Why Indians are so good at IT

Aramse: the Hindi way of saying “with ease.” More than just being a way of life, I believe it has a more far-reaching effect.

I have long admired the calm and composed nature that Indians maintain in the face of all stressful situations. How do they do it? Maybe it’s this mental tenacity which is key in solving the most complex IT issues, and becoming the world’s experts in technology. 

The first summer I ever spent in India, in 2009, I was volunteering for a charity organization in Kurukshetra. 

I was watching the Director of the organization, Ari, as he drove our caravan of volunteers to a village visit. Cars, motorcycles, rickshaws, bicycles, trucks, buses, cows, and donkey carts all cut our path, caused us to halt to a screeching stop, and otherwise impeded a smooth journey to our destination. I marveled as Ari never once got angry. At each obstacle, he simply applied brakes, waited, and calmly continued. His facial expression never even changed.

"Aren't you angry??! That guy just totally cut us off!!" I exclaimed. "Don't you want to shout at him?!" 

I would shout, maybe curse and gesture wildly too, if I were behind the wheel.  

"Cheryl…" Ari patiently explained... "here in India, these things happen all the time. We can't get angry, otherwise we would spend our whole lives being angry. And being angry is not good for your health." 

"But you are SO calm! How do you do it?!" 

Ari was right. Getting angry is definitely not good for your mental or physical health. We westerners are often too quick to fly off the handle, get flustered or frustrated, and even shout, when things don't go our way, or the way they are “supposed” to go. Maybe we are too used to an orderly society and traffic that moves according to certain laws. Perhaps we would be healthier if we would adopt the careful calculation and calm nature similar to the one Indians have. Moreover, panic and stress just hamper your ability to function properly.

While working for Microsoft in Bangalore a few years later, I observed the same mental tenacity and calm coolness as I watched the support engineers handle multimillion-dollar clients. Sometimes these panicked clients were experiencing a technical difficulty which was causing them to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars by the minute. 

I watched, in awe, as engineers handled panicked and raging clients with absolute patience, politeness, and a methodical approach. Of course, it was part of their job to stay calm. But they not only stayed calm; in many cases, they solved the issue in minutes. The client, who had thrown his coffee cup against the wall out of frustration a short time earlier, was instantly pacified, relieved, and grateful. 

I have often theorized about this calm focus that allows Indians to tackle complex problems without getting their feathers ruffled. This placid nature is their modus operandi in any task in life—whether driving, solving urgent technical issues, or rescuing a kitten.  

Yes—rescuing a kitten. One night, my Indian kitten, Choti Yuna, got stuck in the fencing around the balcony of my neighbor's apartment. Naughty kitty had pushed a window open and jumped to the neighbor's balcony. She tried to crawl inside the fencing, but her head got stuck. She could not get fully inside the fencing, and she could not pull her head out either. When I saw where she was, I panicked. I lived on the 4th floor, and in the courtyard below, there were big barking dogs who would have had her for lunch if she fell. I called my colleague from Microsoft, Raza, who arrived right away. While I continued freaking out, Raza designed a solution.

The only way to save her was to get onto the neighbor’s balcony from the inside. Picture this: once on the balcony, we were trapped inside the fence, and she was trapped on the outside. Don’t worry, Raza said. Poke this plastic bag through the holes of the fence. Get her body in it. Bend the wires (not easy) until we can push her head out and she falls into the bag. Hold the bag by poking your fingers through the holes, and we’ll pass it hole-by-hole towards your place. Once we are near enough to your balcony, you run back to your apartment’s balcony, reach out, grab her and pull her to safety.    

It worked, and Choti Yuna didn’t turn into lunchmeat for the stray dogs.

Most certainly, this ability to carefully plan, remain calm and use your brain, is one the most impressive cultural attributes of Indians. No wonder they are the world’s best in IT. To design complex systems, software, and databases, and come up with solutions to complicated and urgent IT issues requires patience, calm, and a strong mental focus. 

Perhaps it is rooted in the culture of meditation and yoga in India. These practices teach you to keep your mind calm and focus. Indians mastered this centuries ago, and now it is in their DNA. I believe it is this ability to remain calm and focus which enables Indians to accomplish the most challenging IT tasks--and other mental gymnastics, for that matter. 

Maybe this is why I appreciate being around Indians, because their easy-going approach to daily life balances out that overactive energy of mine.

The best thing about being an expat, and living in different situations all over the world, is that you can take with you all the best attributes that you observe in different countries, and try to imbibe them. I learned the real meaning of generosity from Italians, true loyalty from Koreans, the love of life from Saudis, and aramse from Indians.

Aramse. It may take me a lifetime to master it, but it’s worth a try.