So continuing from where I left off yesterday. Here are some of my arguements against those who suggest that making all the IITians in India is a good idea:

– Firstly, there is absolutely **no guarantee** that such a thing would have helped India in any which way. I’m not claiming that its true the other way round. Not at all. Certainly, it might have put India in a much better position. But it **might not** have. Just allowing for that possibility refutes the idea. We have no way of predicting what course history might have taken had IITians been forced to stay back in India. But in the light of all that has happened, and the global brand that India enjoys today, I strongly feel that one certainly can’t claim that those who came to the US to make a living did anything **wrong**
– I tell people that its stupid to let an opportunity pass by. The United States used to be (and still is) the land of opportunity for many, all over the world, not just Indians. So if someone sees an opportunity to do business here in the US, I see nothing wrong in that. It doesn’t make sense to let that chance pass by (unless of course you have other priorities like your family or whatever, which is perfectly fine as well). To this people retort, “oh well, they were just cowards. they didn’t put up a fight”. To that, all I can say is look at your self, look around you, use some common sense. While its indeed inspiring and even heroic to fight adversities (in face of other “easier” options), the vast majority of us do not really pursue those kinds of options. And naturally so, because it doesn’t make sense. Just think about it — would you ever leave a so-called “easy way out” to choose a harder path, in normal circumstances? I wouldn’t, and I’m sure not many of you would either. Not that its a good thing or a bad thing, just that it doesn’t happen in practice. Its a reality
– Then there’s the issue of patriotism and feeling of “being” an India. I don’t know even a minor fraction of NRI’s personally, so I won’t be stupid enough to make any claims about their feelings towards India. However, I strongly urge others to do the same. Of the NRIs that I know, they are some of the most “Indian” people I’ve ever met. There are urban legends of how the typical NRI forgets all about India, keeps cribbing about the shortcomings back home, and love, admires and heartily accepts his new “foreign” home. How true is that? I don’t really know. What I do know is that a) most (but not all, mind you) NRIs that I know are just as passionate about India as the rest of us; b) this might be a more serious problem though in the sense that I think our education system is lacking in motivating this feeling of nationalism (and I think school education has a really profound impact on such things); and c) that this problem needs to be tackled bottom up, that is back home. just holding back someone in India is not going to help
– But perhaps, instead of arguing, we should stop and take a look around. Where does India stand now? What is its standing as a nation? What is its global brand image? I’m sure you all know the answers to all these questions. The last few years have seen an explosion in FDIs (foreign direct investments). Companies such as Wipro, Satyam, Infosys are giving international firms a run for their money. And not just IT — other sectors are picking up as well. Given that, you might want to think about how all this came about? I feel that the Indians who went out side and did a good job had a big part in all of this. Maybe not directly, but in small small ways the global brand that India has benefited a lot from the name that IITians earned abroad. No doubt, millions of others played their part as well. All I’m saying is that the IITians abroad had a **lot of impact** on India’s image.

I’m tired now. Have to finish a report. But perhaps I’ll get back to this again sometime.

Yesterday I got into an all-too-familiar argument with one of my roommates.

I just made a comment saying that I don’t approve when people make comments like “oh all the IITians should be made to stay back in India and then we would be doing great”. My roommate disagreed saying that he strongly felt that all IITians **should** stay back in India, and he was fairly convinced that this would have made India a much better place to live in.

I beg to differ.

I have so many points against that viewpoint that its almost difficult to list them all down. But I’ll try nonetheless.

Let me first state the common argument of supporters of this view, which would go something like this: well you know, the government is spending millions of dollars in training all these bright people. But all these IITians run off to foreign lands and “so called” greener pastures right after graduation or soon after. Its as if the whole motivation of getting into the IITs is to leave India. But they have no right to do so! After all the Indian government has invested in them, and it should get back adequate returns. Whats even worse, these smart folk go to the US and do research for them and make industries for them and create value for them. What are they doing for their country? This will be followed by a bunch of arbit figures (such as: the top 40% of NASA’s scientists are Indians, the topmost executives in a large number of US firms are Indians and so on) to demonstrate that indeed, the Indian executive holds water in the US. A lot of water. Thus, they will conclude with a triumphant smile, “there you go, they’ve eaten up India’s money and paying back the US for it!”

I’ve to take a shower now, so I’ll leave this here. But I’ll get back to it soon, to present my side of the case.