Durga Puja began with great fervour across West Bengal this week with many offices declaring a short holiday for the festive season. Others attempted to celebrate within office — evoking a mixed reaction from netizens. A video of Capegemini employees dancing and socialising in their heavily decorated Kolkata office has left netizens torn — with many noting that the cfunction felt “forced and unnatural”. Others hailed the workplace celebration as an “awesome” event that should also be brought to other cities.
The now-viral video shows a carnival-like scene within the brightly decorated office space. Employees can be seen dancing while wearing colourful outfits as music plays through speakers. Many were also spotted cheering and filming as their colleagues danced.
Neizens divided – celebration or unwanted event?
The video has left social media divided with some insisting that such celebrations were wholly unnecessary in corporate offices. Others expressed a desire to join Capegemini or have similar events held in their own offices.
“Vacancy hai to bata do please (Please let me know if there’s a vacancy),” joked one user.
“Reasons I fear getting into IT, bluds even forgot how to celebrate and enjoy as human… no hate but this looks too forced and unnatural,” countered another.
“Social media glamorizes workplaces with dance reels and flashy events, but behind the smiles are stagnant salaries, zero growth, and unrecognized effort. A reminder: not everything that glitters is gold,” warned a third.
“Leave cancel karke, ethnic wear mein office bulakar nachwake sahanubhuti de rahe hai (They cancel our leave, call us to the office in ethnic wear, make us dance, and then offer sympathy),” another wrote in Hindi.
“If something like this happens in an office, it probably means you won’t get leave… Don’t even bother to ask,” predicted a fifth.
Bengal gears up for festival
Celebrations have picked up across West Bengal following a delayed start amid torrential rainfall. At least 12 people were killed as heavy rain flooded streets and houses in Kolkata and severely hampered preparations for the ongoing festival. Many Durga Puja pandals have since opened their creations to viewers — recording heavy footfall even before the main days of the ten-day festival.
The Kolkata Metro has also announced plans to run special services along four corridors from Panchami (which falls on September 27). Night-long services will also be run on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami (September 29 to October 1) on the Blue Line (Sahid Khudiram to Dakshineswar) and Green Line (Howrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector V) to cope with the expected rush.
(With inputs from agencies)