Watch: Is Money Everything? NRI's guide to finding happiness back in India

3:37 Back with three kids one aged 18 second child aged 14 and the youngest aged seven so we really had a mixed bang of ages over here the children were a little bit skeptical about moving back to India as every teenage child is the 7-year-old was she was she was okay she would just wanted the dog to move with us she said if the dog goes I go so what I'm trying to do here is I'm trying to explain to individuals who are confused about what choices they should make having lived internationally my entire life I chose India and I saw the growth that was happening within India and I realized that the quality of life for what we have to pay here in India compared to what you would get in us or Canada was Far affordable for me the

4:37 Children moved back my eldest joined College over here my middle child went into he was he went into grade nine he was 14 so he went to grade nine and my youngest was of course in a primary school so for the individuals who think India doesn't offer for good education or maybe it's not on par with what you get out in the US there are very many good schools in India right now I chose an IB School because my children wanted to go back to Canada to further study so they were in an international Bachelor at school I didn't put them in a local school because of course being 14 he wouldn't have been able to adapt didn't speak any Hindi and so I found that my middle child did have the greatest disconnect with settling in because he was 14 so he did schooling

5:38 Over here but the minute he graduated he wanted to head back to Canada which was the intention anyway because we had money put in ours and educational savings plan in Canada so going back to Canada was the option for them so they my daughter did a couple of my eldest did a couple of years of college here then she wanted to Masters in English and she decided that Canada would be a better choice for her so she moved back and she moved back to Canada in 2011 and the younger one of course was here all the way till she graduated so I'm happy to answer any questions you may have from your viewers ainash for what they are curious about or what they are what their hesitation might be to make the move back back because I can tell you personally for me it's been the best choice I see so many people struggling with old parents living in India and

6:40 Not them not being able to make the choice of whether to come back and spend the rest of their parents' lives with them my mom left us in 2015 so I was able to give her eight good years before she left so I feel really good about this that you know I was able to spend quality time with her and like I said the life here in India is far more affordable at a fraction of what it would cost us in Canada or the US so I'm happy to answer your questions no yeah thanks a lot for giving such a detailed overview I think you know there's a lot of information there I would like to definitely pack and maybe UNP like some of these aspects so I think you lived majority of your time in Hong Kong and I think maybe close to more than a decade in Canada so can compare and contrast I think you also mentioned I think the best place to live in India I think from your perspective like you know among those countries so from your perspective if you can compare and contrast like Hong Kong versus Canada I think you also

7:40 Mentioned briefly about us you know some stin there and then India if you can give like a high level Strokes that would be very helpful you know from your perspective yeah yeah so the thing is that in the in the Western World I

7:53 Just find that the life that you have there is a lot more lonely unless live in a subdivision which has a lot of Indian people people if your neighbors are white Caucasians I'm not I'm not I'm speaking of my own experience I'm not I'm not generalizing over here the thing is that help is not as easily available as it is in India for an example if you have an accident in Canada or in the US people will be very hesitant to come out and help you you have an accident here in India 10 people come to pick you off the bike to check if you're okay you know to offer you water to to take you to the hospital so I I feel you know at a stage of course when I moved moved back to India I was in my late 40s I had done the shoveling of the snow you

8:53 Know you know mowing your own lawn you know being a parent who lived out of her car you know one has baseball practice one has hockey practice one child has to go to a school which teaches French so I was a stay-at-home mom I was fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home mom so but but the the the job that stay-at-home mom does is 24 by S you know you're looking at my my husband was working in Hong Kong at the time so I was a single parent living out there my mom used to come and visit me six months of the year she used to assist when she when she was there she couldn't drive so all the driving had to be done by myself I had decided that I had washed enough bathrooms in my lifetime I had shoveled enough driveways and I wanted a better quality of life for myself and I do not regret this move in

9:55 Fact today when I look back and I think I did it at a time where I was able to adapt to change because all of us become so comfortable in our own space that you know change is really hard at later stages of your life and everyone just becomes so complacent that you know this is this is the life that I enjoy and I always ask people you I have a lot of friends who tell me they're multi-millionaires because they own million dooll homes in the US yet but what is the quality of life they're living they're mowing their own backyard Lawns they're shoveling the snow you know they're having to take out the trash pick up the garbage and I'm thinking if you tell me you're a millionaire come to India and experience being a millionaire have someone do these jobs for you enjoy your enjoy the the wealth that you've acquired over this 20 25 30 year of period of making your money and be able to

