BACK TO PAVILION

Armed with degrees and work experience from the US,many Indians are coming back and replanting themselves in their homeland. Hiren Kumar Bose takes a look at the blossoming new US-return community

Is `Swades' happening in real life? Mumbai suddenly seems to have become the hub of`returnee' Indians who, when in their 20's, went abroad to profit skills andknowledge from the West but have returned to harvest their learning in theirown watan. And these individuals are a game -- ready to experiment, willing to puttheir acquired wisdom to test and to take the risk to succeed among their fellowbeings.
It's a very unlikely place to meet a 'returnee' in a South Mumbai restaurant, which incidentally he also owns. But then Abhinav Agarwal (33) is not an easy-to-be categorised individual: for he tells you that his Bistro Chat Masala(tm) is the only place where you get Tiranga kulfi. And that he makes corporatefilms too.
Abhinav graduated from Ivy League, Brown University (Rhode Island) majoring indevelopment studies and organizational behaviour and Management. Besides running amulti-cuisine restaurant, located behind Bombay Stock Exchange he also makescorporate films on subjects such as sales motivation and training for clients, likeGlaxo, Dabur, Ranbaxy, BNP Paribas etc.For all those who wish to chase the `USA returned' dream, Abhinav advises, "Get ajob with a company that has an India presence, work with them for a a few years and then get placed back here. You will still get a dollar salary and expenses would be inrupees."
In Mumbai you are likely to find many such returnees in improbableplaces pursuing careers or founding enterprises, often unconnected with their studies abroad. And they all have one thing in common-the decision to return rather than wait for years to become proud possessors of a green card!
In the eighties and early nineties Taiwan-born individuals working in the US returned to their country of birth with dreams of changing things. And they did. Today, Taiwan is a major supplier of semi-conductor and chips. Even those who continued to stay abroad remained closely connected to Taiwan's emerging technology sector. Silicon Valley-based engineers formed the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association with the goal of "promoting cooperation and the mutual flow of technology and investment between Taiwan and the US." It is not an exaggeration to suggest that this is happening in India. "Brain drain" is giving way to "brain circulation" as talented immigrants who have studied and worked abroad are returning home to pursue opportunities here, thanks to liberalisation.
Having studied and worked abroad, Indian expats like restaurateur and film maker Abhinav Agarwal, netpreneur Mehul Patel, career counsellor and manpower consultant Riddhesh Gandhi, software technologist Akhil Sahahani and biotechnologist Ganesh Kamath have returned home with new skills and dreams of rebuilding India. For them patriotism is not just sending dollars as remittances. It is about being in the land of their birth, taking challenges that come with it and emerging as winners.
As engineers and other professionals return home--either temporarily or permanently-the returnees transfer not only technology and capital, but also managerial and institutional know-how to formerly peripheral regions.
Moreover, they link localproducers more directly to the market opportunities and networks of more advancedeconomies. Entrepreneur Mehul Patel who completed his MS in e-Commerce and New Media from New York University and worked with IBM (New York) says, "I always had a huge entrepreneurial bug inside me and believed that no location can be better to test your entrepreneurial skills than the place you grew up."Mehul (31) heads KIPL.Net one of the largest New Media/Digital services firm, whichprovides consultation across digital platforms, like Internet, Mobile, Intranet andTouch-Screen. Additionally, KIPL is into turnkey solutions across Infrastructure,application, content, design, real time servicing/updates etc.For the returnees the beginning was hard, really hard.
As Abhinav puts it: "Myfriends were in the USA and I missed the social life. It took me some time to findmy groove."Reminiscences Riddhesh Gandhi (26) who did a BBA at the University of Texas anddespite job offers with investment banks in New York decided to return and startYoungBuzz India Ltd, "It is tough initially because even in four years you get usedto the lifestyle in the US. If you have something here that you are passionateabout then staying and working won't be a problem."
Having being in the US for ten years, Dr Ganesh Kamath (38), returned for adifferent reason: "The US is great place for singles and even for those married butnot once you have kids as there is lack of family support system. I used to getsleepless nights thinking about my old age and reduced to spending the grey yearsin an old age home!"Dr Kamath acquired his M.S. in Pharmaceutical Science from Temple University,Philadelphia and became a licensed pharmacist. Following a doctorate specializingin Drug Dosage Delivery, he worked for Wyeth in the U.S. as a research scientist.After a brief stint as a pharmaceutical technology consultant, he used microencapsulation techniques (from Drug Dosage Delivery) to improve the stability ofmicroorganisms when applied in the environment. Back in India in 1997, he worked as a consultant and founded Organica Biotech in 2000, which is a premier biotechnologycompany involved in the development and marketing of environmentally responsibleproducts for industrial wastewater treatment, lake bioremediation, sewage treatmentand solid waste composting.
In India, most IT firms focus on selling low-end IT services but Akhil Shahani'sAjax Knowledge Systems is one of the few that not only have focused on softwareproducts, but sell them solely on the internet. "In 1996, the economicliberalisation happened and I realised that a quickly growing economy such as Indiawould give fantastic monetary opportunities," says Akhil (36) who in 1999 was votedas one of NASSCOM's future 'star' software companies is an MBA from JL KelloggGraduate School of Management Akhil returned home after four years."I focus on low cost but smart ways of creating and marketing newsoftware products. I also use the facilities offered by the Internetextensively for it is a great resource for any entrepreneur who knows how to use iteffectively," says Ajay.
Why go abroad? A question which needs answering and what do the returnees have tosay on this. Says Mehul: "Go with an open mind; don't get stuck to the initialoffer (remuneration), try and learn as much as you can, specially the systems,commitments and respecting each and every second of your time rest all is kool!"
Adds Abhinav: "Education in the top universities in the US isincredible. As money is not as much of an issue as people imagine. Talent isrecognized and scholarships are possible. Get the very best education the world hasto offer and international exposure that would hold one in good stead in years tocome."Concludes Riddhesh: "Going abroad to study is the best experience. The four years Ispent there helped me grow as a person. If you are able to go abroad, just go. It'sa fantastic experience.""But don't get stuck there. Come back home to roost,'' is what they advise inunison.

Published in The Education Times, June 26,2005