Immediate Impressions of an R2I

Immediate Impressions of an R2I who is now doing R2USA

Here is an article that one of my acquaintance wrote immediately after returning back to India. He wanted to publish this in The Hindu, but that never happened. However, he readily agreed to post it in my blog.

Here comes the article verbatim, without my color commentary...

You cannot Change the system or the people, things are going to be the same no matter what you do!!!

Couple of months prior to me deciding to return back to INDIA from US, I had a chat with my manager. My manager at the US firm had already been dealing with IT people from INDIA since our company had started outsourcing part of IT jobs to INDIA. During the course of the conversation, it just came out of my mouth that once I go back to INDIA, I will have to tune myself to the way business is being carried out over their. My manager told me, “Don’t change yourself or the way you do things, try to change and better the system, since you know the pros and cons of both the systems”.

I returned back to INDIA and took up a job here at Chennai, and in the last five months since I have been here, I can recollect at least 10 times when people have told me – “You cannot Change the system or the people, things are going to be the same no matter what you do!!!” I am refusing to give up because I feel that if one puts up an honest attempt to change the way things are being done, he/she might ultimately succeed. Couple of incidents comes to my mind. Two of my uncles met with car accidents in my home town Kochi, in both the cases the truck drivers were at fault. The truck drivers involved in both the accidents pretty much told my uncles that they do not have any insurance nor is he going to give any compensation for the damages caused. He literally challenged us to register a case and fight it out on the court, knowing well that with the kind of legal system we have in INDIA, it is much likely that the case will get dragged for the next five to seven years. Cops who came to scene shared the same opinion of the truck drivers. I know that these are not isolated incidents and lot of us might have already dealt with similar situations in the past. I believe that, if we make a change in the legal procedures and make it compulsory for all drivers to have at least liability insurance and strictly keep a tab on drivers not having them, issues like this can be avoided. Liability insurance would ease the pain of the end user and let insurance companies handle the situation. Another thing which comes to my mind is our attitude towards keeping the public premises clean. In the US, people are conscious about throwing litter at public places. They look for dust bins and at least make an attempt to keep public places keen. Here there are people spitting in public places, throwing litter all over the streets as if they don’t care about the surroundings. All it takes is one little step forward, to locate a waste bin near you. I believe these are things which one could do to help our country improve and to make our country a better place to live.

But, for all this to happen every one of us should make an honest attempt in whatever way to correct the system as and when we see some room for improvement. The purpose of this article is by not to criticize a system or to tell that one system is better than other. There are good and bad aspects in any system you take. It’s up to each one of us to make a conscious effort to better the system by taking the good qualities of other systems.

ps: This article written about 7 months back and this gentleman has now decided to returning back to US. He agreed to respond to my questions on that subject. So, if you have questions to him on why he is going back to US, please to put them in the comment section and email me by this Sunday.

R2I # 17 - Leaving Home to Go Home

An interesting article on R2I by Shoba Narayan who returned to India after living in US for 20 years. She talks about her love-hate relationship with the two countries she calls as home. This is must read for anyone who has returned or even remotely planning to...

Also found a whole section at the Wharton site about India under India Knowledge...

R2I # 16 - US Citizenship / OCI

Question as comment in my earlier post..

I am planning to r2i next year. I will be eligible for US citizenship this year. Some of my questions are:

1. Is it worth going for US citizenship & OCI ? Or is it better to just give everything up and come as normal Indian citizen? The consultant answer is it depends.. Having said that, I will also say, it is a very personal decision. I know there are emotions involved in relinquishing citizenship and acquiring another. I have known folks have hung on to Indian citizenship for this very reason. If you keep that aside, US citizenship & OCI gives you options but comes with little bit more paperwork from a immigration, tax perspective.
2. There are lots of info available for OCIs living outside India. Does the same apply to OCI residing in India?In other words is there any advantage to an OCI residing in India? I'm particularly concerned about financial issues.
   
