Friday, July 14, 2006

Some Random Points on Reverse Migration

(This post is mostly for the NRIs who are ensconced in the USA. But others can also read it for fun)

I can’t believe I have actually completed my ‘reverse migration’ to India, after having lived in the USA for centuries. The first, tentative steps were taken nearly three years ago and at every step, there was this danger of the ‘N+1 syndrome’ cropping up and dooming the entire move. The good thing was that I had enough dough tucked away in all kinds of investments, which made it possible for me to kind of ‘retire’ and not be a wage slave – I didn’t really have to find a sucker Indian corporation which would treat me like a brown saheb.

I have been getting several requests on how one actually pulls off this Mayflower-in-the-reverse trick. As a summary response, I have recorded ten points, which I am going to share with you.


(1) It is important to go slow on making the move.

First of, I took my own time to make the transition. India has changed so much in the past n years that you have been in the USA and you need to get familiar with the new place. Even your relatives and friends have evolved and you don't get that impact during your once in a few years visits to India.

Since the last time you visited it, there has been a telecom revolution in India. And this has completely changed the landscape. Just to give you an idea, there are now a hundred million cell phones in India (with a hundred million unique ringer tones for them), which is double of what we had just last year. It’s only a matter of time before every single man, woman and child in India will be armed with a cell phone.

Everybody has a favorite cell phone story to tell. Mine is about our family Punditji, whose cell phone accidentally fell into the sacred fire while he was performing some holy something. (I bet his colleagues around the fire quickly chanted “Om Cell phonaaaya swaahaaa…” or something) The man tried to exchange the charbroiled cell phone for a new one, but even though the gods were on his side, the Nokia guy apparently refused to budge.


Thanks to modern technology, India is also now a land of junk courier mails. The most inane and useless pieces of paper are mailed via courier and one has to affix his or her precious signature and pick up the trash.

Most of you probably haven’t been to hell yet. But if you want to witness something close to it (and get a glimpse of new India) all you need to do is visit your corner school in the evenings. You will see two hundred cars and a thousand two wheelers parked every which way outside the gate. And come the school closing hour, there will be sheer pandemonium, with honks tooting and vehicles revving up their engines and children crisscrossing, lugging their thirty pound school bags. Remember how you walked to school?

But then, India is a country of contrasts – where the ultra modern shares space with the ancient. A country that is littered with cell phones and couriers still has people who use Morse codes and telegrams. Even as we manufacture jet engines, our roads are open to bullock cart. There is good news and bad news about eco-friendliness in India. The good news is that most traditional things that people use are bio-degradable. But the bad news is that the damn thing bio-degrades in front of your house.

The point is India has changed while you were away. So, wake up and smell your coffee – in a trendy coffee shop and pay nearly a dollar for it.

(2) Take a lot of stutter steps first.

I visited India many, many times before my final move.

I know it is an expensive proposition. But unless you actually ‘taste’ the new Indian life a few times, you may be quite surprised when you actually make the big move. You can include a few ‘things to do’ with each such trip – such as finding out if you can afford that latest condo they are building in the poshest part of your city or if the elite school you want to put your children is so exclusive that you need a letter from President Kalam to get them in.

(3) Import only the sentimental and 'familiar' things from the USA when you move. Everything is available here.

I had a tough time abridging my 3500 square foot Colorado home into twenty five boxes. Except for my sentimental collection of classical music, photo albums, etc. (a lot of which got damaged in the floods a few months after I received them. But then, that’s another story)

There are furniture stores in India with IKEA catalogs who will readily build you that fake IKEA piece, if you wish. Instead of wading through JC Penny’s in search of that elusive pair of pants which fits you exactly, in India you have the luxury of getting it tailored to suit your weird NRI derriere. So, don’t overload the boat.

(4) It takes only a few weeks to get used to the dirt, dust, rudeness, inefficiency, heat, potholes, relatives' chatter etc. (Well, actually, you may never get used to the Indian rudeness.)

