8 January 2020

A Discovery of India

The most common question I am confronted with these days is, “Why are you in India?” The question at hand is usually accompanied with a wide-eyed stare and a slight smile —a bewildered amusement at times containing notes of alarm or concern.

In Koramangala, where I live in south Bangalore, I often come across signs and spray-painted notices proclaiming “Imminent Emigration Services to Canada” or “Visa and Training for Australia.” I have enough NRI friends, and have gained enough insight as a first-generation immigrant myself, to understand the motivations for the one-way migration between talent in the developing world to the developed. I have even (only half-jokingly) termed myself as being part of the “reverse migration” — a cohort of young people who are starting and developing their entire careers in India, starting with zero context (not being of Indian descent or background). This is an identity that I am proud of, a commitment that I defend.

When I first landed in Hyderabad in 2016, in the middle of a semester at Columbia, I was simply acting on impulse. I had met an Indian entrepreneur whose story struck me so deeply that I felt emboldened to do something with it - though that something was undefined and perhaps a figment of my imagination. That one thread turned into “Myth of the Entrepreneur,” a book which took me all over India, into the homes of leading businessmen and local communities, and across multiple generations of value-creation, reflection and deep engagement with the country. When I subsequently started a venture of my own, it made sense to base a software development center in Bangalore, given my familiarity. But after some time, when we shut down Dunya Labs, the question then arose— Was India simply an exciting, yet opportunistic chapter that had come to an end? Or was there something fundamentally engaging about this country, and was I willing to imbed it into my future, its opportunities alongside its hardships? I took some time off to reflect, and when I reemerged, I had decided solidly on the latter.

I like to believe that I do not have too many illusions about this commitment and what it entails. As a incredibly diverse and heterogenous society with a complex history, India presents a challenging and exciting learning curve. I am of the strong belief that anyone from my background requires at least a decades’ experience in the country to add significant value — a “fly-by” expat experience would not be sufficient. If you are willing to make a long-term commitment, are not too fussed about “hygiene factors” (transport, pollution, external environment, etc) and are motivated to really integrate into a local community— India is an amazing place to develop oneself. I have distilled some of my own key reasons below:

The opportunity for impact is immense.

At a macro level, as an entrepreneur in a country at India’s stage of development, your life/livelihood will be irrevocably tied to impact — whether it is building infrastructure for growing metropolitan or rural areas, providing Internet-enabled goods and services to a growing middle class, or building affordable models of healthcare and education. At a micro level, holding yourself responsible to leading by example (promoting female entrepreneurship and leadership, or treating every individual with respect and dignity, for example) while being sensitive to local social and cultural norms can also move the needle in tiny but not insignificant ways.

This was not an a priori or “enlightened” understanding, it was a lived experience that incrementally changed my worldview, that crept up on me like a cool Bangalore summer. In fact, I did not understand the power of being driven by impact at all, until I started living it.

The right place at the right time is 80% of the game.

Proclamations about India’s macro have always been underwhelming — it has been heralded as a “second China” since the 2000s (a thesis I disagree with, given the foundational economic, demographic and political differences between India and China - a post for another time). Yet it is also indisputable that India is one of the world’s few remaining large and growing economies. It is projected to create over $4 trillion of wealth over the next decade. Being a part of that tidal wave - which may take longer than the projections, with fits and starts - is still a healthy bet with a long enough time scale. I witnessed first-hand through China how a country’s major growth stage happens spectacularly, and happens only once in one’s lifetime.

The edge is still there.

The fact that I am asked “Why are you in India” is testament that there are not many “reverse migrants” as of yet. Bringing a globalized experience and a problem-solving mentality is still highly valued and valuable. As an outsider, the advantageous default state is to assume nothing —- a perspective that creates fertile ground for new insight.

Building a future in a community-based society contributes immensely to well-being.

Family and communities (religious, social, occupational, geographic) drive networks, interactions and life decisions. From running a business (70% of India’s businesses are family-run) to getting married, all decisions, for better or worse, are interlinked with a broader community unit. The supposedly rational, indivisible and sovereign individual does not hold reign; the death of “community” and the rise of its surrogates have yet to take hold. I have been lucky enough to be embraced and included into a core family and community in India. For me personally, this has created a strong sense of continuity, purpose and support— in work and beyond work. Indeed, I cannot understate how much Indian culture — its pursuit of truth, its interrogation of some of the deepest questions of human life, its diversity and its strong fiber of community and the collective — continues to inform and inspire me.

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I am still early in this journey. Recently, I took a trip on the Jagriti Yatra - a 14-day train ride across the country, from Madurai to Tilonia in Rajasthan, from Mumbai to a village in Uttar Pradesh - and I was humbled and astounded by all that I did not know. Like I said, the context-building required to build a life in India (if you want to go beyond a metropolitan bubble) is immense and takes time, patience and a genuine love.

There are nonetheless moments of doubt or anxiety — as an outsider, there is much which remains out of my control. The institution-building and nation-building which is still required in India to create sustainable growth. The political agenda which now seems to be spiraling into (religious) polarization and intolerance as opposed to development and uplift. Such structural issues are severely concerning, but not reasons to lose hope.

The road less traveled is the adventure worth having. And this is the adventure I have chosen. For now, I am not looking back.