This week I will be completing a year that I am back from US and well settled in my home country. There were several achievements/changes, biggest among them was to find my life partner. In less than month and half I will be married too.
Referring back to my blog where I mentioned about moving back to India (
link) I talked about moving to India has advantages of living in growing economy, having sense of belonging and having citizenship restored. All this points I truly feel are making my transition meaningful and enjoyable.
"Living in growing economy" - Though India's economy has shrunk a lot in wake of global economic downturn but it is still a place where economy is positive. The GDP is expected to be around 7% for 2009!. Definitely living here is fun with so many new multiplexes, malls and other projects coming up (I agree it has slowed down a lot though from when I moved back)
"Sense of belonging" - Living in India, with 1.11 Billion population, lots of traffic, pollution, long queues - no more bothers me. Though there were few incidents where I felt pity for the country (Bomb blasts at several Indian cities, Mumbai attacks, moving of IPL on security concerns) but it is part and parcel of living in a country with such a population with so many religions and cultures. Every morning, when I wake up, I feel proud, happy and meaningful.
"Citizenship restored" - Am sure many would agree with me that "Citizenship" as biggest boon of living in one's own country. In such a tough situation for H1 holders, living in one's country reduces lot of INS, H1, paper work tensions and issues. Definitely peace of mind! And soon (Apr 16h), I will be exercising my franchise by voting both assembly and parliament elections.
Revising my FAQ's :P
What am I missing most? - Friends. I have got used to daily life though (esp with lot of helping hands and advancement of technology, leading daily life is much easier now compared to 6-7 years before. I bragged about traffic but now I am one of them). I miss the evening hours though, work in India drags to late evenings :(
Whats exciting? Food (Apart from authentic home made, Hyderabad has gone mutli cusine place now, its easy to find Mexican, Greek, Thai food), freedom from H1/Green card paper work (ah! you cant believe how much less worried man you are residing in your own country), enjoying Indian music, movies, TV and cricket. On seasons perspective - though summer is very hot, somehow India's weather is more energetic (esp that days are not very short in winter as in US)
Will you be back? Well time will answer. As of now I have no plans and currently would like to continue to stay in India.