1. If you are an US citizen/OCI residing in India, can you maintain normal bank accounts or does it have to NRE,NRO? You could have regular accounts like other Indian citizens with your OCI. However, you can't trade have a stock trading account as a US citizen.
2. Currently NRIs cannot invest in post office bonds etc and it applies to OCIs too. If thats the case does one lose? Not sure, the only exception I have heard is around stock trading accounts.
3. Out on tax front if one is an OCI?( as he/she cannot invest in things like NSC etc to reduce tax burden) When you bring back your savings from US back to India what account can you have it in? Well, if I read you correctly, you are talking about the ability to avail tax shelters.. pl. refer to the answer above. The only restriction that I know is around opening stock trading accounts by US citizens.
4. Are you treated like a resident of India for income tax purposes if you are US citizen/OCI? I go through a tax consultant (Chartered Accountant) and he takes care of the tax filing in India. As a US citizen you will do US taxes and as a resident of India, you will have to file India tax returns as well.

Hope I have answered your question/s. Any other questions.. pl. shoot a mail or comment..

R2I # 15 - Is it worth bringing stuff back to India?

Here is question I got in my mail box for my earlier R2I post

Based on your experience, is it worth bringing any thing back to India. Last time I was home, I realized that everything that you want is available in India. The cell phones are far better in India than here. Of course there is a lot of things you need to know when you buy the service in India.

Yes, it is true that almost all household articles are freely available in India and one might choose to go for new stuff when settling back. But this approach will pinch the pocket heavily particularly when the R2I itself is an expensive proposition in terms of all other expenses. Also, from a familiarity perspective, I would suggest bring the stuff that is important to the family. It also makes economic sense as there is little or no customs duty for the most of the used household articles.

But while packing, pl. take in to consideration the fact that you might end up moving in to a substantially smaller quarter than the existing home in US. But then one might use this opportunity to donate some stuff to charity in India or in US.

R2I # 14 - What to do with house hold articles?

There was a comment and question in my previous R2I post. While, I responded to the comment / query there, I also wanted to publish that as a post so more folks might get to see it.

Question # 1

Could you give us a few pointers as to how to go about selling household items??(like how did you sell your furnitures, electronics, etc.)Did you use a service which buys used items(if there is one!!), or did you just advertise for the items individually in some website(if so, which one?), etc.

Response:
We did the following:

1. Limited 'Garage Sale' thru word of mouth mainly for friends and family.
2. Sell thru craigslist
3. Give to charity
   

May suggest you consider bringing stuff back with you as well? Almost everything can be brought back in a container and there isn't any 'customs fee' for used personal stuff... particulary furniture types.

Question # 2

Also would you recommend carrying back the TV & home theatre system(I love my HD TV and the 9-disc DVD Player!) With the voltage difference and the frequent power cuts, is it worth it??

Response
I would NOT. You could buy step down transformers and use the stuff mentioned above. However, as you rightly point out with the voltage flucations and cycle difference, it is simply not worth it. I spent lot of energy trying to reuse our VCR / DVD / beside side digital clocks and stuff but to no avail. Two things that did work for me were 1) Microwave oven 2) Music system. While the former is still working, later conked out few months back.

If you must, take back only your Home theater system but without TV. With the NTSC / PAL difference and voltage problem.. TV might not be worth it.. Also, there is nothing on HDTV in India yet. By the time that happens, you may be ready for a newer one..

Have R2I questions? Please send via comment or send a mail to ram@viswanathan.in

R2I # 13 - Negotiating Your Indian Salary

One of the challenging tasks in R2I is finding the right job and understanding the salary package you get. During negotiation, employers quote salary in terms of CTC which would be rather confusing. CTC stands for Cost To Company and that includes all kinds of benefits including employer contribution to Gratuity and 401k.

For folks coming back from US, this CTC business is bound to cause confusion. So, it is important to ask for the break up of CTC and understand clearly what will be your take home salary. This is also important to compare what you are making in US Vs what you will be making in India.

I came across this article, which explains the CTC business in detail and might be beneficial.

There is another aspect to this CTC business and that is tax liability. I will try to cover that tomorrow.

R2I # 12 - PIO Vs OCI

There has been lack of clarity on the benefits and eligibility between PIO and OCI, but this chart helps clarify some.. There are some real differences, while more people would qualify for PIO, OCI offers more benefits..

Please visit here for official take on OCI,

R2I # 11 - Q&A

Launching R2I - Q&A section....
I have been thinking about this for a while and a comment from Arvind prompted to me to start this section. This is a forum for you to ask R2I related questions. I would try best answering them and publish them in the form of a post. Depending on the interest, I would collate the questions and post them on a weekly basis. In order to protect privacy, I will not publish the name of the questioner. Interested parties can send your questions to rviswana@gmail.com or leave them as comment in any of my R2I posts.