After about the first week, I got over the urge to reform every single Indian that I came across. The following week, I even managed to finally see a commercial on TV without Amitabh Bhacchan in it. You get ‘immersed’ fairly quickly. Cricket is still everything in India and they still talk about ‘uppish’ shots or fielders ‘shying’ the ball. I soon re-learnt exactly how to slouch over a sofa and ask a bunch of similarly-slouched folks ‘All out for??’ and be instantly accepted by them. You will realize that the Barry Bonds-like hulk who slugs the balls away, is called M. S. Dhoni and that he is the latest heart-throb of every teenage girl in India. (It is Sania Mirza for boys, but then, she probably deserves an entire blog)

If you want to endear yourself to the older generation, all you need to do is to look your cynical best and complain ‘Hmm. They have increased the Railway cancellation fee to forty rupees. What can the public do?’ even though you have no clue as to what the fee was earlier or what it ought to be.

You will see that you can easily comprehend a staid newspaper like ‘The Hindu’, because it divides itself into the Blood Bank page, Obituary page and the Sharapova page. In fact, I have been privy to every move of Sharapova after I got back to India. You will realize that the picture of the dignified lady, staring out of the newspaper, is actually that of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s. Among other things, you will discover that the Sensex they talk about here in India has nothing to do with the Sensex marriage we have in the USA. You will also get the feeling that with every passing week, the magazine ‘India Today’ looks and feels more and more like an airlines in-flight magazine – a far cry from those days when it used to be the gateway to the happenings in India.

Basically, getting back into the swing of things in India is very simple – much easier than you will realize. Somewhere in the very back of your mind, you have actually stashed away all your Indian survival instincts and sensibilities and they will all rush to the forefront right with your grand entry into India.

(5) Establish your own norms and priorities here.

Don't become another 'body' available for family functions. Sure, meet and spend time with relatives. After all, that is one of the reasons for your transition back. But don't be consumed by the extended family.

You will find that every other day someone or the other is either getting married or celebrating their kid’s second birthday and that you are ‘specially’ invited. But there is no end to it. Watch out for the eightieth birthday celebrations – they are major traps which will suck you in for hours. That’s where you will meet a hundred of your senior citizen relatives and other hanger-ons (each of whom has a son or daughter in New Jersey). The food is usually good, but remember there is a high price to pay for it. .

(6) Don't get hung up about the USA.

India has become quite modern too. Familiarize yourself with the modern banks, schools, computers, plane reservation, shopping, investing etc. Qualitatively, there should be very little difference in all these activities between the USA and India.

For those of you who are completely out it, the Indian dollar is called the rupee and is literally only worth about two cents. Even though there are dirt-poor people in India who would kill each other for a rupee, you will have plenty of it, because with your American bankroll, you will most likely belong to the filthy rich class here in India. Learn to divide everything by fifty and pretty soon you will realize how things are cheap in India.

You will see that you don’t have to give your right arm for that dental procedure, even though your Indian dentist’s office is more plush than your American tooth fiend. For the price of a couple of large pizzas, you will be able to travel first class, A/C from Delhi to Kanpur. And you can make reservations for it on-line and get your ticket in a few hours by courier and even thank Lalu for making it all possible!!!

(7) Whatever maybe your chosen profession, be that mover and shaker and help push the Indian economy a bit further

I teach Production and Operations to MBA students in one of the top colleges in Chennai. But I made sure it is only an Adjunct position, just to give me enough traction to stay in action, and not be a careerist. Since I have worked quite a bit in factories and Production, I have a passion for Manufacturing. I am slowly trying to spread my message and hopefully in a few years, I can graduate a few good Production Managers. Indian planners firmly believe that close on the heels of IT revolution and the IT enabled Services revolution, we are going to witness a major increase in Manufacturing activity – watch out, China!!!

India is booming economically and there is so much of excitement that it makes up for everything else. I am really kicked about all the possibilities. Contribute to India’s growth. Think of it as a debt repaid – for, the government did spend hundreds and thousands of its meager rupees in educating you in the IITs and the IIMs.

