‘If you move to Bengaluru, learn Kannada’: Sridhar Vembu says Indian elite lack rooted identity

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has issued a sharp critique of India’s highly educated elite, arguing that the country’s brightest minds are increasingly disconnected from the country they should help build.

Vembu, in an interview with Moneycontrol, contrasted the patriotic spirit in rural India with what he sees as a growing disconnect among urban professionals.

“If you look at rural India, or our small towns, you will find that the sense of belonging to the nation is still very much alive,” he said. “Unfortunately, it has somewhat disappeared among our highly educated elite.”

Vembo did not mince his words, warning that the “global citizen” mentality – where location is a matter of convenience – undermines national development. “This situation must change. This is certainly not the case in China or Japan,” he said, noting how those countries link growth to the national goal.

He argued that India’s development depended not only on policies or incentives, but also on a deeper cultural commitment: “We need, especially among the educated elite, a feeling that we belong to this nation. This patriotism is an essential necessity.”

He called for the restoration of national identity, including renewed respect for Indian languages. “Each of our languages ​​has a larger population than many European countries,” Fembo said.

“If you move to Bengaluru, learn Kannada. If you move to Mumbai, learn Marathi.”

For Fembo, this is not an ideological matter, but an existential one. “The reason Zoho exists is not because I’m some kind of genius,” he said. “It is because our average employee feels that patriotic spirit, which we have to build for this nation, and in this nation.”