Sweet mangoes in hot summers...and the wet frangrance of the sun baked earth drenched by the first showers of the monsoon....colourful busy streets...familiar faces & voices...family and friends....the security of being with parents....hmmm...who doesn't love being at home?
In these almost five years in Germany, I've known several other PhD students and postdocs from India. And I am no longer shocked to say that not even 1 in 50 among them, would like to go back to India for good. Well..a few of them do say they would like to grow old in their home land (I dont know how many of them mean it), but when am talking here about people who want to go back to do science or work in India and live in India, I can count them on my fingers (one hand would be enough!).
Oddly, I cannot really even comprehend the thinking of such a majority of people of my age and education. I do believe in the theory of Globalization. You have come here for higher education in your field of interest and exposure or for earning money. But isn't it natural that given a chance, you want to go back home after a while and live with your loved ones? Globalization doesn't mean homelessness... Even in a globalized world, you need a home, dont you? You wouldn't want to go and live in someone else's home, especially when you are not sure how welcome you are! So with all these questions in mind, I began to talk to people about why they don't want to go back home and found these three issues to be the main reasons:
a) The low standard of living in India
b) The poor quality of science ( most of my friends or acquaintances here are in the science field)
c) Low pay scales for scientists and academicians in India
Again, I don't understand the very first reason. Yes, we do have power-cuts and traffic-jams in India, but at least you are close to your parents, siblings and life-time loved ones and can spend time with them as often as you want!
Isn't it better than having desi dinners in air conditioned rooms (always hoping that the smell of Indian food isn't bothering the neighbour enough to complain :P ) with a group of temporary friends, most of whom have only found a way to kill time, just like you :)
And yes, there are almost no traffic-jams in Germany. And the public transport is excellent as well, with trains and buses coming on time, with enough seats for everyone to sit and with some nice people who say a cordial 'hello' to Indians, after which you are not supposed to talk a word! Am not saying Germans are not friendly. Two of the very few good friends I have are German and Germans in general are very helpful, when a need arises. But for them, you are always an 'Indian' rather than a fellow human being. And that's nothing but natural...just like how we would look at an African living in India, with curiosity and a 'what is he doing here?' kind of feeling. This may not be the case in the United States, but it is a natural reaction in any country which has a culture of its own. Anyway,I think no where in the world, can you live with the dignity and comfort you enjoy in your homeland and among loved ones. It is just that many people choose to be blind to this reality for other reasons like money or whatever they mean by standard of living. Isn't satisfaction the gold standard of life?
Coming to quality of Science, we have to understand that India is such a young country, who got Independence just 6 decades ago. It cannot be compared to the west where development started more than 200 years ago. When we took our independence from the British, they returned us a robbed India, with shattered economy and a weak, if any infrastructure for science and technology to develop. Imported food grains fed the people in those times when agricultural produce was so meager and famines were chronic.
Defying all those hurdles, India surged ahead in Science, developing high-yielding varieties and agricultural techniques, not only to be self-sufficient but also to stand today as the world's highest producer of sugar and second highest producer of rice. India also stands first in the horticultural sector, being the largest producer of Mango, banana and even grapes.
Inspite of thousands of graduates leaving India for the west, India's young minds and the increasing percentage of working population are still racing ahead to make India progress in all sectors, including Science. After all, we were pioneers in science, where a mathematician like Aryabhatta discovered '0' and surgeons like Sushruta and acharya Charaka developed medicine. The great Albert Einstein said "We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."
Well if this sounds like bragging, its atleast better than complaining about Indian science, without taking any responsibility towards development in your country where you have learnt to read and write.
When complaining about science in India, some people also talked about the unhealthy competition among colleagues in Indian science institutes which leads to mean politics and plagiarism. They say that it would be very hard to move to such a bad work atmosphere from the very nice work culture in the west. This could be true..., but I can surely tell from my observation during the soccer season, that if any country in the west had as much population as in India, they would f**k all the rules, go to hell with all the courteous civic manners and compete to ----------. What am trying to say is that the behaviour of a person or of a community develops from the circumstances and conditions to which he/she/it is subjected to. otherwise, basically all of us are the same....human! There is good and bad in all cultures and I think here is no reason to drool over a culture or disgrace our own.
The third and may be the most important reason for deciding to not come back to India is said to be money. It is really unfair that a scientist in India earns much less than a call center operator or a data entry guy in an IT office that serves a US company. I really feel the need for a change and do hope for it. But as of now..it is as it is. But am pretty sure that money is not more important than bringing up your children in a culture that you know and that is yours...among ammamma, nanamma, tatayyas, attayyas, mavayyas, pednanas, chinnanas and pedammas, rather than among nri aunties and uncles,...in a beautiful home in your homeland rather than in a lavish house of bricks in a foreign land's culture, where you haven't understood enough to feel secure about what to teach your children and what not to.
I dont think all this is not known to people who have decided to not live in their homeland. For all I know, it may be that they know more and have better reasons to stay back in the foreign country. Whatever be the reasons behind whatever decision...I wish peace and happiness to all!
