From what I see in the US, the work ethic of middle class Americans is extremely poor. They are mostly scatter-brained, they make the most embarrassing mistakes and always seem to be on leave for some reason or another when you need them. In India, if you really need something done, you can at least talk people into doing it for you. But in the US, its far worse. Nothing that does not fit into the (in actual terms) 2 hour workday and 4.25 day workweek (in actual terms) gets done.

I once had someone send me an angry email 1 week after I sent an important query saying she had been extremely busy and had decided to answer only her phone calls the last week and leave the emails alone. WTF? What kind of a person cannot handle phone and email at the same time?

This is not a one off thing. I have noticed the “workload fuse” for most Americans is extremely low. I always gasp when I hear that middle class Americans are “working on their email”. I mean… I get through mine in less than 30 mins. Also there is a spate of post it notes, schedules, bulletins, bookmarks, etc. on the table of the average worker. To my knowledge I have never written out a routine in my life nor maintained an appointment diary and I am known to be a fairly planning intensive person. I keep my appointment list in my mind… there is enough space there. I don’t need to write it out on a sheet to feel busy.

After high school I told my parents I wanted to study in India. My decision was welcomed by them and I decided to join Sir J.J School of Architecture in Mumbai. From the time I tried to seek admission till the time I quit two years later- I had nothing but a plethora of problems. Firstly the entire system of ” reserved” seats, reserved class and all that nonsense plagues our education system. I had to talk to “this person”, call that ” Mr XYZ” and “come back later- saheb is busy ” – Actually he is sipping on his mid day tea. ANyway, after a month long visit back and forth and refusing anyone any money, I got admission based on my grades. I stayed there for 2 years- lack of teachers, lack of good text books and a complete lack of any good discussion just made me frustrated. Our facilities and shop room were broken almost 70% of the time which wouldn’t allow any student to produce any quality work. The attitude of other students towards me- I was always an outsider and my ideas or enthusiasm were always seen as ” crazy” or “ridiculous”.

My older sister who started working at a telecom company in India was met with similar issues of promotions for younger candidates even though she went to an ivy league school in the United States, speaks 7 languages( 3 Indian, 4 international)..She clearly deserved more but her being a woman was an issue.
These are things that are very important and a big reason why a lot of people leave.

My sister and I both left India 6 years ago. I graduated with my Masters last year and landed a really nice job in the U.S.My sister is married, also has a kick ass job. I love India- but if asked to move back, I probably won’t. EVen simple things like getting a drivers license means giving “supari” to someone to have the job done- to me thats a complete failure in basic infrastructure. It doesn’t have to be that way and I see a TON of educated folks continuing to feed into this rotten system.

I truly hope things change soon.

USA’s work ethics/oppertunities are ages ahead of India.
My entire education was in India. Creativity, Culture, leadership, etc, was not encouraged or talked about. It was, ‘Just get your degree and get out’ attitude throughout. Yes, at work, you have to slog it out and later on find out that someone else got the promotion because of their caste, religion, etc. Very unfair. You see it all the time. Not so, in USA. You still are respected for what you are. Period. Hardwork pays.

Comparing USA with India will not get us anywhere. It will make us feel more miserable. We all know there is room for improvement in India, but we also know that it not going to happen soon.

In the last 10 years, things changed in India. I’m seeing a lot of positive improvement. Some crap is in our blood (corruption, caste, religious differences, regional differences, etc) which will take few generations to get corrected.

But for NRIs like me, who intend to go back, there is a lot for us to give back to India. You can apply all the positive stuff you have learnt while being an NRI.

Yes. There are a lot of Frogs (or Crabs) in India. The trick is to not to become a Frog/Crab yourself.

I have been working in US since last one year now and the opportunities I have got here, I know for sure I will never get in India. These people have given me respect for the kind of person I am irrespective of my gender or marital status.
Why should I go back to those who act like a frog pulling my leg because they could not achieve something.