r2i forum

Me and my wife we are both in early forties with both having professional careers and US Citizenships. We have 2 kids aged 8 and 5. Most of my family is settled in US but my wife?s family is in India. We have good busy life with not much to complain as we have been blessed financially and have fairly well standard of living.

But, somehow it feels like we are missing and loosing touch with our roots. We also feel that our children do not have the cultural foundation even when they go to Chinmayananda spiritual classes, we visit temples and attend Indian festivals.

Since our kids are small we want to attempt R2I for shorter duration. (As short as 2-3 years) We would like to return to US before our kids go to high school as we believe college education in US is much better in terms of options available. So we want to R2I

To give kids cultural background.

To get in touch with our roots.

We are planning to move to place like Goa where we have family ties and life is simpler. My wife my stay home and focus on kids and I will do something to keep myself busy. Being in IT I do not expect problem finding something. We feel financially we should be able to manage. We also see no problem in returning to US after few years and restarting our careers again.

The question I want to pose to community is does it make sense to R2I for shorter duration?

Please share your thoughts, concerns, comments.

Thanks in advance.

Indiafan,

Have you researched schools in Goa? That was one of our major drawbacks. Also the closest hospital (for medical emergencies) is Manipal - a few hours away! the people are progressive, but the 'susegath' thing may also be a bit difficult to adapt to.

These may or may not be major issues for you - but I was wondering if you had some datapoints on those issues, and your thoughts on that.

bangaloreappa:

Thanks for raising these points. Hospitals are quite a few in big cities like Panaji. We have a quite a few old relatives in Goa who seem to be availing them quite frequently these days. I probably would not do a heart surgery in Goa but for regular stuff it should be ok.

Schools has been our big concern. We have identified schools that offer CBSE. They are not NRI type schools but academically might be sufficient. Overall Indian schools seem to have better fundamental education than what our daughter is learning in the US. We may have to supplement that with extra activities such as Tennis, Piano etc which is available in big cities. We will check out couple of schools when we visit Goa and the choice of schools will be the most important factor influencing our quest to R2I.

As far as 'susegath', I do not think I will not complain for at least 2-3 years considering more than decade of hectic life here.

It is certainly a good idea. No amount of ?Indian centric activity? in US will give the same exposure to kids as staying in India. Kids pick up the culture, their identity and their language much faster and easier during their stay in India. But be sure you will like ( or atleast be OK with ) your job before you move. Work is the major compromise one has to make. As for schools/education/activities in India, you will have comparable or even better options in India (Post Graduation/Research is where there will be a major advantage in US, for a long time to come..)

P.S: Be prepared ? you/wife/kids might be tempted to stay on for longer than planned!!!

Indiafan,

We had a relative ( in forties) who got into an accident and had to be taken to Manipal as the medical requirements were serious. It proved fatal and the delay in getting medical attention was one of the causes - this was about 8-9 years ago and hopefully things have changed since then!

But I was curious about your confidence in getting a Job in goa - with your background in IT. Can you shed some color on that?

Back to your original topic, I think it is the right age from your kids perspective to go back. But why are you thinking of short term only?
anyway, here are some things I would consider if I had a plan to come back in 2-3 years:

ensure that the kids will have a easy transition back into the school system in the US.

set aside a relocation fund (USD) for managing the transition back to the US. I think staying the US and being unemployed is very expensive compared to India.

have a backup plan if the short term stay becomes looong term (as #3 mentioned).

2-3 years will not work. Believe me, diehard R2I's find it very difficult to adjust and takes atleast a year to cope up with the facts(personal example). By the way moving is a pain and across continents is very painful. You will R2A very soon and a short gap still will not hold in the long run for your kids. It looks like you are very well settled in US and have most of your relatives there, so why bother to try this out since the transition associated with to and fro within 2-3 years will surely be worth nothing other than frustration.