I think Wadhwa is correct. I noticed the same since I moved here in 2001 as an Undergrad for CS. - Indians in India do enjoy(or say Worship) Cricket, but out o

I think Wadhwa is correct. I noticed the same since I moved here in 2001 as an Undergrad for CS. - Indians in India do enjoy(or say Worship) Cricket, but out of a population of 1+ Billion ONLY 11 Indians make it to the International team and that's where all the money is (or atleast used to be since India started IPL since last year) - In the US, the population is way less and you have multiple sport avenues (Football, Basketball, Baseball, + many more) with multiple teams. So the success factor in pursuing a sports dream is more practical. And even if you don't reach the top, you can still find a descent job with a BS degree, assuming you completed. On the contrary, in India you are pretty much doomed if you put all your energies into sports and it does not pan out your way. The Ratio of the Number of Educated Population to the Number of Jobs is very high. The top scientists from BARC, ISRO are very well known are literally treated like national heroes. And so are the 11 cricketers from the Indian National Team. Most people don't know the name of Hockey Players(apparently our National Game), ... at the most only 1 person per sport (other sports) might be known by people. === I noted another point from the article. Craig Barret is very right when he says American Kids run after Interest and Indian's go more after the money. It's the same population and competition issue. If India had a 'normal' population, I am pretty sure many would have pursued their interest rather than the Success Formula ... Engineering (preferred IIT) + MBA (from IIM) = Nice Paying Job PS: In HS = You NEED to have Physics, Maths, Science to be eligible for Engineering School. This is the same as Freshman level material we do in colleges out here. Too be honest I think if you(most Indians) end up doing an MBA right after Engineering without any work experience, what is the whole point of slogging through Highschool to get into the Top Engineering Colleges to only end up being into Business School. And Yes, similarly applying to Grad School in US is another way to chase that dream and then apply for PhD. On the contrary my american friends in Undergrad here ONLY pursued a masters/phd if they had a genuine interest in it. Now with a lot of Immigrants coming, it's indirectly creating the same problem we have in India. Too many educated people, so more competition for the number of jobs and hence people born here might also have to someday stop focusing on their dreams(sports, music, etc whatever it be) and live in a cut throat environment making sure they have a job, which is really sad.