Do you feel insecure living abroad?

anika987 · Dec 26, 2013

Everything is fine but we are just adapting.

Job,kids,money is one thing but the sense of belonging,trying to balance by adapting to a different culture,raising kids in a different environment,,do u think this is all worth it? do u feel insecure living in a different county forever?

Whether we have friends or not,people or not..loneliness is not there in India plus a sense of belonging.u still feel secure?

anika987 · Dec 26, 2013

Honestly, living withing ur community is where u feel MOST secure.

We desis are engineered that way!Otherwise, why would u explain the need for some many desi gatherings,people mostly having only desi friends,desi potlucks,etc etc etc.

That's coz we feel more secure being amongst desis right??

that too,there r too many people making friends of their own language only!
nothing wrong but the reason they do it is coz of their comfort level.
they feel more secure that way.

No matter what, the hard-hitting fact is the heart always belongs to home-INDIA.

Too bad we r caught btw 2 cultures,cannot let go of certain comforts and adapt..that's why we fail to return back.

Nothing like India.Nothing like the simple life and BEING WHO WE ARE IN A PLACE WHERE WE BELONG.....

Rihana · Dec 26, 2013

The loneliness that people often talk about, for me it is peace and quiet. I value being able to control the level of noise and how much of my and family's time goes in attending to impromptu visitors without having to bend myself out of shape.

The material comforts, privacy, independence and DIY nature of life appeal to me.

Raising kids in a different environment - yes, this is a challenge and a constant process of discovery.

Do I feel insecure living abroad? No.

Sense of belonging missing? Yes, initially. Took some effort and rewiring the mind to put down roots and foster a sense of belonging. Now, this is home and the rest is abroad.

Growing old and dying outside India? Haven't given it too much thought.

Is it worth it? Mostly yes.

sweetypi · Dec 26, 2013

Is this poem relevant in today's world :

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd,
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung.

I'm not trying to hijack your thread, OP, but perhaps you're thinking this way ?