10:58 Assist other people in India who are more unfortunate than us right I say if God's been good to you learn to pay it forward you know I'm living in India and I'm able to help so many people you know in the in the in in the space that I'm at and it gives me very good feeling to know that in India plus another thing in India is your money works for you you know with the Modi government the last 10 years the change that I've seen in India I can wire $100,000 to us you know from bank account to bank account no questions asked I I go to the US my brother and my son live in the US I try to W they try to wire money to me my goodness me you got to sign 50 pages of of paperwork you know people are asking you why does this money need to go where it needs to go banking has become so easy in India with our different forms of payments that we can use you

12:01 Can go to the panala you can buy one cigarette for 20 rupees you can say to p and the will say so I can share some experiences of where the country came together during covid I lived 56 days in my apartment by myself and didn't see a single soul because we shut down buying grocery was really a challenge you would have to go and you would have to stand in line with a thousand other people or 2,000 other people and I have a couple of Health I have had a couple of health issues so at that time I wasn't very happy to go and be with a thousand people buying grocery so I took a lot of care and I opted to do online purchasing e-commerce yeah which became really really big in India

13:03 At that time right I mean it just boomed so I would order groceries online and the gentleman who was supposed to deliver to me I would say okay let me do the payment and they would say no please don't send us the money because we're not sure if we can get from one subdivision to another subdivision so you only pay after you receive your box of groceries so I said fine I remember the one time that I went down to get my groceries I had a m gone I had gloves I went down I had my keys my my my apartment keys in my pocket and I coincidentally had forgotten my phone so I said to him I said I don't have my phone how do I do the payment and he said Madam you go up you take your groceries up and you pay us when you're up in your apartment and you're safe I can tell you a you cannot go to Costco you cannot go to Walmart you cannot go to Kroger you cannot go to Safeway or save on buy groceries leave the store

14:03 Without paying the whole country came together people supported each other only in India no yeah really only in India I can tell you I've lived in so many different countries and the unity where the country came together you you the Comforts that we have here yeah you know we don't may not have the infrastructure that you have in the US or can Canada but you know what every country has its drawbacks you know medical system has failed in in Canada in London in the UK you know I have people who are saying that they have brain tumors and they are on a list to be operated three years later what happens if the brain tumor explodes you know do you have a life so I can say you may have money in the bank but you have to ask yourself what quality of life do you have right and you have to come to a point in your life when you have to ask yourself how much is enough you know you can you can

15:06 Say yes I would like to be Mr Amani I would like to be Mr ratan dat you know you can say that I'm not saying that you don't say that but also you have to ask yourself at what cost yeah what are we what are we exchanging you know for for for having that quality of life so I live in India by myself I support myself I'm very blessed to be able to be in India working be a self-employed person have some Investments allow my money to work for me you can put your money you don't want to do any share market mutual funds you can put your money in a fixed deposit ear in seven and a half% interest no no country gives you seven and a half percent interest I have my brother who constantly argues with me saying that your rupe is being devalued all the time my question over here is if I'm earning in rupees

16:08 And spending in rupees how does it matter it only bothers me when I have to go to the bank to buy dollars to go to the US what used to cost me $65 65 Rupees to a US dollar today cost me 84 I asked myself how many trips a year am I doing and if my money is generating a 7% interest for me in the bank then you know what the price is very very shortlived for me to pay to have to go to the US and buy the dollars right so everything comes at a cost you know we have to ponder and we have to ask ourselves what do we want to compromise right do we want to have a good quality of life or do we want to keep working for the rest of our life picking up our trash you know if you're sick in India you just have make one phone call yes you know I have a helper who comes to work for me she comes two hours in the day the minute she heares I'm sick if the I had covid once she brought

17:12 Tiffen she put it outside the door she left it outside the door she said please come and pick up your food I mean who does this right the thing is that these I can tell you I live by myself over here but I have a support system I can call someone at 4:00 in the morning and I have three numbers I can phone one of the three will show up you know no questions asked you know so for me the thing is that I always ask people what do we what do we what do we what do we want yes at this stage in our life right I mean what are we looking for what and and what are we willing to compromise to have this right so for me I can call I I I drive but I don't have a permanent driver we have a we have a company we have a couple of companies in in India all over India that that give you driver for the day

