An Indian investment professional recently shared an encounter with a Swiss couple in their late 60s during a recent trip to Vietnam, revealing why he told them he was staying in the country for 3 weeks when his actual holiday lasted just 4 nights.
He said that the couple were Swiss and had travelled to Asia around 15 or 16 times. Corporate lawyer in Germany, worked all his life, retired at 55 – ‘quite late,’ he said, almost embarrassed. Some days, I was working even past 5 PM. The Swiss man also told Garg that after retiring, he had doubled the time he spent on golf and gym, slept more and travelled for around 4 months every year. By the time we conclude the risk is totally mitigated we are probably over 70,” wrote a third user.
Indians have lost the ability to decide. Then he described just how hard those working years were: ‘Very hectic, most days. Seven to nine hours of work. I could only manage golf once a week. Gym three times. Barely seven hours of sleep’,” Garg wrote in the post. Garg then drew a sharp contrast with the way such a lifestyle is viewed in India. “I didn’t have the heart to tell him that in India, this hectic, exhausting life he was apologising for – we call it work-life balance. We put it on job posters. People switch companies hoping for it,” Garg wrote. The couple then asked Garg how long he and his wife were staying in Vietnam. “On the flight back, I kept thinking about my lie. Three weeks. Why did I say three weeks? “Economists should have a term for this. I call it the geographical dividend: the invisible income some countries pay their people – unhurried time, working systems, and evenings that actually end. You don’t earn it. You’re born into it, or you’re not,” he wrote. “The uncle wasn’t richer than the millionaires I know in Delhi and Bombay. “Some cultures know when to stop chasing money & start chasing life. There are other asian countries which are worse than Indians. We are fine tuned to over optimize for risk mitigation. Again part of the cultural evolution.
Because four nights was the truth, and the truth was embarrassing – that I’d flown 3,000 km for a break shorter than his morning routine,” Garg wrote.
During their conversation over coffee, the man told Garg about his working life as a corporate lawyer in Germany. “The uncle told me his story over coffee. “Three weeks,” he replied, despite knowing that their actual trip was only four nights. He said that he felt “half shame” while giving the answer because he had to return to work. The contrast became even more apparent when the Swiss man responded that three weeks was “a pretty short break” and told him to make the most of it. He further said that the encounter made him reflect on the difference between the two lifestyles, arguing that the gap was not necessarily about money. He’d just been collecting this dividend his whole life, on top of his salary – and it shows: mornings with nowhere to be, and a body that keeps its word at 68,” Garg concluded. (Also Read: Man urges Indians to travel abroad at least once, says ‘it shows what India could be doing better’ ) Reacting to the post, one user wrote, “Quite surprising how easily we considered the struggle of work-life imbalance as our fate, after paying everything out amp; taking proud we Indians work our ass off, but without realising why humans are born for. “A few things come to mind – price of nationality, the invisible wage gap, quality of life arbitrage,” commented another.
