Devayani Kulkarni, India
Tell us briefly about your journey to Tampere and how you ended up here?
In 2007 I packed a life into a few suitcases and followed my husband to a small, quiet city in the north — Tampere. I had never seen a winter like it, never lived somewhere the sun disappeared by mid-afternoon, never been quite so far from everyone I knew. India was warmth, noise, family within arm's reach. Finland was silence, snow, and two people learning, together, how to begin again.
Our daughters were born into this new life, and through them I was handed a second education in what Finland does well. I watched, amazed, as the daycare system simply worked, as schools treated my girls as whole people rather than test scores, as maternity care wrapped around us with a gentleness I hadn't known to expect. The famous Kela baby box arrived at our door like a small, practical welcome letter from the state itself. Now fifteen and thirteen, my daughters carry both worlds in them — Marathi at home, Finnish in the schoolyard — in a way that still feels like quiet magic to me.
"Being far from family is a weight every immigrant carries. So we build a new family, here, out of the people who choose to stay close."
Eighteen years in Tampere IT have shaped how I think as much as any homeland does. I've worked alongside colleagues I've come to trust completely, and somewhere along the way I noticed I'd started thinking a little like a Finn does at work — plainly, honestly, without performance. What struck me most about this working culture is how much weight honesty carries here. Your word is your reputation, and that reputation is worth more than anything you could say to impress someone in a meeting. I carried that lesson with me as I built my career, and today I work as an IT Service Manager at Sandvik Mining — a long way, in every sense, from where I started.
None of this erased the ache of distance. Every immigrant I know shares it — the loneliness of missing people who are a plane ride, not a drive, away. So a few of us in Tampere built something to soften that: a community for Indians here, gatherings and events I've helped organize for years, a home away from home stitched together out of shared festivals and shared understanding.
A few years ago, that instinct to connect turned into something more personal. I started a vlog series in my mother tongue, Marathi, to tell other Indian women what this life actually looks like — as a mother navigating a foreign school system, as a professional building a career from nothing, as a woman figuring out who she becomes in a country that asks her to become someone new. Life in Finland (फिनलँडच्या देशातून) - YouTube
What do you love most about living in Tampere?
Its size. Tampere is small and quiet compared to a bigger city like Helsinki, but it never feels closed off — there's an international school, international companies, a university, active international communities, and restaurants from every corner of the world. You can get from one side of the city to the other in about thirty minutes, and there's no shortage of hobbies to fill the time you save — for adults and for children alike.
Why would you encourage international talents to move to Tampere?
Talent has opportunities in Tampere. We struggle in Sandvik to find special skills sometimes, so there is demand for talent. Tampere is culturally rich, right from music, art to drama. And the most important part for families who are willing to relocate is education. Finland has world class education. In Tampere we have German school, French school, Swedish school and international school – that is free!
What's your favorite place, and your favorite thing to do here?
Tampere sits in the middle of the lake district, and I never get tired of that — the sheer number of lakes, the nature that surrounds all of it. Two national parks are less than 50 kilometers away. My favorite thing is simply walking in the forest: the clean air, and how beautifully the trails are kept even through the depths of winter.
How would you describe Tampere as a city, what makes it special?
It surprises me how Tampere has grown in last 18 years. It has accommodated immigrants from different parts of the world and the cultural diversity is enriched. The industry landscape has changed from 2011 after major changes in Nokia and Tech industry is adapting for AI. Thus adaptability is clearly in Tampere’s blood.
Apart from that, Tampere is Sauna capital of Finland, it has more public saunas than anywhere else in the world.
Anything else you'd tell someone thinking of moving here?
The Finnish economy isn't as large as some other countries in Europe. The unemployment rate has been growing in past few years. Cost of living is high as well. So, my fair suggestion is to make sure that you have competence that would help you make good living in Tampere, before moving here.
In winter, days are shorter, hence it is very important to have a hobby to keep your mind and body busy!
However, here's what eighteen years have taught me: if you have talent and you're willing to integrate, Tampere and Finland will always welcome you!
