In the hustle of India’s big cities, Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, the dream of ‘making it big’ is a one-way ticket to endless work hours, sky-high rent, and a constant grind that somehow blurs Monday into Sunday. We come to these bustling metros hoping to bag our dream jobs and live that “comfortable life,” but in return, we get burnout, overpriced food deliveries, and a work-life balance that feels like a distant myth.
No wonder, then, that the idea of leaving this chaos behind for a slower, simpler life in a smaller city has started pulling at our hearts.
Recently, journalist Sneha Mordani struck a chord online by asking if anyone else ever felt like escaping the corporate treadmill for a place where life actually feels, well, liveable.
Turns out, plenty of people do. Folks shared stories of finding peace and purpose in India’s tier-2 and tier-3 towns or even villages, where the air’s fresher, time moves slower, and the rent doesn’t make you cry every month. Instead of grinding through deadlines, they’re growing their own food, watching sunsets instead of screens, and spending actual quality time with family.
Imagine this: swapping weekend burnout for evening strolls, having savings that actually grow, and not rushing through life as if it’s a race.
This shift isn’t just a dream—it’s a quiet rebellion against the high-speed, high-stress life we were all sold. Turns out, for some, the ultimate success is finding peace, and that might just mean leaving the city in the rearview.