- Karan Punjabi shared his struggles with reverse culture shock after returning to India from Europe
- He spent four years in France and Barcelona before moving back to Mumbai nearly four years ago
- Punjabi described feeling disconnected, restless, and emotionally distant despite familiar surroundings
Mumbai-based entrepreneur Karan Punjabi has opened up about the emotional challenges of returning to India after spending five years in Europe, saying the experience left him feeling disconnected, restless, and overwhelmed despite being back with family and familiar surroundings. In an Instagram post that resonated with many returning Indian expats, Punjabi reflected on the lesser-discussed reality of reverse culture shock and the loneliness that can accompany moving back home after years abroad.
Punjabi said he spent four years in France, completed his master's degree in Barcelona, and returned to Mumbai nearly four years ago. He admitted that only recently had he been able to openly talk about how emotionally difficult the transition actually was.
According to Punjabi, nobody prepares people for how challenging it can be to move back home. While friends and family were happy to see him return, he struggled internally with feelings of displacement and emotional discomfort. He explained that he expected life in India to immediately feel familiar and comforting again. Instead, he found himself feeling irritated, restless and emotionally distant, even while surrounded by people he knew well.
Punjabi also reflected on how life had moved on in his absence. Friends and family had built new routines, relationships, and experiences, making his return feel unexpectedly disorienting. He said returning home sometimes felt like stepping into a world that no longer adjusted to accommodate him.
The founder of B To D Studio also spoke about losing a sense of independence after moving back in with family. He described how living alone abroad had shaped his identity, while returning home made him realise how much he had changed over the years. "Living alone shows you who you are. Coming back shows you how much you've changed," he wrote.
Punjabi said one of the most difficult emotions to explain was feeling different from the people around him after years overseas. He noted that the experiences and personal growth he went through abroad were unfamiliar to many people back home.
"I spent 4 years in France, did my master's in Barcelona, and moved back to Mumbai almost 4 years ago. And I'm just now able to talk about how hard it actually was. Not the distance. Not missing people. The coming back. The reverse culture shock. The feeling that you'll never fully settle again. The grief of a chapter that's just… over. This is everything I wish someone had told me before I moved back," he captioned the Instagram post.
See the post here:
He described reverse culture shock as very real, saying he felt mentally rewired in ways others around him could not fully understand. According to him, the experience created a tension between the version of himself that once lived in India and the person he had become while abroad.
Punjabi also reflected on grieving a chapter of life that he could never go back to. He described the emotional difficulty of accepting that the years he spent abroad were over for good.
Another challenge, he said, was adapting again to routine life in India. While living in Europe had involved discovering new cities and meeting new people, returning home often felt repetitive and emotionally draining. Familiar roads, conversations, and routines that once felt comforting eventually began to feel suffocating.
However, Punjabi said his mindset gradually changed when he stopped questioning why he had returned and instead focused on what he wanted to build next. Although the restlessness never completely disappeared, he said it slowly transformed into a sense of direction rather than frustration. He concluded by suggesting that this phase of life may not be about escaping again, but about creating a life that no longer feels like something to run away from.
His honest admission resonated with many others. Reacting to his post, one user wrote, "True. I moved back to India after 7 years in the US. It was the hardest thing for me. Went through all the things you speak about. It's been 30 years now. Sometimes I feel I never recovered."
Another said, "This is such a real problem. The weight and grief of being back, away from your friends, breaking old habits, etc can feel really restrictive. Sometimes it actually takes time until you accept being back, but the sooner you accept, the faster solutions come up."
"No one talks about it enough! But you're right about not letting that life hold you hostage, onwards and upwards, you're not alone," a third user wrote while a fourth added, "So beautifully put! So relatable, especially the part “you just can't put in words”! I returned from UK last december, each day i feel i will never settle, something has so drastically changed in me. Also, to add, you don't feel home anywhere, neither there you do, and nor here you feel belonged - how would you explain this to anyone? Nevertheless, spoke my mind and heart out, thank you."
