Woman Reveals Why She Never Eats Out In India After Returning From America: 'Street Doesn't Invite You'

A LinkedIn post by a US-returned venture capitalist has gone viral for the comparison of social life in India and America. Nitisha Bansal highlighted that since moving back, she had almost stopped eating out entirely, preferring to host friends at home. Bansal pointed to the urban chaos, ranging from broken footpaths to extreme heat, as the main reason for rejecting Indian outdoor social life, unlike the inviting street culture she experienced in the States.

"Ever since I moved back from the US, I noticed something about myself. I almost never eat out. Even catching up with friends, 'Come home, I'll cook,'" Bansal wrote.

Bansal initially attributed it to habit, home cooking, or saving money. But the contrast became clear once she weighed her experience against life back in the US.

"In the US, a Saturday evening just pulls you out. Clean footpath. Shade. A coffee place with chairs spilling onto the street. People walking slowly, no agenda. One thing leads to another - suddenly four hours gone, $80 spent, and it felt effortless," she said.

However, India felt different, as per Bansal, owing to the heat, dust, and garbage that the city throws in your face the moment you step outside.

"You open the door and the city hits you in the face. 40C. Horns. Garbage. Dust. A footpath that's become a two-wheeler parking lot. You last 30 seconds and turn back inside. The street doesn't invite you. It rejects you."

Highlighting some numbers, Bansal said the only way to invite more people outdoors was by fixing the streets, as it would allow retail and real estate to blow up.

"Fixing India's streets could unlock $100-150B in incremental consumption by 2035, retail, food, experiences, real estate, all of it. We keep asking where India's next big consumer wave is coming from. It's outside. We just made outside unbearable."

Check The Viral Post Here:

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Social Media Reacts

As the post went viral, social media users had a mixed reaction to Bansal's assessment. "This isn't entirely true as the constraint is income distribution and median development stage, not technology or infrastructure," said one user, while another added: "The footpath argument is right, but it's only half the problem."

A third commented: "People eat outside with higher frequency outside India because the alternative is to come home and cook for yourself or eat leftovers. When you are tired, it's rather easy to just go outside. In India, having help to cook fresh food for you every day reduces that need by a lot."

A fourth said: "I live in Boston and frankly, I don't want to eat outside at all because my options are crap, I end up paying a bomb for the most average of meals, and I also don't want to eat unhealthy, not to mention the cost of hiring a babysitter. The clean footpaths are not inviting me at all, and not sure if I would call the footpaths of New York or San Francisco clean."