Indian entrepreneur Bharathi Ramesh has shared why she chose to give up her US Green Card and return to India, saying grief, burnout, financial pressures and a long-standing desire to build her own company changed the way she viewed success.
For many Indians who move to the United States, obtaining permanent residency can represent years of paperwork, professional achievement and uncertainty. For Bharathi Ramesh, however, securing a Green Card eventually became part of a very different story.
After moving to the US in 2020 for a master’s degree, Ramesh later obtained permanent residency through the EB-1A category. She had hoped that the immigration flexibility would allow her to eventually devote herself to building a startup.
Instead, she said, a series of deeply personal and professional challenges made it difficult to take that step.
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Add INDYASTORY on GoogleIn a post shared on Instagram, Ramesh described the journey from moving abroad for higher education to returning to India and finally embracing her identity as a founder.
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Why Bharathi Ramesh moved to the US
Ramesh said she moved to the United States in 2020 to pursue her master’s degree, with an interest in applying research to nutrition practice.
Her professional ambitions later became closely connected with entrepreneurship.
According to her account, she pursued both EB-2 NIW and EB-1A immigration pathways to obtain greater flexibility while planning her startup.
She wrote that her Green Card was ultimately approved through EB-1A, an immigration category intended for people who can demonstrate extraordinary ability in their field.
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Add INDYASTORY on GoogleFor Ramesh, receiving permanent residency represented a major milestone after years of education and professional development.
But the freedom to pursue entrepreneurship did not automatically make entrepreneurship possible.
‘When I was ready to take the leap, I lost a parent’
The turning point came when Ramesh was preparing to focus on her startup.
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Add INDYASTORY on Google“When I was ready to take the leap and work on my startup, I lost a parent,” she wrote.
The loss affected a period that was already marked by what she described as intense professional pressure.
Ramesh said she considered herself a “compulsive high performer” and described years of pushing herself toward one achievement after another.
Eventually, she said, she reached a point where that approach was no longer sustainable.
“It took me 8 months to find myself again,” she said.
Her description places grief alongside the broader pressures she was experiencing at the time, rather than presenting the decision to leave the US as a simple career calculation.
The Green Card did not give her the time she wanted
From the outside, Ramesh’s circumstances could have appeared highly secure.
She had studied in the US, developed her career, navigated the immigration process and obtained permanent residency.
But she said her day-to-day reality was different.
“I was working full-time to pay rent & have health insurance when what I really wanted to do was work on my startup,” Ramesh wrote.
She also referred to personal health struggles during the period.
Her account highlights a distinction that can easily be overlooked when professional success is measured through credentials alone.
A Green Card can provide immigration stability, but it does not necessarily remove the practical pressures of employment, living costs, insurance, family responsibilities or personal circumstances.
For Ramesh, those realities eventually changed how she thought about the future.
Why she chose to leave the US
The decision to return to India appears to have developed from several factors rather than a single event.
There was the desire to build her company, the loss of a parent, the pressure of maintaining full-time employment and the personal challenges she said she was experiencing.
Eventually, she decided that continuing in the US was not the path she wanted.
She framed the decision around a simple question:
“Why I gave up my green card to build my company in India.”
For someone who had spent years working toward permanent residency, giving it up was a significant choice.
But Ramesh’s story suggests that immigration status was no longer the only measure by which she wanted to evaluate her future.
Her husband supported the move back to India
Ramesh also said she discussed the decision with her husband, who supported the plan.
The couple eventually relocated to India, allowing her to focus on the business she had wanted to build.
That support appears to have been important because the decision involved more than changing jobs or moving between cities. It meant leaving a country where Ramesh had spent years studying and building her professional life.
Returning to India represented a new direction rather than simply a return to an earlier stage of her life.
‘Finally, I’m happy to call myself a founder’
After returning to India, Ramesh began working on her company and reached the milestone she had been pursuing.
“And finally, I’m happy to call myself a founder,” she wrote.
The statement captures the central theme of her story.
For years, success had been associated with education, professional achievements and immigration milestones. Eventually, her definition of success shifted toward building something of her own.
The decision to return to India was therefore connected to entrepreneurship, but also to a change in priorities.
Giving up a Green Card does not have one universal meaning
Ramesh’s experience should not be interpreted as evidence that obtaining a US Green Card is undesirable or that returning to India is necessarily a better career choice.
For many immigrants, permanent residency remains an important long-term goal because it can provide stability and greater freedom in employment and residence.
Ramesh’s experience is simply different.
Her story illustrates how the value people place on career opportunities, geographic location and immigration status can change as circumstances evolve.
A decision that appears unconventional from the outside can make sense within an individual’s personal priorities.
Why her story is resonating with Indian professionals
Stories about Indians returning from the US often attract attention because the traditional migration narrative has been closely associated with education, high-paying jobs, long-term residency and professional advancement.
Ramesh’s account offers a different version of that journey.
She did not return because she had failed to achieve the milestones she originally pursued. By her account, she had achieved several of them.
She returned after deciding that those achievements were no longer sufficient to define what she wanted next.
That distinction is what makes the story noteworthy.
From immigration milestone to entrepreneurship
Ramesh’s journey also highlights the complicated relationship between career security and entrepreneurial ambition.
A stable job can provide income and benefits. Building a startup often requires time, uncertainty and a willingness to forgo some of that stability.
Ramesh said she found herself working primarily to meet the financial demands of living in the US while wanting to dedicate her energy to her company.
Returning to India became her way of changing that equation.
The move gave her the opportunity to pursue the business path she had been postponing.
What her journey says about redefining success
There is no single definition of professional success.
For some people, it may mean building a career abroad. For others, it may mean returning home, becoming an entrepreneur or creating a business around a long-held idea.
Ramesh’s story shows how those priorities can change after major life events.
The Green Card that once represented flexibility and achievement eventually became less central to her plans than the opportunity to build a company.
Her decision was shaped not only by ambition, but also by grief, financial realities, personal circumstances and the desire for a different daily life.
A new chapter in India
Ramesh’s return marks the beginning of the chapter she had been working toward for years.
Rather than viewing the move solely as giving something up, she has described it as creating the conditions to pursue her startup.
That does not erase the years of work that came before it. Her education, professional experience and immigration journey all became part of the background she brought with her to India.
The difference is that the next milestone is no longer a visa category or a corporate position.
It is the company she hopes to build.
Bharathi Ramesh’s story is ultimately about changing the definition of success: after years of pursuing education, career milestones and US permanent residency, she chose to return to India and build the startup she had been waiting to pursue.
