Leaving Berlin and moving back to India

Thoughts on moving back to India after living in Europe for two years

Context: For most of you who know me, in the winter of 2021 I packed my bags in Bangalore and left for Berlin to join a startup as a Product Designer. It was a dream come true in so many ways :)

A shot from my mini solo trip to Cinque Terre, Italy — Unsplash

2023 today and it’s been about 3 months since I moved back from Berlin to Bangalore, and most people I meet these days ask me why I left Berlin and came back to India. Here’s my perspective:

TL;DR — Do what makes you happy, what feels right for you. Live where you want to. Life is subjective, way more subjective than we think. One friend or even a few friends’ life arcs does not mean it is a better/worse path to take in life. Life pans out depending on the choices we make :)

1. I’ve had the 2 most incredible years of my life so far in Europe, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I experienced things I’d only dreamed of, learned massive amounts about work and life, travelled to incredible places, made friends for life, and lived a free and happy life.
2. Somewhere in between, life presented me with a choice — I could continue living there with a decent job at a startup, great work-life balance, and a comfortable life. OR join a startup in India, hustle (for the lack of a better word), still a comfortable life but with uncalled-for challenges, minus the frequent and amazing travel opportunities. I chose the latter.
3. In a country, especially that is not English speaking (read US, UK, etc), I’ve observed that it is very hard to feel a sense of “belonging” long-term. Culture, people, and upbringing are entirely different, and people resort to their spouse and/or their own smaller circles of comfort. Don’t get me wrong, this is absolutely fine, just that degrees of freedom are much lesser compared to your home country or a country where you enjoy similar benefits as a citizen.
4. Family — By average standards of brown women’s freedom in India, my family is extremely liberal and accepting. They wouldn’t mind if I lived in Norway for the rest of my life, but I’m close to my family, and want to be living somewhere close to them as they grow old :)
5. Wealth — If you earn decently well, which most techies do these days, you can be rich in India. Really rich. You can live a very convenient (maid, cook, whatnot) and comfortable lifestyle + travel. Best of both worlds.
6. The state of the world — Travel, opportunities, and the way work happens has changed significantly in today’s world. You can easily travel to the EU or the USA (or anywhere in the world really) in different ways and in different contexts, you don’t need to live there to experience it. For example, my job is fully remote, so I stayed, worked, and travelled from the EU for an extra 6 months. The world has changed, a lot, and very fast.
7. Last but not least — if I ever wanted to start something of my own — I’ve always had this clićhe dream of starting a unique space: a community cafe + library + pit stop for travelers from any walk of life (in the mountains maybe). Far from reality, but if I ever wanted to start something non-digital, no place I’d rather be than my homeland 🇮🇳

I’d deeply appreciate any feedback or criticism about both my writing and what I have to say. See more of my work: art, more writing, photography. Have a beautiful day 🖖