journal.txt

So i joined an American company. It was a beautiful experience when i was finally able to work exact office hours and where we were treated like adults and not kids.
No shouting, no yelling during meeting. Politely giving us our tasks, and taking an update only after deadline. Even if deadline is missed, instead of arguing, they tried to find out why did it happen and what they can do to help reach it the next time. All the help was provided without ever having any issue with each other. Colleagues are great and helpful.
Every morning i was eager to work and woke up with enthusiasm
But this lasted only until they decided to introduce a mediatory between us.
AN INDIAN MANAGER
We all knew how indian tendency is regarrding work culture, and our fears came true.
The manager now wanted to control all the things we did. On top of that he started doubting us whether we are slacking off work. So he asked us to timetrack all our activities while at home. Started delegating his own work to us which wasnt even in the job profile. Soon the politics started when he decided to involve top management even in low level discussion so that his views are enforced. On top of that all his mistakes that delay work are quitely not recorded on anything.
Messaging us at odd times after office hours and expecting us to work late at night is very 'casual' and signs of dedicated employee. The attitude of 'toh kya hua' is affecting very negatively.
I did not for a second ever imagined that such a wonderful experience of working in a great company could be destroyed by 1 person. The work culture that i left with previous company has now caught up to me again.
This is one of the biggest reason i am trying to leave India and find a job elsewhere , where even if pay is low i'll be able to live peacefully.
Four years. Three unicorn startups. Multiple cities. And yet, here I am, sitting at my desk, wondering why this part of corporate life feels like navigating a maze blindfolded. Let me vent—because maybe I’m not alone?
“Hindi hai, bro? Cool, let’s switch.” Imagine walking into a meeting that starts with a polite “How’s your day?” in English, only for the next 30 minutes to dissolve into rapid-fire Hindi. Jokes fly, ideas bounce, and you’re just…nodding. Not because you agree, but because you’re lost. You’re South Indian, Northeast, or from a region where Hindi isn’t your mother tongue. You’ve tried learning it—really!—but fluency? The slang? The casual wit that makes everyone laugh? It’s like trying to catch smoke with your hands.
The worst part? The bonding. Chai breaks, lunch tables, even Slack threads—suddenly, you’re the outsider in your own office. Colleagues bond over shared references, memes, and inside jokes you can’t decode. You smile awkwardly, laugh a beat too late. It’s not malice; it’s just…habit. But when promotions hinge on “culture fit,” how do you fit into a culture that feels linguistically gated?
2. “No Smoke? No Drink? No Seat at the Table.” Here’s the other “unofficial rulebook”: smoke breaks = networking gold. Every hour, the balcony fills with folks puffing away, discussing projects, venting about managers, or just…chatting. You don’t smoke? Congrats on the healthy lungs! Now enjoy staring at your screen while career-critical conversations happen without you.
And office parties? If you’re not clinking glasses, you’re a ghost. “Why aren’t you drinking?!” becomes the anthem of the night. Decline politely, and suddenly, you’re the “boring one.” The FOMO isn’t about the alcohol—it’s about the camaraderie that evaporates when you’re not “one of them.”
So…Is It Just Me? I’m not judging anyone’s choices. Smoke if you want. Drink if you like. Speak whatever language feels like home. But when exclusion becomes the collateral damage of these habits, it’s exhausting. You start questioning: Is my career growth tied to my ability to chain-smoke or crack jokes in Hindi?
To anyone else sitting silently in meetings, faking laughs, or skipping parties to avoid the peer pressure—I see you. This isn’t about “snowflake syndrome.” It’s about workplaces feeling like high school cliques, where your worth hinges on things that have nothing to do with your skills.
I feel sick knowing how these cronies abuse the shit out of us, rob us from our money. CEO Narayan Murthy wants us to work for 70 hours per week but the dude himself can't see anything fucking straight, cross-eyed loser. We should just work for 10 hours per week max and call it a day. This 9-5 is making us depressed. We also need to stop breeding like cockroaches because at least, unlike humans, cockroaches can walk over themselves, but humans can't. I blame the system and schools such as City International School which looks like a fucking warehouse which you have to pay 89k rupees for annually, where's the infrastructure man? Nigerian schools have better infrastructure and better toilets which don't stink of piss. Also, school boards such as ICSE are to blame for this slave mentality. Also, when are we going to employ a 1 child policy? We should be having a king culture rather than a fucking slave culture which is glorified in this shit country. No wonder people are crippled nowadays. They are perpetually stressed. The average Indian man goes bald by 30 and grow a tummy like the laughing Buddha. Tax the rich CEOs and not the common man, why don't we Indians unionize and fight for our goddamn rights huh?