18:12 Yeah so if I'm going out to a party and I want to drink I will call driver for the day he will come he will take me to where I need to be he will wait he will bring me back bonded trusted if I buy stuff and I leave it in the back of the car nothing goes in you know the thing is that there are a lot of luxuries that are available to us at a fraction of the cost right I mean I hear people who have lived in India their entire lives go to the US for two or three years and then come back and say oh India is a horrible country it's us is so much better and I ask people you've lived in India your entire life you know you you go to us for two three years and then India is the most horrible country well then you don't need to come back yeah you must stay in the US and you must face the consequences of gun violence you know there are so many things right that are happening people say India is not safe I ask which

19:13 Country is safe these days right we have two Wars going on H and we're living Our Lives as if everything is normal yeah could this have happened 25 30 years ago probably not right but the thing is that so much has changed and at least you know safety is not a concern in India it's I I have never felt unsafe here I mean of course there are pockets and places that you wouldn't venture to in every city every country but by and large as a woman living by myself do I feel safe yes absolutely my mom lived here by herself my father passed away in 96 she lived in an apartment by herself she never felt unsafe so you know there's a lot of there's a lot of things to think about when people ask should I be moving back to India but sure I mean I think the key thing is I think the definition of the quality of life and you know what's important for anyone I think it's a cost that you keep explaining right what is that you want to have in your life and the cost you're trying to pay I mean I think it's

20:14 Absolutely right it it just depends on what's key priority for you you know you just and then what is that you're giving up because that's the important thing that you want to achieve in the Life correct correct and you also have to and I'm telling you today there is nothing that is not available in India yeah if you're willing to pay the price I love to eat avocados today we get avocados in India I pay 500 rupees for four avocados you know what if I want it it's available it's it's it's not that we cannot get it here there is nothing that you cannot get here you want to eat cherries you want to eat imported cherries available you just have to pay the price so I ask people you know when people say oh what does the country hold for you the country holds for me Humanity the country country holds for me love the country holds for me Unity the country holds for me compassion the country holds for me digitization you know we have reached a tremendous growth in digitization today right I

21:15 Mean you you go and get your shoe repaired at the Moji you can pay by your phone you don't need cash you know so the thing is that even the simplest of simplest thing is available to you without an exchange of cash you know so I ask people I'm I'm in a really good space I I love India I've never lived in India yeah I do hold a Canadian passport a lot of my friends hold that against me they say oh but you're Canadian I said yes but I pay taxes in India I'm very happy to pay taxes to Mr Modi I do not want to pay taxes to Mr Trudeau I I'm very candid about this I my money in India works for me I'm happy to have the oci and the Canadian passport I live in India visa free I can go in and out of the country as many times as I want no questions asked and for me the thing is that everything

22:15 Is available yeah to us if we're willing to pay the price got it you know yeah and then I think there was one point that you mentioned I just want to touch base a little bit about that I know like you know at what age you're moving to country you know where you can are still flexible to adapt and all that stuff so just curious you know after spending you know more than three decades outside India and then when you are moving back to India in early 2027 you know how was the adjustment was there anything that you wanted to share for somebody who lived so much abroad yeah so so I moved back in 2007 and I can tell you that

22:53 India teaches you patience you you have to learn to be patient I'm I'm into energy healing I'm a chronic healer by profession I found my Guru a spiritual Guru when I moved back to India I did not meet him in his physical form he had already left his physical form but I think the calling was so large that I was able to join into the school of chronic healing and yeah there were challenges but I think aash what it was for me is I was determined to make this work I think if people move back saying I doing this for my parents whatever the reason is right I'm doing this for better quality of life I'm doing this because my spouse and I split up and I think I can have afford a better better life in India with the money that I have today you know various reasons right so the

23:56 Thing is that you you have to be sure that this is what you want right and I think once you have made the decision then everything kind of like falls into place and I truly believe as a human being what we give out into the universe the universe corresponds I have met such amazing people in India everybody asked me but you live alone I said yeah but I'm not lonely you know there's a very big difference in being in a house full of of people and still being alone feeling alone but being by yourself and still feeling fulfilled right so the thing is that I am a counselor and a psychotherapist by profession as well so for me the thing is that I'm happy I'm also a moderator on the Facebook groups SOS Global Indians I answer a lot of questions over there to people who are trying to move back and are stuck you know and I tell them I said you know

24:57 If you want to have a little better of insight of what challenges you may face I'm happy to talk to you about that as well every country has challenges but the thing is that if we're determined and we know that this is for the good of I want to spend my last my father's 65 you know he's not he's been ailing and he hasn't had good health I want I don't want to live with the regret of not being able to have been with him for the last five seven 10 years of his life whatever he has left sure I I I would like to come back I'm the only son you know I would like to do this for my parents they did so much for me they were the ones who you know put me through school my education whereas I could go and I could be a COO in XYZ company in the US or Canada I would like to give back to them so there are so many reasons why people want to are are are in a dilemma as to whether to come back and I'm happy to answer those questions because for me the thing is

