive skills and all these skills so the page grew really fast like within six months it went up to 30k and now it's a group of around 200k followers wow congrat so from yeah thank you so much so I couldn't do anything more than that there but that that is what I did and now I I've already started a business related to that my followers on Facebook so yeah so I'm an entrepreneur more than that I I might not be in a position to disclose but yes I'm an entrepreneur now and I'm really happy I do not have to because I'm really happy because being in India because a very very bothering thing in India is traveling the traffic yeah like people think we to come back to we to again deal with that heavy traffic and long traveling hours so that bothers us bother us too but believe me I had my plans ready no no I I have all all my things set so I will be at home my my

29:41 This thing was prerogative B I have have to be at home with the kids but doing something yeah I I cannot be just with the kids or I just cannot be doing something I have to manage everything so since that was settled so we were very comfortable moving back here and by God's grace everything like going smoothly my husband works remotely so he's at home I have my own business so I work from home and my kids school is like five minutes distance so school bus comes down so touchwood touchwood it's it's a wonderful scenario for us so I don't know how many can manage the scenario in India if you have if you maintain this kind of if you create this kind of Lifestyle in India believe me it is 100 times better than being in US yeah and with yes yes and up being with a full-time maid I got a full fulltime house help yeah definitely some of those things with the pros and cons and how do you manage some of the cons to make the life better right yeah oh thank like if you can build this kind of life in India no no better city is there like the convenience at the doorsteps you

30:42 Order zato you order anything from pin to plane you get at a doorstep yeah what more do you want yeah for sure definitely so how has the social life been and how has you and your husband like you know family adjusting since the move anything that you miss in us how is the life here just curious on that yeah I would say my social life in India as of now I have zero social life in India except my social media that's the only life as of now we have because since this time we've come back there's so much going on like initial transition then we had to find a rental place then shifting in a rental place then immediately I always had one thing in mind the moment we go to India we have to get a house of our own we have to we have to get settled you know that thought of getting settled which was not there in USA that was also one more reason I would say a very big reason because we were there always in doubt

31:43 And I think 99% of Indians are in that situation who are on H1 because they always the uncertainty is always there so we didn't want it to live in a life of uncertainty we wanted to settle down so the thought behind coming to India was was to get settled and how does the person get settled you get your own house you deck it up in your own way you get a car and everything is settled that's that's a we settle right so the moment we shifted in the dental house I started hunting for a house and luckily because and I was waiting for my son to get settled in the school yeah and I think within a month or so I got to know that he this this guy is doing great and everything is fine let's start hunting for houses so near the school we started searching for houses and luckily the apartments we were living on rent one of the apartments we we got we bought it nice so now the interior work is going on and now we plan to do a Puja on 20 first and we plan to shift in the house so the feeling is so satisfying Avinash it's really satisfying having your own house decking up decking it up

32:43 Your own way every single thing we've customized as for us so so we have been so busy that there have been no social life but believe me the people here the place we live in it's a very Cosmo Place we love the place we live here it's a very Cosmo Place very welcoming and warm and and one more thing very big reason my my kid feels comfortable here because there are lot of English speaking kids here yeah no no offense to vernacular speaking kids no offense to Hindi speaking kids but that's what my kid kid needs that there should be kids who can understand him and he can understand other kids right so that's what is happening so I I know a lot of people a lot of people know me and I'm also part of the cultural Committee in the society so you won't believe this year because my son loves Halloween and I was like thinking like what what this year what if there's no Halloween so I approached the culture committee guys that why don't we C celebrate Halloween we celebrate everything we should celebrate Halloween so these guys were so generous and kind they like oh why not you want to do it let's do it so

33:46 Literally I went I took the lead and we did a really great Halloween event here with 250 trick-or-treaters in the campus can you believe that yeah even in US I've not seen such a big trick- or treaters gang so like we we arrange a trick or treat for them and and I was like initially I was like who would know trick or treat here like nobody would know it my God the kids were crazy they're like trick or treat trick or treat trick or I like oh God like these kids have never been to us but still they know everything and then I asked one of the moms that how do they know moms were not aware of trick or tree lot of moms but one of the moms told me because nowadays they see so much of the exposure of the TVs is so much they see the common things and they know what a trick or treat yes how to dress up what character they want to be they know everything yeah so it was very shocking but very pleasant in a way that yes it's like I was able to create a atmosphere like we were there and everybody enjoyed the the motive was to make the kids enjoy yeah so everybody enjoyed and we we had a wonderful

34:46 Halloween celebration and plus a very big thing I think a very plus thing here in the in the these towers they do all the festivals in a very Grand way so we have been in enjoying ganpati we did we enjoyed Garba then New Year's Christmas so a lot of festivities are there so we are engaged in those festivities but as person you say personally if I made friends no i' I've not been able to make friends personally because one more I think that that's one more thing which people don't speak up very often but it's a fact that making friends at this phase of life it becomes a little difficult because you move from us everybody have their own groups everybody have their own friends they'll say hello High to you they'll be like good to you but you you it's it's very difficult to make a group so I really do not know okay when would I be having a girls gang of mine or or a group of ours but let's see we are happy the way we are and of course slowly and

35:48 Gradually I'm sure I I'll find my own gang oh yeah for sure yes I know thanks for sharing that so anything that we haven't touched that you want to talk about that could help people who are considering to move or thinking about moving you know along the same lines of advice or anything that you wanted to share with the audience yeah yeah one one advice for everybody if you guys want to move move when your kids are in early years that's easy on the kids easy on the parents easy on everybody because as the kids grow up like the moment they become like more than 10 or 12 or they the teenss it it's a cultural shock for them MH and believe me there are a lot of cultural differen in both the countries so younger they are they they'll transition smoothly everything will be fine the moment they grow up there'll be a lot of questions you would have to answer and there would and there would be a lot of questions which you would not have any answer to if they ask you why there's so much of trash here what answer you'll give nothing yeah so get your kids when they

36:50 Early in early years transition for everybody is smooth and believe me coming back to India is no punishment because lot of people think that coming back to India might lower the standard of living no it is all about how you create your life because ultimately you are there on your own ultimately you will be here on your own but Advantage being your family is nearby yeah so you have that festivi with family you have that common cultures and obviously lot of things to enjoy here yeah sure so thanks a lot for all your time and sharing your thoughts sharing your journey and the insights you know from your move really appreciate and thanks again for your time Ain thank you so much the pleasure is all mine I I'm always looking forward to somebody who's who who listens to my this the transition because I love to love to talk about it there's so many people who actually want

37:52 Wants to know who want to come back but somehow they're stuck there because of different reasons so I think you you've come up with a wonderful initiative that helping those people out like they can actually learn how they can create a better life in India if they have to come back at all so I feel you you have to make up your mind like if you you have to settle there that's good your priority if you to come back to India that's that's even better so it's like AA is upad yeah so whatever you're doing it's a wonderful thing keep it up keep going thank you very much I think the goal yeah thank you very much again the goal is not to encourage for people to move or not to move provide the facts provide the experiences people who have already done so that that could help with the decision process I think the goal is for the people to make a decision and not like let the time go by and I think that's the essence of it once again thank you very much I'm sure this would be valuable for a lot of

38:52 People who are in the similar boat and you know thanks for sharing Shar Ing and thanks for your time yeah you your most welcome pleasure all mine aach thank you so much thank you all for joining us on this insightful Journey Of Da return if you enjoyed this episode and want to explore 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 the wrers thank you once again and until next time may your the written journey be filled with joy growth and endless possibilities