Mani KarthikEx Silicon Valley. Back in India since 2017.

Thinking of moving back to India?We Need to Talk.

Hi, I'm Mani. If you are reading this, someone probably forwarded it to you.

Or you have 47 tabs open on RNOR, 401(k)s and "is it okay to ship a Vitamix".

Either way, welcome. Let me explain what this is in about two minutes.

Pick my WhatsApp group See what's inside

A quiet community of people who actually did the move. Not a SaaS. Not a course.

The short version

I did the move. It was messy.

I left Silicon Valley and moved back to India in 2017.

Everyone had an opinion. Friends abroad said I was crazy. Relatives back home had already shortlisted flats, schools and a "very good CA, cousin of a cousin".

What I didn't have was a room full of people who had actually done it recently and would just tell me the truth.

So I started BackToIndia. It's not a company with a sales team. It's me, a few volunteers, and a lot of returnees who keep helping the next person in line.

Yes, they let me on a TEDx stage to talk about this. Cheaper than therapy, and shorter than a Reddit thread.

What you get

Four things, no fluff

A personal checklist for your move.

Your whole move laid out in order, phase by phase, with plain-English steps. More on this below, because it's my favorite part.

WhatsApp groups for your city and country.

Bengaluru, Kochi, Hyderabad, Pune and more, plus groups for where you live now (US, UK, UAE...). Ask a question in the morning, get real answers from people who did it last year.

Questions and answers.

A searchable place for the big stuff: taxes, schools, jobs, rent vs buy, and the emotional bit nobody puts in a spreadsheet.

Honest recommendations.

Packers, banks, tax folks and schools, rated by members who paid their own money. No paid rankings.

The checklist

Five questions in. A full plan out.

This is the part people don't expect from a WhatsApp community, so let me show it off.

When you join, you answer a handful of quick questions. Which city are you headed to? When, roughly? Kids in school or not? Which country are you leaving behind?

Out comes your personal checklist. Your entire move, laid out in order.

What to sort out while you're still abroad. What to handle the week you land. What to calmly ignore until month three. Each step says what to do and why it matters, in plain English. No 40-page PDFs, no "please consult your advisor" cop-outs.

You tick things off as you go and a little progress bar climbs. Petty motivation? Sure. But it works, and it keeps you from doing everything at once and panicking about nothing.

Your checklist

12 of 87 done

Sort the job or business question
Meet a US-India tax advisor
Shortlist schools before admission windows close
Book the shipping container or movers
Open the RNOR-friendly bank accounts

Built from five questions. Updated every time you tick something.

The tools

And the calculators. Oh, the calculators.

I built the things I desperately wished existed in 2017:

Will this salary actually work?

Type a Bengaluru or Pune CTC and see what really lands in your bank account each month, after tax and PF. Then compare it to what you earn today.

Rent or buy in my city?

It runs your numbers and gives you a straight verdict, not a lecture.

What will shipping cost me?

Boxes vs bags, air vs sea, shared container vs your own. Rough numbers before you talk to any packers and movers.

How long is my tax breather?

Your RNOR window: how many years your foreign income stays out of Indian tax reach, so you can plan the exit properly.

Which transfer service eats less?

Because moving your life savings home shouldn't come with surprise fees.

How much health cover is enough?

A sensible number, based on your family, before an insurance agent sets one for you.

Each one lives inside the checklist task it belongs to, so it shows up exactly when you need it. Peek at the checklist.

One more, and it's for the parents: school admission windows. If your kids' enrollment window is closing soon, the app warns you before it closes. Not after.

Don't take my word for it

This is what it looks like inside

Real chats from one of our groups. Names and numbers hidden, nothing else touched.

Real conversations, already happening

Straight from inside the BackToIndia US group. Members hid their own names and photos before sharing these.

Tap any screenshot to see it full size.

The money bit

Why WhatsApp costs money (and Facebook doesn't)

I ran free WhatsApp groups for years. Within days, every free group gets the same visitors: plot sellers, insurance uncles and "Good morning" roses. A small one-time fee keeps the room for actual returnees.

Facebook group

Free

Just looking around. Lurk all you like.

One WhatsApp group

$49 lifetime

Your city or country. Pay once, stay forever.

All groups

$99 lifetime

Every city and country group. For the undecided.

No monthly charges. Your invite link shows up right after you pay, so it's non-refundable. If anything goes wrong, just message me.

Pick my WhatsApp group

Straight talk

This is a passion project, not a service

There's no company behind this. No office, no support queue, no account manager named Dave. It's me, a few volunteers, and a lot of people who remember exactly how confusing their own move was.

And I'll be honest about the money, because I'd rather you knew. This barely runs as a business. After the app costs, the email tool and the odd surprise, what's left is a rounding error. If this were a real business, I'd have found a way to bill you monthly by now.

Which is why the "I've been added to the group, can I get a refund?" messages land a little oddly. Your invite link arrives the moment you pay, so there's nothing left to hand back. And the fee was never buying a service you can return. It's the small ticket that keeps the room full of people who actually want to be here.

Nobody here is on commission. That's the whole point.

So think of it as a few coffees, once, for the person holding the door open. Then walk in and ask the thing you've been googling at 2am.

How to join

Two minutes, tops

1
Sign in with Google.
2
Pick your group and pay by card.
3
Get your invite link instantly. Say hi. Ask the thing you've been googling at 2am.
4
Fill in your move details. Your checklist builds itself.

Pick my WhatsApp group

Free for everyone

Return to India Facebook group

Our free community lives on Facebook. Read, ask and meet people planning the move. When you want a smaller, moderated room on WhatsApp, pick a paid group below.

Still on the fence? Totally fair. It's a big move. Message me and ask anything, I reply myself. No pitch, promise.

- Mani

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