It’s an ill-kept secret that the corporate world glorifies inhumane hustle culture with terms like “magic roundabout”, a supposed rite of passage where young grads work through the night, leaving their desks in the early hours of the morning only to return in time for the 9 am call-in. It came to the fore earlier this month, with the news of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old chartered accountant from Kochi, tragically passed away in July, a mere four months after joining Ernst & Young in Pune. Last week, Perayil’s mother, Anita Augustine, wrote an open letter to Rajiv Memani, the chairperson of EY India, in which she blamed pressure from the organisation, an overwhelming workload, and long hours at the office for her daughter’s demise. The letter instantly resonated with millions across the country, for whom unrealistic deadlines and a toxic work culture are a natural consequence of being in the Indian workforce.
But while the initial conversation doubled down on the Big Four—Deloitte, KPMG, EY, and PwC—an outpouring of stories across industries, and rungs of the job ladder, revealed that this debilitating disrespect and abuse is everywhere.
Whether it’s new age media companies preaching fair wages and gender parity or law firms seemingly upholding the scales of justice, the reality behind closed doors is bone-chilling. The Nod speaks to 10 members of the workforce who have survived—or are still working in—workplaces that seem to revel in dehumanising their employees for the sake of profit, pride, and even pleasure.
TW: verbal and sexual abuse
Nayantara Menon Bagla
32, chef and nutrition coach, Bengaluru
“When I was being inducted into a luxury hotel, the programme director told us, ‘Welcome to hell’. She also said that whether we were going through a breakup or someone in our family had died, we had to put on our makeup, smile, and greet the guests. From here on, it just got worse—there were work shifts of 18-20 hours, seniors taking advantage of young folks, and constant sexual innuendoes. Sure, kitchens and restaurants are high-pressure environments but it can’t be to the point of covering up suicides or mass bullying. Mental health was not even a discussion.
I was told to lose weight and that women should be subservient in the kitchen. They even told me to change my attitude or change specialties. Imagine going through your mum’s cancer diagnosis without a day off because it’s ‘season time’. And if you arrived late, you had to stand outside with your hands up for two hours and clean every refrigerator in the hotel with bare hands.”
Aishwarya
29, doctor, Mumbai
“Just 15 days into joining a government hospital, I met with an accident. My senior colleague insisted that our in-charge give him a holiday instead of me because he wanted to travel. It was ridiculous. I went back to work limping on one leg. The worst part is, we’re forced to work without a weekly off—that’s dangerous and they have no sympathy at all. There’s also no respect. Patients and their relatives call us lazy and ignorant despite all the work we put in, because that’s the reputation that government servants have. There’s no HR department either. We have clerks in the admin office who refuse to take written complaints, insisting that it can be sorted with a conversation. I still haven’t been able to leave because I worked really hard for this job. I may apply for a transfer soon, though.”
Elton J Fernandez
43, celebrity hair and make-up artist, Mumbai
“I’ve been in this industry for 23-odd years and have realised the bending over backwards never stops. There’s always someone who thinks they’re bigger than you and have more power. The teams and staff just have to suck it up because we’re working with stars—even if it means you’re being treated inhumanely and not given the credit you deserve. I believe in hard work, but respect and dignity are a two-way street; you can’t always be at the beck and call of a celebrity. And if you ever stand up to an artist manager, you’ll be blackballed and blacklisted from agencies. This has happened to me.
I’ve even seen designers treat models like playthings, they poke and prod and don’t ever feel the need to apologise or even acknowledge their pain. In the freelance system of fashion, celebrity, and beauty there is no HR, really. If you go tell someone, they’ll just tell you to suck it up or say ‘Oh, you know that’s how they are na, they’re loco, they have to live in their bubble for their roles.’ I absolutely love this industry, but if you keep treating people like they’re disposable and measure [their worth in terms of] what they can add to your bank account, there’s [going to be] a lot of toxicity. I want better for the next generation. I don’t want my nephew to grow up like this.”
Shalaka
31, brand head, Bengaluru
“I had a horrible experience while working at a fintech firm; there was unbelievable work pressure and not enough resources. One day I had issues with my laptop and was trying to get it repaired in a hurry, and in the midst of all the anxiety, I had an accident. I had several injuries, including a hematoma and bruises around my lungs. The people reporting to me were very considerate and supportive, but my manager and HR were the complete opposite. They would schedule calls post work hours, when I had to go for physiotherapy, and would force me to stay on. My manager made my life extremely difficult and drowned me in work when I was supposed to be taking it slow. That's genuinely not the way to lead.”
