The 3 Idiots of Computer Science: Which One Are You?
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🎬 The 3 Idiots of CS
(or: Rancho, Farhan, Raju… but made in Greece)
If you haven't seen 3 Idiots, stop reading, open Netflix, and come back.
If you have, then you know:
It's not a movie about students. It's a movie about lives lost because they follow the wrong rules.
And that's how I found myself — 30+ years old, three countries, two continents, countless mistakes — studying Computer Science and wondering:
"Which one of the three am I?
And who do I want to become?"
But let's take it from the beginning.
Because in our circle, we have all three.
1) Farhan: The One Who Never Admitted It
Farhan got into CS… by accident.
Not because he wanted to. Not because he pursued it. Simply because "it just happened."
But the biggest difference between Farhan and the rest of us? You never saw him in the labs. You never saw him sweating over a Segmentation Fault or searching for solutions on forums. While we were counting coffee cups and lost hours of sleep, Farhan was counting… miles and plane tickets.
The Tech Tourist:
Farhan invested his entire being into the good life. Trips, excursions, coffees, and a permanent refusal to engage with the subject. For him, the university was just background noise, an annoying detail between two destinations.
Farhan has 1000 travel photos and 0 lines of working code.
He thought life was a permanent Instagram scroll, but the job market has no filters. When the time comes to prove what he knows, the "likes" on his photos won't help him pass the technical interview.
He’s not a bad guy. He’s just someone who didn’t realize how fast the years go by.
2) Raju: The One Who Decided to Fight
Raju wasn't a top student.
He wasn't a natural talent.
He wasn't "the chosen one."
But he was something much rarer: Consistent.
He didn't wait for the university to teach him programming. He built small projects, broke things, and rebuilt them. He taught himself because he knew nobody would give him anything for free.
He didn't have talent.
He had grit.
And grit builds careers.
3) Me: The Rancho Who Woke Up Late
Me?
I'm the guy who returned to CS in his 30s.
At first, I felt like an "outsider." I saw 18-year-olds coding at light speed and thought: "Did I miss the train?"
But then I realized something 18-year-olds lack: Context.
I saw systems around me that supposedly help, but in reality, sabotage productivity. I saw managers asking for impossible things and developers building things nobody needs.
And then I said:
"If I'm going to do all the work… then I'll build the system that actually does the work."
The Power of "Why":
I didn't learn Python because it's a "must." I learned Python because I had to automate building expenses calculation that took me 15 hours every month just to pay someone to print them on paper — so I could distribute them myself.
When you have a real problem, code isn't a chore. It's your weapon.
In my 30s, I don't care about memorizing syntax. I care about architecture.
I use AI for 60% of the "grunt work" of coding, but 100% of the responsibility and design is mine. Because I know what I want to achieve. I know the "Why".
I'm not a code monkey. I'm a builder.
I see systems now, not just lines of text.
🎭 The Three Types of People in Tech
The market hires those who have solutions to show — not just frames on the wall.
🧠 The Question You Must Ask Yourself
It doesn't matter how old you are. All that matters is this:
Which of the three are you? And who do you want to become?
If you're a Farhan, wake up. Travels are nice, but they don't build portfolios.
If you're a Raju, keep going. Consistency beats talent every single time.
If you're a Rancho, build. The world is full of "theorists" and "lifestyle influencers" — we need people who provide solutions.
A while ago, in ANSI C Nightmare, we saw how theory can become a nightmare. Here, we see how practice is the only way out.