Runaway Techies

Recently I had the fortune of visiting the I.I.T. Bombay campus and that has left me with a slight pain in the jaw. The reason being, I was gaping at the sheer enormity of the campus. I am yet to see the whole campus because whenever I assumed that the road was coming to an end, it took a new turn only to end at infinity. The greenery was such a beautiful sight to behold and it was hard to believe that there was a crazy traffic waiting for you outside the entrance if you just bothered to turn your back.

When I checked out the fees, I was pleasantly surprised to see the figures below 20K. While it is not really a meager amount, but if you look at the facilities they provide, it’s actually a bargain. But right now I am feeling contemptuous at the I.I.T. graduates who pack up their things and just zip off to some ‘foreign’ country to earn big bucks. How mean and selfish I say. The Government doesn’t spend an obscene amount on your training and education just to see you off at the airport. It does so with the hope and expectation that the best brains don’t turn their backs on their homeland and work their bums off at some other country. Sure every guy has the right to decide about his career. The temptation of a lucrative job at the outset of your career is too hard to resist and that is a fact I am completely aware of. But can you guys please think of coming back to India after a few years and do your nation a service?
I am a bit sympathetic to those graduates from private institutes. I am well aware of the fleecing at such institutes and most of the authorities are at mortal danger of choking since they are sucking money at alarming speed. If they decide to work abroad and try to recover back their investment, it seems acceptable. The certificates from such obscure institutes aren’t going to make them shine in the job scenario in India. But I can’t help going Grrr…. when I see an IITian snub job offers from India saying that they can’t adjust in their birthplace now that they are so well settled in the country of their choice. Sure Mr. Geek, you are so well ‘adjusted’ to the random curry-bashing and snide racist remarks you face in your adopted country. You have now ‘adjusted’ and accepted your colleagues perception of India as ‘Land of snake charmers’ and have not bothered to correct him. We Indians are so amazing, we adapt so well in a new environment without a complaint. Except the environment where they grew up in.
I just hope our beloved and very valuable techies realize this one important fact- India needs you and very badly. Don’t make me believe this commonly held perception that IITians have brains but not a heart.