Most youngsters in their teenage and young adulthood years are fed this idea of a ‘settled’ life. They are brainwashed into thinking that leaving their families and hometowns, moving to a bigger city, working in large corporate offices and earning a fat cheque at the beginning of every month is the gateway to happiness. But that’s not the case. Most people, who have travelled this route, are living lonely and miserable lives.
Our society places so much importance on financial and material accomplishments that they forget to promote emotional well-being. By moving to unknown cities, individuals might end up earning a huge sum of money and be able to afford the kind of lifestyle they always dreamed of, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that they will be happy.
A guy named Harsh, who is an alumnus of BITS Pilani, took to X to express how most techies in Bengaluru are lonely. They are away from their families, have no real friends, drown themselves in alcohol and coffee and are living very unhealthy and unfulfilled lives.
Most techies in Bangalore are pretty lonely. Away from family, no real friends, stuck in traffic, high rents, children not getting good values, peers into status games, cringe tech meet-ups, shoves body with coffee & alcohol, hair-loss, tummies popping out & pays highest taxes.
— harsh (@harshwsingh) July 23, 2024
It scares me even more that so many people relate with this.
Consider this your wake up call & take some action fellas. Fixed 1000s of jiras but your health & family is broken?
— harsh (@harshwsingh) July 23, 2024
The sad part is that several people agreed with what he had to say. However, they highlighted how this is not just the case with people who have moved to Bengaluru, but in most big cities. Here’s what they had to say:
Demerits of lopsided development. Had there been fulfilling jobs in native places, they would not have stayed away from their homes.
— Abhishek Tiwari (@kakusanganer) July 24, 2024
This is true in every city I believe, large amount of software engineer are introverts too
— Naruto Uzmaki (@NarutoUzmaki201) July 23, 2024
Very accurate description, esp. the loneliness bit.
Then the anxiety due to traffic, poor infrastructure, and high rents further adds to the misery making one feel trapped and despondent inspite of a high-paying job, completely messing up your physical and mental health.
— ~_~ (@jy0ti_ar0ra) July 23, 2024
Not only techies, but all the trades have this. Rickshaw, cab drivers who have left their home state foe mumbai or bangalore,etc.
If u watch old movies u will realise that this is always the case.— 🇮🇳 Chandrashekhar 🇳🇴 (@shekhar_kotekar) July 23, 2024
I fully agree with your views. We have an application which will help the Companies to mitigate this by collecting information on mental health and physiology issues of the employees so that employers can take action to reduce these issues. https://t.co/DrxopStDvJ
— Shashidhar Shastri (@ShashidharSha10) July 25, 2024
This is the condition of all Tech cities in India, where the per capita income is the highest but Happiness Index is the lowest. https://t.co/xEJNogeDIy
— Gaurav Lonkar 👨🏽💻 (@zackygaurav) July 23, 2024
Most architectural firms would want non-locals to work for them because they wouldn’t have a family to go back to after work so they could work late, they’d also be limited to architecture groups to make new friends and end up in the same bubble discussing work all the time. https://t.co/Wa9GBmpkkr
— Dudeshwar (@doodeshwar) July 24, 2024
Techies in cities remind me of that scene in Matrix, where Neo sees the reality of people, plugged in, oblivious of what reality is. Techies are just that, blissfully unaware. As long as there’s gaming, pubs etc (aka the matrix), it’s okay to be plugged in. Alienation? Who cares! https://t.co/67nT9m26MD
— Anvesha Dhar (@p_pezzonovante) July 24, 2024
As someone who has been a techie in bangalore, this is 100% true
Can’t say about marriage or kids part, but alcohol consumption of people is off the charts(this is coming from someone who grew up in Delhi) https://t.co/XW05sBM7Dc— Sarlloc (@sarlloc) July 23, 2024
No matter how much money one earns, being surrounded by family and friends, having a sense of community, being able to take time out to nurture one’s hobbies is the real wealth.