Zoho founder’s open letter got this reply: why he left America for India

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu’s open letter urging Indians living in America to consider returning home has prompted an Indian professional to share his own story of moving back, six years after a conversation during an H-1B visa stamping trip changed his plans.

He said his uncle asked him during that trip, ‘If you want to do something of your own eventually, why not do it in India? Create value here.’ Around six months later, he moved back to India for good.

Since then, he said being closer to family, celebrating festivals with relatives and building a stronger social life have been among the biggest positives. Professionally too, he said connections came more easily than in the US. ‘One phone call opens doors that would take months of LinkedIn outreach in Chicago or the Bay Area,’ he wrote.

He was equally candid about India’s downsides, from dug-up roads and long commutes to slow business permissions and high housing costs in good localities. Still, he said the trade-off was worth it. ‘I came because the equation worked for me,’ he wrote, adding that India ‘has to become a place worth coming to, not just a place we owe ourselves to.’

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Kushagra140