(8) You should have some extra activities to get more out of your India return - music, dance, religion, writing, travel and whatever

One of the reasons I moved back was to further my writing career. Strangely, over the past three years, I have hardly written anything, even though several Tamil actors have been wanting scripts from me. One of these days, I hope to settle down enough to write. I hope!!

(9) Come back with the intention to give something back to the society and when you do give back, do so actively and not just as a dole to some charity. (which is also okay, if you think about it)

A good part of my return to India is also altruistic. I have a large surrogate family of underprivileged kids whose education and well-being I sponsor. I have recently put three of them in engineering colleges at great costs. I spend a good part of my weekends teaching them Laplace’s transforms and ‘spoken’ English. It is such a pleasure to see every positive step these children take – especially considering they had pretty bad upbringing. I wish I could write more about my experience. But it is too personal. Maybe in a later blog…

The point is, there are so many wonderful organizations in India, NGOs and other non-formal outfits. You may be able to identify with some of them. Or if you have a cause very dear to your heart, go for it. You can make so much difference to the society around you that it will be a sheer joy to see the change you have effected.

(10) Attitude is everything

Finally, it is not as traumatic as people make it out to be. People who meet me don't even realize that I had spent dog years in the USA. (These days, I have begun to call the letter z 'zed', I am at least half an hour late to all my appointments and I eat gulab jamuns with my bare hand - just kidding about the last two) Don't expect to be treated like demi god just because you were in the USA, although people just might. You will meet so many amazing people in India and you will discover that those wonderful people (and even celebrities) are highly accessible here, (unlike in the USA) that you may feel that the whole of India is shrinking into a tiny India Association. .


So, come back to your old motherland!! I strongly recommend this to you, if it agrees with everyone in your family.

58 Comments:

At Friday, July 14, 2006 6:43:00 AM, Blogger tris said...

**I am at least half an hour late to all my appointments **

No, you are never more than 100 minutes late.. :-))

 
At Friday, July 14, 2006 8:09:00 AM, Blogger anantha said...

Wonderful, as always. Production and manufacturing huh? Awesome. As core engineering graduate myself, I know IT is sucking in a lot of us. So has the non-IT syllabi in colleges graduated beyond 70s grade technology? About your statement about Tamil actors and scripts. Surely you are joking Mr.Mahadevan :)

 
At Friday, July 14, 2006 10:10:00 AM, Blogger tris said...

I meant to say only 10, typo sorry..

 
At Friday, July 14, 2006 10:20:00 AM, Blogger Nilu said...

aha! is it just me or is his age beginning to show?

 
At Friday, July 14, 2006 11:57:00 AM, Blogger Hawkeye said...

good post!

i came here expecting Ajay Palvanteeswaran to return back to india and grapple with problems - hey there's an idea for you :-) just kidding.

from my own experience i think an important of returnng back is 'career satisfaction' i can see why you havent emphasized that a lot. it is a factor that can deter/reverse a lot of reverse migration.

 
At Friday, July 14, 2006 12:36:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Ramesh,

It was a pleasure to read your posts on SCI (on an antiquated microvax) as a desi grad student. Its a pleasure now to read your posts using RSS feeds. The technology has changes but your posts are as fun & insightful as ever. Keep them coming.

Thanks for mailing us your SCI writeups on a PC diskette. I think I still have stashed it somewhere.

A pan Indian-US desi

 
At Friday, July 14, 2006 12:49:00 PM, Blogger A Motley Tunic said...

"Somewhere in the very back of your mind, you have actually stashed away all your Indian survival instincts and sensibilities and they will all rush to the forefront right with your grand entry into India. " -- this comes back even when I talk to some one at the Indian Embassy!!

 
At Friday, July 14, 2006 12:57:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good post

 
At Friday, July 14, 2006 2:57:00 PM, Blogger Quizman said...

Heh, the comment by someone purporting to be Joachim Martillo revived some memories!

Terrific to see you writing again, Ramesh.

