r2i forum

Dear All,

I am a new member and came across this forum today while searching for R2I experiences on the web. Some background information about me. I have been outside India for the past 14 years.. 6 of them in the US, 6 in Singapore and the last couple of years in Japan. Am planning to move to Bangalore.. Have a possible offer in hand.

Was glad to come across this forum and it sure has been helpful. Hopefully, I can post my experiences of R2I and maybe it can help others who plan on doing the same.

Bioswami

Hi Bioswamy, I just sent you a PM (Private Message). I need some help regarding an offer I have from Singapore.

I just sent you a PM as a reply.

Bioswami

Ok.. just thought that I might give a slightly more detailed background info.

I notice that most of the posts here are from people from the US with the usual GC/USC/H1B and again mostly from the IT industry. Well, my case is slightly different. I left India in '94 for the US for studies. I completed my graduate work there and worked for a year before I decided to leave the US. What might possibly have helped is the fact that I wasn't married then so didn't really have any contrary opinions to deal with. Anyway, I then went to Singapore for work and lived for 6 years there. I am in the research field so that makes it quite different for me. Moved to Japan over 2 years ago, again in the research area. I am on the downhill side of the 30s with two kids aged 4-1/2 and 1-1/4.

The opportunity to R2I has come up quite suddenly when we were least expecting it. I was actually planning on moving to the US in academia when I got this other opportunity. So me and the wife started thinking about the whole R2I thing. Coincidentally, we had been talking about this 2-3 months back when we had visited India for our vacation and had speculated that maybe we should head back in 5-6 years. Anyway, some factors which have affected our decision to move back (if all goes well) are as follows:

a) First and foremost is the fact that both sets of parents are getting old. And we didn't want to live with the regret that we couldn't be with them in their old age. Moreover, we saw their faces when they said goodbye to our kids the last time we were there. Faces that were wistful and yet sad.. with a sort of longing. Everytime I think of the pleasure it would bring them to be able to watch their grandkids grow up makes me feel like this could be the right decision.

b) We also realized that if we were serious about moving back to India, we had to do it soon. If we waited another 6-7 years, then getting a job in India would be that much more difficult. Additionally, if we moved to the US, we would get sucked into the system and our inertia would have increased. This is something I have noticed in my US pals (and I guess I was the same when I was there) that once Indians go to the US, they become very "insular" .. not in the bad sense but in the sense that nothing outside the US exists. I asked a friend of mine as to whether he was considering moving to Europe and he looked at me like I was George Bush with a brain! Or take the case of this other friend who was flabbergasted to learn that we were leaving Singapore for Japan.. that too rural Japan where we were the ONLY Indians in the whole damned state. I think Indians in Europe are much more used to this moving around to different countries. This is what I mean when I say that the "inertia" in the US is greater.

c) The package of course played a role. I wouldn't have gone back for just any package.. but a package that both me and the missus feel comfortable with. That again is highly subjective and depends from person to person I guess.

d) One thing I did repeatedly over the past few days was to mentally visualize my life, as it would be, in the US and in India 20 years from now. I can tell you that this really helps... I tried to kind of predict the future all other things being equal (as in career satisfaction etc).. and didn't really see myself living that kind of life, cut off from one's family, one's parents sitting alone in India in a home etc. Or spending my declining years with my wife in a home in the US.

e) I guess the fact that we didn't have any permanent attachments to a place such as a house really helped. We are footloose and fancy free... Also the fact that, as my wife said, "if we can make it in rural Japan, we can easily go back to our own country", really helps. I guess in our case, we are in a very unstable equilibrium :)

f) One thing I must admit is that the whole process has been fairly straightforward because of my wife and the fact that we tend to see these things in the same way. We haven't had any clashes as such about this.

f) I personally thought long and hard about whether to move out of academia or not and whether industry was the right step for me. However, I had decided a long time back that I would NOT go back to academia in India (what with the low pay etc). Hence, getting a putative offer in an MNC Research lab sounded like a good idea.

Again, we haven't taken the decision yet but will probably do so over the next week to 10 days. However, I must admit that as of now, I think the chances of R2i are 80-20.

Hope this helps someone!!

Bioswami

I am in Biotech/Pharma area........moving to India soon. If you like to talk more -please send PM.

PB

HI patnababu and bioswami

I am also in biotech, planning to return to India and probably set up a lab.

Hi Patnababu and virgo_Mc,

Well looks like biofolks are moving back too eh? Or at least thinking about it.. But seriously, from what I have found out, this might be a pretty good time for us folks to move back. Things are probably going to take off over the next 15-20 years and getting in early is always going to be good.

Bioswami

Any updates on the Biotech industries in India. How is it working in Indian biotech companies vs the big companies in US? What kind of salaries are scientists being paid? Just curious..

Hi Bioswami,

I recently joined this forum and came across your thread as recommended by various members in parallel on the forum who are in the pharma/biotech field. We (myself and wife) were not very keen on R2I until I was laid-off a few months ago. Now I have an offer from a big co. in B'lore, and we're considering whether to take it up or not.

If you're still visiting, would like to know your experience now that it's been almost 2 yrs since you R2Ied. How's it going so far? any regrets? surprises??

I have a US PhD + a total of 3 yrs experience as post-doc and in start-ups. Have several patents filed (> 5) over the course of my career - my only claim-to-fame! Wife recently obtained PhD (Pharmaceutics) and has 1 yr post-doc experience. Major driving force for R2I is the craziness associated with jumping through hoops of immigration rules. :angry:Have held all possible work-related visas in USA :e:(

Lastly, what would be a decent compensation in B'lore in an MNC for someone with my experience.

Thanks in advance
P