'Coding not enough, also need to know swimming': Waterlogged Wipro office in Bengaluru evokes twisted humour

Waterlogged Wipro office in Bengaluru’s Sarja Road has evoked mixed reactions from industry leaders and netizens alike. While some took recourse in humour, others urged the authorities concerned to take concrete steps to resolve the waterlogging issue that has gripped India’s Silicon valley. A Mahindra Logistics employee said that coding is not good enough to get a job in Bengaluru, one also needs to know swimming. 

The user wrote, “Coding is not enough to get a job in Bangalore. You also need to know swimming. I’m planning for swimming classes before settling down at Bangalore, wish me luck.”

upGrad CEO Arjun Mohan also chimed in and said Bellandur in Karnataka is “home to some of the biggest tech brands in the world,” while adding the area contributes to a large share of India’s software exports and is one of the fastest growing clusters for product companies in India. 

An employee at Microsoft noted, “Today, as of writing this, I DO NOT have drinking water at home, water in toilets, broadband internet, power and my vehicles are submerged. Even the mobile network is intermittently on 4G. The traffic is not moving and we can’t come out/escape.”

A Flipkart employee decided that the best way to convert this crisis into an opportunity was to pitch a business idea to start a boat and cruise business in Bengaluru. He said the highlights of their business would include providing safe and secure travel from one street to another, cruise for playing games while stuck in traffic, water sports like rafting and scuba diving among others. 

FarmDesk.in CEO Siddharth Dey urged people to work towards finding solutions rather than saying “All is well” when it is not. Dey wrote, “More than 1,000 lakes have been destroyed in Bangalore till now. Don’t you feel bad? Try to find solutions to save the city rather than saying “all is well”. NO. All is not well. Situation is alarming and being a citizen of Bangalore, get up before it’s too late.”

This issue was the point of discussion on Twitter as well with former Infosys director Mohandas Pai saying that Bengaluru might be the only tech hub globally where developers tasked with building apps aimed at 10-minute delivery travel two hours to get to work. 

Bengaluru rains news

More downpour is likely to make matters worse as heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and lighting has been predicted in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on September 8 and 9. Kerala, Lakshadweep, Telangana and coastal Andhra Pradesh will witness ‘very heavy rainfall’ on September 7 and 9.

Also read: Bengaluru rains: New water themed park called ‘BLUNDER-LA’, say netizens