I am Ashwat, a friend of Ravi Bhaskar. We both studied in the same university in Canada.
Firstly, i would like to commend you on the fact that you are doing your bit in helping India move forward by supporting the education of three children. Trust me, so is Ravi and so am I.
From your response to Ravi's article, i could see that you are very passionate about this matter and i truly appreciate it. That is exactly why i am emailing you. I see in you the same passion that i have for the development of our country.
However, just the fact that Ravi and I are not in India does not mean that we have chosen to run away from the system. Sometimes it is good to develop a broader perspective by seeing the outside world, appreciating the good things about other cultures, learning from them and bringing the learnings back to be able to contribute more to your own country and people.
Yes, the key would be to return to one's homeland and there is no denying that. I will return to India somewhere between Aug & Oct 2008 (after having completed about 4 years here - 2 years studying and 2 years working. You may email me then to check if you wish !! Ha ! Ha !!) and Ravi plans to return after a few more years. And neither of us say that we dont have to do anything for our country till then. We are doing our bit too.
In our batch, of the 25 Indian students who came here to do our MBAs, i expect only 3 to return to India -------- Myself, Ravi and another friend ( In the order in which we will return). I believe that even that as a % is good. Its not the number of people who return but the intention with which one returns and what they do after they return that matters. What is the point if someone returns because he was deported, lost his job etc.
Over the last few years, i have come to believe that even those who decide to "run away" play an important role in terms of the foreign exchange they send back to the country, the goodwill they develop for India, the jobs they send back home (some business leaders from India who have settled here really sell India as a destination for investment) etc and as hard as i myself find to accept this, we should respect their choice.
The whole idea of Ravi's article was to indicate how some small changes can make a difference (and you are actually doing it too !!!). But words leave a lot are open for interpretation and both of us were aware that the article could be misinterpreted. I expect that even this email may be misinterpreted as an act of "defence", but it is not. It is merely an act to share some facts and opinions and also hopefully to get introduced to someone who shares similar passions