Rohan
33, marketing manager, Bengaluru
“The toxic culture at my previous workplace stemmed from one big problem: nepotism. The CEO was the son of the managing director, so he felt like he could behave however he wanted without any consideration of other people’s feelings. He would verbally abuse us and borderline torture people outside work as well; if we had a social life, he would be unhappy about it. He expected us to have an unfair commitment to work without compensating [us] fairly and his sheer arrogance was constantly coming in the way of getting things done. Also he refused to give anyone any credit. If things worked out, he would act as though he was the mastermind behind it all. He had little understanding of the product and didn’t feel the need to try because his dad was the owner of the company.”
Harsha
26, consultant, leading accounting company, Bengaluru
“The red flags at my office were evident from the beginning: on my first day of work, the reporting manager refused to even acknowledge me; he was texting the guy sitting next to me, to convey anything he wanted to say. Later, while working on a project, another manager said weird things like, ‘My eyes are on you, don’t forget I’m your manager, I can make your life hell if I want to.’ The last straw for me was when I fractured my leg and was advised complete bed rest for a month. Despite showing my scans and doctors’ reports, a week in, my boss said work from home wouldn’t cut it and I have to show up to the office. There was no empathy, no check-ins on how I’m doing at all.
At the time of my resignation, I reported this to the firm's ethics hotline and spoke to three-four different people from HR. I showed them proof of emails to back my claims, even had several meetings. Although I was promised anonymity, they told my manager everything and nothing really came out of it. A few weeks later I received an email stating that the case was closed and life went on as normal for them.”
Abhilash
32, videographer and photographer, Mumbai
“I worked at a leading wedding film company and the founder was unhinged in his verbal attacks. He had volcanic anger episodes that sometimes resulted in firing people abruptly over minor disagreements. He created an environment of absolute terror and reduced grown men to tears by humiliating them in front of guests and the team. Employees were also forced to turn a blind eye to a culture of sexual abuse. He sexually harassed someone in my presence and when I finally called him out for it, he fired the woman involved and me—without pay, during the pandemic.
Earlier too, there were cases of sexual assault on young female employees who were silenced and blamed for what happened to them. The main guy has watertight contracts and the best lawyers in place, which prevented us from pursuing the law or getting work elsewhere. There’s absolutely no HR at the company, he's vehemently said no to having a POSH committee, and is the last and final authority on everything like a dictator.”
Sandhya Surendran
39, lawyer, Bengaluru
“My first job straight out of college was at a leading law firm where they wanted us to stay in office as long as possible; the rumour was that they encouraged office romances so people would stick around for longer. Another fresher on my team would make inappropriate sexually charged comments towards me when we were alone. One day, I called him out, but he was very close to our reporting manager, who then started treating me like shit. I would be forced to work on drafts until 4 am and be back in the office at 9 am. When I would show him my work, he would either throw 100 pages into the bin or ask the guy who was harassing me to review my work.
The final straw for me was when I had excessive bleeding on my period and asked to stay at home. My immediate manager was really considerate, but the head of the department called me and said, ‘I don’t care which end you’re bleeding from, but this report needs to go out today.’ They went out of the way to make you feel so small and insignificant, like there’s no value to you at all. There were suicidal tendencies as well because it was drilled into our heads that we meant nothing.”
Ashika
29, marketing and communications executive, New Delhi
“On my first day at a leading beauty retailer, the junior exec in charge of showing me around warned me of the favouritism and politics at play. By the end of that day, all the work in my team was dumped on me because my manager was on holiday, and then I was yelled at for not getting it right. Shortly after, I was judged and mocked for my lack of confidence in front of the camera—they wanted employees to film videos for social media, which was never mentioned in my JD. Later I was told, one of the criteria for our department was to look pretty. It was really sad. Since our department is full of social media execs, no one treats us with any respect. We were all typecast for the way we looked and labelled dumb. Even HR hated us; some of us brought up the concerns with them, but it never went anywhere as they were very unsupportive.”
Yashika
28, illustrator and designer, Mumbai
“I was working at a major production house and they exploited everyone there, especially the women. I was sexually harassed by a fellow employee and despite reporting this to the founders, nothing changed. The person stayed on until their contract ended. Also, the founder used to always send us on personal missions unrelated to the job. One time, his friend was visiting Goa, where the office is, and the female staff was asked to decorate this friend’s room to make them feel special. There wasn’t a single day when founder didn’t yell. Him screaming was like thunder slapping the earth. He would stand two inches away from your face and shout for mistakes that he made, without ever taking any responsibility for them.
Every New Year’s, the company hosted two parties—one to which elite guests and employees were invited and another where the cleaning staff would have to arrange their own food and drinks from their salary. It was extremely casteist and classist. And because the founder was vegetarian, he imposed vegetarianism in the whole office! It is an extremely toxic and harmful place to work in whether you’re a domestic worker or a designer. There was no respect or ethics if you didn’t already come from a wealthy family with privilege.”
Some individuals preferred to go by their first name to protect their identity; all the above interviews have been condensed for clarity
