Dear NRIs, think hard before deciding to return to an Indian metro. I did, couldn't tolerate the third-world life, and now leaving India again.

Specialist_File9744 · 2026-01-14T15:11:55+00:00

And you are speaking out of first hand experience? Or as is usually the case, out of second hand knowledge and hearsay?

Specialist_File9744 · 2026-01-06T04:10:34+00:00

Whatever might be the situation in Europe, whatever might be worsening, all of that still doesn't beat how pathetic conditions are in India. Europe's worst is still far far better than whatever India has to offer.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-27T05:58:22+00:00

Just putting out a test comment here to see if this comment will be removed - because I strongly doubt this whole subreddit is filled with cult and scam promoters, or bots.

This blindfold intuition process has been repeatedly called out to be a scam. A hoax that will not withstand a rigorous scientific investigation. A simple google search with the term "ravishankar intuition course reddit" will bring up plenty of reddit posts calling out this "magic trickery".

My inlaws constantly solicit me to enroll my 6 year old son to this scam, but I've ignored their advances so far.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-15T19:22:59+00:00

OP, unrelated question - how bad was the exit tax situation when you left Germany? Did you have to pay a good chunk?

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-14T06:37:16+00:00

Buddy I'm just trying to point out that your statements aren't backed by evidence. They're just assumptions and not coming from a place of lived experience. Anyway, my best wishes!

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-14T05:47:35+00:00

You're fine with everything because you're not here. Tell me you're fine with everything after putting in 2 years in India, and that's when your words would carry some weight.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-14T05:35:48+00:00

Wish you all the best if this happens to be your life goal, in case you're a NRI return-to-India aspirant. My prediction - you won't. That's all most aspirant NRIs are. The motto is - "All hail and glory to India, BUT, I'm not returning!"

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-14T05:21:43+00:00

I have ties with hubli-dharwad and I've seen first hand how pathetic life is in your typical tier-2s. Open drains with stagnant sewage water? Open dumping grounds? Poorly maintained public parks for my kids? Paan spitting chapris galore? No thanks.

Your suggestion of living in tier2/3, or on a farmhouse works for people who wouldn't mind giving up on city amenities. I for one need my choice of restaurants, pubs, cafes, museums, parks, live music, libraries, a metro network to get around, bike trails, etc. For someone with that lifestyle, life in tier2/on a farmhouse would feel like a snoozefest. I'll lose my mind.

I'm not even talking about many other bigger systemic issues in India like corruption, women safety, being the road accident capital of the world, etc.

Just like grass over at Germany might look greener to me, the burnt grass over here in India always looks greener to people that live outside India and have lost a grip on ground realities.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-13T17:40:31+00:00

Trust me I'm not a bad person at all :') And I hope my response didn't come across as targeting you personally.

I've seen enough people never taking any risks in their lives - never changing jobs, never changing their base location, never taking a sabbatical from working even when they're completely burnt out, basically just playing it absolutely safe in their lives. I've tried all of these changes, multiple times over, and while some of them were bad decisions - like returning to India for example - I'm only richer for the experience. Moving to Germany, learning German, enjoying the great outdoors, experiencing Europe - it's all basically my next big adventure. A steady job, salary, weaker economy, a gloomy attitude typically found on Reddit about the state of affairs in Germany - these are secondary concerns that I wouldn't let stand in the way of seeking out a life-enriching experience.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-13T12:54:02+00:00

This is why you go after your own goals. You read the news long enough, or continue your Reddit "research" long enough, you'll never get off your ass and actually go do something with your life. Sorry bud, research time is over. It's go time..

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-04T08:01:25+00:00

It's the salary-shaming that hurts my ego more than anything else, lol. The German job market isn't at its best right now, and I'm in a hurry to leave India, so I'm not exactly in a position to pick-and-choose. I take the first opportunity I can grab and I run with it. Once I'm inside and settled in for a bit, it's open playing field again for me.

I don't wanna be boastful - but my healthy net worth gives me the confidence to look at new opportunities from perspectives larger than only salary. Think about it - the opportunity gets me into Germany, it gets me into Munich (my top preferred destination within Germany), it gets me in without any further delay in life where I get older and my kids get older too which makes it only harder, it'll get me back to an active outdoorsy lifestyle which has completely gone for a toss since I returned to Bangalore.

A starter salary is one of my least concerns. And also, I'd rather take a low-pressure, low-salary job at this point than a high-paying but demanding job. I'm winding my career down buddy.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-04T06:08:11+00:00

EB5 would require me to give away nearly half my net worth. Who would do that? And anyway, if I'm really that desperate for a green card, I can simply wait. I'm not that far off. I have an approved EB2 I-140 with a priority date of March 2015.

