I hope that you enjoy reading this post on the weekly Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium where six of us write on the same topic. Today’s topic was chosen by Shackman. The five other bloggers who write regularly are, in alphabetical order, gaelikaa, Maxi, Paul, Shackman, and The Old Fossil. Do drop in on their blogs and see what their take is on this week’s topic. Since some of them may post late, do give some allowance for that too!
There are a few readers out there who will bear witness to my assertion that I was never so busy that I could not find the time for what really mattered. Nor were they for that matter. All of us are now comfortably retired and have all the time in the world to attend to only things that matter. In fact, I have so much of time that I can read something like this and wonder just what has gone wrong with the world. We had working parents in our time too and they did not get overwhelmed.
It was different those days for an Indian in the corporate world where even the bosses would consider people who worked before and after office hours as inefficient. We used to joke about colleagues who would show a lot of motion but no action. There was a certain understanding that what is now called work life balance was automatically provided for by the employer. As a boss, I used to tell my staff, just as I used to be told my boss/es that if one worked late or on holidays, it was an indication of a miserable home life and that the person should find a solution in double quick time.
There was a certain elegance in dropping in at the club or a bar on the way home after work for a couple of drinks and fellowship and beery week end afternoons and siestas were very much part of one’s normal life.
With the reforms of the nineties of the last century and the explosion of the IT industry in India, things changed and I am told that the culture is vastly different and someone worrying about her/his home life can either opt to be an entrepreneur or look for a job with the government. This is telling on health and relationships and when I talk to young people about my days, they either do not believe me or say that they cannot find such employment anywhere now.
So, the answer to Shackman’s question is Yes, it would appear to be so now. It is sad and I for one feel sorry for the present day workforce that has to live such lives.