 
At Friday, July 14, 2006 3:16:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ramesh,
Although you don't mention it explicitly, your sarcasm for the sake of humour does not go well with the subastance of this subject - Does not inspire me to return, atleast not now. Let me take a guess, you teach at Great Lakes?
Please write about your bootstapping into the US, centuries ago, in equal vein. I would be interested in reading that.
Btw you are very popular in Dallas.
Rajesh

 
At Saturday, July 15, 2006 7:02:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ramesh: Welcome back to Chennai. Here is my small tribute to you.

 
At Saturday, July 15, 2006 9:31:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Welcome back

 
At Saturday, July 15, 2006 5:48:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Welcome back Ramesh. I feel very happy to read postings like yours. I feel NRIs are an underutilized Indian resource. Come back all of you, my brothers and sisters. Come back and help rebuild our country!

 
At Sunday, July 16, 2006 9:46:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

blogspot is blocked in india....

You know the tremendous effect bloggers have on internet readers thesedays..

An anonymous blogger, a fiery soul, writing fierce words and appealing Indian youth to act is creating ripples in blogosphere now. He is most likely the cause of the censorship by Govt of India as I believe his writings are making the Indian Govt run scared. He has already declared Independence, (Declaration of Independence: http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/07/declaration-of-independence-anyone.html), asking people to identify the traitors (Am I a traitor? http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/07/am-i-traitor.html ) and goading Men to Act ( http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/06/awake-arise-o-bharata.html).

I think if we bring this blog down, the ministry might lift the censhorship. But, if we bring it down, I think India goes down along with it, the only flicker of hope I've seen in my entire life.

 
At Sunday, July 16, 2006 9:48:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/07/declaration-of-independence-anyone.html

http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/07/am-i-traitor.html)

http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/06/awake-arise-o-bharata.html)

Links again!!!

 
At Monday, July 17, 2006 5:34:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Uhh-huh.

 
At Monday, July 17, 2006 8:13:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is this THE Ramesh Mahadevan? Great to see you!! Wow!

 
At Monday, July 17, 2006 7:33:00 PM, Blogger Random Walker said...

Hi!! from a current-palvayanteeswaran from a parallel life. It does feel comforting that there is a way back! Thanks!

 
At Monday, July 17, 2006 9:52:00 PM, Blogger Tweety said...

Quite an interesting read.
Although I have to disagree with the "Indian Rudeness" that you mentioned. Given the way most of the not-so-well-educated US people and the US embassy guys treat Indians, I think we are quite well mannered and treat others with respect and specially as 'humans'. We are way too courteous, warmer and friendlier than an average US person, be it towards a fellow Indian or an Alien.
This is something we should be proud of. Don't you think?

 
At Tuesday, July 18, 2006 1:35:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You left out one key funda.

How much duds did you stash? If that's too personal, how much did you think was enough. Lower bound.

 
At Wednesday, July 19, 2006 10:01:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting Post

 
At Wednesday, July 19, 2006 11:30:00 PM, Blogger Sareen's Ramblings said...

That was a really good article witha dash of humour! I was smiling all the way...I love gulab jamuns!

 
At Thursday, July 20, 2006 7:40:00 AM, Blogger 30in2005 said...

this was one of the most wonderful articles I have read in a while. I find that Indians who have lived in Uk for even a few years go all snobby about things like pollution, heat and dust - all things they were born and brought up with - and are very quick to grab that red British passport for themselves or their children when they can. Whatever happened to 'mera bharat mahan'? This is inspirationsal and I am going to link it to a post on my blog quite soon.

 
At Thursday, July 20, 2006 11:27:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi ramesh, great to see you have started writing about returning to india! Wishing for a lot more in this line ... I absolutely enjoyed your stories in 1996 which got forwarded from somebody to somebody ... to me and a GREAT THANKS 10 years later, for making a desi grad utterly happy through your words! Now we are returning to India in 2 months and we are delighted to see your blog on this theme. Never imagined I could say a "Thank You" to you directly. THANK YOU for the wonderful sense of humor in your words!

 
At Saturday, July 22, 2006 4:25:00 AM, Blogger Mahadevan Ramesh said...

Anantha,

Glad you asked!!!!

