Confessions of an NRI Doctor: I’m personally benefiting from the Rupee's collapse, and I see zero incentive to ever return.
Hey everyone,
I wanted to post this to look specifically at the macroeconomic and structural picture in India right now, but from a perspective that might trigger some uncomfortable conversations.
Full disclosure: I am a doctor, and I moved outside of India last year.
In the single year since I left, the Indian currency has depreciated sharply, sliding past the 96.30 per US Dollar mark. Speaking completely candidly from a financial standpoint, I am a direct beneficiary of this collapse. Because of this government’s incompetent currency management, my foreign earnings stretch incredibly far when converted and sent back.
But looking past my own bank account leaves me feeling deeply sad, anxious, and cynical about our country's trajectory. I am at a point where I realize there are absolutely no visible advantages for me to ever move back.
Whenever people criticize the free fall of the Rupee, the standard, copy pasted defense is: "Global headwinds are strong, US yields are high, and all currencies are taking a hit."
But if you look at the hard, statistical numbers, we are taking a significantly worse beating than our actual economic peers.
1. The Regional Disconnect and Structural Failure
While the INR hits record lows every other week, peer Asian markets are handling the same global oil shocks and US interest rate hikes with far better resilience:
The Contrast: While the INR has slid drastically over the last 12 months, currencies like the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) have managed double digit surges against the USD during regional recoveries. The wider Bloomberg Asia Dollar Index has shown periods of stabilization that the INR completely decoupled from.
The Export Myth: If a weaker currency is supposedly "good for exports" (as the textbook defense goes), why has our export engine stagnated? According to World Bank data, India’s exports of goods and services were 22.9% of our GDP in 2014 when the Rupee was at ₹60. Today, with the Rupee past ₹96, exports as a percentage of GDP have actually shrunk to around 21.5% to 22.0%, while our annual trade deficit has nearly doubled to $119 billion.
2. The Systematic Devaluation and Danger of Being a Professional
Beyond the economic numbers, what truly terrifies me as a medical professional who once dreamed of returning is the absolute erosion of law, order, and basic human safety.
The Threat of Physical Violence: I am not speaking from a place of detached academic observation. I have personally experienced violence while working as a doctor on the ground in India. Hospitals have effectively turned into hostile zones where grieving or angry patient attendants transform into violent mobs in seconds, frequently backed by local political muscle.
A Culture of Subjugation: Inside the hospital walls, the environment is just as toxic. The medical hierarchy in India operates on institutionalized bullying. Junior residents face constant verbal abuse, systemic humiliation, and psychological torture by senior consultants who operate with god complexes and absolute impunity. There are zero repercussions for them, and zero institutional channels for us. Mental health support is a complete joke; you are just expected to suffer in silence or be broken by the system.
What Patriotism Gets You: Look at what happened to Dr. Abhishek Swarnkar. He was a brilliant 39 year old scientist who worked in top international institutions in Switzerland and the US. He chose to come back to India to serve at IISER Mohali. He was physically fragile after a recent kidney transplant, and he was brutally beaten to death by a local neighbor over a trivial row regarding a motorcycle parking space.
A man of that caliber was snuffed out by a bully with zero fear of the law. Why would any highly educated professional risk their life, physical safety, and mental sanity to return to a society that treats its workforce with such utter contempt?
3. The NRI Paradox: Why the Diaspora Loves the Current Setup
Being on the outside has made me realize something incredibly cynical. I now fully understand why so many NRIs blindly praise the current administration.
They are living in safe, highly developed foreign cities, completely insulated from the ground reality, the daily hospital violence, toxic pollution, and unchecked institutional bullying. Meanwhile, their foreign salaries get a massive, artificial boost back home because the Rupee keeps crashing. It is incredibly easy to shout patriotic slogans from abroad when a weakening Rupee literally makes you richer on paper.
4. The Stagnant Reality
For those of us who actually want to move back, what is the realistic incentive?
High Taxation, Zero Return: We face heavily increased tax brackets on professional income, but what do citizens actually get in return?
Liveability Crisis: Severe pollution control failures that turn major cities into seasonal gas chambers, crumbling public infrastructure, an absolute drop in street security, and zero institutional accountability.
It feels like the "zero corruption" and "economic powerhouse" narrative we voted for back in 2014 has completely hollowed out.
For those still on the ground dealing with this daily, how do you see this playing out? And for other NRIs, are we going to keep pretending everything is fine just because our remittances look bigger this month?
TL;DR: I am an NRI doctor who moved abroad last year. While I financially benefit from the Rupee crashing past 96 per USD due to favorable conversion rates, the structural failure back home breaks my heart. India's currency is performing worse than its Asian peers, exports as a percentage of GDP have actually shrunk since 2014, and structural deficits are expanding. Combined with high taxes, severe pollution, systemic hospital violence, and toxic medical hierarchies (highlighted by horrific real-life cases like Dr. Swarnkar), there is absolutely no incentive for highly qualified professionals to return. It is easy for the diaspora to praise the government when insulation from reality and currency depreciation actively makes them richer.