ATLANTA, October 25, 2005
ATLANTA DIARY
Hindustantimes
Meeta Chaitanya
When Mohan Bhargava in last year's critically acclaimed
Ashutosh Gowarikar film Swades comes back and stays
for good in his village in India, Indians, most Indians,
especially those residing overseas lauded the victory
of the spirit of patriotism and its overt manifestation
in this manner.
It wasn't a contribution of time, money or effort
made by well-off Indians abroad to the community back
home that won the day; instead it was a physical,
geographical relocation in order to benefit one's
country that had the thinking man do a rethink.
Does it really happen?
In its pristinely inspirational form, maybe not -
but Indians returning to India, in search of better,
yes better jobs and fuller lives is hardly an anomaly
these days. India may still live in villages, (and
that's not even a primer to the grim reality in the
remotest of colonies), but it has become simultaneously,
a veritable option for those wanting to revisit the
urban habitat.
Even for those of us who have the advantage of annual
back-to-base holidays off work, places as Delhi, Mumbai,
Bangalore, Chennai, even Jaipur, Hyderabad, Pune,
Chandigarh etc to name a select few, have become rapidly
transforming entities that are growing as viable economic,
social, residential and commercial hubs.
To cite an example of this trend of relocation that
has gripped the imagination of a lot of Indians in
this area alone, one needs only to look at the increase
in the number of L-1 transferees voluntarily going
back to their parent companies in Gurgaon, Noida,
Chennai, etc. While some sort of parity in terms of
salary, benefits and growth remain major concerns
even as a family relocates to India, the very fact
of relocation is scarcely regretted.
Even as the US makes steady efforts to increase the
number of H1-B visas for technical workers and other
specialised personnel from 65,000 visas annually to
95,000, the reverse trend of well-settled Indians
exploring, and happily accepting similar opportunities
in India has been in motion and is gradually being
accepted as a looming possibility.
This movement, which is yet to be an exodus across
industries, is seen primarily in the IT sector - and
not without reason. With India as home to new endeavours
in this industry such as the setting up of Microsoft
Research India Lab, Scientia, a facility for research
in computer systems and software engineering among
other such instances, the IT community abroad is optimistic
of options back home. MS is reportedly to increase
its headcount in India manifold in the near future.
Another development that is seen as a positive thrust
for opportunity is the much-touted forthcoming acquisition
of the life and pension businesses of the UK-based
Pearl Group by TCS. According to published reports,
TCS' UK subsidiary is set to absorb most of Pearl's
current employees as also focus on business process
outsourcing for its insurance policies. Headcount
at Intel's Bangalore facility is reportedly set to
increase by year-end.
Similarly iGATE Global Solutions, another growing
tech operations company operating out of its headquarters
in Hyderabad is reportedly ready to double its employee
strength at its development centre at Banjara Hills
over the next couple of years.
Whether or not software professionals relocating
to India may gain directly by such expansion, acquisitions
and mergers, the indirect and voluminous growth in
the sector per se is reason enough for hope. That,
and the availability of an equivalent quality of living
such as NRI cities, top of the line facilities and
services, superlative education and employment opportunities
for spouses and children, recreational avenues and
products being available, even if they come at a dear
cost.
The returning Indian from Atlanta may not be the Mohan
Bhargava of an idyllic marquee, but the very fact
that his return to India is made possible because
India can give him almost all and any that he can
buy abroad with the added scope for useful contribution,
makes this more than an achromatic milestone.