Return to India?

I read an article recently. Probably the best I've read in a very long time (Return to India) It describes a family's decision to move back to India after spending a good 15 years in USA. Reading this and my friends' reaction to this kinda got me thinking about what my stand is on this issue.

In my case, having been here for only a little over a year, I suppose I'm still in the "I love everything about this place" phase, adapting to the culture, enjoying the new found freedom, soaking in all that is good that life here can offer. Sure, there are some things that I occasionally come across that I don't like, but I choose to ignore those little things, as of now. Sometimes people ask me whether I want to move back to India and pat comes my response "Ummm.. Well, I don't think so..." The truth is I've not given it a serious thought yet but if I have to decide right now whether I want to move back right away, I would probably just think of staying put. Yeah yeah.. I'm probably going to be labeled "Deshdrohi" (betrayer) for making this statement but as I said earlier, this is without too much thought going into the decision.

Life in USA is easier... and there's no contesting the verity of the statement. Everything around us here is process oriented and systematic. If you want to do something, there will be a website stating the steps. Follow them and you are done, many a times without even having to step out from the comfort of your home. Even if you do have to go down to some Government office, you are not greeted by lackadaisical officers who really seem to be taking a break from their phone calls, chats and tea/coffee drinking sessions by sitting at the desk and signing some forms. The scene back there that I can last recall was totally opposite. After you spend an entire day standing in queues and going from counter to counter, you are told to come back the next day with the false promise that your work will surely get done. You know it won't and yet you are back, simply because you have no choice and you are dearly holding onto that teeny tiny possibility of your work actually getting done. Do I want to go back to that? No... thank you! I mentioned this to my father once and I must say he raised a valid point. He stated that I don't need to do all this running around myself, I can pay and send an agent or something. But the truth remains that someone will have to do it and living in US teaches you to not employ help in such matters and do things on your own. I personally don't think I want to do all that.

Think of the education system. Somehow back there it is more theory driven and the syllabus is outdated. I admit that it may not be practically feasible to keep in pace with every new revolution that may happen in the industry, but is it not necessary to incorporate those changes at least once in 2/3 years? Another issue that somehow goes unnoticed is plagiarism. Homework is done by 1 person and is distributed to the entire class... everyone submits the same thing and nobody is penalized. As for all the quotas in colleges, aah... that's a huge and rather controversial issue that I will probably not get into right now.

Now let's look at career. True, India is making massive progress in technology, especially where IT is involved. But ever looked at the job profile? Most multinationals have branches in India and employ fresh graduates from various engineering colleges but what kind of work do they get? Most places you start in a testing role where you have no access to the code. All you do is run a bunch of scripts every single day and file bugs if you find any. Before you know it your learning curve has become flat and you sit and wonder when you will get to use all the skills you spent 4 years learning. After a couple of years, may be your manager will let you move to some feature development work that has been thrown your way. Somehow the core development work and the "meaty stuff" still happen at the headquarters and other branches in USA and what gets outsourced are things that are not so mission critical. So career wise, moving back would be a big step down. At least that's what it looks like right now. Another issue is the fact that nepotism and politics are still rampant in Indian offices and the hierarchy system is really strong unlike the meritocracy based system and the flat organization structure here. Well I will admit that I personally have very little experience in working in India and US to make such a strong statement, but this is the general impression I've formed after talking to people who've dealt with both.

I suppose I'm painting an awful picture of life in India. Is it all that bad? Certainly not. As the author of the article rightly pointed out, America can give you all the riches in the world, but cannot give you a family. Your parents, your grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts... your root is still in India and you cannot forget or ignore that... rather you should not. And it's not just about the people... but the culture, the values as well. As and when I become a mother, I too would want my kid(s) to appreciate and learn all that. I would want him/her/them (o boy.. too many uncertainties) to get to know his/her/their (Aaaargh!) relatives and love and respect them. He/She/They (Ok... I'm tired of this so henceforth will refer to the kid(s) as "they") to learn about life in India and not look down upon that as something "icky" and "uncool". I guess somehow I will try hard to give them the best of both worlds... Though how I will do it is something I will have to figure out when the time comes. When it comes to values, I guess I am still connected to my roots and I hope the kids would be too, without becoming the "C" of ABCD (America Born Confused Desi).

I know many people move back to bring their children closer to the Indian culture/values. Our decision is based on how things were when we were children. This worked really well in the past. The current picture is very different though, something I've gathered based on my conversation with a friend currently in Std 11 in a school in Mumbai and other cousins currently in school. Most schools and colleges in the metropolitan cities are filled with "wannabe"s, kids who are trying to ape the Western culture and not knowing where to draw the line. I still get a shock every now and then when I hear stories from their schools and wonder "Oh boy... am I really this old??? When DID I finish school?" I cannot identify with the situations and really cannot distinguish between things in USA and things in India. Looking at the bright side... well the kids can learn to play the "tabla" instead of drums and learn more about the Indian culture by watching plays/movies, reading books, interacting with people and so on, something that may be tougher to come by in USA.

At this point I will mention that there is one tiny little thing that is gnawing at the back of my mind. What should I do when my parents grow old and the time comes for me to take care of them? As an only child, it is clearly my responsibility. Even if I did have siblings, I still wouldn't shrug the responsibility just so that I can continue life as though nothing has changed. Putting them into an old age home is not an option.. Period. Uprooting them and bringing them here would be unfair and selfish. So this fact would play a huge role when it is time for me to decide. Also, the whole "giving something back to the country" argument bothers me a bit. Just donating money to charities is not something that would make me feel like I did something significant. But what I would do or how I would do it, is something I will hopefully figure out in the future.

India is on the road to improvement. I will not deny that. The fact that the "brain drain" has already reduced bears testimony to that. Just that some very important issues still need to be resolved. Some of them have 1 solution... a change in attitude. I know that the saying goes "You need to be in the system to beat the system", but right now in some way, I've taken the easier road out; not that coming here was a conscious effort to escape from it, but it's more like I put my own dreams before the country's needs, at least for now.

Would I call people who do decide to go back stupid? No... I salute them for having the guts to take that huge decision and I pray that they never regret it. They have their reasons, just that perhaps I do not identify with all of them right now. As of now, I'm just going with the flow and postponing that decision. I suppose the fact that I'm still a student gives me the liberty to do so. But may be I too will think the same way a few years later, who knows? If I do decide to head back, I promise I will write about what changed my mind..... :-)