‘Success can’t be measured by clean roads or good salaries’: Why an NRI left Canada for India

In an Instagram reel that has since gone viral, Sneha Khilwani explained why she and her family chose to return to India despite building what many would consider a successful life in Canada.

Khilwani said she and her husband were repeatedly asked whether visa troubles or professional setbacks forced their move.

“We didn’t fail in Canada,” she said, describing their decade-long stay as “very, very good” and noting that they had built their lives and raised their children there.

“This place gave us so much, but this move is not because we failed—it’s because we finally know what matters the most,” she said.

Khilwani emphasised that returning to India was not an impulsive decision but a carefully thought-out long-term choice. According to her, success cannot be measured only by “clean roads, good salaries or quiet winters,” but by where the heart feels at home.

She admitted she would miss Canada’s clean air, greenery and traffic-free days, but said India offers something far more valuable—close family ties.

“Only India can give our kids grandparents, festivals together, spontaneous family get-togethers and a life where memories aren’t happening on a screen,” she said.

“We didn’t quit Canada. We chose India because, at this stage of life, being closer to family felt more important than anything else,” Khilwani wrote in her Instagram post.

Netizens react

Several social media users lauded Sneha and her husband’s decision, calling it brave and heartfelt.

“Just seeing the joy on the grandparents’ faces is so heartwarming. If you and your family are happy, that’s all that matters,” wrote one user.

Another commented, “Welcome home. Be happy. Life is too short to worry about what others will say.”

However, some users questioned whether the decision was influenced by the security of Canadian citizenship.

“You moved back because your future was secure. You knew you could return anytime,” one user wrote, while another asked whether Khilwani planned to renounce her Canadian citizenship or retain “the world’s eighth strongest passport.”