I teach in Siva Subramania Nadar College of Engineering (popularly known as SS Nadar College), started by Mr. Shiv Nadar of HCL. Productions and Operations Management is still a virgin territory in Chennai. I am glad I am attracting a large group of students to this stream of specialization.

Yes, I did write half a script for a tamil movie some six years ago. The movie starred Madhavan, Jothika, Nassar, Prakash Raj, Shobhana, Pratap Pothan et al. The movie was abandoned three fourths way through - the producer didn't want to sink in any more money. The movie was titled 'Achcham Thavir', meaning literally 'Quit being scared'. I have seen some rushes of this work in progress and some of the actors did a superb job of interpreting my characters - even bit actors.
The only unfortunate thing is that my director friend, Siva Kumar suffered a bit of a hiccup to his career by this project cancellation. (He is a smart guy and is already well on his way to establish himself)

Just last year (2005), Madhavan narrated one of his stories and asked me to script it. And a few months later another famous actor who also acted in Achcham Thavir, (no names please!!)asked me to script a movie for him. Since I was suffering from a big time Writer's block then, I defaulted on the delivery of scripts and perhaps forever screwed my chances to be seen in the so-called Kollywood. Maybe,once I find my muse and tunnel through this Writer's block, I may pursue scriptwriting again. (Of course, in my script, there will be a time-tested 'Mein kahan hoon?' dialog when the heroine wakes up from a deep coma.) Anyways, it was a pleasure to interact with people like Maddy and the other unnamed actor. They are all very intelligent, very nice, on top being extremely talented.

And finally, how much money does it take to come back to India, if you want to essentially live off your savings? It depends on your comfort factor - Write to me off-line and we will discuss.

 
At Tuesday, July 25, 2006 10:51:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

sri:

me too (i.e., thanks ramesh for the diskette). it has been over a decade since i got that diskette from ramesh. i wonder where mine is. anyway, google is available 24x7x365 should i need those articles.

ramesh:

"And finally, how much money does it take to come back to India, if you want to essentially live off your savings? It depends on your comfort factor - Write to me off-line and we will discuss."

isn't this all relative? even discussion will not help. anantha (or whoever wrote that comment) will need to find his or her own moollah level.

and yes, those memories of 'murthy', 'joachim', etc. are revived. thanks!

- s.b.

 
At Thursday, August 10, 2006 11:39:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi there Blogger, a real useful blog.Keep with the good work.
If you have a moment, please visit my 171 application employment federal sf site.
I send you warm regards and wishes of continued success.

 
At Tuesday, September 12, 2006 11:03:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great thoughts.. and well said! Check out what other bloggers are saying about their experiences on Returning to India

 
At Thursday, September 28, 2006 11:12:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I came across this blog by chance. I am one of those people living in the USA with that constant urge to go back...& desperately trying to convince the rest of my family that I am right.I truly enjoyed this blog.

 
At Friday, September 29, 2006 10:23:00 PM, Blogger pallavi said...

Hi
I wonder if it is too late to comment. But could not resist. I have been here for 6 months and yet the pull of going back has not stopped. I wonder how everyone goes around without a murmur? I guess most hear the sound of the dollar.. ka ching and the sound of going back is forever buried. Please correct me if I am wrong. And is it a crime to go back to our motherland? Please tell me it is not a crime to go back...... oops no more comments.. btw your reasons for going back is commendable.... may your tribe increase...

 
At Sunday, December 03, 2006 6:28:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi people
I do not know what to give for Christmas of the to friends, advise something ....

 
At Sunday, December 03, 2006 7:29:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ramesh your comments are disabled for your next article! I badly wanted to be the first one to comment!

Great piece as usual, Mahadevan-esque humor at its very best. And so much of it was "soooo" very true.

Just one request, please do increase your posting frequency. You cant complain of a writer's block- certainly not when you are in Madras!

 
At Tuesday, December 05, 2006 8:58:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good stuff though it took a lot longer than it takes to get thru a can of soda, the time it took to read one of your old posts.

How does it feel now that they call it Chennai? They really did change the name from under you, didn't they? Probably you accept it as part of the change you talk about but you'd notice that W Mambalam hasn't changed one bit.

