Are Indian Software Engineers Modern Day Slaves?

Let me describe two situations just to give you an idea about slavery and slaves. Scenario 1 Imagine you are working in an IT company and suddenly one day your client comes to the office, he is a white foreigner (American or European). He goes and talks to your manager, and they both are shaking hands, exchanging pleasantries, and they look at you 3?4 times. Then they disperse. After sometime, your manager comes at your desk and says ?You're going onsite?. You are very happy, your dream has come true. You ask about the details about visa and all that but Manager says we'll let you know in sometime. You're happy thinking about all the things you'll do and how you'll enjoy earning dollars and euros and seeing exotic places. After a few minutes, client comes to your desk and here is your conversation: Client: Let's go. You: Right now? Where? Client: I thought your manager informed you, we're taking you with us. You: Right now? What about visa? Client: We'll be taking care of that, you don't need to worry. You: I need to talk to my family. Client: No. You're coming with us right now. Suddenly, you start feeling weird. You think how can this be, and you try to say excuse me and try to find your mobile phone to try and talk to your friends and family to discuss this incident and ask for their help in understanding this situation. You reach for your mobile phone and your client goes away mumbling something and suddenly after a few minutes your manager appears with security guards and snatch your mobile phone, and drag you out into the parking via elevator. They tie your hands, gag you and throw you into the car trunk. You are being taken somewhere and after a few hours car trunk opens and there is a big ship and you realize you're on a port. You're dragged into the ship and thrown into a dark room and chained. Everyday someone comes and gives you some food and water enough for you to survive. After many many days, the ship docks and some people unchain you and throw you in a car and take you away to an office. You don't know what country it is or how many days it has been. In the office, there is a basement room, 8x8 room which has a bed and a pot (like a prison). You're thrown there. After couple of hours, the client comes to your room, and instructs you to follow him. They take you in an elevator, and then it opens to what looks like a typical IT office. Everyone is busy on their desks, they see you but don't speak anything. You're given a desk in the remote corner of the office near the dustbin, and your client tells you: ?This software has lot of bugs, we want you to fix them. Everyday, you'll fix assigned bugs and you work for 12 hours a day, if you don't work, this guy will make sure you do. We own you now and you have to do this for the rest of your life.? You speak to oppose and try to scream, the security guard overpowering you, gags you and hits you hard with his baton. He hits you whenever he wants. You start working, you're in no condition to work, but you accept your fate and keep working. At the end of your day, client comes and sees that you've only resolved 3 bugs today. He asks the security to hit you and he hits you like anything. You're scared to the inch of your life, are hungry but still you got to work. No matter how much work you do, you end up getting thrashed everyday. After what seems like 2?3 years, your body is so weak you cannot even sit properly, because you were given minimum food that would make you survive. One day you collapse, and client comes to your desk, looks at you and says ?Its time to bring a new one from India. This one is no longer useful?, and just like that, either you're beaten to death, or thrown out on the road. Scenario 2 You must have TV at home which you purchased and this you own it. It has a remote controller. Just think about how you use it. Usually you don't think about it unless you want to watch TV, then you try to find it When you're done watching, it lies in some corner of the house gathering dust When it is low on power, you hit it until it works You replace the power only when it completely stops working You throw it away in dustbin when it doesn't work and get it replaced with a newer one Does your remote controller ask you for sick leaves? Do you have to pay your remote controller every month? Does your remote controller work only 5 days a week? Can your remote controller leave your house and move to neighbour's house because they're nicer people? All this is absurd right, because you own it. You are entitled to do anything with it you wish. Now imagine all this happening to a person. Conclusion I hope these scenarios help you explain what slavery was. Slavery is ownership. There is no slavery now, thanks to our ancestors who fought hard to remove it. Software Engineering industry is a very high paying industry. It has one of the best working environments compared to other professions which are covered under blue collar jobs. There may be job dissatisfaction and corporate politics, and even unethical practices at some places. But none of that is slavery. People can leave and join another better organization if they want to. They're entitled to certain benefits (like leaves, insurance, bonus) etc. None of this is anything close to what slavery is. Please read up on what is a definition of a slave, and what was slavery and how our ancestors worked hard to eliminate it. Just because you're dissatisfied with the industry or job doesn't mean it is slavery. Read Also : What are the best practices for optimizing Chat GPT for digital marketing?