Second Inning - Diary of r2i-mumbai
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:35 am
Second Inning ? Diary of r2i-Mumbai
Returning to India was always the plan and this forum convinced me that I wasn?t alone in thinking along those lines although when I look around I am in the minority. I was surprised to see that so many other people share similar experience and thought process as me. Now that our R2I plan is in execution phase, I thought of writing a diary. As I write this, our container is shipping in 2 weeks and we are flying shortly after on a one way ticket.
So why are we returning? If this was a multiple choice question I would have selected ?All of the above? because all of the most common reasons will apply to us. If have to pick just one answer then that will be ?mission accomplished?. Many of us came here to learn, earn and get experience of working and living in a developed country. True to the promise, we got plenty of that and broadened our perspective. I think we can go back with this perspective and a positive attitude and make some meaningful contribution to the country that built our character that a country that we will always be associated with no matter where we live. I always considered US to be a place to learn and earn. Workplace can not be a place to live otherwise you will only work and earn, life will happen outside.
One of the reasons why I chose to title this diary as Second Inning is that in cricket, in first inning a target is set and that needs to be beaten in the second inning to win the game. In our case, we have set a target for ourselves of starting and running a successful business in India based on what we have learned and earned in developed world and now we starting the second inning to achieve and beat that target. The other reason is simple. I am 37 and life expectancy is India for my profile is about 74 so this is the beginning of second inning.
Our story is the same old software engineer story not much different from numerous other diaries on this forum. So if you are wondering why I am writing my diary then I have two reasons. First one is I am writing to find out what I am thinking. We only make key decisions like this once in a while and only in hindsight we will know if the decision was right or not. Since hindsight is not foresight we have our share of wrong decisions. Although we may remember the circumstances under which these decisions are made, we may not always remember exact thought process that went into making those decisions. Although many of these key decisions are unique in their own way with their own set of circumstances, the thought process that goes into making these decisions is very similar and in my case for the ones that turned out to be wrong. I am hoping that documenting the thought process will help me identify the pattern that leads to making a wrong decision. I will share some of the thought process and that may help someone sitting on the fence.
My other reason to write this diary is to share my relocation experience with others with the hope that at least someone with find it useful. I certainly found various diaries on this forum very informative and emotional. These diaries offer a perspective on life in India from the vantage point of someone who lived in developed world for 10+ years after growing up in India. This is a very unique perspective that only an R2Ier can offer. No one else has that perspective. A journalist will add too much color; Bollywood will add too much masala and Hollywood will genetically modify the story. These diaries are certified organic with homemade taste.
One of the few TV shows that I watch are reality game shows where contestants face challenges and earn rewards when they overcome these challenges. These game shows offer contestants lifelines designed to keep them playing the game to try and earn a huge and unimaginable reward. Oftentimes these contestants fail to realize that there is an optimum time to take the winnings and quit the game but the cheering crowed and trained game show host keeps them in the game. The end result is predictable. Contestants stay in the game for too long, lose all the lifelines and are either kicked out or walk away with much less reward that what they could have earned had they walked away sooner. Life of a typical immigrant in US is like this reality game show except that it is little complicated than a simple TV show. We all faced numerous challenges, earned big rewards but as in the game show, the lure of American Dream keeps us in the game for a just a little more. For a typical R2Ier playing this game, the lifelines are 1) kids are still in preschool, 2) Parents are still active and 3) A once in a while job or business opportunity back home. The key is to walk away while you still have those lifelines otherwise the bigger reward won?t be as rewarding. You will not know what the optimum time to walk away is or was until after the fact, you only have to make an educated guess about what that time is. In our case, since we don?t have a GC so we can?t get back in the game where we leave and that makes it even more important to time the exit right. This forum has helped us to do just that. I think this is the right time so when America said Deal or No Deal we put our hand on the flashing red button and said DEAL!
Returning to India was always the plan and this forum convinced me that I wasn?t alone in thinking along those lines although when I look around I am in the minority. I was surprised to see that so many other people share similar experience and thought process as me. Now that our R2I plan is in execution phase, I thought of writing a diary. As I write this, our container is shipping in 2 weeks and we are flying shortly after on a one way ticket.
So why are we returning? If this was a multiple choice question I would have selected ?All of the above? because all of the most common reasons will apply to us. If have to pick just one answer then that will be ?mission accomplished?. Many of us came here to learn, earn and get experience of working and living in a developed country. True to the promise, we got plenty of that and broadened our perspective. I think we can go back with this perspective and a positive attitude and make some meaningful contribution to the country that built our character that a country that we will always be associated with no matter where we live. I always considered US to be a place to learn and earn. Workplace can not be a place to live otherwise you will only work and earn, life will happen outside.
One of the reasons why I chose to title this diary as Second Inning is that in cricket, in first inning a target is set and that needs to be beaten in the second inning to win the game. In our case, we have set a target for ourselves of starting and running a successful business in India based on what we have learned and earned in developed world and now we starting the second inning to achieve and beat that target. The other reason is simple. I am 37 and life expectancy is India for my profile is about 74 so this is the beginning of second inning.
Our story is the same old software engineer story not much different from numerous other diaries on this forum. So if you are wondering why I am writing my diary then I have two reasons. First one is I am writing to find out what I am thinking. We only make key decisions like this once in a while and only in hindsight we will know if the decision was right or not. Since hindsight is not foresight we have our share of wrong decisions. Although we may remember the circumstances under which these decisions are made, we may not always remember exact thought process that went into making those decisions. Although many of these key decisions are unique in their own way with their own set of circumstances, the thought process that goes into making these decisions is very similar and in my case for the ones that turned out to be wrong. I am hoping that documenting the thought process will help me identify the pattern that leads to making a wrong decision. I will share some of the thought process and that may help someone sitting on the fence.
My other reason to write this diary is to share my relocation experience with others with the hope that at least someone with find it useful. I certainly found various diaries on this forum very informative and emotional. These diaries offer a perspective on life in India from the vantage point of someone who lived in developed world for 10+ years after growing up in India. This is a very unique perspective that only an R2Ier can offer. No one else has that perspective. A journalist will add too much color; Bollywood will add too much masala and Hollywood will genetically modify the story. These diaries are certified organic with homemade taste.
One of the few TV shows that I watch are reality game shows where contestants face challenges and earn rewards when they overcome these challenges. These game shows offer contestants lifelines designed to keep them playing the game to try and earn a huge and unimaginable reward. Oftentimes these contestants fail to realize that there is an optimum time to take the winnings and quit the game but the cheering crowed and trained game show host keeps them in the game. The end result is predictable. Contestants stay in the game for too long, lose all the lifelines and are either kicked out or walk away with much less reward that what they could have earned had they walked away sooner. Life of a typical immigrant in US is like this reality game show except that it is little complicated than a simple TV show. We all faced numerous challenges, earned big rewards but as in the game show, the lure of American Dream keeps us in the game for a just a little more. For a typical R2Ier playing this game, the lifelines are 1) kids are still in preschool, 2) Parents are still active and 3) A once in a while job or business opportunity back home. The key is to walk away while you still have those lifelines otherwise the bigger reward won?t be as rewarding. You will not know what the optimum time to walk away is or was until after the fact, you only have to make an educated guess about what that time is. In our case, since we don?t have a GC so we can?t get back in the game where we leave and that makes it even more important to time the exit right. This forum has helped us to do just that. I think this is the right time so when America said Deal or No Deal we put our hand on the flashing red button and said DEAL!