Dieter Withoeck

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About this episode

Dieter Withoeck is a Belgian expat who has lived in India for nearly two decades and is married to Rooted and Routed host Sabiya Pathan Withoeck. In his second appearance on the podcast, Dieter and Sabiya explore the difference between collective and individualist societies, and how the two of them have quietly swapped roles. He's the foreigner who feels at home in India, while Sabiya, an Indian, often feels like an outsider in her own country. The conversation digs into a rarely-discussed side of global mobility: how difficult it is to return to your home country after years abroad. Dieter shares his own experience of feeling like "an expat in my own country" on returning to Antwerp after eleven years in India, and the two discuss what reintegration means for the growing number of NRIs coming back to India with families and children raised abroad. They also examine the fast-changing India, drawing Belgian companies across beer, chocolate, pork, potatoes, and agricultural technology — and why these brands now build and adapt locally rather than simply import. The episode closes on lighter ground: imagining a festival that blends the Belgian tradition of Sinterklaas with Diwali, and a shared hope for the day India qualifies for a football World Cup.

About the guest

Dieter Withoeck

Dieter Withoeck is a Belgian expat with 16+ years of life abroad across Sweden, Italy, the US, and India. Married to an Indian, he has navigated solo, married, and family stages of the expat journey, and speaks of becoming 49 percent Indian through deep cultural adaptation. His experience spans consulate engagement, workplace dynamics across cultures, and the evolving meaning of home.

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