Ten years in America, then back to chaos. For a US-returned techie, the homecoming wasn’t nostalgic — it was a brutal wake-up call. After losing his job and visa in a corporate layoff, he landed back in India full of hope, only to be crushed by what he describes as broken infrastructure, choking pollution, and a daily assault on civic sense. His raw Reddit post has struck a nerve online, spotlighting the unspoken emotional and practical toll of reverse migration.
Highlighting his “struggle to adapt to Indian life,” a techie recently laid off from a Fortune 500 firm said he was “devastated by this place” after returning to India in early 2024. His post, which quickly gained traction on Reddit, lays bare his frustrations.
“I am a US return who lived for 10 years in America; earned a masters degree and worked for 8 years (2 on OPT, 6 on H-1B)… I was laid off from my Tech job in 2024 as part of a companywide restructuring,” he wrote. The timing of the layoff coincided with the end of his H-1B visa period, and his green card application was revoked. “About 300 other employees were laid off along with me.”
Initially excited to return, the techie moved through Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, only to find himself overwhelmed by systemic and everyday dysfunctions. “Really bad roads… polluted air… poor, crumbling infrastructure,” he listed. He described “never ending construction work,” poor apartment maintenance, reckless driving, and a glaring “lack of civic sense.”
He continued: “Have garbage in your car? Just open car window and throw it outside… Feel like peeing? You can simply pee on the street… Seriously, I’m done. I’m dying and devastated by this place.”
The honesty of his post sparked a wave of responses. One user sympathized, advising him to “exploit the better parts of being in India… Plan your travels, elevate quality of your life.”
Others defended him against criticism. “This guy is pointing out some very serious and obvious points… and everyone else is bullying him… I think the problem is Indians have not experienced a life outside of India,” one user wrote, suggesting relocating to quieter tier-2 cities like Jammu for a better quality of life.
A long-term American expat in Delhi weighed in, acknowledging the same issues and adding, “Entitlement among the middle and upper class… fosters a culture of inaction and indifference about creating change.”
Another returnee echoed the frustration: “I haven’t been able to get debris from footpath construction cleared even… it’s public apathy. No accountability from a corrupt bureaucracy.”