Eight years ago on this day, we took a flight out of SFO to Bangalore (never to go back - to this day at least!). We were coming back home, for me, after a seven year stint in the US.
I was a little nervous - we heard so much and yet so little. So few people moved back for good. Would we like it? Would we hate it?
Adding to that, I had never worked in India before - my first job and entire career had been in the US. People warned about things being different. There being more politics. The whole "sir", "madam" culture. Phew!
We came, we landed at a friend's place (of course all this is history, anyone can read it on my blog if they scroll back eight years!), they were gracious enough to host us for a week. Next day we set out with the friend's car and driver, spanned the length and breadth of Outer Ring Road and by evening had actually signed the lease for an apartment.
I still miss that apartment, so roomy, and airy. On the tenth floor, with a beautiful view of Bellandur Lake every morning!
Then we hunted for a house to own, bought one, had a kid, lost mother in law, had another kid, moved (in some direction at least) in careers and what not. Its been a blissful journey, one that I would not alter for anything.
It definitely helped me that most of the management at work here was from SJ and had worked there predominantly - the culture was exactly the same, made it a lot easier to blend in. My first and last day at Cisco SJ were exactly the same - 3/21. Exactly three years. I still miss that team, I have often said, the team and manager were the only things I ever missed from the US ;) But now I can confidently say, I have had many experiences here which help alleviate the longing for being back in a team exactly like that!
After we lost my mother-in-law, we often wondered, at least in the first couple of years, if we should move back. We have even traveled places to see if we would like to live there. Till date, we have not found another country we would like to immigrate to (US was anyway ruled out, been there done that, it wouldn't be exciting anymore unless some day we are forced to go back because of a super lucrative offer ;) ;) ). End of the day, polluted, or dusty, or crowded, or hot, we love this land, we want to be a part of its journey to greatness - we hope we will journey to greatness in our lifetimes and our kids will be happy and proud to have been born here!
To that day, cheers!
I was a little nervous - we heard so much and yet so little. So few people moved back for good. Would we like it? Would we hate it?
Adding to that, I had never worked in India before - my first job and entire career had been in the US. People warned about things being different. There being more politics. The whole "sir", "madam" culture. Phew!
We came, we landed at a friend's place (of course all this is history, anyone can read it on my blog if they scroll back eight years!), they were gracious enough to host us for a week. Next day we set out with the friend's car and driver, spanned the length and breadth of Outer Ring Road and by evening had actually signed the lease for an apartment.
I still miss that apartment, so roomy, and airy. On the tenth floor, with a beautiful view of Bellandur Lake every morning!
Then we hunted for a house to own, bought one, had a kid, lost mother in law, had another kid, moved (in some direction at least) in careers and what not. Its been a blissful journey, one that I would not alter for anything.
It definitely helped me that most of the management at work here was from SJ and had worked there predominantly - the culture was exactly the same, made it a lot easier to blend in. My first and last day at Cisco SJ were exactly the same - 3/21. Exactly three years. I still miss that team, I have often said, the team and manager were the only things I ever missed from the US ;) But now I can confidently say, I have had many experiences here which help alleviate the longing for being back in a team exactly like that!
After we lost my mother-in-law, we often wondered, at least in the first couple of years, if we should move back. We have even traveled places to see if we would like to live there. Till date, we have not found another country we would like to immigrate to (US was anyway ruled out, been there done that, it wouldn't be exciting anymore unless some day we are forced to go back because of a super lucrative offer ;) ;) ). End of the day, polluted, or dusty, or crowded, or hot, we love this land, we want to be a part of its journey to greatness - we hope we will journey to greatness in our lifetimes and our kids will be happy and proud to have been born here!
To that day, cheers!
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