Holiday Hype

It gladdens my heart when my office staff,comprising an eclectic group of Hindus,Christians,Muslims and Parsis,regularly insist on a holiday en masse so they can go to each others homes and feast on biryani,modaks,sali boti,xacuti and other regional delicacies. Getting drunk and passing out is apparently part of the festive revelry,and I am impressed that my co-workers are such a spirited,secular lot.

Whilst there is a perceptible economic slowdown and the future looks shaky,we Indians are nonetheless jetting to international shores,thanks to our local festivals. This extended weekend,a large number of desis are ironically celebrating our Independence Day in neighbouring countries such as Thailand,Vietnam,Cambodia,Sri Lanka,Singapore and Dubai. This,despite the fact that international airfares have increased by 15 per cent from last year and the Indian rupee is at an abysmal low.

Others have realised that saare jahan se sasta,Hindustan hamaara and have taken off en famille to local destinations such as Kovalam,Shimla,Manali and Mussoorie.

As a workforce,we enjoy a multitude of national,regional,gazetted,secular and bank holidays. Unsurprisingly,long weekends have become the norm and several man days are lost due to these frequent short breaks.

Mumbai,the commercial capital of India,legendary for its work ethic and professionalism,awards its denizens 27 public holidays annually. So,industrious Mumbaikars enjoy almost a month off from work each year,in addition to casual leave,annual leave and sick leave.

Surprisingly,Delhi has only 20 official public holidays while Kolkata has 24 days. But given the number of bandhs,hartaals,lockouts and strikes,this number adds up to considerably more. Chandigarh,as the capital of both Punjab and Haryana,should arguably enjoy double the number of holidays but comes in at a respectable 19 days of declared holidays.

I,myself,am ensconced in Goa while I type this and certainly don’t want to sound like a party pooper.

A short vacation is exactly what we need from time to time. It is imperative to rest,relax and rejuvenate before plunging headlong again into the hurly-burly of urban existence. However,the number of public holidays that we,as a plural society,observe is startling and perhaps also worrying. Successive governments have shown little interest in restricting the number of holidays as this would be viewed as a highly unpopular piece of legislation.

No one is really complaining though because,let’s face it,which lunatic would rather work than vacation?