L&T chairman SN Subramanyan suggested that people should be working 90 hours a week instead of looking “at your wife”. Though his suggestion on work was in line with 70-hour weeks called by Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, the “wife” part garnered severe flak on social media, with Indian shuttler Jwala Gutta totally coming down at him, dubbing his comment misogynistic.
Subramanian said in a video, “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be happier because I work on Sundays," setting social media ablaze.
He said about employees' time at home: "What do you do sitting at home? How long can you look at your wife? Come on, get to the office and start working."\
Reacting to this, Gutta asked why he shouldn’t stare at his wife.
"I mean...first of all, why shouldn't he stare at his wife...and why only on a Sunday," she wrote on X.
Calling the chairman’s comments “misogynistic”, she described the situation as “disappointing and scary”.
"It's sad and sometimes unbelievable that such educated people in the 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," she wrote.
Earlier, advocating for quality of work rather than quantity, Anand Mahindra had said that he spends time with family, adding that his wife is wonderful and he loves to stare at her.