Starting Over
When Jagruti Devasthali arrived in Luxembourg in 2019, she thought she knew what her future looked like. She believed she was putting her legal career on hold, not leaving it behind.
Born and raised in Mumbai, Devasthali studied law at the University of Mumbai before completing a master's degree in Intellectual Property Rights. She spent around seven years working in law, handling civil and property disputes, compliance and insurance matters. She later took on a senior legal management role with the State Bank of India, covering legal matters across Maharashtra.
Her husband was completing his master's in Germany, and they had imagined building their life in Berlin. Then, two months before their wedding, he received a job offer in Luxembourg. Everything changed on fairly short notice.
Continuing her legal career in Luxembourg was not straightforward. Her Indian law qualification did not directly allow her to practise, and the legal systems were very different. "I had trained for seven years to become a lawyer, and suddenly that qualification wasn't something I could just take with me", she says.
There was also the question of language. She quickly realised how important French would be, both in everyday life and at work. "In law, you need to communicate with people confidently. A basic knowledge of French was not enough."
She started a food business, naming it Mumbai Masala after the city that had shaped both her palate and her identity. There was no elaborate business plan. She learned by doing, figuring it out one step at a time. In December 2025, she opened her first restaurant, Mumbai Flavors, in Luxembourg, aiming to move beyond the narrow image of Indian cuisine.
She says accompanying spouses often face an invisible challenge: while one partner arrives with a job opportunity, the other has to rebuild their professional identity from scratch. "People often say, 'How lucky you are, you get to live abroad.' But rebuilding a career from nothing, away from your family and everything familiar, is not easy."
Her advice to others who move abroad because of a partner's career: "Find what genuinely interests you. Do your research, understand the market and don't give up. Luxembourg has people and institutions willing to support you."
Seven years of law. A master's degree. A senior role at one of India's largest banks. None of it transferred. She arrived in Luxembourg thinking she was pausing her career, and discovered she was starting over. So she started over. Mumbai Masala became Mumbai Flavors, a restaurant that opened in December 2025. Her heart is still Indian, she says, but Luxembourg gave her the opportunity to rebuild. The qualification she could not take with her became a restaurant she never imagined.