A woman recently took to social media to share her experience living in India and the United States. Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi took to X (formerly Twitter) and sparked a debate on the quality of life in both countries. Initially, she assumed that amenities such as home delivery of groceries and affordable domestic help contributed to a lavish lifestyle in India. However, after visiting the United States, she realised that factors including clean air and well-maintained roads determine the quality of life.
She wrote on the social media platform, "Day 11 today in the US and here's a thought I had yesterday evening. It might trigger some of you. But if online text with somebody's opinion triggers you that's a space you should totally work on and protect for your own energy."
"So the thought is - I've always felt how luxurious life in India can be with: quick food deliveries, 10min grocery delivery, affordable household help. I literally survive on grocery deliveries lol. But REAL quality of life is actually stuff that's super basic. It's clean air, ongoing electricity, availability of water, plenty of greenery, good roads," Ms Sodhi continued.
The user said that a person does not need quick delivery services if they have clean air to go to the store without any fear. She said, "And the real luxury is central air conditioning instead of dying in 45C without any electricity on some days, freedom to wear what you want to be comfortable instead of men ogling at you. Because things that have made me happy in the past few days apart from family time, are morning walks, good air, green pastures, seeing sunrise and sunset, sound of birds instead of honking."
Ms Sodhi stated that "perhaps it's my definition of quality of life and luxury that has changed." "I don't know if I'll ever attain any of the above. But it's definitely a thought in my head," the X user concluded.
Since being shared, her post has amassed five lakh views and three thousand likes on the microblogging platform.
"100 percent agree. It takes courage to voice this opinion. Civic sense is a highly under rated attribute," said a user.
A second person commented, "Living in Melbourne for 15 years and temporarily moved to Mumbai and ai could see the difference clearly. You are 100% correct. We hardly had food deliveries in Melbourne but everyday in Mumbai because of pollution, traffic etc."
Another added, "Villages of India also offer you such a peaceful and healthy environment... Farmers of India are no less than living in US or Melbourne the only drawback- u can't get food delivered online & obviously not a high package microsoft job."
"You can get such life if you move 50 kms away from any city in India," wrote a user.
Another said, "Both places have their plus and minus. You usually cannot have everything in one place"
A person remarked, "Really depends from person to person and how you define the quality of life. Having lived in Bangalore and also getting a taste of life abroad, and talking to people who live abroad, things are not as rosy as it seems on the paper."
