I am an information technology graduate(indian). I graduated from the worst kind of private engineering college, in 2012 (they are very common in india). I had the worst kind of classmates and teachers who cannot be called educated and to call them "just literate" is quite apt.

I came to know about the significance of the programming languages in the software industry from the internet.

I had two reasons:

a) The seniors/teachers to whom i was asking for advice didn't know anything, and rather they asked me why i am worrying so much about the programming languages when the I.T. companies coming to the college for campus recruitment asked for only the theoretical knowledge of the programming language, they only knew about the indian I.T. industry and the type of works done there, maintenance,testing etc )

b) They were very poor at english. (they only had to mug up some points before the examination and put it down on the answer sheet as a result of this, I still remember a senior telling me that you can pass your engineering examination without a computer......... :_( )

Then i developed a habit of asking a lot of questions on the internet which helped me. All my friends are employed and i am not!!!

Now i have decided to

a) Get a good rank on topcoder.com, interviewstreet.com etc

b) Do a lot of projects at github.com

c) I became a good programmer not a coder like many in india!

d) I maintain a blog relating to the programming language i usr.

and then enter into the software industry so that i can get good quality peers, some respect for me, a better salary.

i am proficient at c/c++ and then l would go for java, Perl, Python, Erlang

(better late than never)

am i doing/thinking right?
i am feeling uneasy as i have tried all the ways to get a response to this question. I have read my question 16 times, i find it to be true and accurate. i think only an indian can understand my pain :-(

Yes you are doing the right thing and in no time you will get a job that will place you well above your peers. Its not any different here in Nigeria. I understand your predicament, and am happy you have shown true courage and passion. Hope this makes you feel better.

Absolutely right!! You are on track!!! I love your
standpoint!!
# # #

Quite frankly... Theory is good but cannot in anyway supercede Practical knowledge...

Your post is funny... "..worst Engineering College.." ...with.. "iliterates as teachers".? ? ? ...if that's really true, then you must be really exceptional going out of your norms to have field experience in Programming...

About the employment stuff... I am sure you have responsibilities, and more will be coming...
My word of advice is that, you continue in the programming with an intense drive or passion, building portfolios for yourself. ...and secondly think of little ways of earning even meagre incomes (I dunno of India, but the Nigerian I. T's Labour Market is a National and Monumental embarrasment, as such, creating a job is easy to start, extremely hard to maintain and/or scale,.. .but on the long run, better than using degrees to find a life fulfiling job!)

(try your luck with this why don't you suggest to your school or former school that you would volunteer to be the team's coach to start participating in programming competitions across India, Asia, and the renowned ICPC... #grounds to gain employment

...the TopCoder idea is cool! I wish I had so much time to have a rating there... #I am also a C/C++ programmer...

thanks for advising...