I have had big debates with my friends on the issue of brain drain. Many of them consider that brain drain is no issue at all and in the globalized world, raising issue of brain drain in itself is regressive. Anyway discussion on Brain Drain or intellectual imperialism demands a good book in itself. As of now, I would limit the discussion to the topic of working abroad superficially touching on brain drain. Many Indians including me keep asking our relatives to move back to India and do some thing here. But given the hopeless state of affair, is this really pragmatic?
As a professional, I would say quality of work is any day better in developed countries and so is quality of life as well. Thus If one gets an opportunity to work abroad then there is no reason to stay behind. There is no reason to remain a "Koop Mandook" (frog in the well with shallow mind). It is always better to learn about new technology, new culture and take challenges. If we carry some self-imposed restraint of not leaving India or develop xenophobic or chauvinistic tendencies then we are inviting regressive thoughts.
However, what irks me is the fact that we import 80% of our defense equipment from abroad. Any one who has some awareness on the foreign and strategic affairs can tell "How often India is insulted, ignored or disgraced by the supplier nations". The world politics largely runs on realism and not idealism. The big countries do not understand the power of argument rather they understand the argument of power. In such scenario, I believe that our young lads should be more motivated or inclined to work in defense sector at the least.
I was pleased to see so many Indians dancing and Indian flag waving in Australian cricket grounds. So the deep cultural connection with India is there but I wonder how many of them have ever given a thought about how could we make India a better place to live. Invariably people start talking in third person and blame Indian political and social systems for all the ills but we ignore that people in political social high positions are also one among us. They are our siblings or extended family members or some acquaintance. In all certainty, they are Indians. They have not come from heaven. If we wish to make this a developed country, then we will have to do it. God will not come from heaven to this job. However, bitter truth is people search for such gods who can reform the country with their magic wands. Probably that is why Many in India build a temple for their political leaders and our brothers and sisters abroad blame it entirely on Indian political and social system turning oblivion to the fact that given their higher education, greater cultural knowledge, they occupy a central position in the political and social system.
I also have a hard line argument on the subject which is true at least in theory. Just imagine a alternate life pattern for a young individual who do not move out of the country and decide to invest their energies in the country itself. One may argue that their professional competencies may not reach to the full potential given the state of affair in the country. The person may live a poor quality of life. May be he'll end up wasting his talent or resources. If we apply psychological principles of behaviorism, then the person would be shaped and adapted by the rules of environment i.e. may be he'll develop same "chalta hai" attitude.
But even if 1 out of 100 motivated individual starts his own company or enterprise new idea or incubate a social change process or leave impact in political system then it can have huge multiplier effect on the whole system. Just imagine, had Arvind Kejariwal moved to USA in the quest for better life, could we have movement like AAP today?. This is true in theory. Anyway individuals who are moving for a high end job abroad are our young, dynamic, intellectual assets of the country. We can expect this much from the top talent of the country. At least our defense dependence would be reduced.
People often give argument that India is a country of very high population and job absorption is low so in order to accommodate such huge workforce, migration abroad is beneficial. I asked the similar question to R.A. Mashelkar, Padma Vibhushana awardee. He gave a good answer. He asked out of 100 researcher, how many would produce 1 research paper. As per his mathematical calculation, It would be nearly all hundred. Then he posed question of how many of them would produce 2 research papers, He himself answered it to be 50. for 4 paper, 25 researcher, for 8 papers, 12 researchers and for 32 papers, 2 or 3 people. He explained the pyramidal structure of the talent pool of the country so it seems that US/UK or other developing countries are poaching only minority of workforce but in reality these 2 or 3 people are the apex of pyramid. The cost of brain drain is huge. It is unimaginable. It could only be a presumptive loss because the people who are migrating, they are the best in the country and for them even sky is not the limit.The migration of young Indian talent is equivalent to the scenario where we provide raw iron to China or USA and they send a manufactured product at 5 times higher price.
But then we can not expect every individual to leave the material pursuit. Fault lies with our systemic social arrangements. How can we expect a girl to stay in such a restrictive discriminating and unsafe environment?. Not every one has will power or passion to control the sensual gratification of free culture, material comfort, easy money and good quality of life. In the past many people have tried to come back but only to be bitten by the system so badly that they decided to go back. Only a few with tough mindset, great resolve and fearless resilient attitude who are ready to break the social custom of "chalta hai" can make some change. And possibly that's the path of greatness. This is certainly not everyone's cup of tea. Patriotism can not be forced on people. It can only be inculcated through early cultural, social education process.
