Better be an IT Commander at a startup than an IT Coolie at Infosys/TCS

Firms like Infy and TCS have mastered the art of finding cheap Indian labor to do the grunt work of rich clients mostly in western nations.

This is quite similar to how the Chinese have mastered the art of creating cheap electronics hardware too, except that the Chinese labor have mastery in building Xiaomi and Apple gadgets which are state of the art whereas the Infy coolies are busy writing that obscure PHP script or SQL procedure which the engineers at silicon valley finds too obsolete or monotonous to write!

Not only are the coolies assigned grunt work which is neither creative nor helps them build their resume, there are also other challenges they typically face. Office politics is a major issue that takes toll on them both physically and mentally. If you aren't well versed in the art of arse licking which is essential to step the ladder through the positions of team-lead, supervisor, project manager, etc, you're doomed to a life of eternal coolie. Irrespective of whether you're called a coder, tester, designer or the build guy, a coolie is still a coolie.

Much better than this is a job at startup where your technical abilities are respected and you're held in high esteem by your employer. My personal advice is that even if the salary of a programmer at the startup is half of that received by a coolie, you should still close your eyes and make the switch. A life of dignity and health is far more valuable than one without them even if the latter pays a lot more financially.