Sumit Agrawal left his high-paying job in Mumbai to return to his hometown of Jamshedpur five years ago. He recently shared the impact of this life-changing decision through a LinkedIn post. Agrawal shared how initially he was concerned about adjusting to the “small town” lifestyle after years of living in cities like Hyderabad and Mumbai.
He shared, “Questions like, ‘Will I have a social life there?’, ‘What will I do on weekends?’, and ‘What kind of work environment will I have?’ weighed on me at first.” However, over the past five years, the benefits of living in a small town outweighed all of these challenges, ultimately shifting his outlook.
In his post, Agrawal highlighted five key reasons why moving to Jamshedpur proved to be the right choice for him.
Reduced daily commute: One of the most notable changes was the drastic decrease in time spent commuting. I don’t have to spend 20-25 per cent of my day in traffic. My office is 14 km away which takes me 15 min to reach. Also, I am not irritated when I reach the office (this is super important for me),” he wrote.
Monthly Expenses: Another reason he shares is the reduction in monthly expenses. “My monthly expenditure is much lower for almost the same ‘quality of life’ as that of a larger city,” he said.
Ease of life: He shared that every facility is easily available in the town. “All ‘ease of life’ facilities are easily available (at lower cost) – food delivery, e-commerce, cabs, events, multiplex, etc,” he wrote.
Less Crowded: Agrawal said that he used to hate how crowded Mumbai was especially during weekends. “Less crowded outdoors. I didn’t feel like going out on weekends in Mumbai dreading the crowd. It’s much better here,” he said.
Healthy Habits: A small town gave him the liberty and time to channel his other interests. “I am able to give more time to my health and sports,” he said.
He concluded his post by saying how initially he was not sure about his decision. “5 years back I wasn’t really sure how life in a small town would turn out. But it isn’t that bad after all,” he wrote.
Agrawal’s post received several responses on the internet. One LinkedIn user wrote, “The day I moved out of my home town – Jodhpur, I vowed that I would come back someday. Everytime I am back there, I am meeting my friends, cousins and family members who didn’t venture out. Every time my want to come back grows stronger and stronger. Life is slow (for good) in small cities, way better quality of life, time, food and energy overall. Since getting a job or opportunity to work is difficult for my line of career, I decided couple of years back that I would initiate something which gives me and people like me an opportunity. Working on a plan, hope it works.”
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