After spending more than a decade in the United States, an Indian woman decided to move back home with her family. While she says life in Hyderabad has brought her closer to loved ones, there are still a few things she misses about living abroad.
In an interview with the Instagram page DeshWaapsi, which shares stories of Indians returning from the US, she spoke about adjusting to life in India, what surprised her children, and the advice she has for other NRIs planning a similar move. The video has now been deleted.
She Misses Everyday Kindness
The woman said she had lived in Cupertino, California, for 11 years, while her husband spent 16 years in the US. The couple, who have a seven-year-old and a two-year-old, decided to return to India mainly
to be closer to family. They chose Hyderabad because their relatives live there. “My in-laws are here,” she said.
When asked what she misses most about life in the US, she spoke about the way strangers interacted with each other. “People are so kind there,” she said, explaining that it was common for people to smile, greet each other or simply say hello while passing by. She laughed while comparing it with her experience in India.
“Here, no one cares!” She also shared how her son found this change surprising. According to her, he would often ask, “Mummy, why is she not saying hi to me?”
Although she misses those everyday interactions and her group of friends in the US, she said being back in India has also brought something valuable. “I am seeing my parents more often,” she said.
She Shared Advice For NRIs
The woman also spoke about one challenge families should think about before moving back to India, finding the right school for their children. She said parents should not rush into placing children in higher grades without making sure they are ready.
Sharing her own experience, she said her eldest daughter had completed kindergarten in the US before the family moved to India. According to her, the school they approached in India was ready to admit her daughter directly into the second grade without carrying out any assessment.
“Here they were like, ‘It’s okay, she can put it in the second grade,’” she recalled. She said that decision made things difficult for her daughter. “And she struggle a lot. They not even put her assessment,” she explained, adding that the school never conducted an “assessment exam” to understand her daughter’s learning level.
The family later realised that skipping a grade was affecting her education. “Frustrated, they pushed us. But now I realize, ‘No, it’s not good for her,’ and I put back her… back her in second grade,” she said.
She advised parents returning from abroad to carefully think about school admissions and not rely only on online information. “Choosing school is very, very hard,” she said, adding that depending only on “video calls and reviews and feedback” while “staying from US” is not enough to understand how schools work in India.
