The annual report on Indian students in England (I say
advisedly England, for there are few of them in Scotland) deserves more attention than it gets, for the effect on Anglo-Indian relations of a constant flow of young Indians westwards to our universities and colleges, and then back to their own country after three years or more of English life, is inevitably considerable. I see from the new report issued this week that while there are some 2,000 Indian students in the universities of the United States and Europe there are something like 20,000 in those of England and Scotland. That is as it should be. But whether the 20,000 are able to see the best of the life of the country in which they spend three or four formative years may be questioned. They have their own clubs in London and Cambridge and elsewhere. They tend to be at loose ends in vacations. Some come with too little money, some with too much. More doors in English life might well be opened to them. Meanwhile, I hope Jehangir Khan will hit hard and bowl skilfully at Lord's next week. Such things mean something definite in prestige both here and in India.
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