IT Guys - Myths & Assumptions

      After lots of meet ups with my non-IT friends, relatives, strangers, rickshaw wallahs, etc I noticed that the moment you say that you are an IT guy, they have already made some assumptions about you.

Myth #1: If you are not in the biggies... u are a loser

Auntyji : "Beta, kaunsa tent?"

Me: "Persistent! Aunty I work in Persistent. "

Aunty: "Tumko Info*** mein nahi mila kya?" (in short: "tum second grade gadha lagte ho")

      Then I have to make efforts to tell them how I actually work for a much better company. In case the opposite person is technologically sane then I give him some product development 'funda' (arrogance).

Myth #2: If you haven’t been onsite ...u are a loser

Uncle: "Tum do saal se IT company mein kaam kar rahe ho na?"

Me: (tightening my collar..head high) "Haan uncle ......bas ....."

Uncle: "Tum videsh nahi gaye?"

Me: "Nahi uncle project mein requirement nahi hai onsite kaa"

Uncle: "Lekin woh bunty ko toh maanna padegaa.... engg mein 2nd class milaa...fir bhi usne jamke mehnat ki aur usse company ne USA bheja!"

Aaaha! thats the problem. People think that only the smarty pants are sent onsite while the loser ones are the people left behind in India. So the assumption is that if you haven't been on site then you don't work hard nor you have any sincerity and ... ok that's enough for now.

Myth #3: You can fix any computer..and calculator and may be clocks too

Most of the computer engineers around must have at east once gone to a friend's place only to fix his /her comp. The task can be from installing a software (next..next.. finish) to fixing a computer which gives electric shocks when its metal areas are touched.

Myth #4: You have lots of money

Once I met up with my friends from school ...from various fields. I just mentioned that it is such a pain to go to office nowadays and said that I wanted to buy a car.

Friend1: "what problem do u have man .. u are an IT waala"

Friend2: "Tu toh Honda CRV le saktaa hai"

Me: "CRV!! aabey CRV kyaa mere pass VCR lene ka paisa nahi hai"

Even after 5 minutes of convincing them weren't getting convinced.

Myth #5: Coding means sitting in front of the computer and relax

During my college days , my classmate had an encounter with a guy from mechanical dept:

Mech guy: "Your Computer engineering is a big nautanki.... four years you learn the same grey dabba... and all you ppl do is sit nicely in front Of that dabba and punch the keys"

Well I don’t completely disagree

Myth #6:

One more thing which oldies say : “ Now you work in such a big company , you are settled , you should marry now !!

“ OMG this salary is not enough for one poor soul.. how to handle two ???

Myth #7: In Diwali…u get questions like……”Are you gonna get a bonus this Diwali…..??”

And when we reply in the negative…...they seem so surprised…!!!!!!!

Myth #8:

A common issue that I have seen:

When I tell anybody that I work with Infosys, many times I get a reply “My son/daughter/relative Mr/Ms XXX also works with Infosys. You must be knowing him/her” and if I answer in the negative, they feel disappointed (sometimes even angry with me).

How to explain to them that there are around 1,00,000 employees in my company (around 20,000 in Pune alone), and I cannot know everybody in my DC, forget about knowing everybody in the company.

LLoLzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

Add ons:

#How many times do you face this question

“What does your company make…???”

#My elder sis too was in Infy. Once a cousin of mine(who must have been 7 or 8 at that time) who was visiting us saw her writing something with an Infosys Pen(that cardboard body wala). Later, when someone asked him where his cousin works, he said

“Ek Pen banane wali company mein. Par lagta hai zyada chalta nahi, kabhi naam hi nahi suna”…

"It was my childhood dream to become an Engineer...only when I became one I realize I was no more a child"