I logged in to Gmail this morning, and I noticed a guy's status message. It was a link to The Hindu Open Page. The blog is on what the majority of the population thinks about people working in Information Technology (the famed acronym, "IT") companies - commonly, and often mistakenly called "Software Engineers". Why mistakenly? Because I used to work for an IT company and was labelled a software engineer, though I never wrote a line of code (I am a hardware engineer). The gist of the write-up in The Hindu is, IT guys are considered far too different and affluent than the rest of the common public but reality is different.
Some of the myths hover around the fact that we are paid handsomely, we work in air conditioned, smart looking offices, and in most cases, on sleek computers and laptops. Yes, we are paid handsomely but that doesn't mean that we are rich. We work in airconditioned offices, which is true again, but the machines that we work on, need it for their reliable operation in the long run. We dress up neatly, again because our employers demand that we do.
When I said we are paid handsomely, I must also add that we are taxed handsomely by the government too. The people in the lower income strata do not have to pay tax, and the people in the higher income groups (read, the actual rich guys) will not feel the pinch as much as we do. Any change in the tax structure affects us a lot. We spend a lot too, thanks to the daylight robbery done by hotels, service providers (cab, auto, etc), exorbitant rents charged by house owners, high prices for bus tickets for going home for festivals, the list goes on.
On a trip to Chennai after attending a friend's wedding, a fellow passenger in the train struck a conversation with me and my friend. He thought we were college guys, and started telling a lot of things about how IT guys are the reason for the increased prices for bus tickets. To some extent it's true - we are ready to pay, since we are desperate to make it home for that vacation after working tirelessly. It was only after he realized that we were also IT guys that he gave a sheepish grin and stopped the mudslinging on IT guys as such. The only thing that he knew about the IT industry is that it pays, and nothing more
For various reasons, we end up taking loans, and hence most part of the "fat" pay packet that we get will vanish in thin air. Then, living in a metro is an expensive affair. These things are not seen by the income tax department. Any change in the interest rates of any loan will have an effect on our budget. Nobody comes to know this side of the coin.
So much for the finances. What about social life? We work over time, sometimes over weekends, just to meet the targets set by our superiors. This affects the time spent with our loved ones. The unmarried lot happen to do it more often, leaving us very less time for recreation compared to the so called "common man". For people with children, they get to spend less time with their children.
Raising up kids in cities is a lot more expensive, stressful for them, and they end up seeing just concrete jungles and malls and nothing more. I believe, kids should be brought up in a way that they learn to appreciate and care for the nature. It makes a lot of difference living up in a quiet country side compared to the polluted metro cities. Clean air, greenery, mingling with people of different strata, are all missing in a city.
For those who believe that life's good for us, well, it certainly is. But it's just as good as a common man's, and
nothing beyond, if not less. We, most of the IT guys are also common men/women.
Some of the myths hover around the fact that we are paid handsomely, we work in air conditioned, smart looking offices, and in most cases, on sleek computers and laptops. Yes, we are paid handsomely but that doesn't mean that we are rich. We work in airconditioned offices, which is true again, but the machines that we work on, need it for their reliable operation in the long run. We dress up neatly, again because our employers demand that we do.
When I said we are paid handsomely, I must also add that we are taxed handsomely by the government too. The people in the lower income strata do not have to pay tax, and the people in the higher income groups (read, the actual rich guys) will not feel the pinch as much as we do. Any change in the tax structure affects us a lot. We spend a lot too, thanks to the daylight robbery done by hotels, service providers (cab, auto, etc), exorbitant rents charged by house owners, high prices for bus tickets for going home for festivals, the list goes on.
On a trip to Chennai after attending a friend's wedding, a fellow passenger in the train struck a conversation with me and my friend. He thought we were college guys, and started telling a lot of things about how IT guys are the reason for the increased prices for bus tickets. To some extent it's true - we are ready to pay, since we are desperate to make it home for that vacation after working tirelessly. It was only after he realized that we were also IT guys that he gave a sheepish grin and stopped the mudslinging on IT guys as such. The only thing that he knew about the IT industry is that it pays, and nothing more
For various reasons, we end up taking loans, and hence most part of the "fat" pay packet that we get will vanish in thin air. Then, living in a metro is an expensive affair. These things are not seen by the income tax department. Any change in the interest rates of any loan will have an effect on our budget. Nobody comes to know this side of the coin.
So much for the finances. What about social life? We work over time, sometimes over weekends, just to meet the targets set by our superiors. This affects the time spent with our loved ones. The unmarried lot happen to do it more often, leaving us very less time for recreation compared to the so called "common man". For people with children, they get to spend less time with their children.
Raising up kids in cities is a lot more expensive, stressful for them, and they end up seeing just concrete jungles and malls and nothing more. I believe, kids should be brought up in a way that they learn to appreciate and care for the nature. It makes a lot of difference living up in a quiet country side compared to the polluted metro cities. Clean air, greenery, mingling with people of different strata, are all missing in a city.
For those who believe that life's good for us, well, it certainly is. But it's just as good as a common man's, and
nothing beyond, if not less. We, most of the IT guys are also common men/women.
No comments:
Post a Comment