Leaving Dubai and Going Back to India for Good
Came to Dubai with dreams. Big ones.
Like many others, I arrived with hope, pressure, responsibilities, and loans on my head. I wanted to build a better life, support my family, create a secure future, and grow in my career.
Ironically, things started well. Within a month of landing in Dubai, I got a really good high-paying role. Signed the offer letter. Felt like life was finally moving in the right direction.
The very next day, the war started.
Two months later, I was placed on unpaid leave.
Since then, it’s been exhausting.
The market is flooded, companies are lowballing experienced professionals, and people are expected to work director-level roles for salaries that barely cover survival here. Every day became LinkedIn messages, applications, follow-ups, networking, hoping someone would just reply.
Most didn’t.
What hurts even more is seeing recruiters and “career influencers” posting emotional stories daily about supporting candidates, giving opportunities, understanding struggles while many are just farming engagement. Fake job posts. “DM to apply.” Endless motivational content. No real replies. No real opportunities.
It breaks you slowly.
I’m tired. Mentally exhausted. Heartbroken, honestly.
But somewhere in all this disappointment, I realized something important.
India is home.
And maybe I was so busy chasing the idea of success abroad that I forgot how much potential, warmth, talent, resilience, and opportunity our own country has. India is chaotic, emotional, difficult sometimes but it’s alive. It’s ours.
So I’m going back.
Not as someone who failed, but as someone who learned.
I want to build something in India now. Create work there. Build a life there. Maybe even help people who feel as lost as I did during this phase.
Dubai taught me a lot. Some beautiful things. Some painful ones.
But my heart wants to go home.