Life Of An NRI, Not A Bed Of Roses

Disclaimer: This is a light-hearted article and does not generalize. 

Hello!

We are Indians. Non-Resident Indians. Might not be Indian citizens but we are one hundred percent desi at heart. Away from home, trying to fit in. We belong to a unique concoction. Magnificent chaos.

Homesick

I have stayed at various continents. All organized, clean, cultured. But let me tell you, sometimes over organization makes me feel homesick.

I mean all is ok but wrapping up individual carrots in plastic sheets to finally wrap in another plastic doesn’t make any sense to me. One is environment and second is the effort which goes in unwrapping the plastics. There might be other means of easy transportation. This one simply goes overhead.

We, the NRIs have left our home in search of easy and glamorous life probably inspired by a Yash Johar movie but the reality is far from it.

Endless Chores

To put it bluntly, we are our own housemaids. Gone are our days when the bai used to wake us up and do dishes. We have to do it ourselves. Most of us have to clean our toilets ourselves.

And Oh, I so miss my cook. One of the few things which were taken for granted. I had long forgotten that the food needs to be cooked. Youtube came as a savior when nothing worked. My culinary skills are still in the process of fine tuning till then my poor family suffers in silence.
Also not to mention, the toilet jets are dearly missed. Trust me toilet papers are good for nothing.

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There are basically three life stages of an adult NRI

1. Single – This type first comes here to make good money. Hugely inspired by the glam and glitters. They have to see the world like Ranbeer Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan ( Of YJHD and ZNMD respectively) They come, they see, they get bored, want to get married. A huge search for bride/groom commences back home.

2. Couple without children – Once married, they are at the top of the world. There is huge traffic on their social media walls. Pictures are being posted like crazy. Pictures of feet on the beach, pictures of holding hands (One with the lady turned back and the other one is holding her hands taking the picture), pictures of food, pictures of flowers and whatnot.
Once all of their Yash Johar senses are satisfied, they get bored again. This time they plan a baby. Either giving up on family pressure or to obtain a citizenship

3. Couple with children – This is the most hard-working kind of NRIs. They do all chores themselves, they rear the baby. They pick up drop off. Cook meals. Now not much time is left for sightseeing and with that little one refusing to sit in the car seat, it makes all the more difficult. They give up on their Yash Johar dream and prefer to sit home and relax instead. Life moves very fast or very slow as they take it.
Everything revolves around the color of baby’s poo or the mood of the teenager. People back home are ageing. You are labeled the one who left the parents and chose to settle down abroad. No one notices the effort you are putting in to make the life work without any help.

Having said this, I must admit that glass is not always half empty. Being an NRI comes with its own perks. To mention a few,

• we get imported stuff from India. For example, the mangoes which come from India are of the highest quality. Trust me, I have never had such tasty mangoes in India before.
• There are no judging aunties ( Although a few might be there).
• Free education and healthcare in some cases

So to conclude, life as an NRI is the way you perceive it. there are positives and negatives everywhere, it absolutely depends on how you want to take it. We carry India in our hearts and soul. Howmuchever accent we put on, we will always be what we are. Indians!

Image is a still from the movie Kal Ho Na Ho

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