BACK TO THE ROOT

Decadent Western values force a growing number of expatriates of Punjabi origin to send their children back home for study. India Today's Ramesh Vinayak traces the trend.

In July last year, when Manjit Kaur of Chandigarh immigrated to Canada with her husband and two children, it seemed like their cherished dollar dream had come true. The nightmare began soon after from an unexpected quarter—her school-going kids. Much to her dismay, her son Avijit, 9, wanted to get his hair shorn to look more like his peers and daughter Japjit, 6, began expressing a dislike for the Punjabi language and claiming to hate India.

"We had migrated for the sake of our children's future but it hurt to see them turning their back on our culture," says Kaur who travelled back to India two weeks ago to admit her children in a boarding school run by a Sikh missionary body in Himachal Pradesh. "It's easy to earn dollars there but hard to shield the kids from decadent Western values," she says.

Kaur is not alone in feeling this. She represents a growing trend among expatriates of Punjabi origin who send their children back home to study. The rising number of NRI children studying in reputed schools in Punjab and neighbouring Himachal Pradesh bears testament to this. From elite boarding schools such as the 160-year-old Lawrence School at Sanawar and Bishop Cotton School in Shimla, to newer schools in the dollar-rich Doaba belt of Punjab, NRI admissions since 2000 have seen an exponential increase.

Leading the pack of private schools offering culture-packed quality education is the Akal Academy, a boarding school at Baru Sahib in the picturesque interiors of Himachal's Sirmour district. For a school that had only a handful of NRI students when it began in 1987, it has come a long way today with over 200 NRI students from 16 different countries among the 1,300 on its rolls. The rush has spawned a boom in the education business in Punjab, particularly in the Doaba region which is home to 1.5 million expatriates. "NRI students are coming in droves," says D.S. Bedi, director of Shivalik Public Schools (SPS) in Chandigarh, Mohali and Nawanshahar. In Nawanshahar, the number of NRI students in SPS has grown to 400-plus. Headmaster of the 46-year-old Punjab Public School (PPS) at Nabha, Commodore (retired) I.L. Syal, says: "The trend is fuelled by the NRI perception that Indian schooling is academically superior, culturally enriching and financially cheaper." PPS itself has registered a 50 per cent growth in NRI enrolment since 2001.

"NRI parents consider schooling in India a passport to success in higher education abroad," agrees Bedi. There is also the cost factor.
Even the best of boarding schools in India cost much less than private schools in the West. For instance, most boarding schools in north India charge up to Rs 1.5 lakh per year from an NRI student compared to the private school expense of £10,000 (approximately Rs 8,56,300) in Britain and up to $35,000 (about Rs
15,45,897) in the US.

Even those who can afford elite private schools opt for Indian schools. Take, for example, the daughter of a Wisconsin-based billionaire, Monica Dhaliwal who joined the PPS last year as a seventh grade student. PPS has been the alma mater of her father, uncle and cousins. "My parents want me to grow up like an Indian girl," says the 14-year-old Monica.

Most parents want their wards to stay with relatives instead of in hostels. In the Doaba region, many grandparents too have taken the kids under their wing. The latest trend, however, sees both parents or the mother relocating to India to supervise the wards' schooling.
Ranjit Kaur, wife of a Seattle-based businessman, shifted to Mohali last year along with her son Ekamjit, 13, and daughter Jasleen, 11, after 15 years in the US. Both children are now studying at Mohali's Yadavindra Public School. Canadian citizen Avkash Mann, the 14-year-old son of singer-actor Harbhajan Mann shifted to India two years back. Avkash is learning Bhangra as an eighth grader in a Mohali school where his younger sister is also enrolled. "The switch was tough initially but it's worth it," he says.

The schools, on their part, ensure that the children adapt to the new environs easily. For instance, PPS has a buddy system wherein two senior students help the child get acquainted with the new

structure. Many schools have counsellors to help the students overcome the cultural shock. Some have even redesigned the dietary menu and amenities. The Akal Academy offers pizzas, burgers, mashed potatoes and soft drinks and has Western-style bathrooms. SPS Nawanshahar is building a Rs 2-crore AC hostel for 200 NRI students.

A few schools also offer tailor-made modules to instil religious values. The Akal Academy, for instance, follows a regimen that entails getting up at 4 a.m., taking a shower and reciting prayers at the in-house gurdwara. The Sikh students are also baptised and learn kirtan. "Initially, I felt like running away but schooling here has been a life-transforming experience," says Bikramjit Singh, 13, from Vancouver who joined the Academy two years ago. Interestingly, second generation expats who had lost touch with their native places are also sending their wards to be schooled here. Steven Aldo Randhawa, 15, one of 13 Indonesian students at SPS Mohali, is one such example. His grandfather left India seven decades ago. "It's like rediscovering my roots and has made me feel proud of my culture," says the seventh grader who is now fluent in Punjabi. Steven could be speaking for most Punjabi-origin students who are truly glocal—global outlook with local
roots.

by Ramesh Vinayak

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