Ye Software kya he? Hota kya he ye?... Some Myths about IT Industry.

Ek baat batao, ye software kya he? Matlab hota kya he ye software?

Very logical question but how many time you have come across this question and have you answered this question and succeeded to make other person understand what is a software ?

Once you answer above question next comes what software does your company make?

Again a very logical and layman question but I think this one is more easy then the first one, isn’t it?

Coming across non-IT friends, relatives, strangers  you will notice that the moment you say that you are an IT guy, they have already made some assumptions about you which are some myths and some actuality. Some of the common myths which I come across are:-

Myth #1: If you haven't been onsite you are a loser.

Uncle:     Tum 3 saal se IT company mein kaam kar rahe ho na?
Me:           Ji uncle.
Uncle:     Tum videsh nahi gaye?
Me:           Nahi uncle project mein requirement nahi  hai onsite ki
Uncle:     Lekin woh Mahesh ko toh maanna padegaa.... vo chote sheher se hai..... aise hi kisi private 
                  college se degree ki and then job me usne jamke mehnat ki aur use company ne  USA bheja!   
                  Mehnat ka fal use mila he.

Hmmm!! That’s the problem. People think about software industry that the one who is smart and hard working are sent on site 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 kind of sincerity and.…. bas abhi k liye itna kaafi he :)

Myth #2: If you are not working under a big IT name you are a loser.

Auntyji:  Beta kya kaam karte ho? 

Me:       Aunty main Software company me kaam karta hoon?

Auntyji : Accha!! Beta, kaunsi company me?

Me:          Ji Aunty!! Main <company name> is company me kaam karta hoon.

Auntyji: Ye kaun si company he? Kabhi suna nahi? Kaha hai  ye? 
(Embarrassing me and asking all this as if she knows all things about software companies)

Me:           Ji Aunty, Ye….
Auntyji:  Tumko TCS/Wipro ya Infosys mein nahi mila kya? (In short: you are a dumb ass) 

After that I have to make efforts to tell them how I actually work in a much niche technology. In case the opposite person is technologically insane then I give him some product development 'funda' with my arrogance.

Myth #3: If you are an IT guy then you can fix any computer, calculator and may be clocks too.

 Friend:     Bhai, tu ek din ghar aaja, mere computer me kuch kharabi ho gayi he, tu dekh 

                   le.

Me:           Bhai, usme me kya dekhunga?

Friend:     Abey!! Tu to software company me kaam karta he aur tu aise keh rha he, tujhe 

                  nahin pta hoga to aur kise pta hoga?

Me:           Bhai, hardware related problem hogi to main kahan se dekhunga, I am not 

                  hardware expert…. Haan agar kuch settings related problem he to bta.

Friend:     Yaar  mujhe nahin pta tu kya bol rha he…tu ek baar aaja.

Well, actually I enjoy fixing things but most of the IT guys around must have at least faced a situation where a friend asked him to fix his /her comp. The task can be from installing a software (double click, next, next, finish) to fixing a computer which gives electric shocks when its metal areas are touched.

Myth #4:  Working in IT, you have lots of money.

Once my parents went to a family friend’s house at evening tea and there
Auntyji:     aur Bhabhiji, bête ne car le legi ho ab to?

Mom:        arey bhabhiji!! Kahan abhi car lega wo…. Hum to soch rahe hein uski bike 

                   bhijwa de wahan… public transport se travel karne badi dikkatein he 

                   Delhi/Noida me. 

Auntyji:     arey kya baat kar rahe ho aap. Aapka beta to Software company me kaam 

                   karta he… wo chahe to aapko car dila dey and aap usko uski purani bike bhejne 

                   ki baat kar rahe ho.

Mom:        Arey nahin, aisa nahin he…abhi to use job karte hue 2 saal hi hue hein… 

Ab who is going to tell them ki bete ki apni salary me se abhi bike khareedne ki aukat nahin he aur ye car ki baat kar rahe hein.

Myth #5:  Software job means a job in comfort.

Non IT people:   Arey!! Ye software company ka job mast hota he re. Pure din Air Conditioned me bethe raho aaram se aur computer pe chick chick karte raho (people sit nicely in front of computer and just punch the keys)

Well I don't completely disagree khaas tor se in summer season: D

Myth #6: You are working in Software company so get married.

Old people:     Arey ab to badiya kama rha he computer ki naukri me…ab iski shaadi kar 

                         do!!

Ek mahine ki salary akele insaan ka kharcha nahin nikalta, do log kahan se khayenge? J

Myth #7: Your office is more like a factory

People from different field (PFDF)

PFDF:     Kahan he tumhari factory?

Me:         Factory???

PFDF:    haan!! Factory, jahan tum jaate ho software banane.

Me:        Sector 59, Noida me.

PFDF:    Accha!! Naveda me he, kitne mazdoor he tumhari factory me?

Me:        honge karib 1000-1200 k aas pass

PFDF:    Arey!! Itne saare mazdoor tab to bahut badi hogi tumahri factory.

Me:        haan!!

PFDF:    Itne saare log lagein hein yo ek software banane me?

Me:        haan (jhooth bolne me bhalai he nahin to samjhane me dimaag phat jayega)

It looks weird to refer a software office as a factory but logically dekha jaaye to thik bhi he and hum log hein to mazdoor hi bas difference itna he ki we do mazdoori in air conditioned environment while other mazdoor do it in natural environment.

Myth #8: You know everybody in your office.

When you tell anybody that you work with XYZ Company, often you get a reply “My son/daughter/relative Mr/Ms XXX also works in ABC. Do you know him/her"? If you answer in the negative, they feel disappointed.

It is difficult to explain them that there are around thousands of employees in my company, and I cannot know everybody in my ODC, forget about knowing everybody in the company.

I hope most of you have come across these situations and many more such myths.

_______________________________________________________________

PS: Software: Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provides the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it. Software refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of the computer for some reasons.

Kuch doubt he to yaar Wikipedia se pooch lo ya google kar lo :)