‘Reality most people don’t show you,’ says NRI counselor about moving back to India

NRI counselor Nupur Dave shared her thoughts about reconnecting with their roots, work culture difference, and the reality of commuting by saying ‘The reality most people don’t show you’ on Instagram over moving back to India. 

Nupur Dave, a Non-Resident Indian consultant and author as per her instagram bio, shared a video titled ‘NRI life in India’ in which she talked about Indian work culture reality for those who move back for work by writing in the caption,  “here’s the reality most people don’t show you.”

She talked about multinational companies (MNC)’s job locations which are at tech parks on the outskirts, “Your MNC job will likely be in a tech park on the outskirts. Whitefield in Bangalore. Gurgaon in Delhi. Hinjewadi in Pune. Far from where things actually happen.”

Then she shared his thoughts over the commute reality, where she asked to commute 90 minutes each way through traffic where you questions your life choices or live near the office where rent is cheaper and commute is only 15 minutes”, she said, adding, “but there’s nothing to do after 7 pm except order Swiggy and watch Netflix.”

She also shared her thoughts over the work rhythm by saying, ”The work rhythm is different too.” 

“Lunch isn’t at noon - it’s at 2pm. And it’s not transactional like the US where you eat a sad desk salad while on Slack. Here, lunch is social. Groups of colleagues stroll around the food court, gossip, take their time. It’s part of the culture.” she added 

Dave said that this is what working NRI life in India actually looks like by saying, “Long commutes, late lunches, and office friendships that go beyond work. Not the romanticised ‘moving back to your roots’ version - the actual daily grind version.”

In the end, she said that different from abroad, “Absolutely” she answered. Again she asked questions about whether it is better or worse, “Depends on what you value - convenience and systems, or chaos and connection,” she answered.