Indians have a significant presence in the United States and have risen to become the richest ethnicity in the country. Every year, tens of thousands of young Indians move to the US for better growth and opportunities, and pursue the ‘American Dream’. However, Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath questioned the trend at a time when India’s economy is booming. In what he termed a ”dichotomy”, he stated while many rich Americans want to invest in India, young Indians prefer to move to the US.
”Most Americans I know with money want to invest in India because they believe they are plateauing as a nation and that we are the future. But somehow, young Indians are still bitten by the bug to travel to America to build their future. This is such a dichotomy,” he wrote on X.
He also shared a graph from ‘The Open Doors 2023’ report on International Educational Exchange that shows India is a leading “sender of students” to the US.
As per the report, India has surpassed China to become the largest source of international graduate students in the United States. Notably, the number of Indians pursuing postgraduate studies in the US increased 63 percent to 1.65 lakh in the academic year 2022-23 — surpassing China for the first time in 15 years.
While a few resonated with Mr. Kamath’s thoughts, majority of internet users disagreed with him. One user wrote, ”Americans placing their bets on India’s economic roulette wheel, while young Indians roll the dice in the American dream. It’s a high-stakes game of aspirations, where the roulette wheel spins, and dreams roll across borders.”
Another commented, ”Americans investing in India for monetary rewards Indian students escaping India for lifestyle rewards. two things are not same & there is no dichotomy.” A third wrote, ”USA is still the land of opportunities. A nobody can become something ..this is the essence of anyone wanting to go…there is nothing wrong. Learn and come back and build. Others did and why not the next generation ??”
A fourth said, ”The desire for a better lifestyle and the pursuit of ego satisfaction drives this craze of settling in West, but what they fail to acknowledge is that high living costs will lead to a less fulfilling life and major loneliness once the initial excitement fades. Also, later they crave Indian cuisine and the social life.”
A fifth added, ”There is no dichotomy, people just want a better life. On average a middle-income person has a far better quality of life outside. None of those NRIs would wanna come back to India, they just want to participate in the so-called Alpha.”
Notably, India had the largest diaspora population in the world with 18 million people from the country living outside their homeland in 2020, according to a report by the United Nations.
