VOA常速英语2007-Indian Professionals Return Home as Economy Boom

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
08 October 2007

Tens of thousands of highly qualified¹ Indian professionals migrated to Western countries in recent decades for better job opportunities. But as India's economy booms, a lot of them are now opting² to return to their homeland. Anjana Pasricha has a report from New Delhi.          
 
Software engineer Sandeep Kaimal went to the United States a decade ago. He was, in his words, part of the "bandwagon" - the thousands of engineers, doctors and other professionals attracted to Western countries by better jobs, more money and higher living standards.
 
Life in the U.S. was a new experience for Kaimal.   

"Before I moved out of India, I did not know what to do with the ATM card or what to do with the credit card, and when I moved in there everything was new…a totally new learning experience from day one…," Kaimal said.
 
In the U.S., he achieved the American dream - a good salary in a top company, a nice suburban³ home. He became accustomed to Western amenities⁴ like a centrally heated home and the best consumer electronics - and he shopped for brands he had never seen in India.
 
But during his annual visits home, Kaimal noticed that India was undergoing a dramatic transformation⁵, triggered by the economic liberalization implemented⁶ in the 1990's.   
 
"Every time I came I could see there were changes happening…Things that I had only seen in U.S., I started seeing them here: big malls, a lot of items which you could not get here before, it was readily available. India was opening up," Kaimal said.

Three years ago, the new face of India prompted Kaimal to take up the offer of a lucrative⁷ job with an information technology company in Chennai, his hometown.   

It was not just the promise of a lifestyle similar to what he had in the U.S. that lured⁸ him back home. He also wanted to spend more time with his aging parents, and to expose his four-year-old son to Indian culture.
 
Kaimal is not an isolated⁹ case. He is among an estimated 60 thousand IT professionals who have returned to India in recent years, mainly from the U.S. and Great Britain.

IT professionals make up the bulk of these reverse migrants, because they are finding easy opportunities in the country's thriving technology industry. But other professionals, such as doctors, have also started moving back home. They are relocating to cities such as Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi.

Noticing that the tide is turning homeward, a recruitment Web site organized a job fair in the eastern U.S. state of New Jersey¹⁰ last month to recruit Indians for jobs in India. The site's head, Michael Bala, says the response was overwhelming.

He says three thousand people between the ages of 25 and 40 turned up to inquire about potential jobs back home. He says most came because they realized that opportunities had blossomed since they left. 

"Most important reasons to top it all is India - the economic growth and India itself, and companies offering jobs which is equal or more than what is there in America itself…. It might not be equivalent to the dollar rate but the lifestyle they would be able to lead would be equivalent," Bala said.

Bala is already planning his second job fair for Indians in the United States, this time on the West Coast. 

Economists¹² say the returnees are helping¹³ to add value to an expanding Indian economy that is rapidly integrating with the rest of the world.

Economist¹¹ P.K. Chowdhury of the Indian credit rating agency ICRA says their experience in the West will benefit Indian industry.

"They are…ultimately creating some kind of contact between the two countries, USA or Europe and Indian service sector¹⁴, so it is having positive outcome, and it will help India in the long term. I think the persons who are coming, they are bringing with them lot of knowledge, technology," Chowdhury said. 

It is not as if everything in India is attractive to those opting to come back.  As in China, success is creating its own problems.
The traffic is more chaotic¹⁵ since they left, and the noise and pollution in the teeming¹⁶ cities is increasing. Some worry about the impact of India's competitive school system on their children.

But in the end, for many, it came down to a decision as to who they were.  The West was like living in a well-organized guesthouse.  India is home.

1 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

2 opting   

v.选择，挑选( opt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• What courses are most students opting for? 多数学生选什么课程？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Wells doesn't rule out opting out and then re-signing with Houston. 威尔斯没有排除跳出合同再与火箭重签的可能。 来自互联网

3 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

4 amenities   

n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快

参考例句：

• The campsite is close to all local amenities. 营地紧靠当地所有的便利设施。
• Parks and a theatre are just some of the town's local amenities. 公园和戏院只是市镇娱乐设施的一部分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

6 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

7 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

8 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

9 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

10 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

15 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

16 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道