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Some Indians Find It Tough to Go Home Again

nytimes.com

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Re: Some Indians Find It Tough to Go Home Again

#2

Post by pavs »

This made me smile. Not in an evil, condescending, I-told-you-so feeling way (after all I am from south-east Asia). Its just one of those things "most ex-pats" could tell you from miles away how this will end up. Going on a vacation to India is one thing, relocating there after spending most of your life in western nation is a totally different ball game, no matter how much money is involved.

To say that "its difficult to adjust there" is an understatement. IMO YMMV.

Re: Some Indians Find It Tough to Go Home Again

#5

Post by known »

I can empathize with Shiva Ayyadurai. Couple of years back I was working for an eGovernance project http://mca.gov.in/

Govt officials in India want you to be subservient.

    "The nail that stands out will be hammered down." -- Japanese Proverb
Edit: After http://mca.gov.in/ became operational, I resigned and ran away to Japan to join GS.

Re: Some Indians Find It Tough to Go Home Again

#6

Post by dadadooda »

known wrote: post #5

I can empathize with Shiva Ayyadurai. Couple of years back I was working for an eGovernance project http://mca.gov.in/ Govt officials in India want you to be subservient . "The nail that stands out will be hammered down." -- Japanese Proverb Edit: After http://mca.gov.in/ became operational, I resigned and ran away to Japan to join GS.

Isn't this an over-generalization? It's not fair to stereotype all government officials in India like that, is it?

Re: Some Indians Find It Tough to Go Home Again

#7

Post by revorad »

When an Indian leaves the country to go west, he's made to feel like a traitor for leaving his "motherland". A lot of Indians live with some form of guilt for having a happy and healthy life outside India. The guilt takes some people like the ones mentioned in this article to go back and do some good for the country.

I think Indians at home need to realise that there is a world outside India. It's exciting, it's beautiful and it's worth exploring. It's OK to not live in India. There are a billion people there already. The country can do with losing some.

The closest we can get to a world without borders is for people to take the chance to go and live in another country, when they can.

Re: Some Indians Find It Tough to Go Home Again

#8

Post by avner »

I'm not Indian but have dealt with contracts from India. It really comes down to two things.

1) Work culture - Indian work culture, for the most part is not same as the work culture in the US. From what I've seen, Indian bosses are a lot more assertive and controlling than you would expect from your boss in the US. I can only imagine what it must be like in bureaucratic government agencies in India.

2) Infrastructure and Equality - Its just not there. It might be sprouting or even maturing in certain places but for the most part, there is immense red tape and corruption in India. This is common for most developing countries and until the average minimum wage in India for a low level government official is somewhat closer to something decent, the bribery and favourism will continue and ambitious programs like these will continue to fail. Some of the smartest Indians I met in college told me they have a better shot in the US because there is no widespread favourism here.

Re: Some Indians Find It Tough to Go Home Again

#9

Post by keeptrying »

pavs wrote: post #2

This made me smile. Not in an evil, condescending, I-told-you-so feeling way (after all I am from south-east Asia). Its just one of those things "most ex-pats" could tell you from miles away how this will end up. Going on a vacation to India is one thing, relocating there after spending most of your life in western nation is a totally different ball game, no matter how much money is involved. To say that "its difficu…

Lots of people still make it work. Solutions for the problems quoted:

1. Pollution: Dont live in the city.

2. Traffic: Get a big car and a driver ($140 a month). You can sit in the back with a laptop and 1MBps connectivity for $15 a month.

3. Corruption: Work in the private sector and not in the public sector.

I was just in India and the undercurrent of the country is very positive which I cant say about the present feeling I've gotten in New York city.

Bottom line: Its a big change, moving to a different country, but IMHO its possibly a smaller problem than starting your own business.

Re: Some Indians Find It Tough to Go Home Again

#10

Post by _debug_ »

dadadooda wrote: post #6
known wrote: post #5

I can empathize with Shiva Ayyadurai. Couple of years back I was working for an eGovernance project http://mca.gov.in/ Govt officials in India want you to be subservient . "The nail that stands out will be hammered down." -- Japanese Proverb Edit: After http://mca.gov.in/ became operational, I resigned and ran away to Japan to join GS.

Isn't this an over-generalization? It's not fair to stereotype all government officials in India like that, is it?

Unfortunately, the generalization is well-deserved. The behaviour of the official named Mr. Brahmachari : feudal, mercurial, inconsistent, authoritative...is the template. If you're lucky, there's often exactly one guy somewhere in there who is sincere, professional, and is literally the one doing all the work, and he sympathizes with your case.

The number of young Indians who, in theory, can transform Indian cities into Silicon Valleys of the East vs. the bureaucracy is like a water and dam situation. The smarter water flows West instead.

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