‘The equation worked for me’: an Indian techie’s honest verdict on moving home

An Indian professional who returned home from the US six years ago has offered a candid, balanced take on the decision, weighing what he gained against what he gave up. ‘I came because the equation worked for me,’ he wrote on X, responding to Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu’s open letter urging Indians abroad to return.

He traced his decision back to an H-1B visa stamping trip, when his uncle asked him, ‘If you want to do something of your own eventually, why not do it in India? Create value here.’ He moved back roughly six months later.

On the upside, he pointed to being closer to family, an easier time building professional networks, and the relief of no longer worrying about visa status. ‘There is no hanging sword of a visa or green card, no ‘go back to your country’ muttered in a parking lot. You are home,’ he wrote.

But he didn’t gloss over the difficulties, from repeatedly dug-up roads and long commutes to slow business permissions and the cost of good housing and schooling. His closing message was aimed at both sides of the debate: ‘Bharat needs us, yes. But Bharat also has to become a place worth coming to, not just a place we owe ourselves to.’

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Kushagra140