Why nobody talks about India's 'brain drain' anymore

It turns out that the 'brains' were just people who were lucky. Once they left, their places were easily filled

- MANU JOSEPH

Rhyming words have promoted many dubious ideas. Like 'brain drain'. Not long ago, everyone was talking about it, as though those of us who stayed behind in India had no brain at all.

Yet, we enthusiastically debated the issue. The debate wasn't over whether brain drain existed, but whether the government should stop it. Now, for some reason, I don't hear anyone use that expression, though occasionally people do mention that our "brightest" go to the US.

The reason for its disappearance isn't that society felt our feelings needed to be protected. I think what has happened is that nobody truly believes brain drain is real-or at least not in the way it was once imagined.

To most Indians, "brain" still means an organ that is useful in cracking objective-type exams, or being good at any science. In that regard, the Indian brain has not expanded. It is just that the migration of 'brains' has not had any impact on India because there are so many brains. We have easily filled the spaces that the so-called bright vacated by leaving India. Not just that. The kind of people who were once considered 'brains' turned out to be merely people who were lucky enough to be born in the right homes. Just look at what happened when opportunities seeped down the social pyramid.

Today, the children of the affluent who are inclined to "do science," or whose parents want them to do it, leave India because they can't compete with other Indians for admission to the most sought-after engineering colleges. The children of IITians, generally, have little chance of getting into the Indian Institutes of Technology. India's upper class is unable to compete with equality.