In my opinion, all 120 crore people do not have same mindset. Rather, a major initiative needs to start from the policy making, political and social sphere to retain the talent in the country. This is possible only when we provide our young workforce with the quality work, good life style, loads of money, and channels of growth. Who'll do this? I do not bank my faith on any one political leader or social guru. Rather a collective collaborative effort from all those who play active role in policy making could bring decisive shift in our attitude. I feel fortunate that I decided to pursue Civil Services because selection in this exam would certainly place me in some position where at some point in life I can have a say in policy making. There are other ways as well. As the policy making is moving towards inclusiveness, any one a respected professor in good University in India or abroad or big businessmen or technocrates or whoever is best in his/her business India or abraod can get their chance to shape and formulate policies. But bureaucracy remains the safest and most certain way of becoming part of policy making process.
Many people ask me given opportunity, whether I would love to move abroad? MNC does not offer job to people because people wish to work with MNC rather it is the MNC who wants to work with talented people so MNC's run behind them. And if ever I get the opportunity to work in home based organizations especially in defense and space like ISRO, DRDO, or prestigious institutes like IIT/IISER which can fulfill my maslownian needs then I would prefer to work here. But I consider working for Google, Microsoft in San-Jose is more professionally rewarding than working for TCS. At some point, quality of work, quick money etc matters. Frankly, at this point I feel I am not tough enough to start a social movement or political movement. I need more time, experience etc.
Some one asked me how does it feel to be unemployed? For me, Unemployment is state of mind like Poverty is for dear Rahul Gandhi. I am generally in constant learning mode, a habit. So unemployment does not mean I am unskilled. That is the beauty of Civil Services examination. People often wonder why a particular person is investing so much energy in some exam where he has so less probability of selection, process is non-transparent and random at times and salary one would draw is hardly $650 per month or 35K on which an honest person can not afford to entertain more than one guest visit at home? The taste of pudding lies in eating it. The exam process is so thrilling and exciting that it keeps alive candidate hope. It increases your appetite for intellectual discussion, knowledge that person may find a phase difference in the thought process and attitude vis-a-vis people in the external world. "Keeda hai, kaat jaata hai to chodta nahi hai". :)
Any way, enough for the day. Don't feel like correcting grammar or english.. will do it tomorrow. Please excuse my mistakes. Good night. Many thoughts are remaining to be put here but will write some other time.
As a professional, I would say quality of work is any day better in developed countries and so is quality of life as well. Thus If one gets an opportunity to work abroad then there is no reason to stay behind. There is no reason to remain a "Koop Mandook" (frog in the well with shallow mind). It is always better to learn about new technology, new culture and take challenges. If we carry some self-imposed restraint of not leaving India or develop xenophobic or chauvinistic tendencies then we are inviting regressive thoughts.
However, what irks me is the fact that we import 80% of our defense equipment from abroad. Any one who has some awareness on the foreign and strategic affairs can tell "How often India is insulted, ignored or disgraced by the supplier nations". The world politics largely runs on realism and not idealism. The big countries do not understand the power of argument rather they understand the argument of power. In such scenario, I believe that our young lads should be more motivated or inclined to work in defense sector at the least.
I was pleased to see so many Indians dancing and Indian flag waving in Australian cricket grounds. So the deep cultural connection with India is there but I wonder how many of them have ever given a thought about how could we make India a better place to live. Invariably people start talking in third person and blame Indian political and social systems for all the ills but we ignore that people in political social high positions are also one among us. They are our siblings or extended family members or some acquaintance. In all certainty, they are Indians. They have not come from heaven. If we wish to make this a developed country, then we will have to do it. God will not come from heaven to this job. However, bitter truth is people search for such gods who can reform the country with their magic wands. Probably that is why Many in India build a temple for their political leaders and our brothers and sisters abroad blame it entirely on Indian political and social system turning oblivion to the fact that given their higher education, greater cultural knowledge, they occupy a central position in the political and social system.
I also have a hard line argument on the subject which is true at least in theory. Just imagine a alternate life pattern for a young individual who do not move out of the country and decide to invest their energies in the country itself. One may argue that their professional competencies may not reach to the full potential given the state of affair in the country. The person may live a poor quality of life. May be he'll end up wasting his talent or resources. If we apply psychological principles of behaviorism, then the person would be shaped and adapted by the rules of environment i.e. may be he'll develop same "chalta hai" attitude.
