Is the grass still greener on the other side, or is the reality changing? (Looking for NRI perspectives on the next 5-10 years)
I'm at a stage in life where money is no longer the primary factor determining where I live.
I work for a US client while living in India, earn well, and realistically have the option to relocate to several countries if I choose to. Most days, I feel like I should.
The reasons are obvious- our people and the system we have built or adopted from the British.
Pollution has become so normalized that we hardly notice its impact on our health anymore, and there is no civic discipline. It’s not uncommon to see people in expensive cars rolling down their windows to toss trash onto the road or even stealing flower pots along the way.
As a parent, I see issues like the recent NEET and CBSE controversies, poor public infrastructure, road safety concerns, women’s safety, and the overall quality of governance, and I wonder if I’ve just grown used to things that shouldn’t be accepted. What frustrates me most is the lack of accountability and meaningful response from our leaders. The media rarely addresses real issues, and political parties seem more focused on clinging to power than working for the people.
Then I travel abroad and notice how much mental energy is saved when things simply work.
People follow rules. Roads are safer. Public spaces are cleaner. Government services are more predictable. There is less noise, less chaos, and less daily friction.
If I were in my 20s and unmarried, I would probably have moved without much hesitation. The trade-off would have felt simple: take the risk in exchange for better infrastructure, cleaner systems, and a higher quality of life.
But at this stage of life, the decision feels much less straightforward.
Many countries seem less welcoming to immigrants than they were a decade ago, partly due to how some Indians behave outside India. PR and citizenship pathways are getting harder. Visa dependence feels risky. In India, we worry about reckless THAR drivers on the road; in the US, people worry about ICE, school shootings, political uncertainty, or growing anti-immigrant sentiment across the globe.
More importantly, I now have a wife and a toddler. Stability matters.
Our parents are getting older. Being a 15-hour flight away sounds very different at 40 than it did at 25. There is also something deeply underrated about having family, cousins, old friends, festivals, and a support system around you.
So I'm curious to hear from people who have actually lived on both sides of this decision.
For NRIs:
- If you were making the decision today, not 10 years ago, but today, would you still leave India?
- What do you think the next 5-10 years will look like for the developed countries that have seen the highest levels of Indian migration?
- Has the quality-of-life gap remained as large as people in India imagine, or is that gap narrowing while the costs and challenges of immigration continue to increase?
- Do you genuinely feel your family's overall life is better, or do you sometimes wonder whether you gave up more than you gained?
Part of the reason I'm thinking about this is that I recently stumbled upon a YouTube video where someone said, "If you move abroad today, your next 10 generations will thank you." Of course, the person was in the immigration business, so I took it with a grain of salt. But it did make me think. if I am being shortsighted, or even selfish, by choosing to stay because of the reasons above? Am I prioritizing my own comfort, proximity to family, and current lifestyle over opportunities that could potentially benefit my child and future generations?