New Delhi Times - Gaurav Bhatnagar reporting from New Delhi, India

With costs of bootstrapping new companies coming down, a great entrepreneurship drive is what Indian echonomy needs now.

It would be great to hear your analysis on the trends, e.g.

- what sorts of industry sectors are r2i entrepreneurs looking to target ?
- are they primarily focussing on the Indian domestic market, or are they focussing on the global market ?
- what are the age and experience levels of r2i'ers

The R2I phenomenon would be significant only when all or most occupations are represented proportionately. As long as India remains a "one trick IT pony" for NRI's, R2I will remain an anomaly and a curious phenomenon, not a significant trend. My personal belief? As opportunities in India increase across the board, you will see accountants, civil engineers, professors and even doctors returning to India. Give it 5 to 10 years more to really come together.

One observation: I don't see very many retired NRI's returning to India, though for them India is a far more attractive proposition than it is for even a well-paid IT person. My theory is that retiring NRI's, who are all in their sixties, already have children and grandchildren here, and so now this is home. I may know 50 Indians of that age bracket here in the US, and NOT ONE is planning to return.

It is ironical that the Indian parents, with not enough means to fly to the US for frequent visits, accepted that huge distance when the NRI's left India. But the NRI's, with enough means to visit the US as often as they would want if they were to live in India, do not want the huge physical separation from their children left behind in the US.

The dynamic environment, cultural diversity, promise of growth and the number of opportunities available must be very attractive.

Personally, I miss the food the most :-)

gaurav,

fantastic blog...
its great to know that u dont regret ur R2I decision.

One question, did doing any 'service to indian community'(working for poor children, spreading education..etc) thought come to your mind..?

Hi Gaurav,
Just like you i thrive for a change and some more challenge out of the "comfort zone", and thinking about coming back to india, to begin with, through a temp. transfer from work. I have been in the US - NJ to be specific for the past 11 years, pretty well adjusted , as family is here.. but feel the call from india.. i don't know why. What were your immediate experience, about general life style and social structure when u got back.. i know heat is a big issue.. other than that.. the ROACHES will drive me nuts... but then again.. there is a give and take in everything, I guess.. r u even comtemplating coming back to the US? Looking forward to your response..
Later..
Sonia

hi............

i came to US a year back........as everybody told me that this part of world is different then our part(India)............but after working here for one year my experince says that there is not much difference...............i come from delhi.......in India.......and according to me both have there own positive and negative aspects..........But I will like to tell thatall the people I met in india compare india of 90's with US....but now you will find entirely new india......in india you can get you bank account open in home or everything like that from home but in US manpower in very expensive..............for the common man in india there is no corruption.........if you want to avoid corruption you can ...........in US you are ready to pay for the traffic ticket but the same person in india is not ready to pay for challan and he wants to give some money to thulla and avoid the challan......so my dear friends ................if you want to go by the rules then you there is no problem in india also..............if anybody of you have visited gurgaon then i do'nt think there is anything that is not present there..........and regarding jobs....or the work enviroment...........in US what i have seen.(may be wrong)........the management positions are generally taken by americans...........so majority of indians are just doing coding work..but india you can get all the positions....................

I would be interested in this topic of yours. My personal goal is to return to india after two years. Many people are skeptical that the 2 years will never shrink. But I hope thats not the case.

But then I wonder, will it regret it later. I know the transition phase is never easy. And I want ot read about the troubles you faced. The adjustment issues etc. ofcourse, there would have been moments when you would have thought, hey... this would have been easier in US.

You returned for Family and belonging. But then, a year down the road.. you would have go all entangled into the family quarells and other issues that we so easily forget while in the US. How did you fight that?

Please post a bit more on this on your blog.

Thanks for the inspiring updates though.

I am an intern in Microsoft and I just cant wait to get back! I wonder why people waste so much of their life here...Loved this article..totally agree..:)

R2I seems to be an IT/ITES phenomenon.
What about accountants,financial analysts.
What opportunities are there for these professionals.
What kind of experience,designations(overseas)are the employers looking for and what levels of compensations are they offering.
Any feedback.