US' brain drain is India's brain gain

The tide is turning. A recent US report warned that the challenge for science and technology in America is that even if it does everything right, the world (read India, China) poses unprecedented competitive challenges. Ten years ago, such a report would have been scoffed at. Not any longer.

More and more Indian techies, scientists, doctors are homeward bound, giving up high-paying jobs abroad and joining R&D units, hospitals, government institutions or even their alma mater here. America's brain drain is becoming India's brain gain.

"It's a really exciting time to be here," declares Kunal Bajaj, project consultant with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. An engineer-MBA from Wharton, Bajaj chucked his tech honcho's job with a New York company and came home to be part of the excitement - India's booming telecom sector.

Then there's Chandra Venkataraman, who's returned to teach at her alma mater, IIT Bombay. "The wide variety of jobs in R&D, management and engineering make it a real option to live and work in India." After doing her post-doctorate from Stanford, Chandra taught in the US for a year. And yet, "I never wanted to live anywhere else but India. There's always a connection with one's country that comes through our parents of the Independence generation - a sense of public service. There's also a feeling that if one works here, one can make a more meaningful contribution."

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Is this not a good sign ?

Yoko