I am very much guilty as an IT engineer in having a major hand for the recent hike in petrol price. Seriously, the industry i am working simply ruins everything! Infact, in the near future, many riots/bandhs etc., are expected. This is the one responsible for increasing our already worse hit inflation. If you see or analyze deeply, you can find out why only IT industry. For those who dont know what inflation is, i can give a brief explanation. Its just every individual's spending power. More the spending power, more the inflation. Inflation should be there but in a very controlled manner. I dont want to speak lot into that.
I have few predictions on how the future of India is going to be.
Growth is good. Growing too much is also fine. But it should be done in a controlled environment. For example, you can extract huge amounts of energy from an atom. But if its not controlled, we know wat'l happen. The growth in India is going to bring in hell a lot of ramifications. For instance, take US. They are also growing, having problems with their economy as well. But again, they have a good design at the top most level. Atleast a design far better than ours. For a country of such immense potential itself, they cannot suppress few problems happening in their economy. Then take the case of a country like India where we have leaders who are ultra illiterates and greedy fellows who for once have never thought about the needs of the public. Exceptions may be there, but on a whole they're just shit.
What i am trying to say is the growth in India is not controlled. Many think tanks have to take major and crucial decisions in the top most level which lacks heavily in our country. Because if you take a minister in the top level, he surely will be a t-kada owner or something in his early ages.
A price hike in petrol is going to affect the transportation heavily. It is going to reflect in all ways. For instance, take the food price. I have seen within one year, the place i used to have lunch have increased their rate from 25 to 33 which when you calculate in percentage is simply not acceptable. The common man is affected here. Rich gets richer and poor gets poorer. This is like a virus and the effects will be very well seen in the near future.
The problem is many IT people dont even know how they have done a damage to our economy. The impact done by us is very huge. We are the ones responsible for increasing the real estate prices. We are the ones who have made this cash flow by leaps and bounds, encouraging banks to offer more loans. The gist here is inflation goes up when there is huge cash flow. And the team lunch/dinners etc - we have simply raised the demand in food and the hotel owners are having any cost they like. In my earlier days i use to order food by seeing the cost on the right side, but these days i hardly care for it. So, the hotel can charge any money they want. And that is going to increase the food price at the end of the day. I am very disappointed to see many people in IT industry not even knowing how the food price is going to increase just because he/she is having a luxurious team lunch.
So, as an IT fellow, is it possible for me to stop this? The answer is NO!. We have swallowed the poison. The effect has already started. The only thing that we can do right now is not spend our money unnecessarily. If possible, try not going for movie in the weekend. Reduce or discourage treats for birthdays, promotions etc., If possible, try totally to abolish this team outing!
I have few predictions on how the future of India is going to be.
Growth is good. Growing too much is also fine. But it should be done in a controlled environment. For example, you can extract huge amounts of energy from an atom. But if its not controlled, we know wat'l happen. The growth in India is going to bring in hell a lot of ramifications. For instance, take US. They are also growing, having problems with their economy as well. But again, they have a good design at the top most level. Atleast a design far better than ours. For a country of such immense potential itself, they cannot suppress few problems happening in their economy. Then take the case of a country like India where we have leaders who are ultra illiterates and greedy fellows who for once have never thought about the needs of the public. Exceptions may be there, but on a whole they're just shit.
What i am trying to say is the growth in India is not controlled. Many think tanks have to take major and crucial decisions in the top most level which lacks heavily in our country. Because if you take a minister in the top level, he surely will be a t-kada owner or something in his early ages.
A price hike in petrol is going to affect the transportation heavily. It is going to reflect in all ways. For instance, take the food price. I have seen within one year, the place i used to have lunch have increased their rate from 25 to 33 which when you calculate in percentage is simply not acceptable. The common man is affected here. Rich gets richer and poor gets poorer. This is like a virus and the effects will be very well seen in the near future.
The problem is many IT people dont even know how they have done a damage to our economy. The impact done by us is very huge. We are the ones responsible for increasing the real estate prices. We are the ones who have made this cash flow by leaps and bounds, encouraging banks to offer more loans. The gist here is inflation goes up when there is huge cash flow. And the team lunch/dinners etc - we have simply raised the demand in food and the hotel owners are having any cost they like. In my earlier days i use to order food by seeing the cost on the right side, but these days i hardly care for it. So, the hotel can charge any money they want. And that is going to increase the food price at the end of the day. I am very disappointed to see many people in IT industry not even knowing how the food price is going to increase just because he/she is having a luxurious team lunch.
