Tamil actor and activist Kasturi Shankar has sparked a heated online debate after calling India 'terrible' for self-built entrepreneurs, alleging systemic bias and corruption. Her comments came in response to Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu's open letter on X (formerly Twitter) urging Indians in America to return to India to help build its technological future.
Vembu's Open Letter
In his post titled 'Open letter to Indians in America', Vembu argued that Indians abroad risk being stuck between hard-right groups that hate 'Bhartiya civilisation' and woke leftists that hate 'civilisation itself'. He emphasized that global respect for Indians depends on India's future, and by contributing to the country's technological prowess, 'civilisation strength will assert itself.'
Shankar's Response
Shankar shared a personal anecdote that quickly went viral. She claimed that she and many classmates returned to India to give back but 'all of them regretted it.' 'Most of us left decades ago because Tamil Nadu did not want us, value us, miss us. When we came back, we still were unwelcome,' she wrote. While some left again, a few remain to fight for change, though often failing. 'India is terrible to do business in. It is impossible to stay honest and feel proud about it. Here, integrity is considered a liability!' she asserted.
She accused millionaires of using wealth to obtain government freebies, while officials 'steal, embezzle, exploit and extort...from rich and poor alike.' Shankar lamented seeing parents falsify caste papers for their children's future, calling it 'deceit' that is considered 'smart' and 'successful' rather than shameful.
Describing India as a 'cesspool of social injustice,' she claimed merit is suppressed by vote politics and justice is lost in the judiciary. 'After I was hit with fake criminal cases and put in jail - 'to teach me a lesson'- I had no choice but to send away my kids.... yet I hold on, stay on, but at what cost? How much longer? Not many others can boast my kind of resilience... or perhaps foolhardiness. What has this country done for selfless social warriors except ugly deaths and oblivion?' she wrote.
Shankar added that India has driven away generations of top scientists and economists unwilling to navigate bureaucratic hurdles. She urged Vembu to remove his 'rose coloured glasses' and propose realistic solutions, promising to be the first to support them.
Social Media Reactions
One user highlighted Shankar's credentials: a rank holder in school and college, state-level hockey player, finalist in BBC's Mastermind India 2000 quiz, former entrepreneur in Nashville, and now a lawyer, writer, and politician. Many users supported her views. 'I won't return from Australia to India bcos 1) absurd reservation 2) poor infrastructure that fail when monsoon floods come 3) Dravidian scapegoat politics that constantly villifies and mocks one group without reasons 4) corruption that is accepted by all as normal 5) casteism,' wrote one. Another added, 'I respect you, ma'am, for this. This is the same frustration of millions of Indian youngsters. We work hard to move up in our careers, we pay lakhs in taxes, yet get no good free education, no proper roads, no urban development. We have benefits for the same amount of taxes abroad.'
