Gotta agree with the argument made in this post. Remote work is tough if you're getting started unless you have had some experience working during your college days, e.g. Outreachy, GSOC etc. Also, here's an old thread where we shared similar sentiments.

I don't agree, at all — neither with the article nor with Kunal Shah's borderline troll-tweet. Remote work does not make any of this difficult — these things are independent of remote. If anything, the freedom of remote work makes these things actually easier than co-location. The ecosystem in India has evolved too much around workplaces. People try to find all their life outside personal life into work. This means: they seek exposure to various things at work, they seek friendships and "hanging out" at work, they seek fun at work, and so on. These things are available beyond work too. Fundamentally, this happens because lack awareness of the ecosystem around us. For example, meetups are a great way to get all of this. Local interest groups are another. Many of us have grown so much through barcamps, meetups, conferences, etc. Toxic teams don't want their people doing all of this outside of work, they want the people bound to work — feudal mentality.

Great points @victorious-energy-56764. I agree with you on all of these.

Many of us have grown so much through barcamps, meetups, conferences, etc.

As a recent graduate living in a place with no tech scene, this is very hard for me. Part of the reason I want to work offline is the excuse to be in bangalore, where I can engage in these events. I know, virtual conferences and meetups exist, but they just don't cut it.

Quite understandable, @witty-answer-12530. Pandemic has made things way more difficult — at times downright impossible. One way is to lean on your seniors / mentors from college, here on RI, Twitter (a pretty good source), etc.

Yeah I've thrived on online communities throughout college. Still, there's always a feeling of FOMO on the offline scene

I can relate with your situation, Kanishk. I live in my hometown, a Tier-3 town with no tech scene. Offline meetup scene with tech people (and thus learning) is non-existent. So, I have found peace with online communities, and making efforts to network heavily. Before covid, I have lived in Bangalore for 2 years and worked from office. I don't miss my life from then so much, it was too focused on work. The exposure that @victorious-energy-56764 talks about - I agree with him completely. Working from home for 1+ years, I have changed as a person. During the day I'm an employee, in the evening I turn into that 10 year old kid who plays with his school friends. I am re-learning the things that really matter to me. Hell, I just went to a mountain hike with my friends in the middle of a work day because I had 3 hours to spare. It is an experience I wouldn't miss for the world ❤️