With the stories told by their parents and grandparents still echoing in their hearts, a group of 23 young NRIs from nine countries, between the age group of 19 to 27 years, arrived here today in search of their roots.

They are visiting India under the 11th Know India Programme of the Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and the governments of various states that they would be visiting. The young NRIs hail from South Africa, Armenia, Malaysia, Israel, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad, Tobago and Canada, where their parents and grandparents shifted decades ago in search of greener pastures.

The group started its tour from Kolkata on March 21 and visited Orissa before coming to Punjab. They will proceed to Delhi and Agra from here. Johnson, who is leading the group, said some of the NRIs were born and brought up abroad and have virtually little or no knowledge of their homeland.

“It feels good to be come home,” said 26-year-old Charu Dutt Shah, a bio-medical engineer settled in Canada who was all of 14 when his parents moved to Canada.

Born in Ahmedabad, Shah said India was still quite under-developed in terms of infrastructure. “The potholed roads, poor transport facilities and filth on roadsides are still there, but I am pleasantly surprised to see airports, shuttles, state-of-the-art buildings, telecommunication and other facilities,” he said.

He added that technology had taken a massive leap here as compared to the West. “The cell phones and other electronic gadgets are far better here than in Canada or the US,” he averred.

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