25:58 That I'm happy to answer the questions from a perspective of a person who's never lived in India yeah definitely you know born and bread outside of India it's one thing to have said well I spent my first 20 years in India you know and then I moved to the US for me no you know so India taught me patience India taught me compassion India taught me that there is so much love in this country Humanity right where people even a person who doesn't know you if you fall off the bike somebody's offering you water someone's offering you a ride you know someone's offering you to to take you to the hospital I've done it personally you know there was a boy who fell off a bike and I picked him up and I drove him home and you won't believe it we've never met never him and I but he whatsapps me he asks me how I'm doing he checked in on me during covid who does this yeah right and he he's

27:00 Always saying to me ma'am I would really like to meet you I don't forget the good deed it was midnight I picked him up you know I was alone I still drove him home you know some another Good Samaritan drove his bike to his building these things happen I can tell you numerous incidents that have happened with me or to me where where I I realized that this was one of the best decisions that I made now this is my personal Journey my personal opinion right however I feel what you give out comes back to you many many times completely agree with that statement I can't you know so I am living proof of this you know so I I say yes India has its drawbacks we have I can't vote here but I do have an opinion and when I give my opinion to the locals who live here they're like oh but you don't vote I said yes but I pay taxes and because I pay taxes I have a voice so I can these questions that I need to ask so I'm happy to have had

28:03 This opportunity to share my journey with you because I read so many comments as a moderator on SOS Global Indians where people are wanting to come back but they have so many questions right they're they're will I be able to adapt will my children be able to adapt and for the people who are not sure if their children will be able to adapt I say if you are convinced this is something you want to do and you are not in a dilemma everything else falls into place you know children and children are very resilient you know they bounce back and if you're coming with a teenage child and they want to do two three they're coming back with you two three years in India and then they want to go back to college in US you would have done that in any case yeah so how does it matter at least you don't live with the guilt of not being with your parent for the last few years or not being able to give to your mother some time back as a son because she's a widow whatever the reason be right

29:03 So yeah we have to make these decisions for ourselves so definitely no thanks for sharing that I'm also being cognizant about the time but I think there is an important aspect that a lot of people have questions I know you mentioned about your kids at different ages when they moved so I wanted to you know get a little bit specific in that like you know the first kid I think she went into the college right like so I'm assuming I think she was born in Hong Kong so she has a non-indian passport what are the criteria and was she able to get into the college so if you can talk a little

29:34 Bit about that so so be we all are Canadians and what we did is we when I moved back to India in 200 2006 into 2007 the government had just introduced the oci so prior to that there was a Pio person of Indian origin right so we did have Canadian we did have Indian passports but we gave up our Indian passports to get the Canadian citizenship in 19 98 so yeah coming back to India because I had applied for an oci before I left Canada I came back here with a document that said I was a person of Indian origin I did hold an Indian passport at some point in my life to get into college she got in as a local pan card yeah yeah I'm telling you the government of India has done so much good for its citizens who are returning she got into India as a we paid local fees we didn't pay any exorbitant

30:37 Fees she drank Chai at the canteen you know and we bought her an Activa she was on a scooty you know she would ride herself wherever she needed to go she just Blended in yeah you know couple of challenges for her because she didn't speak Hindi so well she used to we used to watch a lot of Bollywood films in in Canada so the understanding of Hindi was there it was just practiced and then she Blended in yeah she she studied here as a local my second child who was 14 he had a little bit more disconnect because he was in a school with politician Sons lawyer Sons so everybody was coming from a very affluent background at the time when I moved back I bought a secondhand car so he would get out of a secondhand car where where everyone else was getting out of a mercedesbenz or a BM BMW so there was a little bit of a disconnect there however you know what I will say

31:39 To you as a parent of three children of various ages if you are determined to make this work if you have made this choice and you know you're doing it for whatever reason yeah and if you are settled your children will be settled if you constantly complain even after coming back and saying oh the country is a it's B it's C you know and identify all the shortcomings within the country your children will follow suit right the Apple doesn't fall so far from the tree right I tell everybody this so the thing is that if you're convinced that this is what you wanted to do and give your children the options say you know what we've come back get finish your high school here and if you want to go back go back I'm not stopping you you know but at least the fam is together the unity you know of of having an experience of living in India I think it's really important my youngest is actually so

