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

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has issued a pointed critique of India’s hyper-educated elite, arguing that the nation’s brightest minds are increasingly disconnected from the country they should be helping to build.

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

“If you look at rural India, or our smaller towns, that sense of belonging to the nation is very much alive,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s gone missing a bit among our hyper-educated elite.”

Vembu didn’t mince words, warning that a “global citizen” mindset—where location is a matter of convenience—undermines national development. “That attitude must change. It’s definitely not the case in China or Japan,” he said, pointing to how those countries tied growth to patriotic purpose.

He argued that India’s development depends not just on policy or incentives, but on a deeper cultural commitment: “We need, particularly among our educated elite, a sense that we belong to this nation. That patriotic spirit is essential.”

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

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

For Vembu, this isn’t ideological—it’s existential. “The reason Zoho exists is not because I’m any kind of special genius,” he said. “It’s because our average employee feels that national spirit, that we have to build for this nation, and in this nation.”