"Glad To Be Here": Why Meta Techie Moved To Bengaluru From US After 18 Years

After spending nearly two decades in the United States, senior Meta engineering leader Balaji Gururajan has returned to Bengaluru with his family, saying the move was driven by a desire to be closer to his ageing parents and give his children more time with family. Alongside the transition, he has also launched a cross-border financial app called Bhavitta. In a LinkedIn post, Gururajan shared that he and his family packed up their lives after 18 years in the US and relocated to Bengaluru. The post included a photo, apparently taken at an airport, showing a trolley piled high with more than a dozen suitcases.

He said the decision was deeply personal, centred on spending more time with loved ones instead of watching important family moments unfold from thousands of miles away.

Reflecting on his years in the Bay Area, Gururajan said it shaped both his career and his outlook on technology and leadership. He expressed gratitude to the people who supported him along the way, from colleagues who believed in him to friends who helped him through difficult phases.

"To everyone who took a chance on me, taught me something I needed to hear, or simply made the hard years easier — Thank You!! I mean that more than a LinkedIn post can really carry," he wrote.

See the post here:

Adjusting to life back in Bengaluru, however, has come with its own challenges. He described the process of finding a home, enrolling his children in school and rebuilding everyday routines in a city he last knew many years ago. Despite the hurdles, he said the experience has been rewarding.

"Settling in has been its own kind of project — school, home, the everyday logistics of starting over in a city I last knew as a much younger person. It's been humbling and, more often than not, genuinely good," he added. 

During the transition, Gururajan also worked on a side project, creating Bhavitta, an app built entirely using Claude. The platform is designed to help people manage cross-border finances, including retirement planning and financial decisions involving two countries, two currencies and different tax systems.

"For now — grateful, a little jet-lagged, and glad to be here," he concluded the post. 

His story resonated with many professionals who have faced similar choices between building careers abroad and returning home. One user wrote, "We have never met. But reminds us of our move from Seattle / Bay Area back to BLR for the same reasons. And looking back was a great decision. Wishing you folks the best. Happy to help in anyway!".

Another commented, "Congratulations on this new chapter! Wishing you and your family a smooth transition and many happy years back in Bangalore. Your perspective on choosing family over comfort really resonates."