Home and abroad: On India and the Indian student  

The ongoing programme of revoking the visas of foreign students in the U.S., ostensibly for opposing the country’s foreign policy, is a direct outcome of the xenophobic tendency in the Trump administration. The danger is that the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement that propelled Donald Trump into the Presidency may soon permeate deep into campus life too. In any case, the number of Indian students enrolling in U.S. universities has been on a downward trend since last year — even before the drumbeats of hostility started. Indian students are already finding other countries such as Germany attractive for lower costs and greater flexibility to self-fund their education through work. Enrolment figures for September this year will demonstrate how attractive the U.S. still is for Indian students despite the looming cancellation of the Optional Practical Training programme that offered a segue for foreign students to working in the U.S. All this, together with the defunding of research and arm-twisting of universities in a country known to value academic freedom, has indeed lowered, if not upended, the regard that people outside had for the U.S.

Many countries have sought to leverage the decline of the U.S. as a destination for talent. Reports talk about European institutions welcoming disgruntled U.S.-based researchers, ironically noting that scientists and researchers fleeing persecution greatly contributed to American progress in the past. For a while now, Indian returnees have been driven in-part towards a desire to come back home or even serve their motherland. Professional achievement or the opportunity to do high-end research has not always been a big driver towards India attracting back its people. While, outwardly, new vistas have opened, research opportunities have expanded, and the fight for funds is less intense, in part due to the encouragement given to private institutions, much work remains to be done. Loosening up the government’s purse strings and goading private institutions to invest in research more may only be the starting point. What often puts off returnees is the daily struggle in India. The struggle not only characterises everyday social life but also the workplace. Collaboration between institutions or even across departments is a tough sell. The suffocating social norms and hierarchies are a downer. Lastly, the academic freedom that Indians are used to enjoying elsewhere will need to be recreated. That would require a complete overhaul in the Indian government’s attitude to liberal values and towards foreigners, which often borders on the Trumpian.