Braindrain? Really?

This note is written by Ms.Rudri Buch and original can be found by clicking on the title. (Read the previous post: Apna ghar ka diya.. and giving light to neighbours house) for context.

Like ur note Drashti.. And agree with it totally.. But there are some parts that you, like most people haven't seen... And while I am personally totally supportive of "returning home”, you must understand that its not as easy as its shown in Swades

A lot of people come here because they fall below the Class A, which in itself is so large that there is no room left for Class A-... Such people find shelter in the large number of universities, more seats per university and opening into thousands of globally renowned/other companies. Mind you, gone are those days when people dreamt of settling in the US and hence came here for studies. People now come here only coz of
Lack of opportunities in India
Much much much much higher competition back home
I accept this is not right, to escape, get some freedom, learn on your stand up on their own feet and not be bound but family and other ‘cultural’ customs

Now you will say that its not just the Class A- that moves here. Class A and A+ does too! Consider this. The main % of population flowing from India to US are engineers. Go to any typical class and you will realize that the toppers are trying for, say, the IIMs. (I am not even mentioning those who wanna pursue higher technical studies, for which there are close to no colleges). The IIMs together have 500 seats (while a single Harvard has 500), so you can imagine even if the top 10 from every college try sincerely for the IIMs, how many are actually going to succeed. They try and try 2,3 times, but its not easy… neither the CAT, nor the effort to stand up on your feet again and try again after an year full of hard-work and rejection. Meanwhile, unless they are top grade IITians (0.5% of the country?), they would most probably be sitting on Bench in Infosys or TCS. And hence, maybe, they consider GMAT/GRE in search of something easier, and they realize that not only is it easier, its much better!

Education levels here are different and they are good. It makes you feel that CAT is not worth the effort. People here are smart, they have a different attitude towards life, which is interesting.. whether you want to agree with it is upto you. The country is almost totally red tape free and cyber crime free. I can give my credit card number on most websites without worry. It is corruption free, black money free… It is much less populated, cleaner, much healthier and living seems like a lesser hassle here. Buying a home is easier because getting a loan isn’t taboo. Your standard of living Drashti, is indeed higher, not because you live for 200 years, but the 60 years here are well spent.

You think people are selfish? I don’t think so Drashti. There is not a single day when any of these Indians wouldn’t be remembering, missing and wishing they were back home. But do you think they will get the same opportunities they get here if they come back home? And even if they come back home, whats going to be the point if they are going to work for a J.P. Morgan in India? And you say less money. How possible do you think it is to give their kid (Not multiple kids!) a decent ICSE (Not IB!) education, a home in the city and a good quality life without earning a minimum of 50L a year? And how many can?

We are talking about the average middle class Drashti. Its not easy. Its not like people move out because opportunites are better outside. They move out because the good opportunities inside are already filled...


P.S. Don't kill me for writing this. I swear I am against Braindrain too! :-P Open to comments..