Chutti. There’s something so freeing about that word!
Chutti has happy connotations of euphoria and freedom (no matter how temporary). Mind you, chutti is different from a holiday; cause while the latter is merely the time spent away from work, the former is mentally saying toodles to it.
Chutti, therefore, is not merely a word dearies; it is a state of mind.
Which is why, it’s the greatest of ironies that even though India has more official holidays than any other country in the world, we have such few chuttis!
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So Many Holidays, Yet so Few Vacays
In his column, Jug Suraiya notes that all in all, there are 156 officially listed national or state holidays in a year in India, which FYI, does not include Sundays, or the second Saturdays of each month. Suraiya says the barrage of holidays reflects our “multicultural history and polity,” cause after all, besides assuring us great food, the multiplicity of faiths in India give us lots of holidays as well.
Boy, isn’t that a great reason to stop India from becoming a monolith!
Anyhoo, the point we are trying to make is that despite so many chuttis, we as Indians are still starved for vacations.
Vacays? What’s That
Note this: we have been counted as one of the most vacation-deprived nations in the world, according to Expedia Vacation Deprivation Survey.
Apparently, as many as 53 percent of us desis take fewer vacation days than we are entitled to. And last year alone, 68 percent of the people surveyed had canceled or postponed their vacays due to work.
Guys, what is this? Our holidays are always lapsing, and even in the rare circumstance that we are on a holiday, we still carry the work with us.
Disconnected During Chutti? Think Again
Yes, we don’t even completely disconnect from work while on a holiday. A study by Ipsos says that at least 60 percent of respondents stay connected to work, even while they are vacationing in the hills or chilling by the beach.
In contrast, Europeans surveyed say they disconnect completely from work during chutti time, with the British at 71% and the French at 70%.
And leave aside holidays, we ourselves are uncomfortable with the idea of having chuttis, EVEN IF WE ARE BEING PAID THE SAME AMOUNT. Another survey says that given a chance to work five days a week or four days, we would prefer five days. This, despite being offered the same amount.
Guys, it’s high time we removed our feudal mindset and enjoyed those goddamned chuttis.
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