I never wanted to live for long in USA and so didn’t apply for permanent resident status during the first 5 years of my career. However, once my children started going to schools in USA, I started appreciating the American education system and wanted my children to study there for a few years. Our children who were born in USA were American citizens by birth and we had no choice but try to blend with the community.

A small town in Texas called “The Woodlands” was our home for many years. We had a small community of Keralites there who lived like a family, helping and meeting each other often. We really didn’t know whether we will be able to accept the change, so, we switched to another town called “Nashville” during the last year of our life in USA just to make sure we all will be able to mentally accept the break up. Coming out of a very comfortable eco system we built through many years of life was the most disturbing and challenging part of our life.

In 2011, our immigration status was changed to permanent residents of United States of America. It was just a coincidence that we decided to quit our American life the same year and returned to India with our children. Abandoning the permanent residence status, which we achieved after living there for more than a decade, was one of the most crucial decision we ever made in our life.

In May 2011, we took the one-way flight tickets to India, with a container full of our favourite items to follow us in a ship and leaving behind a lot of good memories. I had already made up my mind not to work any more for any employers but wanted to live a peaceful life with my family and my own small office to run digital marketing and blogging as my future profession and business.

And all these make me NOSTALGIC......