You left India for a better life. That's not the problem. The problem is that no one around you quite gets what that life actually costs. Ruchi Makkar does — she's an Indian therapist online, working with NRIs across seven countries.
The pressures NRIs carry are real and specific. They're not just "stress" — they're the product of living between two worlds that each make demands you can't quite meet.
The calls asking when you're getting married. The guilt when you can't fly back for a function. The weight of being the child who left — and the expectations that come with that.
Too Western when you go back to India. Too Indian to fully belong abroad. That feeling of not quite fitting either place isn't a character flaw — it's a real psychological strain that has a name.
Especially when parents age, or a sibling struggles, or a crisis happens at home. You're doing well — and that can feel like a betrayal. That guilt doesn't just go away on its own.
You have the job, the flat, the visa. So you're not allowed to struggle, right? That's not how it works. Performing "fine" all the time takes a toll — and most people around you can't see it.
You have colleagues, maybe friends. Your calendar isn't empty. But there's a particular loneliness in not having anyone who truly knows your world — who gets the duality you live every day.
Marriages under pressure when one partner's family is abroad and one is in India. Long-distance relationships. Parents who feel abandoned. These dynamics need a therapist who understands both sides.
Ruchi Makkar is a postgraduate-trained psychotherapist based in Gurgaon. She's worked with NRI clients across the USA, UK, UAE, Canada, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand — and she conducts sessions in both Hindi and English, or a natural mix of both.
She doesn't need you to explain what a joint family is, why you feel guilty for not being there when your parents are unwell, or why choosing your own career over your parents' plan felt like a moral transgression. She already understands the cultural architecture your life is built on.
Her approach draws on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and systemic family therapy — adapted for the actual realities of Indian family dynamics and NRI life, not textbook Western assumptions about autonomy.
"What I've noticed with NRI clients is that the grief is often unacknowledged — not just grief about what they left behind, but grief about the version of themselves they had to leave behind to get there. That needs a space to be spoken out loud." — Ruchi Makkar, Psychotherapist
Three steps from right now to your first session, regardless of which country you're in.
Send Ruchi a message at +91 95600 67620. Tell her where you are and what brings you here. She replies personally — usually within a few hours.
Ruchi offers early morning and late evening IST slots for NRI clients. She'll find a time that fits your city's working hours — whether you're in London, New York, Toronto, Dubai, or Sydney.
Sessions happen over encrypted video — no software to install, just a browser and a private space. Weekly sessions from your home, office, or wherever you are.
Therapy isn't just for crises. It's for the slow, grinding weight of things that are hard to name — especially when those things don't have easy translations.
Working through what it means to be Indian and not-quite-Indian at the same time — and building a sense of self that doesn't require you to choose one.
Whether it's your marriage, your parents, siblings, or old friendships back home — distance changes relationships in ways that need unpacking, not just managing.
The particular Indian guilt of having left — and not being there as parents age, as health issues emerge, or when family crises happen without you in the room.
The careers NRIs chose because of what it would mean to the family, the ones they wish they'd chosen, the exhaustion of having to be successful enough to justify having left.
Loneliness isn't just being alone. It's being surrounded by people who don't share your reference points, your humour, your assumptions about how the world works.
The anxiety of visits home. The disorientation of not fitting back in. The question of whether you'd ever move back — and what it means that you're not sure.
Navigating arranged marriage expectations from abroad, cross-cultural partnerships, or marriages under stress from family pressure, distance, and different visions of the future.
Which can look different when your stressors include immigration status, cultural isolation, and a family back home whose needs you can't meet the way you'd want to.
No hidden fees. Sliding scale available on request.
A first session or an occasional check-in when you need someone to talk to.
4 sessions per month — the cadence that actually creates change, not just relief.
Ruchi offers early morning and late evening IST slots specifically for NRI clients. If you're in New York (EST), that's typically an evening slot for you. If you're in London (GMT/BST), early afternoon often works. If you're in the UAE or Singapore, there's a generous overlap with regular working hours. Message on WhatsApp with your location and preferred time window — she'll sort out the IST equivalent and find a slot that works.
Absolutely. Ruchi conducts sessions fully in Hindi, English, or a natural mix of both — whichever feels right. Many NRI clients find it easier to talk about family dynamics, relationships, and deep emotions in Hindi. Switching languages mid-session is completely normal and welcome. There's no pressure to perform in a language that doesn't feel like yours.
Yes — and this matters more than it sounds. Ruchi has worked with NRI clients across multiple countries over several years. She understands the particular weight of family expectations from a distance, the guilt of not being there for ageing parents, the in-between identity of not quite fitting abroad or at home, the exhaustion of the "doing well" performance, and the loneliness that can coexist with a full-looking life. You won't need to spend sessions explaining the cultural context — she already gets it.
Sessions are conducted over a secure, encrypted video call. After booking on WhatsApp, Ruchi will share the platform details and a session link. You don't need to install any app — just a browser, a stable internet connection, and a private space where you can speak freely. Most clients use their laptop or phone from home.
A local therapist in your country may be technically skilled, but they're unlikely to understand the specific cultural architecture of an Indian family — the weight of parental sacrifice narratives, joint-family dynamics, the pressure of being the "successful one" who moved abroad, or what it means emotionally when your parents start ageing and you're 9,000 km away. Western therapy models are built on Western assumptions about autonomy and individualism that simply don't map onto most Indian lives. With Ruchi, you don't have to explain any of that. You can just talk.
One message is all it takes. Ruchi replies personally — and your first session can happen within 48 hours, in whichever time zone you're in.
Book a session on WhatsApp