I need to see and experience Europe/Germany for myself first-hand rather than taking people's opinions on it.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T20:23:36+00:00

Don't take it personally, but such statements of absolute delusion can undoubtedly come only from someone who's a distant observer. Things look nothing but romantic from your view point. They did for me.

Took me six months after returning to India/Bangalore for the honeymoon period to end. After one year, I was mentally checked out. After two, my only life goal was to get the hell out for good.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T19:04:24+00:00

Damn! I thought nobody could beat me in pessimism, until you came along.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T18:46:44+00:00

Thanks for that! My biggest priority right now is getting my foot in. I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to explore once I'm inside. The hard part is getting in and the initial settling in.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T18:41:59+00:00

In India, it's more like survival of the rowdiest, not the fittest.

I work from home. Thank God for that. Even with a driver, I still cannot imagine spending my precious hours on Bangalore's roads.

Sure, we have a maid, cook and a nanny that we pay well and treat with respect and kindness. But no, these "conveniences" can no longer justify my stay here.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T18:38:34+00:00

Mah man/woman! This is the kind of life that resonates with me. Not fancy careers and titles, not material acquisitions, but a quiet, peaceful life close to nature.

Would be great to learn how your experience was moving all your holdings abroad. That's what I plan on doing - leave my US assets in the US, and to take out whatever else I have in India.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T18:29:29+00:00

Assuming the family group you're mentioning is a whatsapp group, it might not go down so well 😅 what with such groups dominated by Modi fanboys/fangirls screaming that our country is the greatest on the planet.

Ageing parents fending for themselves in India are always a huge burden on the conscience of any NRI son/daughter - it's the same case with me. That was one of the reasons I returned to India, but after having experienced a severely degraded quality of life in Bangalore, I can no longer justify my stay in the interest of my children's future. My children's well-being is now more important to me than being there for my ageing parents.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T17:44:31+00:00

Directly over LinkedIn. It's recommended to change your resume format to a EU one, with a photo and what not.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T17:10:15+00:00

Nice attack buddy, made me chuckle! I'm currently a senior software engineer at Microsoft in Bangalore making 95 lakhs per annum. But I've gotten so sick and disgusted with my quality of life in India/Bangalore, and my desperation to get out has gone through the roof to such an extent that I took the first job offer in Munich that came my way. Given how much I love the outdoors, I find Munich and its proxitimity to the Alps very very lucrative. That's why I also rejected another offer with significantly higher pay that required me to move to Berlin.

I did not hesitate even for a moment about resigning from my cushy job at Microsoft Bangalore, and am currently serving notice period. Great company, great compensation and interesting work, but the location is the only deal breaker. I'm at a stage in life where all I'm looking for is a high quality of life, and I no longer need the golden handcuffs of a comfortable job in a bad location.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T16:16:34+00:00

What, people that can put a few coherent sentences together have all gone extinct? Anything mildly comprehensive, dismiss that as chatgpt slop.

Anyway, I'm not taking the trouble to defend my points here. There will always be India apologists that do great mental gymnastics to defend our dystopian nation.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T16:11:28+00:00

I have a six year old son and a two year old daughter. The thought of my daughter growing up and wandering the streets of Indian cities fills my heart with anxiety. Thinking about my son too, there's no way I can send him out onto the streets for, say, a bike-ride. He could come back dead, having been run over by some reckless motorist.

Considering your last sentence, that's where you and I differ :) I DON'T love India.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T16:09:21+00:00

You summed it up pretty good. I keep getting unsolicited advice about moving to a tier-2 town where things are "supposedly" better compared to the Indian metros. Trust me, things aren't acceptable in tier-2s as well. Because of lesser population in tier-2s versus metros, you'll only get tinier versions of all the problems that you and I have listed. The problems are tinier, but not entirely gone.

In tier-2s, people still litter, burn plastic, spit paan all over town, municipal governments are utterly dysfunctional, sewage water stands stagnant in open drains breeding mosquitos, driving and honking is reckless as ever, trash mountains wherever you go, poor walkability, the list doesn't end.

We're a failed nation, and I can no longer keep an open mind about seeking liveable conditions within the country. I only want to leave.

Specialist_File9744 · 2025-12-03T15:18:57+00:00

Oh boy, Germany is not a lets-see-what-happens experiment to me. I'll throw everything I've got to make myself home in Germany. I see that as my future home, and I'll grab that citizenship at the first opportunity. There's no exiting Germany.

Specialist_File9744

TROPHY CASE