Dr Ajith de Alwis makes some very valid points
My
last clear recollection of Ajith de Alwis is of us meeting in the last
round of the Major Division chess tournament at the Borella YMBA in
1985. I needed a draw to emerge as joint champion with Thusitha
Hettigama. Ajith, at the time an undergraduate at Moratuwa University
was a strong player and much better equipped with theoretical knowledge
of chess openings than I was. I remember playing a tough game, a draw
offer, an offer accepted and some post-game analysis where he queried
what I would have done had he played a particular line from the position
at the end of the game.
I might have met him once or twice but I cannot remember. Last week,
however, a mutual friend and one of his colleagues, Muditha Senarath
Yapa, shared with me something that Ajith had written for a newspaper,
‘Your nation is calling you; bring your talent home’. The nimitta or
let’s say ‘spark’ that lit this particular fire was a postcard.
There are those who serve
the nation by serving the world. There are those who acquire the
world and return home to share it with fellow citizens. There
are those who stay at home and pine for the world and some of
them even spit upon the earth they stand on |
One of his colleagues (Muditha, I found later), had shown him a
postcard he, Muditha, had received while he was completing his PhD in
the USA. Mistaking Muditha for an Indian (perhaps going by his name), a
top Indian firm had sent him an invitation. They had wanted him to
‘return home’ to serve the company and India. Ajith’s observation is
pertinent and I am honoured to extend its life and reach here:
‘The simple postcard reveals an interesting story of how a nation’s
private sector wants to grow and serve its national interest too. The
challenging opportunities and career prospects are all outlined in the
company’s webpage. The information points to expanding organisations
based on research and development. It is evident that these companies
invited and enable individuals to make a mark on the world while
savouring the joy of being home again.’
Brain drain
About
20 years ago, my friend Nanthikesan, then a doctoral student at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology told me that my father, then
Director, Manpower Resources, Finance Ministry, had delivered a lecture
on the subject at Peradeniya University (where Nanthi was then an
undergraduate).
My father had been asked to explain the reason for the ‘brain drain’.
Nanthi remembered the response: ‘poor leadership’. That’s just one part
of the story, true, but it is telling. And, as Ajith observes, it is not
just political leadership that was and is at fault but leadership in all
spheres and at all levels.
Voodoo magic
Nation-building, he says, flounders on weak leadership, as does
institution-building.
Ajith just completed 25 years of service at the Moratuwa University.
Muditha returned upon finishing his PhD. There is nothing to say that
the ‘green’ of ‘Greener Pastures’ is dollar-made. What works for A may
not work for B. A nation can appeal to its sons and daughters. Men and
women may choose to listen to the call of a nation or be deaf to it.
The grass is greener on the other side of the fence, we have heard.
That’s an idiom common to lots of nations. I’ve heard that in the
Caribbean people say the voodoo magic on the other man’s island is more
powerful.
Many who go don’t come back. It’s hard to put a number but ‘more than
half’ cannot be wrong.
It is also true that when the World Cup starts next week, more than
half of those who chose certain greens over others will want to know how
Sanga and his Merry Men are doing.
There are those who serve the nation by serving the world. There are
those who acquire the world and return home to share it with fellow
citizens. There are those who stay at home and pine for the world and
some of them even spit upon the earth they stand on.
There are those whose bodies are located in other country and find
that their hearts or least some parts of it including perhaps heartbeat
are resident in the home they left.
Knowledge hub
There are those who want to help but don’t find the time or don’t
know how to go about it. Some have the money but don’t trust the
government to put it to good use. Some do not know that there are
countless charities doing good and important work that a State like ours
just cannot afford to do at this point, for lack of resources and
personnel. It takes all kinds to make the world. It takes all kinds to
build a nation.
Ajith, who is now Professor of Chemical and Process Engineering at
Moratuwa University, got his doctorate from Cambridge University. He
doubles up as ‘Science Team Leader’ at the Sri Lanka Nanotechnology
Institute. He is one who returned. Like Muditha. Ajith is convinced that
we can become a knowledge hub. Some lament, he says, that there are no
opportunities in Sri Lanka to apply the knowledge they’ve acquired
elsewhere.
That’s only partly true. Sometimes you don’t have a state-of-the-art
laboratory. Well, neither did Galileo. Sometimes you have to make do
with what there is. Sometimes you have to build from scratch.
Ajith gives. So too, Muditha. I wonder if many of us can say the
same.
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