Zoho Founder Sridhar Vembu's Open Letter Urges Indians in US to Return to India
Tech entrepreneur cites changing immigration perceptions, calls for returning talent to contribute to India's technological prowess
Quick Look
- Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has written an open letter to Indians living in the US, urging them to return to India and contribute to the country's growth.
- Reflecting on his own journey to America 37 years ago, Vembu acknowledges the opportunities the US provided but notes changing perceptions around immigration, where many Americans believe Indians 'take away' American jobs.
- He argues that global respect for Indians depends on India's progress, particularly in technology, and calls on overseas professionals to bring their experience back home with 'missionary zeal'.
AI-generated summary
Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has shared an open letter addressed to Indians living in the United States. Posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), the letter urges "brothers and sisters from Bharat" to consider returning to India and contribute to the country's growth.
In the post, Vembu reflected on his own journey to the US decades ago and acknowledged the opportunities it provided. At the same time, he pointed to changing perceptions around immigration and jobs, saying that Indians abroad are increasingly caught in broader political debates.
"You may think the next election will fix this, but your choice would be between people who hate our Bharatiya civilisation and people who hate civilisation itself. That is the 'hard right' vs 'woke left' battle. You are mere bystanders to that conflict," Vembu wrote.
In the post, he added that global respect for Indians will depend on India's progress, especially in technology, and called on professionals overseas to bring their experience back to help build the country's future.
Read Sridhar Vembu's open letter to Indians in US
Open letter to Indians in America.
--Dear brothers and sisters from Bharat:
Like I did 37 years ago, you arrived in America with no money but with a good education and cultural heritage from Bharat. You achieved outstanding success. America was good to us. For that we must remain grateful - gratitude is our Bharatiya way.
Yet today, a significant number of Americans, may be not the majority but not too far from it either, believe that Indians "take away" American jobs and our success in America was unfairly earned. You may think the next election will fix this, but your choice would be between people who hate our Bharatiya civilisation and people who hate civilisation itself. That is the "hard right" vs "woke left" battle. You are mere bystanders to that conflict.
Meanwhile there is one thing that is true now and will be true in the future: the respect Indians command world-wide will substantially depend on the fortunes of India herself. If India remains poor, the woke left will give us moral lectures with pity and the hard right, different moral lectures with scorn ("hellhole") and we must not confuse either with respect.
Respect in today's world, along with prosperity and security, comes from one source: a nation's technological prowess. India produces sufficient brain power to achieve that prowess but alas we exported so much of that talent, particularly to America. As we develop that prowess in India, our civilisational strength will assert itself.
As difficult as it is for many of you to contemplate this, please come back home. Bharat Mata needs your talent. Our vast youthful population needs the technology leadership you gained over the years to guide them towards prosperity. Let's do it with a missionary zeal.
Respectfully
Sridhar Vembu