Can you please write on Koneru Humpy, the girl who won the women's chess event? Probably right this minute, they're calling her mohana bimba in Hyderabad :)

Surely, the name's designed for you to overcome your writer's block!

LNS (lsrinivas@yahoo.com)

 
At Friday, December 29, 2006 2:11:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Ramesh,
This is Jayaram, used to know you way back in Pittsburgh (remember Guha, Surya, et al?). I didn't realize you had moved back to India. Do send me your contact details.

I am based in London(UK).

Jayaram, ausjay@gmail.com

 
At Tuesday, January 30, 2007 10:12:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I would consider returning depending on the outcome of the next elections.

 
At Tuesday, February 06, 2007 8:15:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What do you recommend fro shipping couple of boxes for books and crockery back to India. i have heard USPS is the option.

Thanks

 
At Thursday, February 08, 2007 10:57:00 PM, Blogger Mahadevan Ramesh said...

This is Mahadevan Ramesh -

About four suitcases or less, it is best to send via USPS. Anything greater than six suitcases or costs running over six hundred dollars or so, shipping it by sea by any of the private bulk shippers is best.

This is as of three years ago, but I am sure reasonably valid even now.

 
At Wednesday, June 13, 2007 5:44:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I know! This must surprise you as you have been in India for quite sometime now. But I got to know about it just now. I have your articles downloaded on my machine and I happened to read one of them today. thought I should google and see what you were up to currently. Was surprised to see that you have returned to India since and that you are an MBA instructor somewhere in Madras. I was pleasantly surprised.

I have been an ardent fan of yours - since 1998/9 when your articles appeared in Sulekha.com. That I was an alumnus of IITK only made me enjoy your articles even more (many of them had a direct or indirect link to IITK).

Hope Madras is treating you well. I was myself in the US of A for a few years before I decided to return to desh and live a luxurious (relatively speaking of course) life here than a middle class life in the US! :)

Hope to see you write more. Your blog seems to have not been updated for sometime now.

Have you written any script for a movie so far?

(a long time fan of your humorous writings)

 
At Thursday, September 27, 2007 8:58:00 AM, Blogger Thripura Sundari Mahadevan said...

good good good.
narayaNa narayaNa narayaNa.

 
At Thursday, September 27, 2007 11:37:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

how much money does it take to come back to India, if you want to essentially live off your savings? It depends on your comfort factor -

I understand that. BUT PLEASE HELP

1 Please break down expenses in cities like BOMBAY, DELHI & CHENNAI as well as rural areas.

2. Please let us know how much a middle class family [JUST HUSBAND & WIFE ALONE] spend in cities like BOMBAY, DELHI & CHENNAI as well as rural areas monthly.

By answering these questions, you will be helping a large number of people, who are frantically searching for answers.

 
At Sunday, December 16, 2007 5:44:00 PM, Blogger vimmi said...

Loved reading ur blog about return to India. We also plan to return in 3 years. We have been i uSa for the past 6 yrs. Feels good to read about people like u, who have managed to return, and are not just thinking about it. Best of luck.

 
At Monday, June 09, 2008 4:58:00 PM, Blogger crsathish said...

nalla article sir

 
At Saturday, September 27, 2008 2:47:00 PM, Blogger madhatter said...

wow, am i a couple of years late to this blog! planning on moving myself in a few months... and i'm sure like your blog, it's going to be an interesting experience. potholes and milkman, here i come!

 
At Sunday, January 11, 2009 4:28:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ramesh,

Very incisive writing and you use humor to great effect!

Thanks for sharing,

MM

 
At Wednesday, March 18, 2009 10:12:00 AM, Blogger Parag Thakur said...

Thanks for the great post! I look forward to my move back and you've added that touch of encouragement that's so hard to find when you are swimming against the tide.

 
At Tuesday, March 24, 2009 11:23:00 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

If you happen to know an immigrant from India that has been living in NYC and is now moving back to India please get them in contact with me. I'm doing a photographic art documentation on reverse migration in New York City. I would love to discuss more with anyone interested!

