Being "Desi"

Hi everyone, hope you are doing well. Especially with the start of the Indian festive season and enjoying some long weekends. Wanted to do a topical post on India around 15th August but as usual, got delayed. ??

The Idea of India

“Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebrating 75 years of independence has triggered innumerous articles and reflections. At the cost of being repetitive, wanted to put down my personal take on it.

I was born mid-way through these 75 years. India was 37 years old when I was born and I am now 38! ??

Personally, 3 “incidents” I can say have had a deep impact in the way I looked at India.

Circa 1988 - Mile sur mera tumhara

Though the imperialists had long gone, having been only 2 generations away, we could get to hear many first-person accounts about our resilient freedom fighters. All of this made us feel honest and inspired us to make their aspirations come to reality.

Though the idea of India was never in doubt, ‘80s and ‘90s had its sense of tentativeness. Stagnant socialist-inspired measures that were not helping reduce poverty but rather was making everyone feel “poor”. And the growth of militant outfits in areas like Kashmir, Punjab, North East and even Tamil Nadu made the federation feel fragile!

On this backdrop, government initiatives of the day to promote unity in diversity & to paint a great future seems very apt. Serialised rendering of Ramayana & Mahabharata helped relate to our roots better and form a common bond. Songs like “Mile sur mera tumhara” (Link ) & Bhaje Sargam (Link ) captivated us, made us realise why India is special and gave us “goosebumps” (still does! ). In the pre-graphics days, it always intrigued me how the “blue chakra” appeared at the end of the video! ??

The message ingrained: India is immensely diverse & special, and it is up to us to show its real potential to the world!

Circa 1997 - a taste of “Videsh”

The early ‘90s started with liberalisation and created a new hope. The impact seemed instant for corporates, but it took time for the benefits to seep into the general public. Hence, ‘90s continued to be tentative but the seeds were being laid for the IT revolution to bloom.

Thanks to my dad getting an opportunity to work in Dubai, I got to study for 2 years (9th & 10th) there - albeit in an Indian school. This was my first trip abroad and got to see for real - things that seemed impossible in India. Wide roads, swanky cars, cool gadgets (vending machines! ??) and air-conditioners everywhere!

But it also made me realise my “identity”. Without my passport, I was nothing. And there were no swathes of green that I could see through train windows, no right to vote, a foreigner after . If someone doesn’t have a job, they are just 2 months away from being deported!

The message ingrained: There is nothing like “our own”! We tend to take for granted what we get in our country while we try to seek greener pastures

Circa 2005 - Yeh jo des hai tera

After coming back to India in ‘99, got to prepare for JEE and during my final year of engineering in 2005, I had to make a big decision - to stay in India or go abroad?

In the ‘90s, going to the US for higher studies seemed an automatic choice for bright engineers, especially IITians.

But by the mid 2000’s, a decade of liberalisation and the IT boom which had exploded thanks to internet & Y2K had triggered “globalisation”. Staying in India became an equally viable choice.

While going abroad meant higher pay, working on cutting-edge technology, progressive work culture, more exposure to the world and better quality of living; it also meant distance from “our own” family & friends, missing the “culture”, challenges with domestic help, may not be able to participate in India’s growth, fear of children becoming “foreign”.

The only challenge was limited opportunities for actual engineering and R&D roles. Doing a MBA or working with software companies seemed the most plausible options.

In my case, not having engineering / R&D roles wasn’t a problem. It took me 2 years to understand what mechanical engineering is, realise I am not good at it and the next 2 years went in trying to wriggle out. ??

Coincidently, “Swades” was released in December 2004 and the song “Yeh jo des hai tera” seemed to echo what I felt about staying in India at that time.

There have been many interesting movies that seem to reflect on these challenges.. Apart from the mainstream ones, some of them I enjoyed were Flavors (Link ), Padamati Sandhya Ragam (Link - 1985 movie ahead of its times) and Dollar Dreams (Link ).

The message ingrained: Research isn’t my cup of tea. Let me see what best I can contribute, staying in India.

Des vs Pardes

The perception of how we look at ourselves and at India as a nation - has seen a slow but steady evolution.

• 1980s: It was for well-off families to pack their children aboard; India was looked down upon by Indians themselves.
• 1990s: The late ‘90s might have been the peak of the apparent “brain drain”. It was seen a silver bullet by middle-class families to take themselves to the next strata. NRIs start getting more attached to Indian culture than those in India themselves. Be it movies, art, dance or spirituality.
• 2000s: Globalisation saw more students staying back in India and even a few returning back (“Reverse brain drain”). Indians start getting admired for their skills and have built a strong reputation. How foreigners look at India changes.
• 2010s, 2020s: Going abroad is now just another destination. Careers can criss-cross countries. Indians start taking more pride in India. The cynicism that was a remnant of socialist India is gone. Things like UPI & food delivery chains impress even foreigners ??

Though spoken as “Brain Drain”, those who went abroad have been pioneers - shown the world what we can do as people. They have struggled in foreign environments, created a mini-India wherever they went - enhancing the value of both their country of residence and their country of origin.

Those in India might be contributing through taxes & social service, those abroad have helped us manage our Balance of Payments even though our imports have always been more than exports. Created a soft power that cannot be quantified.

The Takeaway

Over time, I have realised that there is no one better path, just the path we have chosen for ourselves. We just need to try make it the best we can!

And irrespective of where we are staying, what we are doing, we all can feel proud that we have all made our own small contribution to making India and the world better!

As the Sanksrit shloka goes…

??????? ????? ???? ????????? ?????? (As all rains falling from the sky reach the ocean)

[Do watch this beautiful Sankrit movie on Adi Shankara ]

Is India the best place to stay? No

Is any other country the best place to stay? No.

Is India in the best path possible? No.

Is India in the worst path possible? No.

Neti neti.

Ironically, those who stay abroad are called “Desi”, but so should those who are in India. ??

Thank you! See you in the next article! Do share forward if you found the write-up interesting.