BENGALURU: A woman typing furiously on her laptop during a screening of Lokah at Cinephile has set social media ablaze, turning a quiet movie night into a viral debate about Bengaluru’s relentless work culture. The image, snapped by a fellow moviegoer, has become a flashpoint, exposing the pressures of burnout, questions of professionalism, and the elusive dream of “downtime” in India’s tech capital.
Reddit user posted the scene on r/Bangalore, writing, “Only in Bangalore! went to watch Lokah movie and a woman in the row ahead opened her laptop and started working like she's in office, typing away, in a theater. Honestly, it says a lot about how chaotic the work culture here is, people can’t even switch off for 2 hours without office pressure creeping in. Work-life balance? What’s that.” The post exploded, gaining over 2,400 upvotes and 219 comments as Bengaluru’s residents shared their stories and frustrations.
The post triggered wide disagreement among readers.
Some criticized her behavior as negligent or unprofessional. One commenter pointed out, “Looks like she’s working with a US team and didn’t inform that she was skipping work. Imagine if her manager or colleagues saw this.”
Another said, “I would chalk this to sneakiness of employee where she might be skipping work without informing, and now she doesn’t have a way out of not attending the meeting.”
On the other hand, many expressed empathy, saying they fully understood the pressure. One wrote, “I was working up till 3am last night. I genuinely get this. There’s so much work and so little time. There’s only so much cancelling plans you can do before you realise you’re missing out on friends, experiences and eventually-life. IT workers need to unionize.” Another argued, “There could be any number of reasons. Most likely though, the boss wanted some last minute ‘update’ when she had already made plans.”
Some commenters used jokes: “WFH: Work From (Cinema) Hall,” said one remark. Another quipped, “Narayana Murthy might repost this as newly recommended company policy.”
The Reddit discussion turned into a collection of jaw-dropping anecdotes about Bengaluru’s work culture, showcasing how far people go to juggle work and life. One commenter shared, “Saw a girl working in her laptop while walking around a clothing store! I didn’t even know that was possible.”
Another described, “Recently saw a guy on teams call while he was playing badminton. People are crazy.” A third quipped, “Culture? This is slavery. I saw a guy working in a salon while getting a haircut,” to which someone replied, “Brooo the hair that will go in laptop,” referring to the mess of hair clippings likely landing on the device.
Vidushi Bhardwaj, an empanelled designer with the Ministry of Textiles and a LinkedIn top UX Research voice, offers practical solutions to this pervasive issue: “Set Clear Boundaries: Establish defined working hours and stick to them. Communicate these boundaries with your team and family,” and “Unplug After Work: Disconnect from work emails and calls after hours to recharge and focus on personal activities.” She highlights the stakes, citing a Monster.com study: “60% of Indian employees experience stress due to poor work-life balance, and 89% of employees said they are suffering from burnout.” Bhardwaj emphasizes, “In the end, we work to live not live to work,” and notes Gallup’s finding that “23% of employees feel burned out at work very often or always.”
(Rh/Eth/VK)