I’ve always believed that the best stories come from the messy corners of our lives, the ones where we make decisions that look absolutely terrible from the outside. You know, the kind that makes people raise their eyebrows and whisper, “Why would she do that?” The kind that we ourselves question at 2 a.m., staring at the ceiling fan, wondering if we’ve completely messed up our lives.
My decision to come back to India, leaving the comfort of USA was one such masterpiece of a ‘bad decision.’
Las Vegas, 2007
People didn’t just judge it; they announced their judgment with the confidence of weather reporters predicting rain in July.
“Why would you leave that comfort?”
“Kids will have better opportunities there.”
“You’re throwing away stability.”
“This is emotional, not practical.”
I heard it all. Loud and clear. And honestly, I didn’t blame them. Even I wasn’t sure if I was being brave, foolish, impulsive, or all of the above. If life had subtitles, mine at that time would have read – ‘She is doing this, but she really has no clue.’
But here’s the thing about so-called bad decisions – they have a strange way of opening doors that good, safe, sensible decisions never even point towards.
The Slow Bloom of a Supposedly Bad Decision
Coming back wasn’t easy. I wasn’t welcomed by a ready-made life waiting to embrace me. I didn’t land in clarity, peace, or a giant neon sign that said YOU MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE.
What I landed in was noise; real noise and metaphorical noise. The chaos of rebuilding, the chaos of self-doubt, and the chaos of people who were very sure they knew my life better than I did. Also, the guilt of being a selfish woman.
But slowly, something unexpected happened. The life I chose, the life everyone called ‘a bad decision’, started blooming. Maybe not like a grand rose garden. More like a plant that grows out of a crack in the pavement. Stubborn, surprising, and full of attitude.
The Saree Saga (now The She Saga) grew quietly at first, the way all beautiful things do. A small community, a few conversations, women finding their voice, then more women finding courage in those voices. It became a space where stories didn’t need to be perfect; they just needed to be true.
Slowly came Aashiyan, the home I didn’t know I needed until it started taking shape. A place stitched with dreams, risks, late-night replanning, and that stubborn faith I didn’t admit even to myself.
And Veda’s… ah, Veda’s.
For the longest time, people assumed ‘passion’ was a polite substitute for ‘not financially viable.’ But Veda’s quietly proved that passion and financial independence can indeed sit together and sip tea – peacefully, profitably, unapologetically.
One day, I looked around at all of this – the community, the work, the sense of purpose, the financial stability, and I realised something profound – Maybe my ‘bad decision’ wasn’t bad at all. Maybe it was the smartest thing I had ever done. Maybe intuition is wiser than logic, even when it trembles a little.
But Here’s the Part I Don’t Say Out Loud Often. Behind every big life decision, there’s a quiet corner where doubt silently sits with folded hands.
Was I unfair to my husband?
Were the kids supposed to grow up in a different environment – more structured, more predictable, more global?
Would life have been “better” for them elsewhere?
I won’t lie. These questions come back sometimes. They don’t torment me, but they knock gently, like old acquaintances who haven’t quite left my story yet. But then I look at the world today – the instability, the loneliness, the constant race for something that no one can name – and I wonder if being here, with family, with cultural grounding, with a sense of belonging, with relationships that aren’t transactional, is really the poorer choice.
The Story I Can Finally Tell – So yes, I came back. Yes, people predicted it was a disaster waiting to happen. Yes, even I wasn’t sure what I was doing. And yes, I still carry a tiny pocket of guilt for the impact it had on the people I love most.
But today, standing where I stand, with The She Saga thriving, Aashiyan breathing beautifully, Veda’s offering financial dignity, and my own self finally feeling like my own, I can say this without hesitation, that
My so-called bad decision gave me a good life. And an even better story.
Maybe that’s what life truly is – not a path where you always choose the ‘correct’ direction, but a journey where you choose your direction and then do the work, the healing, the rebuilding, the growing, and the trusting that make that direction worth walking.
By Vedaprana Purkayastha
The Founder of The She Saga Foundation, Vedaprana, is a Social Entrepreneur and a Psychological Counselor. She writes on topics that touch her heart and stir her soul. She can be contacted at vedaprana.p@gmail.com
