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Also, Tighter immigration is just one part of the story. India itself has grown up and fixed a lot of its issues. Apart from the current generation, even the ge

by kamaal 10y ago

Also, Tighter immigration is just one part of the story. India itself has grown up and fixed a lot of its issues. Apart from the current generation, even the generation that saw the first wave of benefits of 1990's reforms has already reaped far more benefits than their peers who moved to US around the same time. Most are disproportionately rich, have had better careers and family/social circles in India. My guess is as more things get fixed in India(which they will), and more situation improves here, it will be harder by the day to think of restarting your life elsewhere while your peers do better than you back home. At the end nobody wants to end up being worse off than their peers despite doing a lot more of that extra work as immigrant in a foreign land. Now we are in the second generation of this trend. Among my friends who moved to the US for MS and never returned. Most of us in India have done better on nearly every count. Essentially today immigration to a foreign country in India has been reduced to a social status issue. The actual financial reasons have been drying out for a while and very few remain today.

realz 10y ago
I can only speak about myself, I come from a lower middle class family in India and probably was the poorest in my school. Now, I am at senior position in large well established tech company and definitely doing better than any of my class mates back in India. My family still lives in India and I am amazed how tough their life is when dealing with every day things. My life is so much better than my sister's who lives in Pune and also works in a similar position for a tech company. She would move to US in a heartbeat but has some personal issues. This is how bad conditions in India are, my mother, who lost her husband when she was 34, worked all her life and raised 2 kids on her own. After several decades of employment, she needed to withdraw some money out of her PF account. She had to bribe at least 4 guys and pay a total of 20,000INR to be able to withdraw money from her account, her own hard earned money. Life in India is pretty bad, I do believe us Indians have a "chalta hai" attitude and a lot of problems are just shoved under the rug or considered "yahan aise hi kaam hota hai" (this is how things are done here) category. I would want India to be the same as US where I have lived now for more than 15 years and Bollywood movies keep promising me that India today is so much like any other developed country, but my 15 visits in the last 15 years break every one of those promises. Back to the original point, no financially a person earning at the same position in India vs US is not any better off by a huge margin. Now if your point was is it worth it moving from Germany or Australia to US, then the answer is completely different answer. India is not there yet, a lot of work needs to be done, a lot of change needs to happen. If people in India start believing that they have arrived then they will be doing themselves a hige disservice.
- pm90 10y ago
  Agree with this comment. The culture of corruption is anathema to a lot of middle-class workers who sincerely believe in the value of hard-work and honesty and yet are prevented from doing even the most basic things in everyday life. You do not need to "have connections" to get what you're legally supposed to. Not to mention that there is just no comparison between the compensation offered in the US to anywhere else.
  - reacharavindh 10y ago
    I second the opinions posted above. Just a few days ago, we were comparing the costs of housing at a decent place (in the city/closer suburbs) are 3 to 4 years of my gross annual pay. If I dreamed of similar housing in India (Chennai, where I'm from), it would cost me ~30 years of my market annual salary for a similar job there. I don't want to work my life off to get a house to retire in.
    - kamaal 10y ago
      And yet you can buy a house in the outskirts in any major Indian city for way less. Which used to be how most middle class Indians used to buy homes in my dad's generation. The issue is most of us want housing in luxury apartments with amenities with no match, and with transit infrastructure closer to office. This was and always will remain very expensive in any economy on earth let alone Chennai. It will take more or less the same in any major city in the US. Most Indians think if they land in the US, all problems will vanish in thin air, milk and honey will flow from now. While what really happens is all your problems remain as is, except that you get a little better roads. Please take a good look on all housing related threads on this forum, young people in western economies have it way difficult than any of us.
      - pm90 10y ago
        > And yet you can buy a house in the outskirts in any major Indian city for way less. Which used to be how most middle class Indians used to buy homes in my dad's generation. And how do you get to the city? Through the non-existent highways? Or maybe the congested public transportation, if any? Besides which, I don't know about you, but my parents could not afford a house until I was in high school. And even after buying the house, they still could not live in the house (because of aforementioned problems with commuting). > The issue is most of us want housing in luxury apartments with amenities with no match, and with transit infrastructure closer to office. This was and always will remain very expensive in any economy on earth let alone Chennai. Please stop projecting your opinions on others. The demand I see is mostly for livable quarters at reasonable distances with basic amenities and some expectation of privacy... which seems to be too much to ask in any of the major cities. > It will take more or less the same in any major city in the US. Most Indians think if they land in the US, all problems will vanish in thin air, milk and honey will flow from now. While what really happens is all your problems remain as is, except that you get a little better roads. I don't know where you're getting these ideas from. Better roads yes, but also: better work-life balance. Decent compensation. Reasonable vacation time. Great career prospects. The prospect of living and working with people from different cultures (not just American, but from many other countries as well). > Please take a good look on all housing related threads on this forum, young people in western economies have it way difficult than any of us. Again, please stop projecting your ideas/views on the rest of us.

