A lawyer based in Gurgaon decided to move to Goa in 2019, prompted by his daughter's breathing problems due to the city's air pollution. If he hadn't shifted cities, Prashant Kalra, 41, would have been a partner at his law firm, working under high pressure for more than 12 hours a day. Instead, he is currently the managing director of a realty firm in Goa with a good work-life balance and a healthy daughter, living a life that "people dream of retiring to".
A move driven by health and safety concerns
Kalra’s daughter was three when the family relocated. “She would have had full-blown asthma and bronchitis if we’d stayed,” he told Moneycontrol. “Today she’s ten and she’s healthy.” The tipping point came during a Diwali road trip in 2018, when pollution followed them to a hotel in Rajasthan. “Her coughing restarted. As did her breathing issues. At that point, we knew we needed to move.”
The family had lived in a rented apartment in Gurgaon. In Goa, they found a river-facing villa with a private pool — for a similar rent. “We had very limited expectations. We just needed cleaner air so our daughter could breathe,” Kalra said.
From law firm partner track to real estate entrepreneur
Kalra had a clear path to partnership at a law firm. “I would have made a lot of money. But I would likely have always worked for someone. And life in Delhi NCR would have taken its toll.” Instead, he co-founded TPB Realty with his wife, focusing on privacy-centric homes for families relocating to Goa. Their villa development vertical, Privado Homes, avoids mega projects, apartment complexes, and any development on converted agricultural or forest land.
“I work five days a week, seven hours a day. Weekends are sacred. I focus on health and fitness. As a lawyer, I worked 12-hour days, often six to seven days a week, with little time for anything else. Life was a cocktail of stress, exhaustion, and frustration. But not anymore.”
Goa’s real estate ecosystem and family life
Kalra describes Goa as “entrepreneurship central.” While not ideal for jobs, he believes it’s a fertile ground for creative professionals to build businesses. “Many great businesses were built from the ground up in Goa,” he said.
His wife, initially concerned about the quality of education, is now satisfied with their daughter’s school. “She’s found herself and loves her school. More importantly, my wife is happy with the school too,” Kalra said.
He also dispels myths about Goa’s cost of living. “Yes, Goa has a flashy side. But if you’re not aligned towards those things, you can live and eat very well for a reasonable amount of money.”
Traffic, too, is minimal. “If you’ve accepted traffic in the big city as normal, Goa will shock you. Roads are nowhere near as crowded unless there’s something major going on.”
Kalra says the best part of the move has been watching his daughter grow up without needing a nebulizer. “In Gurgaon, at least five months a year, we had to check the AQI before deciding if she could play outside.”
The real Goa: calm, disciplined, and family-friendly
Kalra emphasises that full-time living in Goa is far removed from its party-town image. “Life in Goa can be disciplined, healthy, nature-oriented and calm. Most of us associate Goa with excess and debauchery. The real Goa is not like that... if I’d known all this, I would have moved earlier,” he concluded.
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