I was once in a job that required working with people in other time zones. On one occasion, I was required to visit the HQ, which was 9.5 hours behind us. The notice was short, and I did not have the visa. But my presence was required — or so I was told — because regional leads from across the world were coming together.
So I offered to join the session on a video call. From about nine in the evening, India time, I sat before a screen for six or seven hours. Munching on sandwiches and sipping on Diet Coke, I contributed to the discussion with short sentences (I hardly ever have much to say), occasional grunts, and a lot of nodding.
For the next few days, no meeting of the global team would be complete without a paean to your columnist’s “endurance” and “commitment”. I tried to tell them that at some point maybe they should start to appreciate me for qualities that had more to do with the mind, but no one was interested in that line. Which was pretty sad.
Honestly, I did not think much before offering to sit in front of the screen all night. It came naturally, given that I am a product of our country’s work culture. We do what the boss wants us to. And we do not mind putting body and soul on the line.
Body on the line
Speaking of putting one’s body on the line, there is the famous fable about Aruni, a disciple of sage Dhaumya. Once, on a dark and stormy night, the sage asked Aruni to go and inspect how the gurukul’s agricultural fields were coping with the downpour. Aruni found a breach from which water was gushing in. Unable to find a way to stop the water from destroying the crop, he himself lay down in the breach to redirect the flow.
Dhaumya was so pleased at this he gave Aruni the title of Uddalaka, meaning someone who rises from an embankment. The disciple went on to become one of the earliest recorded philosophers in India.
That is where we come from. We appreciate hard work, commitment, and loyalty, and if you can demonstrate those effectively while putting yourself in harm’s way, so much the better. If you put work before family, even better. And if you put work before your own self… well, not many will notice; you are expected to do that anyway.
We also bring to work our unquestioning dedication to the boss. As family and societal values have seeped into the work culture, the boss is as revered as a father, older brother, the village elder, or the guru. Many of us hesitate to leave the office if the boss is still there, even if they are using the time to pay bills online, make personal calls, or do other crucial things to delay going back home.
A lot of us hesitate to call the boss by her name, not even by the western method of Ms or Mr followed by their second name. A common practice is to address or refer to the boss by the first name followed by “sir”. In politics, it is usually a litany of epithets starting with “honourable” and ending with “ji”.
If the boss does not take vacations, it is an ordeal for the underling to ask for one. The boss must not think of you as someone who does not show enough commitment. Worse, while you are vacationing, your insufferable colleagues will be at work and might create situations in which your absence is sure to get noticed.
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Killing skills
Being physically present, therefore, becomes the yardstick to judge performance and loyalty. Spending long hours in the office is seen to be synonymous with working hard, never mind the results.
It begins in school. A student who finishes her test early and goes on to do other things is seen as given to levity and frivolity. Those who stay up at night mugging lessons are considered sincere and better. No one pauses to wonder which of the two might be the mule and which the mare. They will choose the mule every time.
The white-collared workforce is expected to work as clerks, even in cases where the pay is much better than the average clerk’s salary. That is how the education system was designed by Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1835 and continues in some form or the other to this day. It does not encourage creativity, innovation, inventiveness, ingenuity, or any of the other useless things that come from the left brain. It does not even encourage people to take to crafts or other skill-based occupations.
The rise of startups could have changed this. But some founders think they can become Steve Jobs only by pushing their people to the brink, as the great man did in exhorting his team to “put a dent in the universe”. The result is toxicity without the glory.
Given the situation, we make our peace with it. Many of us choose a job knowing how exacting it can be. We want the pay, the perks, and the social standing. It also helps ward off calls from the family to return home and “settle down”.
Some thrive and, in time, become bosses who want more of their own ilk to come up through the ranks. Some manage to cope. Very few take the road less travelled to follow their calling regardless of the poverty and social disapprobation.
A few succumb. At the tender age of 26.
Suveen Sinha is a journalist and author. Views are personal.
This article has been republished from Business Standard. Read the original piece here.