'Bharat Maata needs your talent': Zoho's Sridhar Vembu writes open letter to Indians in America

There was a note of both nostalgia and urgency in Sridhar Vembu’s open letter to Indians in America this week.

Writing not as a billionaire founder but as someone who left India 37 years ago, the Zoho co-founder made a direct appeal to the Indian diaspora to consider returning home and helping build the country’s future.

In a X (formerly Twitter) post addressed to “brothers and sisters from Bharat,” Vembu said India now needs not just capital, but experienced talent.

“Bharat Mata needs your talent,” he wrote, stating that India’s rise in technology and civilizational confidence depends on bringing back expertise developed abroad.

Vembu began on a personal note, recalling how many Indian immigrants arrived in America “with no money but with a good education and cultural heritage from Bharat,” and built successful lives there.

“America was good to us. For that we must remain grateful,” he wrote, adding, “gratitude is our Bharatiya way.”

But the letter also carried a warning.

Vembu said a growing section of Americans believes Indians “take away” American jobs and that Indian success has been unfairly earned, a sentiment he said cannot be ignored.

He urged Indians in the US not to place too much faith in electoral shifts, arguing they are bystanders in what he described as a broader ideological conflict between the “hard right” and the “woke left,” both of which, in his telling, can be hostile to Indian civilizational identity.

Vembu said the respect Indians command globally is increasingly tied to India’s fortunes. He argued that national technological strength, rather than moral or political approval from the West, will shape India’s standing in the years ahead.

“If India remains poor, the woke left will give us moral lectures with pity and the hard right, different moral lectures with scorn ,” he wrote, adding that India should not confuse either with genuine respect. That respect, he argued, comes from one source above all: technological prowess.

India, he wrote, produces enough brainpower to achieve that progress, but has exported too much of its talent, particularly to America.

As India develops that capability at home, “our civilisational strength will assert itself,” he said.

“As difficult as it is for many of you to contemplate this, please come back home,” he wrote.

“Our vast youthful population needs the technology leadership you gained over the years to guide them towards prosperity. Let’s do it with a missionary zeal.”

Open letter to Indians in America.
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Dear brothers and sisters from Bharat:

Like I did 37 years ago, you arrived in America with no money but with a good education and cultural heritage from Bharat. You achieved outstanding success. America was good to us. For that we must…

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) April 27, 2026

Netizens reaction

Vembu’s appeal sparked a sharp and emotional debate, with many praising the call to nation-building while others questioned whether India’s systems, institutions and work culture are ready to welcome back global talent.

“Sir the reason people migrated are still the same. There is not respect for merit in India. Three things are getting worst with time in India: 1. Reservation, 2. PSeudo Secularizm 3. Curruption,” a user highlighted.

“The harsh reality is that the current political discourse doesn't favour the entrepreneur or the taxpayer. We live in an era of freebies, corruption and social division. If we build a meritocracy, reverse migration will follow. Until then, logic will unfortunately prevail...,” another noted.

We are living in Bharat, developed great products and are being bought by US and International Data Centres, while you are unapproachable and your Data Centres keep importing products. So, please set an example by buying Indian. Only then more Bharatiyas will like to return.

— Dr Girish Vaze (@girishvaze) April 27, 2026

“I agree Nation first but many talents are not getting opportunities here as it is too much crowded and many lost visibility for many years,” a third expressed.

“first call to come back to India should be made to kids of politicians and top government babus,” a fourth noted.

Responding to criticism that India should focus on developing talent at home rather than calling expatriates back, Vembu defended the appeal in a reply on X.

“Consider advanced fields like carbon fiber, or lasers or jet engines... we need expertise in all of these and that takes years of experience. That experience is valuable to bring back home,” he wrote.

Consider advanced fields like carbon fiber, or lasers or jet engines, ... we need expertise in all of these and that takes years of experience. That experience is valuable to bring back home.

Second, migrants tend to be more driven - it was the drive that propelled them outward…

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) April 27, 2026