As some of you may already know, I recently decided to move back home to Bangalore, India (I’ll be leaving on August 19th, 2013). This is an attempt to state why I’m making this rather large change in my life.
It was always part of the plan
I probably first expressed interest in going to the US for college to my parents when I was in the 11th grade (2005). Around 5 mintues after I talked to my parents about this, my mother started “brainwashing” (her term, not mine) me into only going to the US for college and to come back right after. So right from the beginning going back was always the plan. It just so happened that I ended up staying in the US for several years after I graduated.
If it was always part of the plan why now and not earlier
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last few years is that nothing is permanent and things change. I could be wrong, but my view is that it really doesn’t make sense to make concrete plans that you intend to stick to for timeframes longer than a year. It’s good to have a general idea of where you’re going and just go with the flow.
During the first semester of senior year, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life (still don’t, actually). So like everyone else around me I went to the career fair and applied for a job. I got one pretty easily at Qualcomm and without thinking about it too much I took it. I often wonder if this was one of the not-so-great decisions of my life. So I ended up in San Diego with a lot of my friends from college. It was a blast in almost every way except that I hated my job.
I kept thinking that things would get better, so I kept at it for a few months. Around 7 months in I realized things weren’t going to get better and that I had to move on. So I decided to fall back to my original plan to go home. As I was figuring out the details, a friend of mine tweeted about his team at Apple looking to hire an engineer. I figured it couldn’t hurt to tweet a link to my resume back at him. I didn’t expect it to go anywhere, but before I knew it I had been phone screened and scheduled for an on-site interivew. I really enjoyed talking to the people I interviewed with, so when they extended me an offer, it was a no-brainer to take it. I’d be working for Apple, fergodsakes. So I put my plan to move back home on hold and came to Apple instead.
This turned out to be a fantastic decision. I really enjoy being on my team at Apple. I’ve learned a ton of stuff, and it’s been fun. These guys are incredibly smart and they’re fantastic folks to work with. Aside from the fact that they aren’t fans of Michael Bay movies (nobody’s perfect), they’re awesome.
A few months after I was at Apple, I realized that I needed to get a move on with the immigration process to ensure that I could continue to stay in the US. My boss started the process, and I started doing my own research about the topic. Unfortunately, what I found was pretty disappointing. Turns out that getting a green card is an incredibly obtuse and lengthy process. Best case, I would have one in 10 years, and that wasn’t even guaranteed. Several sources confirmed that my information was not incorrect. It was pretty clear to me that the US (the government, not the people I personally know) didn’t want me (or other people like me) here long term. I decided (arbitrarily) that I didn’t want to be here bad enough to endure all the bullshit that would have come with going through with the immigration process. I wanted to leave on my terms, so I pulled the trigger.
Other factors
Rosco. Being around family. Food. A clean room and not having to wash my own clothes.
What’s next?
The plan is currently for me to continue working for the same team, doing the same things, just from half way across the world. As with everything else, I intend to just go with the flow and see where it takes me.
Are you going to fit in?
A lot of people have asked me this. Will everything work out? I honestly have no idea. I’ve been away from home for a long, long time now. And I’ve changed a lot since I left. There’s no question that this is a pretty big change. But I’m not going to find out until I try. And if I’m going to try, I might as well go all out and give it my best shot. Like I’ve said before not doing anything would be failing anyway. And as my father keeps saying, if you’re going to get out, get on the field and take a swing first. Don’t get out in the dressing room. So this is me, taking a chance, and hoping that I hit it out of the park.
Parting words
Cupertino (and the bay area in general) is one of the nicest places I’ve lived in. I’ve spent a lot of time driving, biking and walking around here. Russian Ridge is one of the prettiest places I’ve seen, and Highway 9, Skyline, 84, and Page Mill have caused me much pain and given me great delight. I’ve picked up two great hobbies (biking and photography) thanks to this place. I’ve also eaten some amazing food here. What’s really been the best part about being here though is the people. They’ve patiently waited for me to catch up on my bike more times than I can remember, and they’ve pushed me to go harder. They’ve introduced me to new stuff, new ways of doing things and added to my repertoire of cultural knowledge.
Looking at the bigger picture, coming to the US was one of the better decisions I’ve made. I’m very grateful to my family for giving me the opportunity to do this. I’ve completely transformed in so many ways. I’m far more competent, far less scared, and a bit more ambitious. Michigan was an awesome experience. I can’t wait for football season to begin and hope to keep yelling The Victors after every TD for years to come.
Adios, and in the words of a great man, “I’ll be back!”.