Lineker\'s Record of a R2I to Hyderabad/Bangalore

[lineker]

This my R2I dairy. Any opinions/observations I make are not intended to offend anyone. If they do, my apologies, upfront.

My Family & Me
I am from a middle-class family, dad & mom are natives of Kerala. I was born in Madras in 1967 and the family moved to Bangalore in 1978; those are the only 2 cities I have lived in with an annual summer holiday to "Gods Own Country" :). After that, identical life events like most here- went to the US in Dec/1992 for a M.S and then moved onto a job. I met my wife in the USA while we were in school. We married in 2003 and now have 2 kids- daughter who is 5 and son who is 3. My kids and myself are USCs and my wife has retained her Indian citizenship.

I was happy with my life in the USA and was comfortable with how things were going in general.


Reason for R2I
In the summer of 2009, my dad was diagnosed with a slow form of cancer. My sister and BIL are well-established doctors in the US, and all of us implored my dad & mom to migrate to the US so that we could get him into some advanced treatments, but he refused, saying that he would like to spend his last years with his relatives and friends around him. He responded well to the first round of chemo in that the cancer was controlled, but there was no direct hope for a cure and the doctors gave him many years of quality life. He now has to go through chemo every 6 mos. My mom is a (TV-addict) housewife who does not even know howto draw money from an ATM and will definitely need assistance in day-to-day living when my dad is nomore (I have had several heated discussions with my dad on this subject of making others independent). My mom, hates living in the US and I am pretty sure will want to spend the rest of her life in India too.


Actual R2I
Based on the above events, in Fall 2009, I asked my wife and kids to move to India and stay with my parents in Bangalore. The reason was two-fold, ensure that my kids would adapt to India, and make my parents start focussing on their health (grandkids seem to have the ability to make grandparents become more active). :) Since my wife was always ready to R2I, she did not have any objections. Since my kids were pretty small, they adjusted really well.

We had decided to wait until Fall 2010 when I would become eligible for an USC and then I would R2I after that. My wife faced some hardships in Bangalore (she is from Hyderabad) mainly due to the fact that she is a extremely out-going person who did not know anyone here (and my dad being the "controlling" dude that he is, now had more "people" to boss over; :) I guess in his view it just made him feel more "wanted"). I would hear the desperation/frustration in my wife's voice when we Skyp'd, but she never mentioned it even once; just took it in her stride. Early 2010, she got an offer from her US employer who had taken over an company in Hyderabad and I immediately told her to accept it and I used that as an excuse to move her out from under my parents. Now she stays with my MIL (who is a widow and was extremely joyed to get her daughter and grandkids around her). This way it did not hurt anyone and everyone was happy (I think). :)

In Nov/2010 we decided to make Hyderabad the place where we settle down. In Dec/2010 we purchased an apartment at NagarJuna Residency in Gachibowli, Hyd which my wife completely handled by herself (really proud of her!). The apt was supposed to be completed in Mar/2011 ... as of today, we are still waiting on it to be handed-over!!! Every month the builder says "End of this month, sir, 100% definite sir" (when will businesses start valuing people's time and honoring their word in India?).

My USC process completed in Nov 2010 and I started preparing my household items for shipping (I will post my Packing & Shipping Notes in a separate post). In Mar/2011, after the builder told my wife that their worst case scenario for handover was July/2011, I took the final step of finding a shipper and shipped my items to India in Apr/2011. After that, I immediately got my house in the US painted and inspected. The inspection discovered a few faults and I got them all fixed. I had signed up with a realtor and using a lawyer, pre-signed all the papers to complete the sale of the house (I had a PoA from my wife to sign on her behalf for anything). The house has been on the market since end of June and is still not sold. I made sure I have the funds to keep it on the market for a year at least.

I R2I'd on 23/Jun/2011 to Bangalore (I'm a lil old-fashioned to stay at my MILs house), but at least I am just an hours flight away from my kids or parents, any direction I look at it from. As of writing this, I am still waiting on Nagarjuna Contruction Company to handover my apartment. :(


Future Plans
My short-term plans are to find a job immediately after I move to Hyderabad. I hope to work with a small company and have no aspersions -or- desire for a "status" salary; an interesting job/product is what I hope to find. My apartment and car(s) should be pretty much paid off with our existing finances. Any shortfall we plan to use the sale proceeds from the US house to cover up and invest the rest in the US. My wife & me have left our investment & retirement accounts in the US itself so that my kids can use it if they ever decide to go to the US to study.

Long term, I (not we, since my wife has not bought into this yet) :) plan to spend the rest of my parents natural life in India and after that, based on the stage of my kids education (10th/12th complete) I plan to R2A (though I think this will probably end-up as a US/India half-year retirement sort of deal). For our retirement (and this we agree on) :) we have no visions of grandeur/mansions/Rolls-Royce's/etc; just a house close to a beach with a yard big enough to grow some vegetables and a small (electric, if my wife has her way) car to get around in.

/lineker

PS: If any other R2Iers live in Indiranagar, BLR and want to grab a beer sometime, send me a message; I would love to hear your experiences.

[MrLong]

All the best for your plans.

[srir2i]

Interesting read, Congrats!
So, this implies that you will be retired, when the kids are doing their Bachelors, Or continue to work in the US, as needed?
It's nice that you now have the opportunity to have the kids exposed to many different States in India too (culture, languages).
Good Luck!

[lineker]

So, this implies that you will be retired, when the kids are doing their Bachelors, Or continue to work in the US, as needed?

Yep, that is the plan. Just waiting for fate to throw a spanner in it. :)

[sunr2i]

Congrats and wish you all the best. I have similar background and r2ied to Bangalore ( Indira Nagar ) about 10 months back. Still re learning India!

[PeterGriffin]

Nice diary. Good luck!
Your handle reminds me of one of my favorite football stars, Gary Lineker! I'm assuming that you are his fan too.

[lineker]

Your handle reminds me of one of my favorite football stars, Gary Lineker! I'm assuming that you are his fan too.

Yes!!! The best center-forward to ever play the game (at least in the 25yrs I've followed the sport). Jurgen Klinsman comes a close second. :)

PS: Really glad someone still recognizes his name. Most folks just ask me what the handle means. :(

[gujju]

Another Gary Linekar fan here!!! They don't make like him anymore!!! My uncle used to be his neighbour in Lester!!

Linekar,

You are one dude!!! All the best and Take it Easy.

[b2blr]

All the best Linekar! Great post - hope to see more on your experiences.

[RRK]

Wish you all the best and happy r2i !!