The Times of India Online
Printed from timesofindia.indiatimes.com > All That
Matters
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lost Generation Ex
INDIASPORA/CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
[ SUNDAY, JANUARY 09, 2005 12:45:56 AM ]
The migration of Indian minds to the west,
particularly to the United States, came in three broad
streams. The initial flow came in the '60s and '70s,
when Washington first relaxed its immigration policies
(in 1965) to allow large number of white collar
professionals to enter US academia and government
institutions. The second wave came in the '80s and
'90s, mostly riding on the private sector technology
boom. The third wave, still coming in, is the younger,
turn-of-the-century flow, mainly from the university
route.
Each group has distinctive traits. Today's immigrants
are intimately connected to India. They bring India
and Indian-ness to the US, from Bollywood patois to
Bangalore lingo. They travel home at least once a
year; some shuttle between Bangalore and Bay Area with
homes in both places. Thanks to cable television and
Internet, they can watch Jay Leno in New Delhi and
Shekhar Suman in New York, attend a rock concert in
Goa and a Hindustani gig in Dallas. They can disembark
in Frankfurt, Tokyo, or Seattle, rent a car, and drive
into town using mapquest or GPS. They are more
internationalists than immigrants.
The '80s generation are those who have made it good in
the US. Many are beginning to return to India after
some years of disconnect, seeing it both as an
opportunity to give something back and as an
investment destination. This is the generation of
Vinod Khoslas and Vinod Dhams, multi-millionaire
geniuses who make frequent trips to India to part with
their moolahs and methods. They bring energy and
enterprise. They are the "Bobby-boomers" because they
left India after the movies Bobby and Sholay .
But it's the first group, the '60s immigrants, we know
little about. We can call them the Dilip Kumar
generation, although I've heard them dubbed the AT&T
flock. This is because they came here when AT&T was
still a monopoly and it cost $3 a minute to call
India. Flying home was a luxury so they returned
perhaps once in five years, if that. There were few
Indian grocery stores, Blockbuster did not stock
Bollywood movies, and there were no cricket games on
cable. Many of them submerged their Indian-ness to
become all too American.
They are today's Lost Generation Ex of
Indian-Americans. They have just retired or are
starting to, typically as division heads in the
government, universities or corporations. They might
not be instant millionaires like the tech tycoons, but
they have a nice nest egg for retirement, they are
accomplished in their fields, and a treasure trove of
knowledge and expertise. Many have helped build
America's infrastructure, from bridges, dams, roads
and metros to designing automobiles and aircraft.
One such Gen Ex-er, Dr Tadepalli Murty, is among the
world's foremost authorities on tsunamis. Like him,
there are retirees and semi-retirees in many fields.
Hal Iyengar is a structural engineer who worked on
Chicago's Sears Towers among many famous highrises.
Rangaswamy Srinivasan pioneered lasik eye surgery.
Haren Gandhi engineered cutting edge automotive
technology. C Kumar Patel did seminal work on lasers.
There are hundreds of such distinguished Gen Ex-ers.
In many cases, these golden oldies belong to a truly
lost generation. Their ABCDs (American Born Confident
Desis) are married and gone; they have little contact
with NextGen grandchildren. Most of them would be
happy to give their expertise to India. In the final
stretch of their careers, they seek no returns. But
they have been disconnected from India for many years.
It may be worth India's time to connect to them again.
©Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for
anyone who cares about public education!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/O.5XsA/8WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
***************************************************************************
Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg
Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc
***************************************************************************
__________________________________________________________________________
Mohon Perhatian:
1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik)
2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari.
3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru;
4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/
5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
