Sending money home
I've been crying walking home because of how guilty i feel for all this. Some backstory. I got sent abroad for my undergrad, and because my parents didn't want me to go alone they sent my brother as well for his postgraduate. In the same city, the same uni. I told them to not do this, because he already had a well paying job back home in india, and they already sent him abroad. But they ignored me. They used money spent from selling our land to fund this. Once i finished my undergrad, I wanted to do a postgrad as I realised it would pay decently well and I would be able to get visa sponsorship if i did my postgrad in that field. They were able to fund it until halfway, then had to get a loan because there was a land issue (as there always is back home). So since mid 2023, I have been sending money back home while my parents have been retired for 3-6 years now (mum is in her 50s, dad is in his 60s). I haven't been able to save much on my own, haven't been able to enjoy things as I should during my 20s like travelling, etc. (I send like ¼ of my salary). Late last year, I told them that I won't be able to do this from August 2026 onwards and I got a reluctant okay from my dad and my mum saying i'm going to be the cause of her death. I asked them to get jobs to help through this because I'm the only one paying for this as the only thing my brother pays for is his own loan he took out last year to get a visa for himself (which I told them not to do but nobody listens to me ...). So I asked my mum this week whether they've found jobs and she says no and that she can't work because of her health, and that I need to repay back "my" loan. If I count all the money I have sent until now, I have basically repaid the total amount they paid for my fees.
I just feel like I have nobody to rely on. I know asking for your parents to work is absolutely awful but I just can't continue this without it ruining my future. I'm in my mid 20s, barely have my savings sorted, and I can't imagine doing this for the rest of my life. They keep telling me they'll sort out all the loan once the land issue is resolved, but how many years till then? My father waited his whole life for that land. My mum is always so quick to make me responsible for financing my studies. She helped pay the initial amount during my first year, and every time i struggled to send her money (as an undergrad uni student who worked for her own cost of living!!!! or as postgrad placement student who barely scratched the money to finance my work visa!!!) she would bring the fact she did that and would send me a picture of the receipt. I just feel so hurt that my own mother is asking me to be responsible for it. I've been crying so much because i feel so sad, angry, guilty, and hurt. They keep telling me they raised me as an indian girl so i should follow those values every time i put a boundary down. I just want to know whether what i'm doing is wrong. I dont know who to talk to because i dont want to look like a bad daughter, and i dont want people to see my parents as bad parents.
Posted Jan 14, 2026, 12:10 AM UTC