I am 40 years old #Indian living in #Switzerland ( #Europe) for the past 15 years. I live with my wife (who is also Indian) and 2 kids in Zurich, Switzerland. We often get questions from our family and friends in both countries about the country we like the most or which one we call as our home. Similar to any difficult questions the answer for this question is also the following : ‘It depends’. It varies from person to person. Let me try to answer in this #milyin post.
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 If i ask my school going kids who are born and brought up in Switzerland the answer is simple. Switzerland is their home as they spent all the time here and they go to school here and they have their friends here and they speak the local language. They like all the local traditions and festivals and they follow all of them without miss.Â
My wife is a home maker and takes care of taking the kids to all extra classes – sports / music / etc. She misses her family and friends in India so much. All the family events, festivals, celebrations are missed by us which is a big minus point from her point of view. Even though the quality of life is better in Switzerland, she prefers India and ready move back to India at any time.
For me its a difficult choice to make. I love India and the family and friends and all the festivities (and Indian food of course ). However i give preference to #quality of life, #peace of mind. When it comes to medical facilities, school systems, government offices and their functions, reliability of all public services, public transportation, clean environment, rules and regulations and peace and order Switzerland easily wins.Â
 Obviously one can get all the good things in India as well if they do the right thing and make right choices. I am talking based on my personal experiences and experiences from my friends. I would like to give some examples to explain what i mean exactly.
- Everyone (or most of them) goes to government / public schools in Switzerland which are free and extremely good quality.
- Everyone follows rules and regulations properly. For example, traffic signals and rules are followed without miss. In India (in Chennai) i take ages to cross a road as many don’t thing about pedestrians and don’t stop for zebra crossings.
- During an medical emergency we got the ambulance in 5 mins in Switzerland. And its very unlikely to get emergency medical help / ambulance in few mins considering the traffic and road qualities in India.
- Hands down we have the best air quality in Switzerland thanks to the alps and lakes.Â
- My company CEO uses public transportation in Zurich which we cant imagine in India.Â
- The police officers in Switzerland found my lost bike on the same day without much work from me (i could do all via online / phone) where as in India i remember my horrible experience going to a police station to complain about my stolen bike.
The list goes on but i hope i have given enough examples to make my case stronger 😉
 Conclusion :
If its for #financial reasons one can find something equivalent in India now a days and live a better / sophisticated / luxury life in India. If someone has lots of family and friends and good support system in India then its a difficult personal choice. But if one prefers good quality of life, peace of mind, order, peace, safety and good public systems (transportation, education, etc.) then Switzerland is better place to live. I enjoy my holidays in India with family and friends. But as soon as i see traffic rule violations, as soon as i get unpleasant experiences in public offices, i already look forward to my return trip to Switzerland. So i call Switzerland my home now a days (with some Indian flavors :-)).Â
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