Moving Back to India From USA - Part 1

 

 Introduction

A very common question that arises in anyone living on H1B or student visa in the USA is that what happens when I come back to India. I have spent days discussing with my US friends about what to do and what not to do in case we go to India one day. Somehow I was very clear that I wanted to move back to India in case my H1B application does not get picked up in the lottery or maybe I was tired of all the restrictions imposed on me due to my visa. Here in this blog post, I am going to write down some of my experiences about moving back to India from the USA. 

Be prepared for chaos

In a very short sentence, there is chaos everywhere in the city. You will notice this as soon as you reach the airport arrival gate. Discipline in traffic is rare. It is absolutely normal to see trucks coming on the wrong side on a busy highway, SUVs driving on the wrong side in-office hours, etc. There is one very important thing to remember is that there is at least one virtual lane available for drivers in the city. Depending on the situation, this one lane can be converted into more lanes. Mirrors are just for aesthetics as you will often find people driving with their mirrors shut. These are few instances but in reality, I still feel a bit nervous driving around in the city. So if you enjoy chaos then you are welcome to add up to chaos else sit tight while someone else is driving on your behalf. 

Work-Life

As most of us already know, work-life in India is very different than other countries. This also varies based on the city and the size of the company. I have worked in Tier-II city in a medium-scale outsourcing firm as well as a start-up. I will try to explain my overall experience here as well some insights I get from my friends working in other cities. 

The first thing that you may need to adjust is the work hours. In contrast to other countries, working hours are a bit different in India. This thing is changing at several places with small and medium companies allowing flexible work hours. This does change a lot from city to city. Cities like Bangalore, pune etc. are adapting to such things in a much better way as compared to tier II cities. 

Because of late hours (10:30 - 7:30ish), usually it is a bit tricky to allocate a time slot for a hobby or some other stuff. If you are an early morning person then it gives you the best chance to make most of the day. Very limited number of gyms here are 24*7. Most gyms shut at 9:00 so it is almost impossible to go to gym in the evening. 

It is absolutely normal to work after office hours here especially in small companies. There is no concept of overtime here. Managers are allowed to call you at any time and expect you to take action based on the requirements. These things are very contrasting to what I saw in the Unites States. This may not apply to every company but this is an important point to consider. 

Usually IT companies are adapting to 5 days a week but still there are many companies which have 6 days working or optionally alternate weekends off. MNCs usually have weekends off but smaller companies have still not adapted to 5 days a week policy. 

Weekends

Weekend usually revolves around friends. There are limited number of activities that can be done on the weekend. So the most common way to socialize is over lunch/dinner. Usually it is Sunday as not everyone in your circle has off on Saturday. Bowling/golf range is not very popular here and are relatively expensive when we compare against the salaries people get here. Parks/hiking trails are not everywhere. Cities like pune, Bangalore have some places about an hour off the city but at least Ahmedabad does not provide such opportunity. 

There are several options in winter to visit places around Ahmedabad but since people have visited it several times, people are reluctant to visit them again and again. 

Board games and card games are gaining more popularity here. Sequence, catan have gained immense popularity over the last few years. If you like outdoor sports like badminton, tennis then there are few options if you are not a member of a club. There are not many public parks as there are in US. There are only few big parks and others are relatively small. 

Conclusion

To conclude this blog, I would like to state that it is not as difficult to move to India from USA. There are pros and cons which I am going to write in subsequent blog posts to make it short and sweet. In city like Ahmedabad, opportunities for software professionals are limited. So be prepared to move to Bangalore/Pune or other city for better opportunities. Weekends can be more productive as you do not have to spend time on laundry, ironing etc. In upcoming blogs I will try to cover some other aspects of life here. :)