State of I.T folks, Sad but True!

The prosperity of IT sector in India has ushered great tidings to middle class and at the same time, an assumption has been very strongly imbibed in the public’s mindset that “I.T GUYS EARN A LOT”, I will come back to this later but for now let’s accept this.

How many times have you been in a situation where interacting with people from other walks of life made you feel you were being taken for a ride? I as an IT guy faced many!

Let me jog you through few of my experiences,

My job gave me an opportunity to explore three cities (Bangalore, Pune & Chennai) and everywhere finding a humble abode to call home has been a big challenge .The rent gets doubled or tripled the moment the words come out “I am a software engineer”

People boarding an auto-rickshaw to/from I.T Park should be willing to pay a customized fare which suits the driver’s mood and expectations rather than the fare meter! Imagine our plight, very first thing in the morning we need to haggle with the auto-rickshaw fellows, what a great way to start a fresh day at office!

Groceries & vegetable prices go up automatically in the residential areas which are populated by folks working in I.T field. I want to know, do we eat any different from the other Indian middle class families? Inflation pinches us as well; our budget too gets affected by price rise.

Bus tickets reach exorbitant rates over weekends and its real feast to the private travel companies during any festival or long weekend. To be able to spend quality time over a long weekend with family who are in a different city, one needs to plan way ahead in advance and hog money accordingly to be able to buy the tickets.

One conversation in particular was the inspiration for this article. My paanwaala with whom I interact quite regularly, quips very casually “Aap ka kya hai Saab , ap A.C mai baith ke mahine k 50,000 – 1,00,000 kamaatey. I decided there is no point in answering, when this thought process has been cemented so strongly in the psyche of the society.

We are to be equally blamed for this state of affairs. We budge in and agree to the whims & fancies of these thugs who wouldn't think twice to fleece on the pretext of us being affluent.

I would now like to revisit my previous point that, “I.T GUYS EARN A LOT”. We all concur to that, yes we are paid well and so do the Govt employees,doctors, investment bankers, aviation folks, so on and so forth , but nothing comes easy, however not everybody earns 50k or 1L per month. Moreover it’s not a hide & seek game that we play in office. It’s our hard work that is rewarded in the form of monetary remuneration. Only we know what levels of stress we go through to be the best and give our best in the progress of our organization. We at times sacrifice our personal lives for our jobs; we work across the clock and even on weekends and more often than not it is required! All of this is not a stroll in the park! How can we forget when the cursed recession hit us, when lot of our fellow mates were laid off or had to go through tough times in the form of lesser pay packages and increased working hours but still there was no respite from people trying to take advantage of us! Sitting in front of computer for long durations affect us in many ways which even money can’t compensate for.

Finally I would end here pointing out, it’s unjustifiable and extremely unreasonable if others are biased about how much we earn. Why anyone is bothered how much we earn? We need to start refusing to give in to the conning businesses and make a stand and say firmly “If you think we earn more, suit yourself, but that doesn’t mean we let you go about your perverse ways and yes ,we have every right to the remuneration we are paid!”