 
At Tuesday, April 28, 2009 3:08:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Ramesh,

I completely enjoyed reading this. I relocated from US, 8 months back and I suffer from the US hangover now and then. Surprising since I spent a very short time there - just three years. But I travelled a lot within the US and yes, I guess it's the travelling I miss the most.

I am comofortable with everything else - the luxury, maid servants etc:-) And of course nothing compares to the family support we receive here.

I do miss the seasons though - especially the fall in upstate NY.

Sylvia - I used to live close to NY city and work there - if that interests you.

Mrs. R

 
At Wednesday, December 09, 2009 9:49:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great post! Thank you for sharing.

I came across this blog by accident and like you, I made a lot of visits before deciding on the move back. I have to say that this is one of the few posts which reinstates my ideas and reasons for the move back. I wish more of us Indians in US/ Europe could see life this way and decide on extending a helping hand in our country's development (and of course, benefit from it in return too!). Frankly, it's time to think beyond the fact that we want to stay back because we can't deal with corruption/ pollution etc or for that matter some of us think that a western developed country is the only place where there is comfort. As one of my friend puts it "I am staying here because I like to enjoy a glass of good wine in the evenings". To my surprise he likes Haldiram namkeem with his french/ californian wines!

For those thinking on the lines of moving back, I can assure you that you can enjoy that glass out here too!

 
At Wednesday, January 13, 2010 12:35:00 AM, Blogger Supriyo Chaudhuri said...

Fascinating insights, thank you. I am planning my own return back, and in that Visit India state. I think I shall follow some of your advice - not be consumed by relatives etc and be more patient with rudeness, almost start to expect it.

It will be great to know how you are getting on though.

 
At Tuesday, July 06, 2010 12:33:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

very heartening to read about ur blog on reverse migration.
and just when u start thinking.....'maybe i should have stayed back' , its worthwhile taking a peep at the "good news india" site sometimes

 
At Thursday, July 15, 2010 6:45:00 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

What a great article, I like very much.
Regards,
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At Thursday, July 29, 2010 8:58:00 AM, Blogger Priya Darshini Arjunan said...

I read your post on Reverse migration and I think you epitomised as well as scandalised the Indian way of life... Loved it!!!

 
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At Wednesday, February 09, 2011 4:38:00 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

You wrote an absolutely fabulous piece. I feel you got to the core of the India scene - both new and old.

I wish, on one had I could pack my Colorado home in boxes, but why!!! I can furnish and create a new living space that is totally Indian, not to say that my Colorado home doesn't have an Indian flair to it. With a name like Om Shanti, the mountain people around here, wonder where this chick hails from.

Every time I visit India, I feel I never left. Now, I would like to become part of this 'happening' nation.

Once more your words were great - many thanks

Mary Bhim-Rao

 
At Thursday, February 17, 2011 3:53:00 PM, Anonymous Mini said...

Great blog! enjoyed reading your experiences..

 
At Thursday, April 21, 2011 9:09:00 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Dear Ramesh,

I read your piece this morning and I my day is off to a good start.

As a fellow returnee (2 decades in the us), 1/2 decade in desh after coming back, here's another experience.

In the late 80's and early 90's during my periodic visits back to "desh", there was the omnipresent tug to return back to the US. Guess what, it's exactly the reverse these days. After all is said and done, US feels gloomy, India seems bright.

/rk

 
At Friday, April 22, 2011 9:14:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey what about getting adjusted to:

1) Infections (colds/stomach flues)
2) Nutrition?
3) Lack of Organic food
4) Adulterated Milk?

 
At Sunday, July 03, 2011 5:29:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, Ramesh,
I am an ardent fan of yours since SCI days. My only concern is that back in 90s' we had come to US to develop an intellectual 'toofaan' in all major industries in US, and now since that vortex has moved to India, what will happen to ordinary Indians residing in India? Rich Indians from US will inflate everything in India, including housing costs, living standards, education, etc, for a while, until their money strength dwindles. Isn't this a paradox? Rich NRI in India become poor? Where is our strength as an NRI returnig to India? This is another N+1-1 syndrome...

 

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