But even if 1 out of 100 motivated individual starts his own company or enterprise new idea or incubate a social change process or leave impact in political system then it can have huge multiplier effect on the whole system. Just imagine, had Arvind Kejariwal moved to USA in the quest for better life, could we have movement like AAP today?. This is true in theory. Anyway individuals who are moving for a high end job abroad are our young, dynamic, intellectual assets of the country. We can expect this much from the top talent of the country. At least our defense dependence would be reduced.
People often give argument that India is a country of very high population and job absorption is low so in order to accommodate such huge workforce, migration abroad is beneficial. I asked the similar question to R.A. Mashelkar, Padma Vibhushana awardee. He gave a good answer. He asked out of 100 researcher, how many would produce 1 research paper. As per his mathematical calculation, It would be nearly all hundred. Then he posed question of how many of them would produce 2 research papers, He himself answered it to be 50. for 4 paper, 25 researcher, for 8 papers, 12 researchers and for 32 papers, 2 or 3 people. He explained the pyramidal structure of the talent pool of the country so it seems that US/UK or other developing countries are poaching only minority of workforce but in reality these 2 or 3 people are the apex of pyramid. The cost of brain drain is huge. It is unimaginable. It could only be a presumptive loss because the people who are migrating, they are the best in the country and for them even sky is not the limit.The migration of young Indian talent is equivalent to the scenario where we provide raw iron to China or USA and they send a manufactured product at 5 times higher price.
But then we can not expect every individual to leave the material pursuit. Fault lies with our systemic social arrangements. How can we expect a girl to stay in such a restrictive discriminating and unsafe environment?. Not every one has will power or passion to control the sensual gratification of free culture, material comfort, easy money and good quality of life. In the past many people have tried to come back but only to be bitten by the system so badly that they decided to go back. Only a few with tough mindset, great resolve and fearless resilient attitude who are ready to break the social custom of "chalta hai" can make some change. And possibly that's the path of greatness. This is certainly not everyone's cup of tea. Patriotism can not be forced on people. It can only be inculcated through early cultural, social education process.
In my opinion, all 120 crore people do not have same mindset. Rather, a major initiative needs to start from the policy making, political and social sphere to retain the talent in the country. This is possible only when we provide our young workforce with the quality work, good life style, loads of money, and channels of growth. Who'll do this? I do not bank my faith on any one political leader or social guru. Rather a collective collaborative effort from all those who play active role in policy making could bring decisive shift in our attitude. I feel fortunate that I decided to pursue Civil Services because selection in this exam would certainly place me in some position where at some point in life I can have a say in policy making. There are other ways as well. As the policy making is moving towards inclusiveness, any one a respected professor in good University in India or abroad or big businessmen or technocrates or whoever is best in his/her business India or abraod can get their chance to shape and formulate policies. But bureaucracy remains the safest and most certain way of becoming part of policy making process.
Many people ask me given opportunity, whether I would love to move abroad? MNC does not offer job to people because people wish to work with MNC rather it is the MNC who wants to work with talented people so MNC's run behind them. And if ever I get the opportunity to work in home based organizations especially in defense and space like ISRO, DRDO, or prestigious institutes like IIT/IISER which can fulfill my maslownian needs then I would prefer to work here. But I consider working for Google, Microsoft in San-Jose is more professionally rewarding than working for TCS. At some point, quality of work, quick money etc matters. Frankly, at this point I feel I am not tough enough to start a social movement or political movement. I need more time, experience etc.
Some one asked me how does it feel to be unemployed? For me, Unemployment is state of mind like Poverty is for dear Rahul Gandhi. I am generally in constant learning mode, a habit. So unemployment does not mean I am unskilled. That is the beauty of Civil Services examination. People often wonder why a particular person is investing so much energy in some exam where he has so less probability of selection, process is non-transparent and random at times and salary one would draw is hardly $650 per month or 35K on which an honest person can not afford to entertain more than one guest visit at home? The taste of pudding lies in eating it. The exam process is so thrilling and exciting that it keeps alive candidate hope. It increases your appetite for intellectual discussion, knowledge that person may find a phase difference in the thought process and attitude vis-a-vis people in the external world. "Keeda hai, kaat jaata hai to chodta nahi hai". :)
Any way, enough for the day. Don't feel like correcting grammar or english.. will do it tomorrow. Please excuse my mistakes. Good night. Many thoughts are remaining to be put here but will write some other time.
No comments:
Post a Comment