Growing up in Kolkata one often gets to hear how Indians in general and Bengalis in particular are intellectually superior

to most other races in the world with the possible exception of the Germans and the Japanese. Whether the choice of these two nationalities has something to do with the fact that Bose received help from these two Axis powers during WWII for the Indian National Army is unknown and can be an interesting research. It could also have been motivated by the thought that intelligence has to figure somewhere in their superfast re-building after WWII. However, the fact remains that the thought is so prevalent in current Bengali society that it has almost become folklore. In this regard, especially looked down upon are the Americans. It is to our great delight that most of Americas economic and scientific advance happens on the shoulders of Bengalis (or generally Indians). Remarkably, this revelry is not confined within the borders of West Bengal but is found to be prevalent on a pan India basis. I, though, find it amazing that institutes like the IITs, the IIMs, Jadavpur and other universities across India have been for decades producing engineers, scientists, economists etc whizkids, in one word for the western world. These people go primarily to the USA produce some brilliant results during their careers and help the US to stay on top of the world. The fact that most people look at this as a matter of pride rather than shame says a lot about us. But then why is the scenario like this? Why is nobody changing it? Why are these students not realizing the harm they do to India when they leave? First of all, very few people realize it as a problem. Secondly, even the ones who do have very little idea about the solution. Lets face it, in my thirty years I have never seen a study that has tried to determine why these people leave the country. The general political tendency is to paint such deserters with un-patriotic tones. However, that I do believe is largely unfair. The first factor that provides for such behavior is that the Indian society expects and approves such behavior of its brilliant young minds. It is the society that corrupts the young by painting a negative picture. The Indian middle class loves to say, Oh, my son/daughter is a big shot in the USA or You know, he got selected to Harvard this year. He got selected to IIT/IIM just does not have the same charm. So you find parents egging their children on continuously to excel in the rat race to win a free migration to the USA thats the ultimate prize. But is that all? Is the society the only one to blame? Well, my view is by and large yes. I will come back to that but there are a few other things that Id like to discuss first. Frankly, the kind of candies Harvard/MIT/Princeton can give a brilliant mind does not even compare to the ones offered by the IITs/IIMs. Recently, I read that on an average an MIT professor has approximately $900,000 at his/her disposal for research. Other top US universities are all around that figure. The research grants at the IITs fade in comparison. A major part of the research grants to US universities come from the US government. In India, the government spending on research is much lesser. Based on their government funding, the US universities showed results and that prompted the very strong US industry to trust the universities. This brought in more funds. Indian industry is just not as strong as their US counterpart and in most cases they are service based. A major reason for this is again the Indian society. We have been taught to live safely. In many cases, the choice is between the US and a government job. If you even mention at home that you are starting a business, relatively from all possible connections will pounce on you regarding the inanity of your judgment. If you ignore them and go ahead, then at the first sign of slightest trouble they will pounce again with their versions of told you so. In the end, Indians who actually run a business in India end up providing services to already established businesses. As a result, a large percentage of Indian businesses do not need a lot of research.