32:40 I have one child who's Hong Kong born one child who's Pune born my middle child and my youngest is Canadian born my Canadian born says she's from Pune because her formation years were here yeah she loves coming back she every trip she comes back she has a good set of friends who she connects with even though she's been gone so many years they're still in touch with each other she comes back she never feels disconnected there's someone coming to pick her up in her car she says to me Mama the the the the the guys in Pune the girls in Pune they're so nice in Canada I can't find people who would want to pick me up or drop me home or you know be concerned or whether I got home you know safe and sound and she says Mama it's just a different quality of people in India in a different breed this is from a 24 24 year old child today so you know I mean my children speak for it right so for me the thing is that having been

33:41 Here she spent seven years in India before she transferred to Hong Kong where her dad was and then transferred back to Canada but she loves coming back to India you know any given moment if I say she says yeah Mom I'd like to come home so yeah there it is so I'm like I said I am happy to have had the opportunity to share my journey and if you have any other questions of me please shoot them out and I will answer okay that's great I'm just also being cognizant so is there anything that we haven't covered or that you would like to bring up or any advice that you want to share with the future

34:17 Aspirants I think a lot of people are concerned about their pension in the US if they have a pension in the US I think the Indian government has a lot of has streamlined a lot of those laws for how the money can be brought in what kind of Taxation they need to pay they just need a good chartered accountant they need a good CA I have a good CA who does accounts for local people and nris and returning Indians as well I was really fortunate to have found him I've recommended him to a lot of my friends he's been able to sort out all their queries so I think for people who have questions with regards to that you know how to bring your money in what are the taxation rules you may face things like that I think talking to a good CA having a good CA will actually streamline these things and like I said there are lot of different lot of different portfolios which you can have today in

35:18 India mutual funds shares a lot of different channels of investment that you could look at where you can make your money work for you I know a lot of my friends put money in the bank and then they just live off the interest yeah so you know you set it up in such a way that you have money coming into your account every month and so you never touch the principle right so the thing is that there are a lot of options people can look at lot of channels yes you may not being a corporate having a $200,000 job in the US you may not be able to get that kind of salary in India depending on what you're doing depending on what package you know your your coming back with are you being transferred by your company a lot of so I saw a lot of Disconnect happening after covid a lot of the corporates I I teach English to expats as well here in Pune I I saw a lot of the corporates not bringing their expats back because it was a real burden financially on the expat company so

36:20 What they opted to do is just fly the the entire family so preco the family the children husband and wife all used to live here and they all the cost was incurred by the company but post covid a lot of corporates decided that no we'll just fly in our German counterpart when they need to be in India for a week or 10 days so the families reside back so the the expat population did diminish to a smaller number however I can tell you when I go to Germany and I visit my German friends they would like to come back to India they say they miss India imagine foreigners living in India the quality of life you know the people you know the the hospitality you know I remember my brother came to visit and we were sitting at the five star hotel and I we were having breakfast there and the breakfast came and I think the eggs were the omelet

37:23 Was very runny the eggs hadn't been cooked well and I sent them back and my brother said what you're sending the eggs back and I saides they're not they were not cooked well and he's like in the US we have to eat eat what they serve us I said this is why we live in India because we have the service yes so it comes at a c all of it does yeah no thanks for sharing that I I completely Echo with you in terms of like you know working with the ca especially from like you know when you're trying to do the taxation on both different countries and planning you know your Investments and make money work for you on those aspects as well as I think you know find the strong reason why you want to make a move and make a decision with the moov absolutely if you're wishy-washy and still on the fence not gonna help right you have to do this with conviction this is what I want to do I've made enough money I would like to now live a comfortable life and you know I see people so stressed at 50 I've lost so many friends in the early 50s heart

38:25 Attack because they're just under so much stress for mortgages that have to be paid recently so many people in the US in it have lost their jobs you know they've just bought a new home you know they don't know what to do you know I see the struggle you know make the choice of moving back to India yeah you know better quality of life so yeah yeah no than a lot for you what was that sorry I said less stress yeah less stress here yeah yeah so yeah thank you very much for your time and for sharing your journey especially for someone who has grown up abroad and who hasn't lived in India and you know sharing your journey with us and how the kids adapted and you know lot of these lot of valuable information I think you know from from your conversation so really thankful and appreciate you sharing your journey with us today okay thank you have a wonderful day thanks thank you all for joining us on

39:27 This insightful journey of Dy return 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 D journey be filled with joy growth and endless possibilities