My first set of questions actually came a while ago and had responded via email. But, now, based on Arvind's request, I dug it up and posting it here with some modifications.

Q: Hi, We need some advise from you as you have already R2I. And, the advise is regarding education cost for kids.We are here in the US for past 3 years and plan to move back to India permanently by end of this year (2007). [We both are Indian citizens and we cannot get OCI] Some of our questions are:

1) Is there a big difference in fees for elementary schools in Bangalore (difference between US citizen kids and Indian citizen kids)? Obviously, there will be some difference.
A: I have not seen or heard any difference in based on citizenship. However, schools might lean on 'additional fees' read donation if they know you have come back.

2) What is the option for higher education (i.e., undergrad education) as the fees will be higher...to my understanding 3 to 4 times higher than the Indian citizen kids? This kind of fees will not be affordable for people like us who stayed here only for a couple of years and did not really save much in dollars. So, what is the option? Please suggest.
A: Good Question.. don't know how it really works.. haven't looked in to this aspect at all. But, India is slowly, but surely treating PIO / OCI card holders at par with Indian Citizens.. so, I hope this will not be a problem when my kids for that matter your kids get hit the college

3) I heard that we can get Indian passport in the US for the kid even though the kid is born in the US. (Assuming that we are ready to forgo the US passport and the US citizenship). We have not applied for US passport yet and hence the Indian consulate does not have any objection for this. [In fact, earlier when there was no rule for getting passport for the kids, lot of people used to travel with the kid's name in mother's passport] Is this a safe option (assuming, we are not worried about US passport)? Are there any issues with this when going out or entering US again (later, may be 10-15 years later...again, applying for US visa on Indian passport).
It's your option to decide which passport to take. Your kids are eligible for Indian passport based your (parents') Indian Citizenship status. Your kids can opt for US citizenship at anytime based on their 'place of birth', till the age of 18. So, I don't see this as a major problem.

R2I - Relocating to India?

Relocating to India ? This article might help..

This article talks about financial side of moving across countries. Neither am I good it nor do I understand many of the finer nuances of financial management mentioned in this article. Nevertheless, I think it would be worth your while to just browse through the article.

R2I # 9 - Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

5th Annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is underway in Delhi now. This is event was started by the previous BJP Government and seems to have become an annual affair. Each year, Indian diaspora from all over the world assemble and rub shoulders with the powers that be in India. And each year, Indian Government announces some sop or the other but not the full citizenship (at least not as yet..).

This year, the Indian Government has announced, Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders will be considered on par with Non Resident Indian (NRI). Some areas where this will likely benefit are:

1. Adoption: Process will be streamlined to make it easier.
   
2. Domestic airfares: Now can pay in Indian Rupees.
   
3. Entry to National Parks: Pay the same fees as others Indians for entry in to national parks and sanctuaries, but will continue to considered as foreigner and pay higher fee for entry in to national monuments like Taj Mahal & Qutab Minar etc.,

Bengal Tiger: This should answer your questions raised in my earlier post..

ps: Why hold it only in Delhi? Since its commencement, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event has been held only in Delhi. Why only the capital? Why not other cities?

R2I # 8 - Job Market

In Chennai...

Here is my two cents on it..

R2I # 7 - How To Decide?

There is no magic formula....

Yesterday, I was talking to one my friends who is currently in US and the discussion invariably ended up in the R2I area. I know him since our college days and we discussed various aspects of R2I. It became quite clear that he is currently going through the agonizing decision making process.

This family is considering and mulling over the usual things such as: Jobs, schools, real estate, financial viability and stuff. While these are the major areas of consideration for many R2I families, how they view and prioritize each of these things is quite different.

There is no magic formula, but putting the reasons, concerns in paper will be a good starting point. By putting things down, it immensely helps in getting clarity on many things that were just clouding the R2I considerations.

If financial issues are of concern, start writing down what exactly are the issues, . current financial position, start up costs in India, monthly expense etc. Don't worry about getting it wrong as it is an iterative process.

If Schooling is of concern, then put down the schools you have heard and start narrowing the list down by talking to your friends, family and the schools directly.

The list can go on to jobs, locations, housing etc., depending on individual family focus..

My point is, The most important thing in R2I is making decisions within a finite time frame and moving on with life. While any decision is welcome, indecisiveness is not. Keeping this R2I thing open for an inordinate period of time is bound cause friction and uneasiness in the family.

Related links
My earlier posts on this subject