In a viral post – originally shared on Reddit and now circulating on X as well – a Bengaluru family man with a household income of 60 LPA expressed his concerns regarding living conditions in India. The lengthy post titled “Is India ever going to change? Or should I just leave already?” notes that even though he and his wife are both working and they seem to be doing fine “on paper,” certain qualms with the system have triggered an existential crisis of sorts.

“The quality of life makes me question if living in India is even worth it anymore,” the post reads. He then shares several pointers, including poor infrastructure, high road tax, corruption, inflation and more, backing his claims of why one should consider moving out.

Factors ruining quality of life in India: Redditor

Despite Karnataka having the highest road tax in India, the person points out that the “beyond pathetic” infrastructure makes road travel a nightmare. “I live in Horamavu (Bangalore) — it takes me 40 minutes to cover 3 kms… Every road has either bottlenecks, broken or dug up. Construction is never-ending. Projects start, but never finish. Where’s the accountability?” he bemoans.

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Keeping Delhi as a reference point, the Bengaluru resident reveals that he paid Rs 2.25 lakhs more than he would have in the Indian capital and described it as “pure daylight robbery.” In return, we’ve merely been presented with “craters for roads, traffic nightmares, and constant construction.”

BJP’s Tejasvi Surya also recently penned an incendiary open letter to Bengaluru Incharge Minister DK Shivakumar and BBMP Commissioner Tushar Girinath, sharing his disappointment with the poor condition of roads and infrastructure. “What we offered them was an obstacle race instead of a world-class experience,” he said of the roads ridden with potholes, garbage dumps and broken paths after Sunday’s TCS World 10K race. He continued, “Senior citizens struggled to even walk without risking a fall. Wheelchair participants had to be assisted throughout the route, not because of their condition but because of our city’s unforgiving infrastructure,” adding, “Every road of the city looks like a construction site – dusty, potholed and lifeless.”

Then he moves on to how despite “30-40% of our income” going in taxes, one has to face GST on everything. Even after emptying one’s pocket on all that, there’s no free healthcare, decent education or reliable water, the resident of the IT capital of India says, adding, “The middle class is just getting milked dry with nothing in return.”

After all that, one can’t even rely on the quality of life to assuage one’s grounded anxiety. “Dust everywhere. Noise. Stress. Road rage is normal. You can’t walk peacefully, you can’t breathe clean air. I don’t feel safe sending my wife out alone after 7 PM,” he says.

Then comes the ever-present corruption to make matters even worse. The Bengaluru man that he had to pay Rs 2,000 as a “tip” after officials rejected his application “without any credible reason.” The vexed man further expresses his frustration with the system, saying, “Nothing moves unless you bribe the babus. No wonder the richest people in India are the politicians?”

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Finally, the 5-point argument addresses inflation. “Rent is up 10% this year. School fees are insane. House helps are asking for raises (I don’t blame them one bit). The expenses are increasing way faster than our household income,” the Bengaluru man complains.

Although he keenly wishes to contribute to the country and “build something here,” he says that everything seems to be failing the middle class families and individuals. “It just feels like the system is set up to squeeze the working class… We will work 80 hours… work weeks while politicians can print the invitation card of marriage of their offsprings in gold,” he goes on before concluding his plea with another question worth asking.

“Is there any hope left? Or am I just being naive thinking things will improve?”