10 reasons behind a successful R2I

It's been almost a year since I returned to India.  So far, I have never regretted my decision to R2I and my family members feel the same.  Today, one of my friend in the U.S. asked me how I made a successful one year journey in India.  I thought out deeply and introspected the top reasons behind my successful one year after R2I and emailed him in detail.  I thought it might be useful to others as well.  So here are the 10 reasons behind my successful one year of R2I:

1. Strong Motivation to R2I:  I always had a strong motivation to R2I and settle down in India.  I knew deep in my heart that this decision to R2I is in the best interest of myself and my family and our combined future.  This strong motivation to R2I kept me going and adjust myself to the new environment despite some of the everyday challenges I faced in India like pollution, traffic, uncivilized people, corrupt government officials etc. 
2. Affectionate Parents, Siblings, and Relatives:  The is one of the primary reasons behind my R2I plan.  I love and owe them a lot for their kindness and affection.  It's time to give back to them by being close to them and take part in all good and bad.  We never missed any of our family functions or celebrations.  It's so much fun to be there in person and be part of that celebration, joy and happiness.  This is something we missed big time in the U.S.
3. My wife supported me:  My wife and my son never complained about their life in India.  In fact, she was the one who motivated me to consider R2I sooner than what I had planned for.  Moreover, they are leading a much happier life here in India than in the U.S.  My son gets to play with his cousins  and grandparents everyday.  My wife also gets support from maids at home.  So she has plenty of time to take care of my needs and her's too.  She also gets to meet her parents, siblings and friends often.
4. Overlook everything that's not pleasant:  India is still the same India that was 10 years back when I left to the U.S.  Almost everything is still the same - no public toilets or unclean toilets, bad roads, traffic, congestion, pollution, corrupt officials and politicians, bureaucracy, beggars, lack of cleanliness, standard of education in the schools and hefty donations etc.  However, these things were there in India even before I went to the U.S.  So these are nothing new to me.  I changed my attitude to not complain about any of these issues unless I do something constructive about it.  I stopped looking at the glass being half empty but happy that it's half-full.  For example there are more parks that are well maintained within the reach of my home where I go for jogging everyday, there are more flyovers and bridges being constructed to avoid traffic congestion, public transportation is getting better - call taxis, sub-urban trains, share-autos, metro-train within the city.  I can pay my phone bill, electricity bill, sewage tax, water tax, and property tax online.  So I think some folks in the Government machinery is thinking out loud, planning for the future and working towards it. I hope things are slowly improving but may not be at the rate at which we expect it to happen. 
5. Clear Career Ambitions:  I was very clear with my career ambitions when I relocated to Chennai from the U.S.  There aren't many product companies or MNC's for software engineers to work in Chennai.  I know there aren't many silicon-valley style billion dollar hi-tech startups in Chennai.  But still you can find good-enough quality work here in Chennai and it's much better than what it was 10 years back.  Also I knew I cannot make big money in Chennai/India to buy a house but I know I can lead a decent, luxurious life with my income.  I knew how to make my ends meet.
6. Good schools and Options:  There are plenty of new CBSE schools in Chennai.  Also there are schools offering international syllabus such as Cambridge Syllabus.  If you are willing to shell out good money, you can get the education in the school you like.  Also schools buses, vans come to your doorstep to pick up your kids.  There are plenty of affordable after-school programs available such as painting classes, music classes, Hindi classes, dance classes etc.
7. Never look back or compare between India and U.S.:  Past is past.  I never encouraged thoughts like "How good and pleasant it was when we were in the U.S.!" to ruin my life when I face some obstacles or challenges in India.  I never let such thoughts to take a deep root in my mind.  I always reassure myself by saying "I'm grateful to be in India with my parents, siblings, relatives and friends.  Life was so much lonely, mechanical, and money focused in the U.S." or sometimes I would say "Just move on and live your present moment than living in your past."
8.  Investments:  I made all my investments in India.  I had to regularly manage them in person to get ROI.  So logically speaking, I'm bonded tightly with India so that I could reap the benefits out of my hard earned investments.  I'm glad that I made those investments periodically in India during my stint in the U.S.  Now I'm more relaxed and tense free at work, even when they talk about some rumors in the news about huge layoffs in the company.
9. Food tastes much better in India:  I don't know, for some reason, all Indian food tastes much better in India.  It's probably because of the water or the soil quality that makes the difference.  I'm a connoisseur of food and good food makes a huge different to me.  No more gas troubles after drinking cow's milk - a problem that I regularly faced in the U.S. because of the high protein content in the cow's milk there.  Also there are plenty of restaurants in India that offer multi-national cuisine 
10. Travel, Movies: There are so many places to see in India.  We have made it a habit to travel twice or thrice a year to some tourist destination like hill station, national parks, temple, historical site etc  We also travel once a month to some local attraction in and around Chennai.  Every alternate month we have been going to my wife native in down south tamilnadu - a very calm, rejuvenating place in a country setting, with laid-back lifestyle and no hurry-burry.  We also go to movies as a family - 10 members in one car -  every month to have some fun.