WORK FROM HOME TENSIONS RUN HIGH IN INDIA
Employees must contend with unreliable internet services and power outages
At the height of India’s coronavirus lockdown last month, an attorney seeking bail for a client in the western state of Rajasthan came up with a novel way to beat the scorching summer heat. He simply appeared before the judge in his undershirt during a hearing conducted from home by video conference.
Incensed by the absence of any formal courtroom garb, the judge adjourned the case, reprimanding counsel for wearing a ‘baniyan’ — the thin white, sleeveless vest meant to be worn as an undergarment.
As workers worldwide wrestle with the norms of home video conferences — the de facto meeting rooms of the coronavirus era — tensions are running particularly high in India.
India has grappled with what’s essentially the world’s biggest quarantine after the government issued stringent rules that have kept its 1.3 billion people largely contained at home.
Millions have to work out of modest, crowded houses, surrounded by all the chaos of multi-generational families. And they must contend with the unreliable internet services and power blackouts that plague many parts of the nation.
Meanwhile, many Indians have historically had little workfrom-home experience. All that’s playing a role in bringing productivity to an all-time low as one of the world’s fastestgrowing large economies hurtles towards a contraction.
Shrill whistle
These days, Corporate India’s morning stand-up meetings — conducted via video conferencing services like Zoom — are routinely interrupted by the piercingly-shrill whistle of the pressure cooker, the ubiquitous kitchen appliance that’s essential to Indian cooking.
“The pressure cooker siren is the most routine annoyance during video calls,” said Shashidhar Sathyanarayan, cofounder of Iowa and Bengalurubased agritech start-up Arnetta Technologies, who has been stuck in San Jose due to India’s travel restrictions.
The smartphone is ubiquitous, but it’s also the very first personal computing device for a majority of Indians, and about half the country’s 500 million internet users have leapt into the digital world only in the last few years. They are simply unused to video conferencing apps and mostly muddle through, said Bengaluru-based environment activist Surabhi Tomar.
Virtual meetings
The trials of transitioning to this brave new world in India have reached even the top rungs of the corporate ladder. Large outsourcing providers like WNS Holdings Ltd are providing etiquette training, schooling employees on basics such as dressing for video conferences, muting mikes and managing the background.
India head Manu Jain suffered the embarrassment of repeatedly dropping off the call. Reappearing for the second time, Jain apologised for the power outage at his home. When he confessed to a similar situation at a recent video conference with the Xiaomi board, one reporter cheekily suggested in the Zoom chat box that he try a Mi powerbank, a portable battery pack sold by the company.
During the post-earnings leadership commentary of Indian outsourced HCL Technologies Ltd, its global human resources head Apparao VV couldn’t make his video work. He soldiered on, speaking via audio, until he was able to get the video working. Minutes later, he gave out this ironic statistic: 100,000 HCL employees had successfully participated in 100 million hours of video conferencing during the pandemic.
The pressure cooker siren is the most routine annoyance during video calls.”
Shashidhar Sathyanarayan | founder of Arnetta Technologies 500m internet users in India have leapt into the digital world only in the last few years