[Female/24] why does everyone want to leave india?

After living in Bangalore for several years, I reached a breaking point in 2020. I was stuck in traffic on MG Road, surrounded by honking cars and the smell of pollution. Later that evening, I went to a café on Brigade Road, hoping to unwind, but the harassment I faced while walking back was the final straw. Some idiot bike rider groped my butt and fled away in the dark. I was left shocked and grief stricken. You can't imagine how many showers I took that night and cried myself to sleep. A college friend in Toronto sent me a picture from a local festival, showing people dancing freely in the streets, celebrating without a care. It hit me hard, I craved that sense of belonging and peace. I applied for a master’s program abroad thereafter. By 2021, I was on a plane to Canada. The first time I wandered through the snowy streets of Toronto, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. I knew I’d made the right choice, and since then, I've embraced every moment.

It’s tough navigating those feelings. I’ve faced challenges in India, too, but I also cherish the relationships here. Sometimes, staying means investing in change. Your success is impressive! In the end, this country is very flawed and every well to do person realises that they need to leave this place.

I always felt this is a dumb question. You can always go and live a few years in different countries and see which one you like and settle there. What actually matters is that you should have enough money to make this a possibility. You can always be invested in Indian stock market/real estate if you think it has value just like any other country. Nationalism is for morons and poor people.

After facing sexual harassment in Bangalore(this was 2018), I felt disheartened and cheated. A close friend of mine from college who moved to Canada often asked me to go broad and that she felt safe and respected, which made me reconsider my own situation and the environment I want to be in. So I decided to go for my masters in 2021 and I never looked back.

I noticed friends in the UK enjoying a much healthier work-life balance while I was feeling used and ignored at my job. Whenever we used to hang out on google meets, I used to envy their lives. So in 2020, they inspired me to seek a similar lifestyle. I moved to the US in the middle of the pandemic and although it was tough but I am now making way more than I ever could.