ARVIND SWAMINATHAN writes from Madras: Apologies for restoring “normal service” on churumuri so soon after the dawn of the new year, but I couldn’t help noticing the common strand in the following news items, three of which have appeared in the last 24 hours.
MYSORE: Three persons, including Umesh, a software engineer, were killed on the spot and two others were injured when their car went off the road and hit a tamarind tree in a field near Ganangur in Srirangapatna on Mysore-Bangalore Highway in the early hours of today. (from Star of Mysore)
MADRAS: The New Year eve revelry took a nightmarish turn for some 40 people in a Madras hotel when a makeshift wooden platform they were dancing on, caved in and they fell right into a 12-feet-deep swimming pool. Sumit Agnihotri, a software engineer, died and one youngster is said to be critical. (from NDTV)
BANGALORE: A pillion rider was killed when a motorcycle, being ridden by a software engineer, rammed into a road median, while they were allegedly trying to escape a police check on drunken driving (from The New Indian Express)
HYDERABAD: A teenaged girl is battling for life after she was attacked by a youngster, a software engineer by profession, in Narayanguda. The youngster admitted to having a ‘pathological’ hatred for women talking to men, the police said. The assailant identified as Vijay Kumar, was overpowered and thrashed by passers-by, before being handed over to the police. (from The Hindu)
Obviously, we should not make fun of the dead. Especially the young. But the authors of Freakonomics might have a good explanation for why we are seeing so many mishaps involving “software professionals”.
Is it just a coincidence? Is it because there are so many of them around in the southern cities that the statistical possibility of their being involved in a mishap is higher (which in a way is a validation of the IT argument)? Is it because the media are beginning to take closer notice of their target audience? Or, cruel me, is it because, while they may be earning pots, they still haven’t mastered driving, swimming, sitting or behaving?
churumuri 
yenu maaDakaagalla yella youvana!
Relatedly, http://www.business-standard.com/opinionanalysis/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=308312&subLeft=2&leftnm=4
LikeLike
Please come up with the statistics of how many crimes/accidents committed by other profession people.
A software engineer is governed by human psychology and is no different from any other.
Arvind, u have a knack of relating each and every event with swe’s
Why dont u say film guys are dug addicts, many of them are caught, u cant generalize on some events.
How many of such swe’s caught in drive/swim/behavioural incidents thro out the year ? Having it in news of one day is not the norm.
Arvind, u need to widen your scope of analyzing, probably u r obsessed in catching swe’s in what ever they are doing wrong.
Right and wrong is done by every one, none of us are saints.
LikeLike
If IT is bad then what kind of employment are these guys talking about???
These losers need to come up with an idea as to how they are gonna provide people with jobs and sustain an economy! I hate these IT professionals who are in their 20s and we all agree that many of them are kind of wild and ill-mannered. But isn’t that a part of the cultural problem?? This kind of behaviour arises from within a culture that is very repressive or islamic like ours!!
LikeLike
The constant mention of the “IT related accidents” is more to do with the attitude of the English dailies, most of whom, believe that only IT people are everything to this country. There is nothing else to it. Only if you are brain dead and your name happens to be “Arvind Swaminathan” will you miss such a simple analogy and come up with these over the top ridiculous assumptions.
Its been a while since I have seen doctors, managers or Engineers in non-IT related profession being mentioned in the English dailies. So does this mean…?
LikeLike
Even Yama is now targetting software engineer one by one!
LikeLike
First of all good to see the original format and layout of churumuri being restored… whether it involves a incident relating to or involving IT or Non-IT people in south india one thing is true 90 percent of these incidents are caused by uncultured north indian migrants who bring the culture of north(raping, molesting,harrasing the women folk,thefts,indecent behaviour) with them while migrating to south… so its not right to blame IT people…. the blame should be on these indecent north indian migrants who cant keep there states clean and spoil other states also…
LikeLike
Just as IT professionals could not excel in Sports, may be they could not even “master driving, swimming, sitting or behaving”
;)
Way to got Arvind…..
I am wondering whats next on your agenda…..
LikeLike
Why do you take four isolated events involving software engineers and try to imply something is wrong with that species? They are just as good or as bad drivers as the rest. Bad roads and indiscipline are national phenomena.
LikeLike
The most hilarious statement is the ‘bad swimmer’ statement….
that guy died because of the dance floor crashing into the swimming pool…
Obviously he fell in along with a lot of debris (from the artificial dance floor) and a many other people…Perhaps he didnt get enough time to get out of that mess…..
What does this unfortunate incident have to do with ‘mastering’ the art of swimming?… even if he didnt knew swimming, so what Mr Arvind…There are scores who dont know….
Its high time churumuri stops publishing such heaps of c***
LikeLike
Since when the ‘code coolies’ are clled software engineers?
LikeLike
After 40 years of Govt. service my salary was equal to the starting salary of my son who was selected into IT industry in campus! It is money in the pocket that is doing all this.
LikeLike
Dude!! You seriously seem to have IT-pro-phobia!!! In the causal analysis that u’ve done, I think all the reasoning is right; apart from the one given by the ‘cruel’ in you!!
C’mon man, hop out of it!! IT pros arent as useless as you think! :-)
LikeLike
An article with absolutely no thoughts. I really wasted my 5 mins. -5 out of 5
LikeLike
shishir sathe Says:
2 January 2008 at 4:33 pm
The most hilarious statement is the ‘bad swimmer’ statement….
It isn’t hilarious.. It is downright disgusting. For all you know, the poor victim could have been knocked out by a head injury or something when the stage caved in. Arvind Swaminathan takes his pet peeves against SW Engg to ridiculous heights.
Instead of criticising the hotel for poor arrangements, Arvind Swaminathan goes on against the victim. But of course, then that would be finding fault with other professions, which wouldn’t find a readership.
If a 9/11 style tragedy happens in India (God forbid), Arvind Swaminathan would be quick to point out SW engineers cannot fly from sky scrapers.
LikeLike
@ shreeram
don’t you think your comment was RACIST ?
LikeLike
“is it because, while they may be earning pots, they still haven’t mastered driving, swimming, sitting or behaving?”
yes, I agree they are yet to master behaving and driving. As for swimming, I have no experience, so I won’t comment.
But, though IT people have an inflated sense of self importance more and more, as somebody feels above, it has also got to do something with the “cultural problem” all youngsters who see “big money” early experience.
LikeLike