So, as an IT fellow, is it possible for me to stop this? The answer is NO!. We have swallowed the poison. The effect has already started. The only thing that we can do right now is not spend our money unnecessarily. If possible, try not going for movie in the weekend. Reduce or discourage treats for birthdays, promotions etc., If possible, try totally to abolish this team outing!
16 comments:
Good one, but also think of the loads of middle class families whose lifestyle improved because one or their sons/daughters work in IT field. So,there are the good and bad of IT industry and the sky-rocketing salary in it. But, it would be really interesting to see how the economy in US and India shape up. :)
@alpine:
Thanx for your view.
Yeah.. Ofcourse there is good - the growth. What i was trying to insist is that we should take steps to normalize it. Basking in luxury is fine, but awareness and conscience should be there as well.
it may be true tat IT professionals caused huge rise in rents and real estate prices. but now evn thy are not abl to afford a flat/land in the city. People who are earning in dollars n euros are the ones causing th trouble now!!
Dude.. You picked words from my mind!!
In fact, a few months ago, myself and a friend (Neo - http://whooo-am-i.blogspot.com) had planned to start something like a revolution to make IT guys wary of the damage we have all been creating.. We made quite some plans.. For e.g, listing the right price for real estate for each area in chennai (for rent and purchase) and passing it around.. And many other plans like this..
But very soon real estate started facing its own slump.. So we stopped focussin on that..
But your views are on the dot..
In fact, I cringe everytime Lava says he bought shoes for "just" a couple of thousands ;) wat say lava-boy?
But to be fair, alpine path is right.. So many guys from our own class have come from rural / economically unfortunate backgrounds, and are now relishing the power of IT.. Very true..
@murali - Yeah, you have made a real good point. The ones going to US, UK, coming back here and converting their dollars/pounds into indian rupee thus undermining indian economy are also having a huge part. That also rose in recent years because of this IT. I am not blaming IT as such. Its just that no one should blame the government too much for the hike in prices and instability of our economy. They should know that they are also in many ways responsible for that. That is the awareness i am trying to create here.
@Vishy - Good to know that i have someone on the same page, infact the exact page.
I strongly believe in natural equilibrium. If someone is enjoying too much or is overwhelmingly getting more than what he deserves, then someone somewhere should have lost of what he gained. That is going to piss him off. One such person will develop hatred in his mind and it would not reflect that much. But he can very well turn into a social evil if his basic requirements/needs are attacked. Ofcourse, the probability of that is very low. But if the sample space increases (too many getting pissed off), the reactions or effects will surely occur. Thats my prediction.
Hope guys like you from elite instituitions form some kind of group or something and try to put a master design where we can minimize this bad effect.
my whole hearted thanks to braga who started this blog...
It is true that the IT revolution is having a great impact on the individuals and the economy of the country. But it is a bitter truth that this is one of the main reasons for the inflation india is facing now.
and as you mentioned, many of us dont even know the reason for the price. its a blame that is on all of us. if we want to change it, it should start from individuals rather than the goverment. we must be consious whether the hike is unavoidable or not.
Good thought but unfortunately I beg to differ. IMHO its not the whole of IT/ITES population who are to be blamed for the economic or cultural damage. Ideally, any IT employee pays an average of 10-12% against Income tax (the Direct tax) and for every penny he spends in the market, he is being taxed (those indirect taxes).
I am not in favour of spending on entertainment personally but you might know that tobacco and entertainment are the toppers in indirect taxes. In which case, we pay a higher rate of tax against the 100 bucks on entertainment.
And who do you think travel by air. It is those who can afford to give around 50:50 against tax and fare.
Perhaps, it is not the spending which ruins the society. People who spend more end up paying more to the Government. That is what happens everywhere, leave alone India. But what is different in India is the Government spending (or public spending) on new projects, be it infrastructure, technology or housing for the lower economic strata. Reading through the budget, you'll see that a bulk is allocated for public spending and out of which much goes to the pockets of public officers/administrators or subcontractors. These are the people who earn without paying their income tax.
And you best know how much money Chidambaram brought out through the VDIS (Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme) a few years back.
