Blog
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Best Step Down Transformers for Making US Appliances Work in India
I’ll never forget the day I plugged my Xbox gaming console straight into a wall socket after moving back to India. Puff. Smoke. Burned smell. That was the end of my Xbox. The thing is, I knew the voltage was different. I just thought it would be fine. It wasn’t. India’s power supply runs at…
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10 Best International Schools in Bangalore for NRIs
“Which school should we put our kids in?” That’s the question I hear more than any other in our BacktoIndia WhatsApp community. More than taxes. More than housing. More than jobs. And I get it. When we moved back to Bangalore in 2017, choosing a school for our sons was the single most stressful decision…
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10 Best International Schools in Hyderabad for NRIs
We’ve narrowed it down to Bangalore or Hyderabad. But we have no idea which school.” I hear this almost every week in our BacktoIndia WhatsApp groups. And honestly? Hyderabad has quietly become one of the strongest cities in India for international education. ore NRI families are choosing it over Bangalore and Mumbai – and the…
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10 Best Apps to Sell Off Your Stuff in USA
A community member once posted in our WhatsApp group at midnight: “We’re moving back in 8 weeks. Our apartment is full of stuff. Where do I even start selling?” Within an hour, over 40 people had replied. That’s how common this problem is. When you’re planning your move back to India, one of the biggest…
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10 Tips to Survive in India After Moving From USA
Nobody warns you about the first ordinary Tuesday. The first day is easy. Family at the airport. Home cooked food. Jet lag hides reality. It’s the first regular weekday that hits. The one where there’s a power cut. The WiFi is down. The plumber didn’t show up. And you’re standing in a bank queue that…
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Indian School Syllabuses for Returning NRI Kids (2026 Update)
Last month, a dad from our WhatsApp community posted this at 1 AM. “We’re moving back to Bangalore in June. My daughter is in 5th grade in California. She loves art and hates rote learning. Which board do I put her in? I’m losing sleep over this.” Thirty seven people replied within two hours. Because…
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CBSE Schools Admission Process for NRIs Moving to India (Updated for 2026)
My younger son was 4 when we moved back from the US. He’d only known American preschool. Circle time. Snack time. Show and tell. His teachers called him by his first name. He wore whatever he wanted. Then we walked into a CBSE school in Bangalore for admission. Uniforms. Assembly prayers. Hindi as a compulsory…
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Planning to Move to India Soon? Here are 10 Things You Should Do While in USA
I made a mistake in 2017. I was so focused on the India side of things. Finding a school in Bangalore. Setting up our apartment. Figuring out the banking. I completely ignored the stuff I should have done while still in the US. Dental work. Credit history. Documents. Things that are easy (and cheap) in…
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Benefits for US-Born Kids as a US Citizen Living in India
My younger son was born in California. Three years later, he was eating idli with his hands in a Kochi apartment. Speaking a mix of English, Tamil, and whatever language toddlers invent on their own. That was 2017. He’s a teenager now. He holds a US passport. He has an OCI card. He goes to…
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How to Transfer OCI Card to New Passport
I’ll tell you how I learned this the hard way. 2019. My son’s US passport expired. We renewed it. 2020. Got the shiny new passport. Celebrated. Then we tried to fly to India for Diwali. At the airport check-in counter in Bangalore, the agent looked at the OCI card. Then the new passport. Then the…