Making Reverse Brain Drain Sensible

Be advised 😊: Not everything in this post might be as you would expect or like it to be 😊.

Have you seen the movie Swades (2004)? It's about an Indian scientist at NASA who on one of his visits to his native village feels the need to return and do his bit to improve conditions there. He follows through, resigns from NASA and comes back. He teaches the villagers how to generate electricity, builds the necessary infrastructure with them, and the village has electricity for the first time.

Excellent movie at heart! Inspirational! But misses out on an important concept:

We don't need NASA scientists coming back to generate electricity in villages. While that nature of work is important, GoI can very well hire college graduates to get it done.

We need scientists coming back as scientists, engineers coming back as engineers, professors coming back as professors. And all this in a very normal sensible way : no insane sacrifices to be made (see 1 below for more detail) and no sense of doing anyone a favor either (see 2 below for more detail).

I've emphasized two points above:

1) No insane sacrifices to be made:

a) Insist on a proactive and supportive work atmosphere. There are places in India that will enable you to be creative, productive and give form to your aspirations. There are also places in India that will stifle the shit out of you 😊. There is no point joining these in the name of "desh bhakti". Some simple and discreet inquiries should help you to make a list of places that would be good to join (and another list of places to stay away from 😊). Likewise, if your spouse has professional aspirations, by all means factor that in.

b) Insist on a salary that is fair and square in the Indian context. Converting dollars to rupees is stupidity. No one falls for that trick 😏. But insisting on salaries that are fair in India is important. Don't be greedy, but don't allow yourself to get exploited either. There is a balance point and we need to be able to identify it. There are still schools and colleges that pay their teachers, and hospitals that pay medical staff, less than auto rickshaw drivers. This bullshit needs to end. Likewise for professors: If they are being paid lesser than bureaucrats and politicians and being given the "be idealistic" pitch, its exploitation and needs to be pushed back! We need to understand this clearly: There is no point shouting Brain Drain Brain Drain if we undervalue our workforce. So if this country is not paying you for your services fairly, don't let anyone guilt trip you about going elsewhere. Again, I emphasize the idea of fairness: Don't be greedy, but don't allow yourself to get exploited either.

c) Most cities and towns in India have decent healthcare and education facilities today. But there are also a few places that don't. Do not feel obligated to go to such places.

d) If you and your family have interests beyond work in art, music, theater, etc., you have all the right to factor that in while choosing where to relocate. If the only options opening up do not offer you at least some of the cultural vibrancy you are looking for, then by all means stay where you are till something good opens up.

For any of the above scenarios, wherever things are below the ideal, send in a polite feedback to the local, state as well as central governments. Hopefully things will improve with time.

2) No sense of doing anyone a favor: Most people who've come back have actually been pretty sorted in this regard. I've seen only a couple of people over the last 15 years who tried to throw weight around about having come back from foreign shores. And they were very coolly put in their place 😏.

I'm often asked: What if conditions are far less than ideal to come back to India but we have ageing parents who need attention? My response: Ideally, parents should relocate to be with you. But if they can't, either due to visa / emigration issues or due to very pressing health reasons, then yes, you should come back even if the situation is less than ideal if your parents need old age and/or health related attention and care. You can still choose a location within India that suits your professional interests as best as possible and insist that they relocate to be with you. But you should definitely come back and take care of your parents in their old age if they can't come and stay with you.

Think through things in detail and make career decisions that are as balanced as possible in terms of pursuing your personal aspirations, serving society, and taking care of your family.