Series: This NRI Life; Post: 2

Note: I requested some of you to write a guest post on the topic:This NRI Life. If you are not an NRI please feel free to pick your own topic. If you are interested please feel free to contact me at nrigirl@hotmail.com I will be glad to publish your guest post in NRIGirl blog.

About the Author: It's Me NRIGirl. You know me well by now, so there is nothing new to say about me. Thought I too will add my two cents on This NRI Life...

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Case For & Against

During the Exodus when the Israelites wandered the desert, they were provided with Manna - a kind of food that rained down and they were asked to collect as much as they needed. They had specific instructions that they need not store for the future as everyday they will get new showers of Manna. The scripture says, when they measured it after gathering it from the fields, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. That's the comparison I get to picture when I think of This NRI Life vs. the RI Life.

Just because we earn in $'s are we better off than our counterparts back home? I don't think so. Whatever they make in India is quiet enough for them to live there, just as whatever we make here is quiet enough for us to live here... So in that aspect I don't see a huge difference in This NRI Life.

However, one thing I have come to truly appreciate of This NRI Life is the fact that we as a family (the husband, wife & children) are brought together as one unit. We don't have much distractions; both parents take part in child rearing which is a HUGE plus. In India though it is a blessing to have your extended family around, it kind of dilutes the core family bondage. The "leave & cleave" part of marriage gets a little tough there.

In my experience the biggest advantage of This NRI Life is that we can truly make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate back home. We are able to help the needy with their necessary expenses such as children's education, daughters marriage, loan repayment, medical needs, fixing their leaking homes, etc... Not too sure if we could have been such a source of blessing to many, if it was not for This NRI Life...

The only "against" I can think of is the fact we miss having our dear ones near us. When people get together for holidays with their families, it leaves us aching with pangs of regrets for ever leaving our home country...  Christmas, Easter & New Years were full of joy back home. If our dear ones too reside in our resident country, I am sure we could bring in the same JOY here too - in which case This NRI Life would seem complete...
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