I spoke to a friend yesterday.She too had gone to India this summer and we were talking about how expensive the whole trip was.We were laughing about how we scrimp and save here and then go home and spend it all!!
Then it struck me-the whole reason we had hordes of people come over from India was because the standard of living in the US is dramatically better that in India-which actually,still holds good.But the basic premise-that of better job options for qualified people-is actually gone.
But we do have to keep up appearances don't we?So,we play the tourist to the hilt-no scrimping and saving for us-just flaunting!!And with the exchange rate up to almost $56.00-people went berserk(at least I did!!)

There is an exodus of NRIs moving back home-life,after all,is looking up back home-thanks to software giants recognizing the potential of Indian engineers who will work for much lesser than an engineer in the US.But the question remains-is life looking up in every sense or just the professional one?

Sadly I feel that it is indeed the latter rather than the former.After having lived almost 15 years(a few weeks short!!) in the US,I feel that it takes an enormous amount of will power and a certain pull-be it familial,or social or cultural to make someone move back to India.
I am someone who constantly complains about life here-the value system,the crazy patterns of consumption,the sense of entitlement and of late, the racial undertone that pervades of a lot of issues in the limelight.But I wouldn't want to move back home for more than a few reasons.

First off,the driving nightmare that is India will literally kill you!!! Really,I mean it.Crossing the road is a major hazard back home and after a few years of living in a country where traffic rules are obeyed to a T,there is a good chance you will get run over,the first time you try crossing a road.

Secondly,everyday life is very cumbersome-there is a constant struggle for everything in India-people have not reached that stage in life where there is this confidence that there is enough to go around-thanks to a succession of corrupt governments-there really isn't enough of anything to go around,so people cut lines,pay bribes,jostle,fight and somehow seek to fulfill their needs,others be damned.

Case in point-my trip to a KFC-a KFC!!
I was standing in line when this guy walked in and walked right up to the counter,which he deemed free because the clerk wasn't at the counter(don't ask me!).But the clerk had noticed me and so waved him back in line and asked me to come forward.So if there is a chance,people will not hesitate to cheat if it will get them what they want.

Getting something as simple as a passport will test you -you can have every document asked for,but you will not get your passport in the time specified-actually the time will never be specified!! Try getting a electricity connection for a new house,or a phone line,or a natural gas connection-unless you know someone or are willing to grease a few palms-things will not happen on schedule.Civil servants work at their own pace and have no fear about losing their jobs,so if you are used to things happening on time,without any artificial inducements ,then India is not the place for you.
I know someone who wanted a phone line transferred and went to the official in charge to apply for the transfer but was actually asked why she bothered to move,and thus inconvenience him and the telephone department as a whole!!

People will attempt to fleece you at every opportunity-auto rickshaw drivers are specialists at this-their MO is to promise using a meter to calculate distance travelled and hence the cost,but always claiming the meter was messed up and the passenger needs to cough up more than what the meter shows-ingenious!!

Having to go through all this on a daily basis is tough enough without having to contend with the utter lack of sanitation,the garbage strewn on the roads,blocked sewer lines,pothole ridden roads,crazy traffic jams, and even crazier drivers.
Through all this discomfort, for most people who go back-the return on that major investment of going back is the sense of belonging-the mess is OUR mess,the traffic-OURS!!You don't feel like an outsider looking in-you are inside,part of that melee that is India-the smells.the sights,the noise,the swell of people who jostle through life everyday-that is a heady feeling!!I did feel that all the six weeks we stayed there,I have to confess.

Even an American like my son who whined at every turn the first two weeks in India,and finally settled in, had problems adjusting to life once we got back home to the US-he  still calls his grandparents every single day,and even took back every mean thing he had to say about India while we were there-that is the pull it exerts on us.In fact he was angry with his father for coming over to the US to do his Post-Graduate degree because that,apparently,is why we are stuck here!!

So while I agree  that Mera Bharat Mahan- snobby as I might sound,I am staying put right where I am-unless circumstances compel me to do otherwise!!