There's no place like home
Tuesday, 4 September 2007
Amy Yee
BACK in the 1970s, life in the US was the dream for many from different shores. Aditya's Sinha's parents were no different. Natives of Bihar, one of India's poorest states, they moved to New York in 1974 with him when he was 10 years old. He was expected to follow in the footsteps of his physician father. Then, as a graduate of the prestigious Stuyvesant High School and Johns Hopkins University, he seemed on track in meeting those expectations.
Instead, Mr Sinha did the unexpected and returned to India in 1986. "Everybody was aghast," he recalls. "At first they thought it was a passing phase. They thought in a year or two I'd go back [to the US], and get involved with something proper."
More than two decades later, he is still there. But at least he has found something proper to do: he is editor-in-chief of the New Indian Express, one of the country's largest newspapers. His three children were born in Delhi, a long way from the streets of Queens where he grew up.
"My parents are happy and proud now. But earlier they were worried and insecure," says Mr Sinha. Times have changed. Of the prospect of living in India "sometimes my parents are very envious. They are nostalgic about this place".
In the 1980s he was a rare example of a "returnee". Much of the country's top talent routinely left for better conditions and more lucrative opportunities overseas.
These days, more are returning to the motherland as the economy booms, desirable jobs proliferate and living conditions improve. "Nowadays, people think I'm a visionary," he laughs.
There are no specific figures on returnees because many retain dual citizenship or divide their time between countries. But anecdotes tell of a wave of those returning. As more companies set up shop and investors hungrily enter the growing market, seasoned executives and newly-minted graduates are some of the keenest to return.
Raised in New Jersey, Kunal Bajaj came to Delhi after a stint with McKinsey in New York. While working at India's telecommunications regulator, he helped draft the country's first broadband policy and was hooked.
"There was no way my wife and I could go back. There are so many interesting things happening here, there's no way we would miss it," says Mr Bajaj, now director of telecom consultancy BDA Connect in Delhi.
Although salaries for top managers are now on par with those in developed countries, returnees say money is not the only factor. Family and the prospect of raising children in their homeland are big draws.
After earning his PhD from Harvard, Shailendra Mehta had since 1990 taught at Purdue University's business school. His decision to move to India as head of Duke University's new corporate education programme was motivated by the future of his six-year-old son.
"We wanted him to be an Indian child, to speak, read and write in Hindi," says Prof Mehta. "We wanted him to spend time with grandparents and cousins. There are branches of 400-500 relatives on each side of the family. We wanted him at an early age to have that."
In recent years the government has woken to the role that the diaspora's 20m-25m Indians overseas in 130 countries can have in the country's development. Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, proposed establishment of "overseas Indian facilitation centres" to provide investment and business advisory services to potential overseas Indian investors. The first was launched this spring.
Figures for how much overseas Indians invest in their homeland are hard to come by. But the government allows them to invest in stocks, real estate and businesses in the country more freely than non-Indians.
Yet the long-standing stream of migration out does not appear to be waning with millions of semi-skilled and unskilled labourers leaving. The largest expatriate communities are in Gulf states, with 3.0m to 4.0m in Middle East countries working in construction, services and other industries. Another 1.6m to 2m reside in the US.
Remittances from workers overseas amounted to $21bn last fiscal year and are especially robust in states with high levels of overseas migration, including Kerala and Punjab.
Outbound migration has grown so much that the ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) has moved to protect the rights of citizens abroad.
India has signed bilateral agreements protecting the rights of Indian workers in a number of countries including the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman among others. Through aggressive recruiting "agents", workers are being exploited, says Nirmal Singh, secretary of the MOIA.
"They don't get the wages promised to them."
The ministry also this year published a handbook for resident Indians marrying overseas Indians.
"Try to know your spouse well, learn about where he/she lives before you arrive there and develop reasonable expectations," the guide advises. "Understand what you are getting into."
.........................................................
