Deepika Padukone, Harsh Goenka, Jwala Gutta take on L&T Chairman S N Subrahmanyan.
Actress Deepika Padukone has slammed Larsen & Toubro Chairman S N Subrahmanyan suggestions about long working hours and working on Sundays as well to remain competitive.
A video post on Reddit, which has since gone viral, shows the L&T chief saying, 'I regret that I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays also.'
'What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands?' Subrahmanyan asked, adding, 'Get to the office and start working.'
The undated video was grabbed from an internal L&T meeting and posted on Reddit.
Deepika Padukone jumped into the ongoing debate by posting this video on her Insta story and tagging Subrahmanyan's statement.
Deepika, who has battled depression, has been vocal about mental health issues. She founded a non-profit organisation, the Live Love Laugh Foundation, that raises awareness about mental health, depression, stress and anxiety.
Even before Deepika's statement, the Internet had blown up as users shared views and memes about the L&T chief's comments.
Standup comedian Anmol Garg wrote on X, 'Murthy Sir has found his mentor' and then posted this image.
Harsh Goenka, chairman of the RPG group, and a popular face on X, added, '90 hours a week? Why not rename Sunday to 'Sun-duty' and make 'day off' a mythical concept! Working hard and smart is what I believe in, but turning life into a perpetual office shift? That's a recipe for burnout not success. Work-life balance isn't optional, it's essential. Well, that's my view!'
He ended his message with the hashtag, #WorkSmartNotSlave
A shocked Arjuna Awardee and Olympian Jwala Gutta said, 'I mean... first of all why shouldn't he stare at his wife... and why only on a Sunday!!!'
'It's sad and sometimes unbelievable that such educated and people at highest positions of big organisations are not taking mental health and mental rest seriously... and making such misogynistic statements and exposing themselves so openly!!
'It's disappointing and scary!!!!'
The debate on work-life balance has been raging after Infosys Co-founder N R Narayana Murthy reiterated his belief last year that young India needs to work more. 'India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world. Therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, "This is my country. I want to work 70 hours a week".'
L&T, which is standing by its chairman's statement, told CNBC-TV18, 'We believe this is India's decade, a time demanding collective dedication and effort to drive progress and realise our shared vision of becoming a developed nation. The chairman's remarks reflect this larger ambition, emphasising that extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary effort.'
To which, an enraged Deepika responded, 'And they just made it worse.'
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