The size, power, and influence of India's diaspora, the world's largest

[get these nets]

Insights from the Author: India's diaspora​

The Economist
Jun 12, 2023
India’s diaspora is the largest in the world. An estimated 18m Indians live in a vast array of countries. Avantika Chilkoti, The Economist’s international correspondent, explores their influence.


*detailed article from the Migration Policy Institue that examines the history of this group.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Few thoughts.


It is amazing how many Indians there are just in total mass. There are more Indian people in the world than Black people, even if you only count India alone and don't even consider their diaspora or the neighboring countries that used to be part of India..


This ass-kissing of Modi by Western leaders is revolting. This guy literally massacred Muslims, whitewashed mass rapes, and is eliminating democracy while setting up slow-motion genocide, and here we are acting like it's still the Cold War and we need to keep the fascists happy or the Communists will win.


And lol'd on "really good higher education for the select few who get in". Indian higher education is comically bad to the point that one of the most iconic Bollywood movies of the 21st century (and one of the few bollywood movies I've ever watched that wasn't cringy as an American) was a beginning-to-end lampooning of elite engineering schools, which are the pride and joy of the Indian education system. Some graduates of Indian higher education have good results because there are over a billion people there, so of course there will be elite talent somewhere at the top of the pool. But the education system does a shyt job of improving upon that talent.

 

[get these nets]

*India's brain drain is a boon for American colleges

At US universities, record numbers of Indian students seek brighter prospects — and overseas jobs

As India’s booming youth population outpaces the growth of its education system, historic numbers of students are turning abroad for higher education.

apnews.com

Mar 11, 2024

 

[Cakebatter]

The power doesn't come from the raw numbers but from cooperation. That's what I fail to see from the Indian Diaspora. I see it far more in southeast Asian immigrant groups like the Chinese and Japanese. They collectively work together beyond familial bonds. Maybe its because I've never lived near any Indian communities within the US. Hell, I'm sure some exist, but I don't even know of any tight knit Indian communities within the US. Maybe one of y'all can show me differently. That said Blacks have a similar problem. We work separately, thus the few that get ahead rarely benefit the greater Black community beyond racial symbolism.

People clown Oprah Winfrey, but she definitely made a way for more than a few other African Americans who are now themselves helping others. I had a customer who recently graduated from Harvard business school and was buying some expensive Hi-Fi to celebrate. Turns out his entire college education was paid for by Oprah. Dude was cool and we kept in touch for a while even after he moved to DC. He now works in finance and puts other brothers on. Do that X1000 and your diaspora then wields real power.

 

[get these nets]

@Cakebatter
There are a few enclave communities of Indians in this region. One of the biggest was in Edison,NJ. From an outsider's perspective, they seem to circulate their dollars and have strong networks with each other. A generation ago, they had a foothold in industries like telecom, and my relatives who worked in the industry said they put their people on more than other groups.

When you see them as CEOs of the top companies, you can best believe that they set up informal pipelines for others from their communities. It's not racial symbolism/window dressing when most non whites get in positions of power and influence.

 

[Cakebatter]

@Cakebatter
There are a few enclave communities of Indians in this region. One of the biggest was in Edison,NJ. From an outsider's perspective, they seem to circulate their dollars and have strong networks with each other. A generation ago, they had a foothold in industries like telecom, and my relatives who worked in the industry said they put their people on more than other groups.

When you see them as CEOs of the top companies, you can best believe that they set up informal pipelines for others from their communities. It's not racial symbolism/window dressing when most non whites get in positions of power and influence.

Yeah if they are setting up ladders for those on the come up, thats manifesting power. Again, I didnt see such communities in New England and the upper Midwest (OH, IL, IN, MI). I grew up watching it with the Middle Easterners in Detroit and Asians here south of Boston. For African Americans I mostly see it in the legal field where Black lawyers are well connected and hire their own, but amongst the greater Black diaspora, each subgroup sticks to its own. The lack of Black political power in Boston, where a large percentage of Blacks are caribbean or African, is an example of it.