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Back to belonging

More and more NRIs are relocating to Chennai. And feel the better for it. KAVITHA SHANMUGAM DANIEL reports

Three years ago, NRIs Murali Raman and his wife Deepa were bringing home a six-figure salary yearly in mid-west USA. Life could not have been rosier for this Dallas couple employed in America's sprawling telecom sector. They were American citizens, owned a house, travelled extensively and enjoyed a hectic social life.

Yet, this couple chose to walk away from a comfortable lifestyle to return to India. They were spurred on by the need to give their then five-year-old daughter Pooja an `Indian upbringing' and enjoy a `stay-at-home mom.' Today, three years down the line, Murali Raman harbours no regrets.

A director in the Chennai branch office of a major Canadian telecom equipment manufacturing company, Murali says, "Frankly, I have no regrets. If you have money, India is the best place to be." The boom in the telecom sector in India made things easier for Murali. He did not lose out `much' on salary or on the skills front, he says.

The crossover

Murali is able to afford a good lifestyle as a single earning member even as his wife concentrates on bringing up their daughter. He's closer to his old parents and enjoys a good family support structure.

NRIs might be returning to India prompted by the need to inculcate Indian values in their children. But, they are largely able to make the crossover because the climate is currently right in the country.

Software consultant Suresh Ramaswami, an NRI, who returned a year ago from New Jersey, says, "The climate for NRIs to return was limited earlier. Indians had originally left their homeland in search of better living standards, now they can get the same here."

Last year, Suresh sold his suburban house in New Jersey and moved his family back to India to work as director for the U.S.-based Cognizant Technology Solutions at its Chennai headquarters.

"I had a good life in the U.S. It's the longest (15 years) I have lived anywhere and I still regard it as home. But, I think the next 10 years belong to Asia," he says.

"In America, people think the U.S. is the world and nothing matters to them. America continues to be a great country but I want to give my kids a choice of where they want to belong in the future," says Suresh, who still retains American citizenship for his family and him.

Booming economy

"The main reason for the return of NRIs is a booming economy," says Harish Jayaram, a Chennai-bred NRI, who returned a year ago. Employed in a U.S.-based telecom wireless company in Chennai, he says, "It helps that the workplace has turned global and someone can sit in Mylapore and do business with Dallas." Harish and his wife gave up an `extended honeymoon' as they wanted to take advantage of a strong family network in Chennai to have their first baby. After a decade in the U.S., Harish also opted for a life of `challenges and surprises.' "Everything is so set and orderly in America. It can turn shallow after a point," says Harish.

Most NRIs get sentimental about America, a country they have lived in for many years and might regard as home. But, they never seem to belong somehow and their heart is in India.

"It's not a question of racism. We don't bring up our kids like the Americans do, for example. It's a question of blending," says Anu Moorthy, a mother of two daughters. After living in the U.S. for 15 years, her husband decided to relocate when his Atlanta-based financial services company opened its office in Chennai.

"Professionally, you cannot grow beyond a point in American companies," says Harish.

Family life is also hard to come by for NRIs. "My husband and I were working so hard that we hardly had any time for our daughter," says Deepa Raman.

"I think Indians have made their money in the U.S. and now want more out of life," says Anu Moorthy. For the past three months, she's trying hard to settle down in her hometown Chennai.

The NRIs are wistful about the `discipline, order and speed' of life in the U.S. People here don't work to fixed work schedules and there's no respect for the privacy of an individual, these NRIs complain. Wives miss the independence and the free life and quibble about encountering `in-law' problems for the first time.

As Ranjini Manian, director of Global Adjustments, a company helping foreign companies and their families to relocate to India, puts it, "NRIs love the re-immersion into Indian culture, the affordability of food, household help, the improved quality of life and spending time with the family." It may not be a homecoming for NRIs at first. But, after a while they slide back into life in India and seem to harbour no regrets about the relocation. However, somewhere they retain the option of going back to the U.S. by holding on to their American citizenships. Who knows when the wheel might turn?

Why Chennai?

Why didn't Suresh opt to relocate to any city in India? Explaining his choice of city, he says, "It's more cost effective for a company to open offices in Chennai than say Bangalore. A lot of MNCs went to Bangalore at first and now the city has peaked. Chennai is a late starter but it scores higher today with better infrastructure, cheaper living, a strong talent pool and a better work ethic."

Recognising these advantages, IT companies and other related services have opened shop in Chennai and the city is fast emerging as a centre for auto ancillaries, IT and financial processing and telecom firms.

"Bangalore might be a major city for telecom software development but Chennai is not far behind," says Harish. "Many U.S.-based telecom companies have opened shop here in the past one year," he adds.

When Harish decided to make the move he contacted headhunters in Chennai and found a job pretty quickly. "The talent pool for the technology sector is sourced largely from the South," he says.

After Bangalore, it is Chennai's turn now, isn't it, asks Anu Moorthy. The Moorthys choose Chennai because it is cheaper to live here than in Bangalore.

Chennai is a preferred destination for NRIs today. But, when this city too buckles, will it be the turn of the second tier cities like Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruchi?

PHOTOS: SHAJU JOHN AND R. SHIVAJI RAO

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