Back Home: An Emotional Guide for NRIs Who Are on the Fence about Moving to India

by Nupur Dave

About the Book
If you are an NRI afraid or confused about moving to India, this book will help you make a decision, even if it means to not move! Back Home busts myths, discusses why it's a hard decision, and outlines a framework to make a decision. In a relatable and funny way, it gives tips and tricks to adjust to life in India and strategies to adapt to a different work culture.

About the Author
Nupur Dave is an NRI Counsellor, Founder of "The NRI Study", Author and Ex-Googler. She has helped more than 300+ NRIs in making a decision. She specialises in writing about NRI life. She was with Google for more than 10 years, worked at the Prime Minister’s Office, and has been interviewed on national television. In 2019, she was awarded the LinkedIn Spotlight award. You can see more resources on her website at www.nupurdave.in.
Instagram @nupurdaveauthor
nupurdave

Genres: Self Help

166 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 2, 2020

Reviews

[Gautam Gopal Krishnan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Published in 2020, Back Home by Nupur Dave is a quick read about various factors that pertain to Indians considering moving back to India after staying for a few years in the United States of America. It is a coherent organization of all the ideas that one entertains during diffuse thinking about such a move. The story telling throughout the book is engaging as it has anecdotes from people the author has presumably talked to.

The book feels a tad outdated within a few short years of publication and could possibly become irrelevant due to the evolving nature of the world at large. There are some grammatical mistakes, typographical errors, and profanity which could be distracting to some. The sentence constructions use general parlance (or colloquial language) which is annoying at places and contributes to the grammatical mistakes. This book is not deep and not particularly useful. Despite the issues with it, the author has done a good job of writing a book that is well organized and has written in simple English that is easy to read.

[Pradnya · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's definitely not an emotional guide but a practical guide for the NRIs. I wish the title could be that way because I feel it is best advice, calibrated against all odds of NRIs moving back to India. The books is written for them for that specific purpose and it scores better if seen from that point. There are a plenty of real-life incidents that may help relate and take a decision. I am sure that staying away from your homeland is not easy and you'd want to return "some day."
The author, as she mentioned, provides counseling services to NRIs and it certainly comes well as a counselor.

What did not work for me?
I'm not from the segment for whom it's written.
I went with expectations that it will give me some story and keep connected.
The book is a nonfiction and the narrative could be tighter. I could skip a few sentences and still not miss the point.


Towards the end, I smiled at the observations of Indian society. Most of the things there are perfect.
I would love to read the vice versa story, how it went migrating to the USA.

[Vaishakh Ravi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was largely a fun read, verbalizing many of the struggles living in the depressing American suburbs away from family. But she completely lost me when she said the SF Mission Street and Chipotle burritos are among what she’d miss about America. If that’s all she’s seen in the US, only makes sense to move out.

That said, the book did shed a novel perspective to this constant thought I’ve had for the past several months - that a lot of my unhappiness over the past few years traces itself to the isolating suburban life, from streets without people, endless parking lots and shopping malls where no one talks to one another. While the book didn’t convince me to move to India it did convince me to move to NYC, and that’s a win!

[Ipsita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but lacks depth

I think the content is appropriate for a blog than for a book. I don't think there is any book available on this particular topic, hence it's a good read.

[Rachana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had chosen to live in India, but when choices appeared, always felt the ' what if' in younger days. Its funny and interesting. I could relate to the author to an extent about the 'amazing relative in amrika' . My mother cried when i had cleared for a internal position in the US. No it was tears of sadness ( they don't care about it, patriotic parents ) and 'its a boring life there and you will still do your own sweeping even if you are a VP comments. Anyways a good read for NRI'S . I am happy with my choices :)

[Megha Nadig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick easy read. It’s more like a blurb to the counseling sessions she offers but nevertheless entertaining. The anecdotes used are extremely relatable and this is one of few books that addresses the problem of NRIs who want to move back to India.

[Tyagi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author says so much that a US returned NRI can relate with. Overall a quick, decent read. Planning on sharing it with my current NRI friends, sitting on the fence about moving.

[Amruta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Addresses a new topic relevant to the new times. It's a very easy read, but then, also somewhat repetitive.

[Bharat Jayakumar]

This is a really good book if you are considering moving to India. Extremely non-judgmental (which can be hard to do), filled with relevant real world examples, and answers to some common questions/misconceptions (both positive and negative) about life in the US and in India. It's also extremely practical and not preachy when it comes to dispensing advice. A breeze to read, written very lucidly. Definitely recommended if you are in this boat (or even if you are not, but have lived in India and the US at any point in time).