“Will India recognise this version of me?”: Creator’s heartfelt post on returning home after 5 years in London moves the internet
“Will India recognise this version of me?”: Creator’s heartfelt post on returning home after 5 years in London moves the internet
After half a decade of building a life in London, Indian digital creator Jigeesha Gupta is finally back home — but her homecoming has been as emotional as it’s been transformative. In a heartfelt Instagram post, Gupta reflected on what it means to return to the country she left behind as a teenager, and how the city that once felt foreign has now shaped who she is.
“After 5 years in London, I’m home. Five years. 1,825 days. A lifetime of growth compressed into what feels like both forever and a blink of an eye. I left India at 19, barely knowing who I was, carrying dreams bigger than my suitcase. London didn’t just welcome me, it raised me,” she wrote, looking back on her journey.
In her post, the 24-year-old creator opened up about the countless experiences that defined her time abroad — the bittersweet loneliness of those early winters, the warmth of finding friends who became family, and the heartbreaks and triumphs that shaped her resilience. “Through the loneliness of those first winter nights, the joy of finding my tribe, the heartbreak that taught me resilience, and the victories that felt impossible just years ago. I’ve cried on the tube, danced in tiny flats, worked jobs that broke me and others that built me. I’ve been homesick and home-found all at once,” she wrote.
Gupta shared that London had not only given her a career and new perspectives but also introduced her to herself. “London gave me everything — confidence I didn’t know I had, perspectives I never imagined, friendships that span continents, and most importantly, it gave me myself. The version of me that could dream fearlessly, love deeply, and stand tall through any storm,” she expressed.
However, the return to India has been layered with complex emotions. “Now as I step back onto Indian soil, I’m not the same person who left. I’m carrying pieces of two worlds, two cultures, two versions of home,” she wrote, adding that she had taken a month before sharing the post publicly — time spent processing the emotional shift.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Gupta described that first night back home as especially poignant. “What the post doesn’t capture is the weight of that first night back. I walked down the streets of my neighborhood, surrounded by familiar faces and places that somehow felt foreign, and realised I was mourning London while simultaneously celebrating home. It’s a strange grief, missing a place that was never truly yours, yet gave you everything you needed to become yourself. I kept thinking: will India recognise this version of me? Will I recognise myself here?” she reflected.
In her closing words, Gupta acknowledged that the person returning isn’t the same girl who left at 19. “The girl who left with stars in her eyes has returned as a woman with fire in her soul,” she wrote, adding, “This isn’t goodbye to London — it’s hello to the next chapter.”
Her emotional honesty struck a deep chord online, especially among young Indians who have lived abroad and later returned home.
One user commented, “wish you all the strength and blessings for new chapter… I know it will be tougher, I feel you in that way cuz I am going through the same but please always admire and follow the self-confidence that UK and London gave you.”
Another shared, “It’s been 3 months, I’m still can’t accept the reality, but yeh you took the words right out of my mouth.”
A third user wrote, “Hey! Have same story as yours.. left India when I was 17, lived in UK for 5 years moved back home. I feel each word of yours.. lots of love, growth and happiness.”
