{"id":46691,"date":"2026-08-15T13:21:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T08:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=46691"},"modified":"2026-08-15T13:21:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T08:21:26","slug":"nobody-hands-you-independence-you-take-it-mumbai-ceo-on-leaving-us-career-for-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=46691","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Nobody hands you independence, you take it\u2019: Mumbai CEO on leaving US career for India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"storyParagraphFigure\">\n<p class=\"content\">A corporate leader recently detailed her transition from a prospective executive role in the United States to leading a business in <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/topic\/india\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\">India<\/a> while sharing an Independence Day message. Having journeyed from small-town roots to an elite international education, she decided that long-term fulfilment meant building solutions domestically rather than pursuing a comfortable life abroad. Despite encountering daily operational complexities, she asserted that taking ownership of growth in India is uniquely rewarding.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"artImage leadImage\">\n<div class=\" \"><picture class=\"leadImageClass\"><source media=\"(min-width:768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/ht-img\/img\/2026\/08\/15\/960x540\/Independence_Mumbai_CEO_India_Viral_X_1786779041176_1786779048486_c3ba90de-954b-4b44-aa0f-6b2d0b50b8f5.jpg\" alt=\"The Mumbai-based founder and CEO, Ahana Gautam. (X\/@GautamAhana)\"\/><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/ht-img\/img\/2026\/08\/15\/400x225\/Independence_Mumbai_CEO_India_Viral_X_1786779041176_1786779048486_c3ba90de-954b-4b44-aa0f-6b2d0b50b8f5.jpg\" alt=\"The Mumbai-based founder and CEO, Ahana Gautam. (X\/@GautamAhana)\" title=\"The Mumbai-based founder and CEO, Ahana Gautam. (X\/@GautamAhana)\" width=\"360\" height=\"202\" loading=\"eager\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"\">The Mumbai-based founder and CEO, Ahana Gautam. (X\/@GautamAhana)<span\/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"content \">\u201cToday, the eve of Independence Day, I\u2019m in my office in India &#8211; not the corner office in the US I was on track for. Nobody hands you independence. You take it. I took mine the day I decided Bharatpur-to-Boston wasn\u2019t the finish line &#8211; building back home was,\u201d <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/topic\/mumbai\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\">Mumbai<\/a>-based founder and CEO Ahana Gautam wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \"><strong>Also Read: <\/strong><a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/trending\/bengaluru-ceo-left-helmet-unlocked-everywhere-what-his-5-year-experiment-revealed-101786675363998.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\"><strong>Bengaluru CEO left helmet unlocked everywhere for 5 years. What his experiment revealed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">She continued, \u201cIt\u2019s messy some days. Dispatch delays, hiring misses, numbers that don\u2019t add up. But every hard day here is one I chose over an easy one somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">In the following lines, she shared a message for those outside India who are considering returning. \u201cThis is the best time there\u2019s been. Nobody\u2019s watching the India story from the outside anymore. We\u2019re the ones writing it. The Indian dream should be the dream people chase next.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><h2>Take a look at the X post:<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"content \">\n<h2>What did social media say?<\/h2>\n<p>An individual commented, \u201cI am very happy that you are an independent woman. I wish that every daughter of our country becomes an independent woman.\u201d Another expressed, \u201cFantastic, lesson on courage, conviction and determination. More power to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"content \"><strong>Also Read: <\/strong><a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/trending\/started-earning-at-13-pune-ceo-celebrates-personal-trainer-buying-his-first-house-at-30-101786759257021-amp.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"\u2018Started earning at 13\u2019: Pune CEO celebrates personal trainer buying his first house at 30\"><strong>\u2018Started earning at 13\u2019: Pune CEO celebrates personal trainer buying his first house at 30<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">A third expressed, \u201cWell, quite inspiring but not many have the courage to quit the US dreams and head back to the country which gave them everything\u2026 Congrats, you were able to create &amp; build something you&#8217;d wanted\u2026 May your post inspire many who haven&#8217;t considered it.\u201d A fourth wrote, \u201cIt&#8217;s incredibly tempting to take the comfortable salary in another timezone. But those messy days building back home are the ones that actually count.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A corporate leader recently detailed her transition from a prospective executive role in the United States to leading a business in India while sharing an Independence Day message. Having journeyed from small-town roots to an elite international education, she decided that long-term fulfilment meant building solutions domestically rather than pursuing a comfortable life abroad. Despite&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/ht-img\/img\/2026\/08\/15\/1600x900\/logo\/Independence_Mumbai_CEO_India_Viral_X_1786779041176_1786779048486_c3ba90de-954b-4b44-aa0f-6b2d0b50b8f5.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}