The word that increasingly annoys me is “brain drain.”
Why is it that so many young people want to leave the country to study abroad in the first place? And this isn’t just about America for decades now, parents themselves have encouraged the next generation to go anywhere outside India for education, with the expectation that they should either settle there or return only after “making it.”
From kindergarten onward, what are children being taught through language, clothing, products, and everything they constantly see on screens? What impact does that create over time?
What is the actual standard and perception of excellence in higher education today? Earlier, people went abroad to become barristers. Later, generations pursued engineering overseas. Now students from almost every discipline aspire to study abroad. Why does this continue to happen?
Another important question is this: once students recover the massive financial investment made in foreign education, if they genuinely decide to return to India, do Indian companies offer enough intellectual stimulation and opportunities to satisfy that level of ambition and curiosity? This deserves serious study and discussion.
Apart from cleanliness, most countries struggle with similar societal problems anyway. But when you are a foreigner in another country, you often do not experience those issues in the same way or perhaps you simply do not feel entitled to comment on them there.
At the same time, there are many people today who have returned to India after completing their master’s degrees abroad not because they failed to secure visas, but because they chose to come back with dignity and intent. Jobs do exist here. For people with willingness and determination, there is no shortage of work.
What feels difficult to understand, however, is the expectation of extremely high salaries right at the beginning of one’s career. Perhaps this mindset is shaped by the salary packages offered by multinational companies operating in India and abroad.
This subject is far bigger than a simple debate about leaving or staying. There are far more questions than answers. These are merely a few personal observations.
Words panorama 