by kamaal 10y ago

realz 10y ago

I can only speak about myself, I come from a lower middle class family in India and probably was the poorest in my school. Now, I am at senior position in large well established tech company and definitely doing better than any of my class mates back in India. My family still lives in India and I am amazed how tough their life is when dealing with every day things. My life is so much better than my sister's who lives in Pune and also works in a similar position for a tech company. She would move to US in a heartbeat but has some personal issues. This is how bad conditions in India are, my mother, who lost her husband when she was 34, worked all her life and raised 2 kids on her own. After several decades of employment, she needed to withdraw some money out of her PF account. She had to bribe at least 4 guys and pay a total of 20,000INR to be able to withdraw money from her account, her own hard earned money. Life in India is pretty bad, I do believe us Indians have a "chalta hai" attitude and a lot of problems are just shoved under the rug or considered "yahan aise hi kaam hota hai" (this is how things are done here) category. I would want India to be the same as US where I have lived now for more than 15 years and Bollywood movies keep promising me that India today is so much like any other developed country, but my 15 visits in the last 15 years break every one of those promises. Back to the original point, no financially a person earning at the same position in India vs US is not any better off by a huge margin. Now if your point was is it worth it moving from Germany or Australia to US, then the answer is completely different answer. India is not there yet, a lot of work needs to be done, a lot of change needs to happen. If people in India start believing that they have arrived then they will be doing themselves a hige disservice.

pm90 10y ago
Agree with this comment. The culture of corruption is anathema to a lot of middle-class workers who sincerely believe in the value of hard-work and honesty and yet are prevented from doing even the most basic things in everyday life. You do not need to "have connections" to get what you're legally supposed to. Not to mention that there is just no comparison between the compensation offered in the US to anywhere else.
- reacharavindh 10y ago
  I second the opinions posted above. Just a few days ago, we were comparing the costs of housing at a decent place (in the city/closer suburbs) are 3 to 4 years of my gross annual pay. If I dreamed of similar housing in India (Chennai, where I'm from), it would cost me ~30 years of my market annual salary for a similar job there. I don't want to work my life off to get a house to retire in.
  - kamaal 10y ago
    And yet you can buy a house in the outskirts in any major Indian city for way less. Which used to be how most middle class Indians used to buy homes in my dad's generation. The issue is most of us want housing in luxury apartments with amenities with no match, and with transit infrastructure closer to office. This was and always will remain very expensive in any economy on earth let alone Chennai. It will take more or less the same in any major city in the US. Most Indians think if they land in the US, all problems will vanish in thin air, milk and honey will flow from now. While what really happens is all your problems remain as is, except that you get a little better roads. Please take a good look on all housing related threads on this forum, young people in western economies have it way difficult than any of us.
    - pm90 10y ago
      > And yet you can buy a house in the outskirts in any major Indian city for way less. Which used to be how most middle class Indians used to buy homes in my dad's generation. And how do you get to the city? Through the non-existent highways? Or maybe the congested public transportation, if any? Besides which, I don't know about you, but my parents could not afford a house until I was in high school. And even after buying the house, they still could not live in the house (because of aforementioned problems with commuting). > The issue is most of us want housing in luxury apartments with amenities with no match, and with transit infrastructure closer to office. This was and always will remain very expensive in any economy on earth let alone Chennai. Please stop projecting your opinions on others. The demand I see is mostly for livable quarters at reasonable distances with basic amenities and some expectation of privacy... which seems to be too much to ask in any of the major cities. > It will take more or less the same in any major city in the US. Most Indians think if they land in the US, all problems will vanish in thin air, milk and honey will flow from now. While what really happens is all your problems remain as is, except that you get a little better roads. I don't know where you're getting these ideas from. Better roads yes, but also: better work-life balance. Decent compensation. Reasonable vacation time. Great career prospects. The prospect of living and working with people from different cultures (not just American, but from many other countries as well). > Please take a good look on all housing related threads on this forum, young people in western economies have it way difficult than any of us. Again, please stop projecting your ideas/views on the rest of us.