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The glass ceiling isn't what it used to be, people are quite used to seeing senior executives of Indian origin throughout the GCC, however, the difference is in the package as an Indian executive will generally get a lower compensation as compared to a local or someone from the West.

Don't expect a better work-life balance in the UAE and for lifestyle - you can get a Mercedes for less than half the price as in India but other aspects might be similar - depends on what you mean by lifestyle, for one you'll be exposed to a more international community.

Organisational stability or lack thereof is again somewhat similar to India and reduction in expat packages is generally for middle & lower positions but if you have any long-term incentives in India that would make your compensation similar, I'd be hard-pressed to advise you to move because that means you'll be earning lower in terms of purchasing power parity - even taking taxes into account. You'll really have to do your homework and cost-benefit analysis on this.

Yesterday and the day before, I attended two very lavish weddings; the common factor being that both were of my colleagues' children and both of them involved NRI brides and grooms majorly self-financing the celebrations. In attendance were a substantial number of guests from abroad, donning rich local livery, dancing to the beats of local music.

One couple resides in a country that was once known to be unwelcoming and even belligerent towards first wave Indian immigrants. With time, the world order and perceptions seem to have changed for the better.

This morning, going through an article in scroll.in with quotes (perhaps selective) from an op-ed write up corresponding to the near about times of the Komagata Maru incident, I couldn't help but wonder about the striking then-now chasm.

For the sake of human decency and the decorum of the thread, I will not quote the words here. But anyone interested in the history of Indian emigration to the west would do well to read through para 8, 9 and 10 of this write up.

Disclaimer: No offence meant to anyone. Just highlighting a piece of historical snippet that would help understand the thorn-strewn path our forefathers have traversed through.

Even we hear to stories first hand of early families who came here and settled. But, majority have had good experiences might be because of the line of work they took here ( Doctors, Engineers, Teachers).
Good thing for us based outside of India is that, many functions are starting to be done here , almost every weekend is busy with one or another event clap:

I feel tax savings or marginal improvements in compensation, etc. are not strong enough reasons to move in your case.

Other factors like new experiences, better civic infrastructure, better higher-ed for children, higher ceiling for career progression, family being excited about the move and potential for acquiring a new citizenship, etc. should have higher weightage in your decision making process. That typically leads you towards US/EU but you said you ruled these out which implies you are giving a lot of importance to compensation/tax savings.

I could be wrong but that's over-optimising and can even be considered a downgrade when you look at the purchasing power and the intangible good vibe of being a top dog in India. You know, it feels special to own an X3 in India than a Range Rover SV in Dubai.

I remember Australia not bothering to invent tricks like that to limit immigration: they simply had blatant [effectively] whites only immigration laws!

Google tells me that was from 1901 to 1966.

One thing to remember as an early settler, there were not too many of ones kind so you got to integrate and be part of the community.

My dad moved to the UK in the 1950's and we were in a small town and were an active part of the community. Some weekend s were at my aunts. Every other month, there would be a meal at some other indian friend/relative or my dad would make us all go to London for a Syrian Christian church service.

Some of the people from our town were friends of my parents for life. They came over a few times and my mother visits them occassionally but it is difficult for them nowadays with the lack of care.

I need some expert advise. I’ve received an offer from US company with a base pay of 200k. What does this base pay include and exclude ?
Example: Does it include the social security contributions?

Its really sad to see blatant racism flourish in the middle east and be accepted by everyone involved. I first heard about this difference in pay in 2012 from a college friend in Kuwait and at that time I thought it was something unique to his company. I know of an Indian executive who became an Australian citizen and now works in the middle east on a "Western" package. He looks like a Caucasian so maybe that helped :D

Thanks for sharing, I only found out about the Komagata Maru which happened in 1914 incident a few years ago. My grandfather went from Lucknow to New York City in 1914 to study. However for reasons unknown to this day he stayed in Ellis Island (immigration entry point next to Statute of Liberty) for 3-4 days and then sailed to England to study Engineering in a university there. I have the got the immigration records of his landing in NYC but I have not been able to find out why he left. I'm inclined to believe it was because of discriminatory polices in place but I did see some Indian sounding names aboard the same ship were granted entry into the US.

It includes everything, social security, life insurance, health insurance, retirement funds etc. All will be deducted from your base salary. I found out the hard way after moving to the US. The same company in India did not include all these in the base salary in India.

Salary mentioned in the offer letter includes your Social Security contribution, taxes, your insurance contribution, (disability, healthcare, life insurance, etc), 401k. It does not include the employer match of Social Security, and 401K etc. Better check with the HR and get clarification.

Thanks for sharing your grandfather's story. It must have taken him a great deal of courage to make that decision: and for you too to tread the path he didn't!
I see this thread as one full of hopes, aspirations and eternal sunshine and hence sometimes feel that any mention of past hurts may dampen the overall spirit of discussions. But once in a while, lest we forget our foundations, it behoves us to peek into the rear view mirror.

Komagata Maru was a seminal moment in the history of modern Indian migration. Nearly two decades before that, in 1896, two ships (S.S. Courtland and S.S.Naderi) carrying Indians were too denied entry into the South African harbour town of Durban for about a month. A then not so famous barrister named Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was one of the passengers.

The reasons were of course as political as they were racial. History tells us that disinformation and misinformation have had a long legacy in shaping up world affairs. Looking back, beginning from the Pietermaritzburg train incident of 1893 to the formation of INA in the 1940s, itinerant Indians have always played significant roles in building up the narratives of our freedom struggle and even the future of post-independent India.

In times when history is being redefined, reshaped and realigned and recast, it is necessary for the educated class to be aware of what has been!

The fascination with emigration to western countries in my part of the country has no end. This newly erected blue colored structure in our village piqued my interest from afar. Instantly knew what it was, but in the same instant I thought no they can’t be serious.



A picture as I got closer. I was now laughing like crazy.



Ladies and gentleman, presenting the Statue of Liberty of our little village.

This is hilarious on many counts. Let me guess, is it in Haryana?
It made my day for sure! It is like one of those sardar jokes. Oh wait it could be Punjab too then. Come on, spill the beans.
Whoever did this though, made his house a landmark for sure. He has got a new & fancy house address and all houses near him too. House number 231, Statue of Liberty, Village Kaithal... :D

Oh, you lost the crorepati question. Wrong in your double dip selection. Its Punjab. I live in the region that is the hotbed of NRIs - the Doaba region of Punjab.

Ah great. A kid might have troubled the parents, I want to see the statue of liberty. Daddy would have said, sleep now will show you in the morning. Could only happen in Punjab! rl:

I just had a smile on my face but then I have seen such things a few times while passing via Punjab. Even commercial license taxis/busses carry the sticker flags of UK, US, Canada, etc at their back. So yes, the fascination is just mind bending rl: rl:

Wonder what shall happen once the current generation and the next settles down abroad and no one here is left to take care of these properties in such small towns/villages?