Overview

• On July 15, Japanese travel vlogger Maharaja Otaku Tokyo released a viral video in which the majority of Non-Resident Indians he encountered said they left because India was too hard to live in.
• Interviewees cited systemic barriers such as red tape, high taxes, frequent power cuts and unsafe water quality as motivations to emigrate.
• The video trended rapidly on social media and prompted a flurry of reactions from both critics and supporters of conditions in India.
• While India remains the fastest-growing major economy, ongoing infrastructure and governance challenges fuel a historic brain drain.
• Rising diaspora remittances and the outflow of skilled professionals are intensifying calls for policy reforms to improve quality of life.