A couple of days ago when Shantanu Deshpande, Founder and CEO at Bombay Shaving Company advised young impressionable minds to give in to the toxic work culture and work 18 hours a day, he was called out by an unexpected number of people online.
And among the many people who objected to his advice is Ratan Tata’s General Manager Shantanu Naidu.
Taking to LinkedIn, the 28-year-old entrepreneur who recently founded a startup to empower senior citizens posted a video wherein she was seen sharing his two cents on hustling and balance debate. Naidu said in the video:
“I think the problem with this 18-hour work day or toxic hustle culture is that it brings down the value of a person only down to his achievements and productivity and I think as human beings, we are worth much more than that. Work is something that we do not who we are is something I heard once and I really believe in that.”
However, he also added that people who still want to hustle, do the 18-hour work schedule, and not sleep are of course free to do so as they believe that is the way to do it.
Referring to Deshpande’s LinkedIn post where he asked young employees to “take it on the chin”, Naidu said, “To preach that to young impressionable minds is not a great idea because that’s not what makes us individuals and human beings.”
“I think in the end it’s more relationships and love and what we leave behind for other people that really makes us human beings and not being valued at how much work I did today.”
In other news, Deshpande, after receiving so much backlash and his parents getting ‘nasty’ comments online about his problematic views, has decided to quit posting anything on LinkedIn. In his last post, he also apologized for his earlier comment:
“To those who were hurt by my post – apologies for the same. I recognize the need for nuance and context. This interview last evening possibly captured my point of view better. If time permits, do watch it. Thank you to so many friends who dropped me a message just to make sure I was okay. Means a lot. Genuinely. To those who sent nasty, ‘your son is a slave owner’ messages to my parents and thousands like those – You won.”
He also shared a video of his debate with a news channel, which according to him, capture his viewpoint better. Watch:
If someone objects to his comments, they can object to them in a more dignified manner. Subjecting Deshpande to so much hate and troubling his family is uncalled for.