The Software Diaries
The Indian Software Industry has been a phenomenon. In my personal opinion I feel that no other opportunity has created such an impact on the Indian society as this one has. The socio-economic impact created in the lives of the educated, lower and middle class masses of this country is unparalleled.
The growth and success of this industry can be attributed solely to the open-door economic policies adopted in 1992 by the then PM of India, P V Narasimha Rao and the then Minister of Finance, Manmohan Singh. The communications infrastructure for India that was well planned and executed by Sam Pitroda and his team played a vital role in the success of the Software industry in India. The Y2K problem and the introduction and adoption of Euro currency opened up huge opportunities for Indian software companies to make their mark on the world stage. Companies like – TCS, Infosys, WIPRO, Satyam grew at an unheard-of speed. They were favorites of the media and the investors. They generated great employment opportunities to the youth of the country and were here to stay. Soon they would compete with the Big 5 Information Technology and business consulting firms of the world. Narayana Murthy of Infosys became the poster boy of this “new” India and a hero, an icon of hope and a messiah of the great Indian middle class.
The basic “luxuries” of life like a own house, a car, airline travel, that were enjoyed only by a hand few of the Indian society, mostly Businessmen, Govt officials and Senior managers in the private sector, found their way into the middle class households. The domino effect that the software industry created in India especially in the Real-Estate, BPO, Consumer Electronics, Automotive, Retail, Aviation, Hospitality etc. is a great story in itself.
Youth from very humble economic and social backgrounds started earning salaries that their fathers and fore-fathers couldn’t dream of. The starting salaries of daughters were much more than the retirement salaries of their fathers. The Indian lower and middle class society was “upwardly mobile” in the real sense. The Indian Software industry brought hope to the masses of this country probably more than the Indian independence itself. Education acted as the vital investment for these middle class families of the country. I don’t want to make these observations controversial by commenting about whether these middle-class opportunities where restricted to only the urban and educated sector etc. Mine is a candid personal observation, having experienced and gone through these changes myself and observing several other close family members and friends.
“The Software Diaries”, is my humble attempt to describe the Indian software industry and related matters through the eyes of a Desi Software engineer working for an Indian IT Giant. Though these essays deal with the software industry, I have tried to keep them as much non-technical as possible for the benefit of my parents and most importantly for the benefit of most of the middle and top managers of IT companies, so that they understand better. I have tried to keep my observations as “light” as possible and I also expect the readers to not to take the observations too heavily. You have other important work to do!
Kartik Matmari
