Brain drain is a real issue for India but is not discussed as often as it should be. Brilliant Indian minds going abroad and making contributions in other countries is not new. Several top IIT and IIM alumnus make their way to other parts of the world like the US and European nations in search of better opportunities and the right environment to aid their growth. These countries are always on the lookout for special talents. There are numerous occasions when the country has been unsuccessful in keeping its talent. One such case is Malvika Raj Joshi.
A child prodigy, Malvika Raj Joshi was ineligible for admission to the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IITs). Her genius then found home across the seas in the US, where the Massachusetts Institute of Technology took her in on a scholarship. She was 17 years old at the time. IIT admission was not an option as Malvika did not sit for any board exams and had no class 10 or 12 pass certificate, which is a criterion for the premium technology institute.
A talented young prodigy, Malvika won three medals in the Programming Olympiad or International Olympiad of Informatics. However, her parents had pulled her out of school when she was in class 7th. She was studying in Mumbai’s Dadar Parsee Youth Assembly School at the time and was an ace student. The decision to pull her out of school was taken by her mother. Her engineer father took a while to accept the move. Malvika’s mother left her job and designed the academic curriculum for her to continue education at home.
Despite her extraordinary talent, IIT was not an option. The only Indian institute where she bagged admission was the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) which enrolled her for an MSc level course based on her knowledge which was found equivalent to BSc level. Her talent in computer programming was identified by the MIT which took her in on merit instead of marks or educational qualification. She joined the Boston institution to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree. It was her medals in the olympiad that helped secure admission to MIT.