Under syndication arrangement with FE
BACK in the 1970s, life in the US was the dream for many from different shores. Aditya's Sinha's parents were no different. Natives of Bihar, one of India's poorest states, they moved to New York in 1974 with him when he was 10 years old. He was expected to follow in the footsteps of his physician father. Then, as a graduate of the prestigious Stuyvesant High School and Johns Hopkins University, he seemed on track in meeting those expectations.
Instead, Mr Sinha did the unexpected and returned to India in 1986. "Everybody was aghast," he recalls. "At first they thought it was a passing phase. They thought in a year or two I'd go back [to the US], and get involved with something proper."
More than two decades later, he is still there. But at least he has found something proper to do: he is editor-in-chief of the New Indian Express, one of the country's largest newspapers. His three children were born in Delhi, a long way from the streets of Queens where he grew up.
"My parents are happy and proud now. But earlier they were worried and insecure," says Mr Sinha. Times have changed. Of the prospect of living in India "sometimes my parents are very envious. They are nostalgic about this place".
In the 1980s he was a rare example of a "returnee". Much of the country's top talent routinely left for better conditions and more lucrative opportunities overseas.
These days, more are returning to the motherland as the economy booms, desirable jobs proliferate and living conditions improve. "Nowadays, people think I'm a visionary," he laughs.
There are no specific figures on returnees because many retain dual citizenship or divide their time between countries. But anecdotes tell of a wave of those returning. As more companies set up shop and investors hungrily enter the growing market, seasoned executives and newly-minted graduates are some of the keenest to return.
Raised in New Jersey, Kunal Bajaj came to Delhi after a stint with McKinsey in New York. While working at India's telecommunications regulator, he helped draft the country's first broadband policy and was hooked.
"There was no way my wife and I could go back. There are so many interesting things happening here, there's no way we would miss it," says Mr Bajaj, now director of telecom consultancy BDA Connect in Delhi.
Although salaries for top managers are now on par with those in developed countries, returnees say money is not the only factor. Family and the prospect of raising children in their homeland are big draws.
After earning his PhD from Harvard, Shailendra Mehta had since 1990 taught at Purdue University's business school. His decision to move to India as head of Duke University's new corporate education programme was motivated by the future of his six-year-old son.
"We wanted him to be an Indian child, to speak, read and write in Hindi," says Prof Mehta. "We wanted him to spend time with grandparents and cousins. There are branches of 400-500 relatives on each side of the family. We wanted him at an early age to have that."
In recent years the government has woken to the role that the diaspora's 20m-25m Indians overseas in 130 countries can have in the country's development. Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, proposed establishment of "overseas Indian facilitation centres" to provide investment and business advisory services to potential overseas Indian investors. The first was launched this spring.
Figures for how much overseas Indians invest in their homeland are hard to come by. But the government allows them to invest in stocks, real estate and businesses in the country more freely than non-Indians.
Yet the long-standing stream of migration out does not appear to be waning with millions of semi-skilled and unskilled labourers leaving. The largest expatriate communities are in Gulf states, with 3.0m to 4.0m in Middle East countries working in construction, services and other industries. Another 1.6m to 2m reside in the US.
Remittances from workers overseas amounted to $21bn last fiscal year and are especially robust in states with high levels of overseas migration, including Kerala and Punjab.
Outbound migration has grown so much that the ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) has moved to protect the rights of citizens abroad.
India has signed bilateral agreements protecting the rights of Indian workers in a number of countries including the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman among others. Through aggressive recruiting "agents", workers are being exploited, says Nirmal Singh, secretary of the MOIA.
"They don't get the wages promised to them."
The ministry also this year published a handbook for resident Indians marrying overseas Indians.
"Try to know your spouse well, learn about where he/she lives before you arrive there and develop reasonable expectations," the guide advises. "Understand what you are getting into."
.........................................................
Under syndication arrangement with FE