For parents, moving to another country with children comes with a long list of questions. Will they settle in? Will they make friends? Will they feel at home?
For Finnish couple Touko and Janika Tuunainen, those questions became real when Touko got an opportunity to teach in India. The family decided to leave behind their comfortable life in Finland and make Mumbai their new home.
“I said yes,” Touko recalls. But saying yes meant taking a risk, one that came with plenty of uncertainty for the family.
From first auto-rickshaw rides to new friendships, their children found joy in discovering Mumbai and its everyday experiences.
The language was unfamiliar, the food was different, and even finding a home came with its own challenges. There were countless little moments when they wondered if they had made the right decision.
Then, slowly, Mumbai began to feel familiar.
When Mumbai became home
For their children, the city soon became a place of firsts.
They made their first friends, took their first auto-rickshaw ride, and discovered foods they had never tried before. But what stayed with the family most was something less tangible — the warmth of the people around them.
Again and again, strangers stepped in to help when the family needed it.
Once, while trying to get their children’s bicycles repaired, the family found themselves struggling to explain what they needed. A passerby noticed their difficulty and, before they could even ask, helped translate everything for them.
It was a small interaction, but moments like these slowly changed the way the family experienced their new home.
The lesson they want their children to carry
For Touko and Janika, perhaps the biggest lesson India has given their children is not about food, language, or adapting to a new city. It is about being open to the people around you.
They hope their children learn to notice when someone needs help, offer it without always being asked, and feel connected to the community they are part of.
After all, childhood is shaped not only by what parents teach at home, but also by the people and places children encounter along the way.
Still discovering India, every day
The family still misses Finland. But their children are busy exploring India every day — making friends, discovering new experiences, and growing up with two cultures shaping their worldview.
What began as a move filled with uncertainty became a lesson in openness, kindness and finding home in unexpected places.
And after experiencing India up close, the family has a simple message for anyone looking at the country from afar: don’t judge it from a distance.
“Come closer,” they say. “There is so much warmth, humanity, and joy here.”
For this family, a move that once felt like a risk has become an opportunity to give their children something priceless — the confidence to step outside what is familiar, embrace difference and find a sense of home in unexpected places.
