ABSTRACT

One of the main purposes of education in Britain was to advance the careers and provide financial security for the students when they were to return back to India. Thus, having explored the social and political impact of the England-returned, it is now necessary to study their impact on the Indian workplace and their success in their chosen careers. Indian parents had sent their sons and daughters to Britain often at great emotional and financial sacrifice. The England-returned students now had to fulfil their responsibilities and find prosperity in a competitive and politicized economy. The costs for Indian students in Britain were approximately £200 a year, as

demarcated by the prize of the government scholarships. Oxford and Cambridge were slightly more expensive for Indians, due to college expenses, although many students found lodgings outside of the colleges. Indian students did not generally have a great deal of disposable money. They tended to come from the professional middle classes and their families made many sacrifices on their behalf.1 For many, studying and living in Britain generated costs beyond their means, and created great strains between students and their families; Jawaharlal Nehru, for example, amassed a number of debts as a student and had to return immediately to India after having been called to the Bar – this was despite the fact that Nehru was given an enormously generous allowance of £400 a year: but he did live a very lavish and social student life.2 The India Office in London also took responsibility to repatriate students who landed in serious financial difficulties; for example in 1932, five Indian students were sent back home because of unsustainable debts.3