This has been noticeable especially over the last decade with communist China adopting a more liberal attitude towards its students' aspirations and the opening up of Eastern Europe. Indians have managed nevertheless to hold their ground and account for the fourth largest intake of foreign students every year. That they can still get into the mainly scientific and engineering courses of their choice is surely due more to their own drive than to the general upgradation of academic standards in institutions at home.

Barring the IITs and a small number of colleges in India, the rest are still far from providing the resources for a high quality undergraduate education. Paradoxically, having somehow to exceldespite such conditions may well be what equips many students to compete successfully abroad. One can only imagine how much bigger the flood would be were educational standards in India to improve all round.

At a superficial level it might seem that this country is being deprived every year of the talents of thousands of its best and brightest, most of whom eventually settle in the US. The true picture is more complex and would show there are gains on all sides. Students, of course, must have the opportunity to achieve their full individual potential and the open door policy enables them to do that.

Over the last decade, it is believed, more and more skilled young people are returning to India. As new opportunities are created by economic liberalisation, a reverse flow of Indian talent either directly or indirectly should become more visible. As an Indian diplomat points out, they provide a resource base for India, and a rapidly expanding one at that.

If the intellectual and financial inputs are not ofthe order India would have wished them to be given the numbers of people of Indian-origin in the US, that is largely due to two factors. One, the US economy has enjoyed a long run of growth and therefore been able to absorb ever-increasing numbers of foreign graduates and professionals. Indian talents are tailor-made, so to speak, for the high-tech and service sectors which have experienced particularly high rates of growth.

Two, India's liberalisation programme has been going ahead in fits and starts. With deeper and wider reforms, there will be much to tempt Indians to return home. Early in the next century, if reform goes well, the economy ought to have a larger capacity to absorb the skills of US-trained scientists and technologists. The political establishment could learn a thing or two from the phenomenon of motivated young Indians voting with their feet.

For all of them the acquisition of knowledge and skills comes way ahead of what politicians would like to stuff into students. These studentsunderstand where the future lies far better than those, for example, who reject the usefulness of the English language or put spiritualism before science.