Funnycontrol | Close shave with 18-hour days

But without the rona-dhona, 18 hours in office would feel like 18 years on the planet from 'Interstellar'. (Representational image: Victoria Alexandrova via Unsplash)

Recently the Bombay Shaving Company CEO was taken to the shavers for posting on LinkedIn: “When you are 22 and new in your job, throw yourself into it”. As I was reading this on my phone, my rickshaw driver almost threw myself and himself into a pothole. I do believe it has been there for more than 22 years.

Actually what really created the ‘ro’ckus was his statement: “Eat well and stay fit, but put in the 18 hour days for at least 4-5 years.” Many HR managers were terrified they would first have to calculate the answer themselves before asking interview candidates: “Where do you see yourself in 18 * 365 * 4-5 hours?”

One can even expect the following question in this year’s CAT paper.
“It takes 1 intern 4 hours to finish a job. But it takes 4 interns from a premier B-school 18 hours a day for 18 days to finish the same job. What was the CAT percentile of their manager, and why did he not pursue his passion instead?"

Many people have been protesting the LinkedIn post, spending 1 hour cursing the CEO on the internet every day, and are expected to do so for the next 18 days just to make a point. This conveniently coincides with the period between Ganesh Chaturthi and Ganesh Visarjan. So on the 18th day, expect them to submerge a giant effigy of his LinkedIn DP in protest (the CEO, not the HR).

Now 18 hours a day sounds like day-light slavery or as any investment banker would call it, Tuesday. As an ex-investment banker (in case I hadn’t mentioned it earlier), I have spent many a day and many a night working on a deal only to realize it has just been 18 hours. If you think I am making this up, you should have seen some of my debt funding proposals to PSU banks.

I would like to ask the CEO: “Sir, if I have to work for 18 hours a day, where will I get the time to shave? You are killing your own sales revenue by promoting no-shave November to November”.

Perhaps he can learn from Shah Rukh Khan who believes in Just-in-Time motivation with ‘Sattar minute hai tumare paas”.

Personally though, I agree with his statement entirely (the CEO not SRK) where he has said: “I see a LOT of youngsters who watch random content all over”. EXACTLY. You have given his random LinkedIn post 3,800+ comments and 500+ shares. Clearly, 70 se zyada faaltu minute hai hum sab ke paas.

On work-life balance, the CEO just had to say “Not that early”. Translated as “Wait till your health insurance premium goes up after 2 bypass surgeries and 3 mental break-downs. And that’s just on Instagram”.

He closed with: “Don't do random rona-dhona. Take it on the chin and be relentless. You will be way better for it”. To which I would respond “Sir, as an ex-corporate employee and investment banker (in case I didn’t mention it earlier), I used to spend 8 hours just on random rona-dhona from the HR to my manager to the stale samosas in the office cafeteria. Without the rona-dhona, 18 hours in office would feel like 18 years on the planet from Interstellar. So please do everyone a favour, read my column, laugh, relax and share it with other people. You will be way better for it.

The author is a corporate comedian and ex-investment banker (in case he didn’t mention it earlier)