What is the latest fad among the youth of India? by @iAmogh
Answer by Amogh Talpallikar:
Let me take this opportunity to highlight a trend that I have observed on social media among young Indian IT “professionals”.
They grow up having not explored nooks and corners of their heart to find out what is it that they really like doing and what path could lead them there.
Some of them have vague idea but are too scared to venture out. Some can’t speak up in front of their parents who are the financial investors for a career they deem will be a fulfilling one for their children.
So they take a standard route till it hits them that they are stuck in something they don’ t like at all. It starts with a life where they end up putting an aimless effort during their 11th and 12th into getting into an engineering college and are ready to get into any college and any branch because Infy, TCS and others will anyways “train” them.
So, they waste their time in college trying to live up to a college life that masala Bollywood movies have shown them. Some of them struggle heavily with backlogs. Some realize too early that they don’t enjoy what they are getting into – Instead of using the time they have to shape their life they end up getting into habits that will help them curb their thoughts and divert their attention towards a black hole that is pulling them in.
Some of them get “placed” in a typical IT firm. This includes the so called “toppers” from some arbitary JFK Motilal Karodimal Institute of Management, Christopher Nolanic Science & Technology. This also includes struggling candidates who in their minds think of themselves as prodigies for having not only cleared backlogs but also ended up in the same company as the “toppers” with the same salary bracket of 2.8–3.5 L per annum in a top IT firm of India.
Meanwhile, the truth is — neither have any knowledge of what computer science is all about. They haven’t been exposed to how spiritually rewarding life as problem solver can be. Neither by their alma mater nor their current job title both of which are nothing but a mindless cycle of money making.
Then after end of first year in their work life, they are already bored of data-entry work or some really shitty IT maintenance work that is holding them by luring them into chances of going onsite so that they can get enough money to buy that flat but its too late.
When it strikes them that they are stuck in an endless loop and it’s going to take away their chance of having a fulfilling life, they look to switch but then they realize that the expertise they need to get into a good company are way beyond their current skill-sets.
They look for good startups thinking of them as organizations that can be taken for granted as small companies who will take up anyone and pay them high salaries just because they don’t have a brandname which turns out be a bummer because their technical expectations are way higher than traditional IT companies.
Now the only solution they see is getting into a startup and accepting a lower salary. Taking a risk, Leaving that Air Conditioned Office for an early stage startup where they can learn a lot and revive their career is a solution but No! – The comfort of their IT firm which they complain about and the ID card they carry or the fake title of “Senior Software Engineer” that has somehow been bestowed upon them by their masters won’t let them escape the tight leash.
So what do they end up doing when their own lives seem miserable ? — WHINE
They whine on social media. They whine on Facebook. They whine on Quora.
On Quora they go by bios like
— Engineer by profession, Dreamer by choice
— Engineer for now, Knowledge Seeker for life
— Writes code for money. Writes poetry for soul.
You know the kind I am talking about.
Then they write answers where they talk about how their parents forced them into such lives. How pathetic their “non-technical” project manager is. How useless their teachers were.
They have time to whine on the internet. Spend hours downloading movies and TV shows from torrents. They have time to watch videos from AIB and TVF but no time to go through those awesome lectures and tutorials that are also available for free that can potentially improve their skill-set. Rest of the time goes in whining on Quora and trying to fetch up-votes.
These kind of people suck to the core. Sad part is as expected they are huge in number.
One of them whines. Thousands of them up-vote it.
Then it shows up in everyone’s feed under “Popular on Quora” and since Quora is touted as the next nirvana platform by many — They end up misguiding a lot of students who are yet to start out with a career as a programmer. They make life of a programmer seem nothing more than that of a person who just types gibberish via the keyboard and runs home when the company cab arrives.
This is not just a fad. This is a vicious cycle. This is a matrix and Neos of this world are all pulling each other down and not letting anyone escape. It’s such a sad state.
Lastly I would like to leave you with this message,
Programming can be fun. It’s like magic. Think of computers as really powerful beasts. Think of yourself as someone who can learn to command them at your will. You just need to learn a way to communicate with them. You need to think of innovative ways to make them do wonderful things because although they are powerful, they still need to be tamed. We need wizards like you!