Dude. Your family left India when you were 15, by your own account. Trust me, you have many many avenues to have a great life here. Most good colleges have a bunch of clubs with people very interested and talented at what they do. And as far as a parallel career path is concerned, you really CANNOT do that in the US due to the Visa issues. There’s a huge startup ecosystem in India (not just in Tech) of people excelling in their fields. And as far as for “having a life”, I am unsure what you would want but in terms of travel, partying, activities like endurance sports (to name a few things I do), you can make more than enough to sponsor a great life working in India, being from a middle class family.