'Saturday-Sunday Off Is Not An Indian Concept': Ola CEO's Work-Life Balance Comment Stirs Debate On Work Culture

In the viral video, Aggarwal shares his take on the concept of work-life balance, saying, “I don’t think that work-life balance is the right construct. This Saturday-Sunday off is not an Indian thing

These words of the Ola CEO did not sit well with internet users, who came forward to share their disagreement with his views

Source : X

An old video of Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal talking about work-life balance in Indian corporates has recently been making the rounds on the social media platform Instagram. His views in the video show how some leaders think about having a balanced life where employees get time to rest and properly give time to their personal lives. This became even more important, especially in light of several recent incidents of employees curbing to work pressure.

In the viral video, Aggarwal shares his take on the concept of work-life balance, saying, “I don’t think that work-life balance is the right construct. This Saturday-Sunday off is not an Indian thing; this is a western thing. In India, we never had Saturdays and Sundays; we had a lunar calendar, and our holidays were based on that; we only had one or two days monthly. We never had Saturdays or Sundays; this is a western import. So when the Industrial Revolution happened, Saturdays and Sundays became rest days for manual labour; that is why Saturdays and Sundays are relevant today, but in the modern age, they are not. If I look a few decades ahead, I don’t think work is about five days and then off.”

 

 

 

 

 

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These words of the Ola CEO did not sit well with internet users, who came forward to share their disagreement with his views. One user wrote, “The language he speaks is western the dress he wears is western. The technology he works with are western… Actually these people are the reason we as country can’t develop. Inko chahiye robot aur hum thehre insaan (they want robots but we are humans).”

“Tomorrow he will say salary is a western concept. Sham ko daal roti dal denge, kha lena, aur side me chaddar bichake so jana,” wrote another user.

A third user added: “Just because you want to earn on the expense of poor laborers even on Saturday and Sunday doesn't mean they don't have the right to rest after working 60 hours in Monday to Friday.”

“They need western clients for growth ...but don't want western culture of holidays ( Saturday and Sunday) .... Hypocrisy ki bhi Seema hoti hai,” wrote a fourth user.