For millions in the middle class of India, the dream of a better life is often beyond the borders of the country. Faced with stagnant wages, rigid hierarchies and a slow labor market, many believe that immigration is the only way to achieve personal and professional achievement.
In a country where qualified young people exceed the available opportunities, the promise of recognition based on merit, cleaner living conditions and a more stable system abroad is too strong to ignore. But as the exodus grows, the debate-in particular those of the host countries wonders: what happens when the dream becomes a demographic change?
Defining this feeling, a Reddit user – identifying himself as a German national – questioned the sustainability of Indian mass immigration in the West. “The Western world does not have the capacity to take hundreds of millions of Indians without itself becoming India,” wrote the user. They also asked why the Indians do not rather focus on solving problems at home: “Why don’t you try to develop your own country and make a habitable place?”
Citing observations from their university, the user added: “I noticed that many Indians are desperately trying to immigrate … There are simply too many Indians in the world. Even if only 5% immigrated, this represents more than 60 million people. If too many groups from a culturally foreign group come in a short time, this leads to racism and conflicts. ” They refer to a German saying: “He who takes half of Calcutta does not help Calcutta but becomes Calcutta themselves.”
The position struck a sensitive string, causing a flood of responses.
“There are a lot of bad things in India, but the worst part is the mentality,” wrote a commentator. Stressing problems such as civic apathy and the lack of basic hygiene, they added: “Most of the Indians who go abroad do it for the most basic things: good food, pure air, clean water, civic sense, balance between professional and professional life … Your point is valid but the repair of India needs a change of massive mentality, and God only knows.”
Another highlighted global economic realities. “If the West invests in India as they did in post-war Europe or Japan, of course, perhaps people would remain. But the capital is in the West and people follow the capital. If liberal democracies did not want Indians, they prohibit immigration-but they don’t.”
A third echoed this change from origin from the inside. “There are a lot of people working to improve India. Others leave. It is a personal choice. Some go abroad for education with plans to return – because in India, quality education is always a privilege. ”
Meanwhile, an Indian student in Germany shared a different socket – focused on behavior abroad. “Indian students tend to be very noisy in public … Eating food filled with Masala in wrapped metros, exploding Hindi music during plain evenings. It becomes uncomfortable. We display our culture without reading the room, then cry racism when the inhabitants react. We have to look inward.
