I first came to the UK a few years ago with an Indian software company. We were based in London, and I came out for three or four months at a time between 2000 and March 2002. My job was to open up European operations in the UK, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Italy.

Unlike Bombay, which is much more aggressive, I found people in London slightly laid back – they start work at 9.30 and by 4.30 they are already in the pub.

The other thing is, travelling by public transport I never heard any English. You hear Spanish, Italian, Hindi, Urdu – anything but English, and in anything but a British accent.

Although India offers a good education, I came to the LSE last year, because I wanted to do a one-year master’s degree at one of the top institutions.

It was very easy to get a student visa. The UK is one of the most friendly countries that way. There are British Councils everywhere to advise you. The course has been really good. I live at the Indian YMCA in London. It’s fine, but 95% are Indian, so you don’t get an international outlook.

The MSc finishes soon and I would like to work here for at least a year. I want to work for an international organisation in a financial capital, and London is one of the top financial centres.

To get immigration status, I will need to find a job, and an employer who will sponsor me for a work permit. They have to prove my skills are essential for the business, and that they cannot obtain them in this country. Most international organisations don’t find that too hard.

The other way is through the government’s Highly Skilled Migrants Programme (HSMP). It’s a new scheme by which you get points for different achievements – for being a graduate, for instance; for having a master’s; and for publications. If the total adds up to more than 75 points, you can apply for the HSMP.

I have a good chance, I think. As well as my qualifications and experience, I have been a monthly columnist for PC World, published research papers, spoken at seminars in London and India, and been quoted by the press and interviewed on BBC radio. All these things help.

The new scheme is excellent for people like me. I get the experience and the UK gets my skills. I think I can bring a lot to the country. My background is in technology, marketing and finance, so I have experience of different streams. And I have management experience at a younger age than most people. I have made presentations to senior board members, pitched for contracts – all those things you talk about on an MBA course, I have already done them in the working world, at a very practical level. I have designed marketing strategies and operations.

My international experience is also something a lot of companies are looking for now. Many of them want to reduce costs by outsourcing, and it’s natural to look to countries like India. I know there’s been a lot of controversy about call centres migrating to India, but it’s not a matter of what country they are in, but where you get the best cost efficiency.

So, I guess I am not interested in migrating to the UK in the typical sense; I am not attracted by the idea of being a permanent migrant. It’s a matter of working for an international organisation.

In fact, we have a better standard of living in India. I have a friend working for a finance company here and he earns something like £200,000, but then he’s paying so much for accommodation, food and clothes, and all the rest. In India I might earn a lakh (100,000 rupees – about £1,400), but I can afford a good seaside flat, a servant and a car.

The UK needs migrants who are skilled because, at the end of the day, they bring a lot of value and experience which is not available over here. Economic migration has a bad reputation, but the important thing is not to attract migrants who will be a burden on the existing infrastructure.

It seems to me the UK is getting a lot of economic migrants who take low-paid jobs – pushing trolleys at Heathrow, or working in supermarkets. I think they come here for their own convenience, and that they don’t really add any value to the society.

The country has to try to attract people with skills, to give it that cost advantage. The world, like it or not, is becoming more competitive. You can’t put your head in the sand and ignore that. Look at Germany – it has a very tough immigration policy, and look at its economy now. You don’t get the best skills unless you attract skilled migrants.

Giving people citizenship helps to ensure you get people investing in the country. However, if you’re going to give people citizenship, I think it’s important to assimilate communities. I feel there is very little interaction here between people from different communities. Even on the streets you very rarely see people from different races together.

Also, there is a real divide between Indian Indians and British Indians. A lot of the time British Indians try to be more Indian than Indians. I went to a Diwali celebration here and it was all done so much by the book.

I find it frustratingly difficult to make contact with other people, and I have experience of 11 or 12 European countries. People seem to look at those from different races with a lot of suspicion.

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