The November issue of Little India magazine is out with two page article on Indian ex-pats who return to India. Until recently, more and more Indians were going to America to find their fortunes. Now, many of them are taking their new skills (and money) with them back to their homelands.

In a nation where success used to be defined by how quickly a university graduate could snare a British or American passport, and where up-and-coming doctors, bankers, and software engineers often did all the could to get somewhere else, India’s best and brightest are coming home.

This phenomenon is happening all over Asia, especially in India and China, and is being called “reverse brain drain.”

The article focuses on Palm Meadows in suburban Bangalore, a special community for returning Indians, many of whom are torn. They longed to return to India, but still consider the U.S. their homes. They are used to the safety and security of America, not to the poverty surrounding them when they return, and they want to make India a more stable place to live. Palm Meadows is more picturesque, like a gated community in America. Many that return find it easier to socialize with other Indians who have lived in America than with those who have never been abroad.

Sealed off from the clamor of urban India, Narayanan knows his life is impossibly distant to most of his countrymen. I don’t see myself as an expat here, but I don’t see myself as an Indian either,” he said. We still consider the U.S. our home.”

Thinking about it a little more he concludes: “We’re straddling both places.”

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