It is very true that to a very large extent, it is us who "created" the real estate boom. But then if you analyze, it is more of a lack of Government intervention. The same happened in Singapore in 2007. A huge boom on real estate but Government intervened and guess what, rents are cheaper in 2008 than 2007. I am not sure how far this is feasible in India.
I am not blaming the Government for there are genuine officials who pay no less than what they are due. You can never change the way the Government works on a single day. I have been into Government service for around 4 years before coming into IT. The change is a slow process which I am sure could be done in 10 years if we start NOW. Vote for the person who you think is fit. Do your homework before you elect the person who you want to manage you and your neighbourhood (as you would do to select a company to join). And in the first place, Vote.
"We didnt inherit the world from our parents. We just borrowed it from our children for a while"
I have a different view on this one. See if we are going to spend money, it means someone else is going to earn. If we IT employees are going to spend, it means that money is actually get distributed among a lot of people and a lot of them are going to get employed.
I am in hyderabad and I am seeing auto drivers those who have their complete trust on IT employees for their daily incomes. I personally heard from an auto driver that within 2 or 3 months they are able become an owner of the auto they get by loan. Its really amazing.
I remember a story which I studied in my school days. The essence of that is when people keep working, the economy will keep moving. It doesn't matter in what field that is.
>>I am very much guilty as an IT engineer in having a major hand for the recent hike in petrol price.
There is a dearth of Oil production in the whole world, the price of Oil in U.S is creating record hike every day and so in every country in the world. So attributing the growing hike in oil prices in the world to IT guy's rampant spending will not be right.
>>Then take the case of a country like India where we have leaders who are ultra illiterates and greedy fellows who for once have never thought about the needs of the public
Please dont blame Politicians ALONE. India has reached a position far away from that. Corruption is there in each and every dept of our country from a lowest level clerk to highest level officer. And the first in that is Police Department, transportation, Politics, each and every dept inclduing marriage registration office. My friend paid 500+300 to register his marriage. So just imagine where our country is heading
>>We are the ones responsible for increasing the real estate price
Undoubtedly. If i am not wrong atleast 75% of the government officials are corrupted. Braga a police constable earns much much more than what u earn in a month. They cannot buy a car or a house because it would create doubts on the minds of others. So they stay in their alloted houses with a huge bank balance.
>>If possible, try not going for movie in the weekend.
It sounds like for reducing the price of food, we will not buy food. I remember TN CM reducing the ticket cost for Sivaji film because it was going beyond limits. So CM can do something if pressurized
@alpine
>>Good one, but also think of the loads of middle class families whose lifestyle improved because one or their sons/daughters work in IT field
Consider a family who reside in chennai city without an own house and with their son in IT field. I really dont think it will make any difference. If they plan to buy a house, everything ends there. I think it is possible in cases where son is in city and family in a town elsewhere other than a city. If they plan to rent a house, that is another hell.
These are just my views. They may be wrong, not sure though :-)
I completely accept your views. But you have to see the postive side also. IT has given a lot of jobs and in a way that is really good for the society. Drivers, catering, House keeping, Security, and so on..
@King Vishy - I think i'm a very good investor!!! If i but a shoe for a couple of 1000's i make sure it is worth and use it for almost a year or so without any maintenance. Kooti Kalichi partha ellam same dude!!!
@vishy : Lava is rich period.
@Braga: I have always wondered why governments although having crores and crores in budget cant hire/recruit IIM/IIT students to plan and bring in advances in all the departments.. Railways, army, navy, chemical, finance, transportation etc etc in India needs to be uplifted.. Only best brains can do it.. Vishy is in a better place now to answer this :-) [P.S: I dont mean to say students from other colleges are duds!!!]
@Lava: When you buy a Rs.1000 shoe from Nike, Reebok, Puma, Adidas you are investing indirectly in US by making the local shoe maker go market-less.. Try 2 shoes of Rs.500 from the local show maker. You invest in India and You make his day. Hope my point of view is valid...
@vijaya ragavan..
ya da.. lava-boy is an america maapillai now :) Guy shd be loaded with M-power..
BTW till the 90s IIMB was servin the public sector only.. That is, IIMB passouts took up jobs in governmental bodies.. But since the 90s, the private sector has made its presence felt in the placements here.. Now the PGP course (akin to MBA) does not serve the public sector.. but there is a separate course called PGPPM - Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy Management.. That exists exactly for the reason u specified da..
@Vijay and Vishu,
Point noted guys!
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