| Not being granted leave at work is becoming a major issue with professionals, even leading to extreme reactions |
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Work-a-day drudgery can be worse than Gestapo torture. Ask office goers who trudge their way to office everyday, do the hohum file pushing bit and then return home to prepare for the next day in office. A break is the only way to settle the stress. But when offs come at a premium, the vicious circle worsens. An extreme reaction was the one recently in Mumbai where a security personnel of a bank shot at the manager when he was questioned for having disappeared without asking for leave. He later shot himself down too. Says Dr Nilesh Joshi, a city psychologist, "We lead stressful lives in this day and age. Getting breaks is important and when they are denied or hard to get, people simply snap."
Getting a break is important in a break-neck work mode. Remember how in May 2003, Raj Namdeo, a CISF constable had held six of his colleagues hostage at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, after shooting down his deputy commandant Karandekar? The reason for the out-burst: He was refused leave by Karandekar. Dr Yusuf Machiswala, psychiatrist at the Police Hospital, to whom the Raj Namdeo case was referred, comments, "There are certain jobs which involve a lot of stress. Mostly, for, people in the services, specially in police jobs, where there is a lot of sub-ordination. In the hostage crisis case, the fellow was stressed out but his boss refused to give him leave and the boy reacted. Breaks are important and change is vital to every-bodys growth."
Not just government lobs, even private organisations are averse to giving offs. Says Girish Chaturvedi, an HR professional, "People are allowed vacations and breaks sparingly these days. Certain employees ask for their Set of leaves as a part of the package." Like Savita Sharma, a call centre executive, who left her job only because the boss wouldnt budge from the no-leave
stance. "When my boss refused to give me leave, I tendered my resignation and I dont regret it," she says.
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