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'India has shown it can compete on a world scale'

Suhas Patil is founder and chairman emeritus of Cirrus Logic, one of the first Indian ventures in America to make it big in the new, knowledge-driven economy.

It was way back in the early '80s that Patil, a former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first gave Americans an inkling of the entrepreneurial spirit of Indians. Since then he has been at the forefront of Indian-American attempts to rewrite the economic scenario. Currently, he is working on bringing his new venture, Toofan, to India to incubate native entrepreneurship.

Patil was in India recently in connection with United States President Bill Clinton's visit. That was when Josy Joseph spoke to him. Excepts from the interview:

Did you time your visit with President Clinton's tour?

I have combined both my business visit to India and this. I came one week earlier and when you come this far you get to attend many things. I came by to visit the subsidiary of the company I am involved with in the Unites States. I also attended the meeting of Time magazine in Bombay and was invited to join in Pune a conference on venture capital to teach the future entrepreneurs the details. It was organised by the Marathi Chamber of Commerce and a group of people who are hoping to open a chapter of TiE [The Indus Entrepreneurs]. It was a phenomenal meeting of the highest quality where fund managers, successful entrepreneurs, and budding entrepreneurs all presented their experiences. That was on a Saturday. Sunday I visited my family. And on Monday I joined the American delegation in New Delhi. I am part of the business community in America representing Indo-Americans. That means I am representing American people of ethnic origin in India, especially from the business perspective.

You are up there at the top in America. You have your roots still here. So how do you view Clinton's visit? Is it a cosmetic trip or a paradigm shift in the American approach towards India?

This trip is, I believe, the beginning of a very long and deep relationship between the two nations. He [Clinton] will be remembered. Clinton came and set in motion dynamics that get these two nations very close economically first, and then as partners in politics. In the economic context, I believe India should be achieving its due place on the world scene. There is no more natural partner for the United States than India.

So this is not a formal five-day affair that ends with Clinton's departure?

It should be viewed as the beginning of something extremely significant, not only on the national scale but on a global scale.

What shifts have you noticed in the attitude of the American community towards Indians?

There is enormous progress or strides Indo-Americans have made in America. There have been other immigrations to America. Indians came almost a century ago first. But there was a significant new immigration that started in the '60s, primarily comprising those who went to get higher education. I was part of that generation who had gone there for education, with the full intention of coming back. But through a process of engagement with America as well as lack of opportunity in India, almost unwelcoming or, I wouldn't say hostile... I will tell you what it is. I tried to come back and work here. Well, they didn't want me. Their attitude was: 'you went to America, had fun, and now you are coming back and taking over leadership positions in the companies here'. Little did they realise that if I would have been a leader here, I didn't have to go to America to be a leader. At least that is how I feel.

I was coming back here, thinking of coming back more from a sense of purpose, so I realised that coming back to India was going to happen when I wanted, not because of anybody else. And its timing would be when the timing was right. So you come back in various forms. You can come back physically, you can come back with mental engagement, you can come back to make a change.

That is what has happened at my level. But I find that happening at a very broad level. So what was considered a brain drain, I truly believe became a brains trust. The importance of it is, when you are in the thick of things, in a country with so many issues and general lack of interaction at a people-to-people level with the rest of the world, it is very difficult to gain the in-depth perspective of the world as I gained. Having achieved the business potential now I have the means and inclination to make a difference. So India has lost nothing.

How is the perception of Indians changing in American minds?

When we were there in the '60s and '70s we were regarded first with curiosity and later on as smart engineers and scientists and doctors. Today, we are viewed as very able entrepreneurs and businesspeople who create wealth, not only for themselves in America, but for society at large. And we create jobs. We have shown that we are very model citizens. We hold family values that are now adhered to by mainstream America. And Americans have actually culturally started adopting many things that came to America from India, just as Indians who went to America adopted the good things of American life.

Today we are slowly becoming a part of the American scene. And we are regarded with great respect because of our achievements. There is recognition that this community has done more than other communities in a smaller amount of time. We are regarded with great respect as a desirable and integral part of America. Now we have also started participating in the political process, which is the natural requirement of democracy. At the grassroots level, at the city level, at the state level, at the national level. And we are doing our part in the process.

When did the actual process of integration of Indians with American society begin?

That started with liberalisation in 1991 and [holders of] H1-B visas going to America, grandparents visiting their children in America, friends of our children coming to India. So many small elements coming together, and America itself has [got greater] appreciation. We are at the dawn of [a new] century. The recent wealth in America is being created by hi-tech. And Indians who went to America went into hi-tech. On top of it, they have done wonderfully well in the arts, including movie-making, and I must say even competing on the Miss World contest, which is more than just God's gift of natural beauty. Beauty extends beyond physical beauty. India has shown it can compete on a world scale not only in hi-tech, but also on other matters. That is not lost on the American people.

TOMORROW: 'I see Indian entrepreneurship taking off like a rocket'

Next: Ex-academic rocks London bourse with start-up

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