In these times of mass layoffs and mental health issues at work, a sales representative in the western Indian city of Pune, one of the business hubs of the state of Maharashtra, quit his job in style — he pulled a prank on his bad boss, and left the office premises to the beating of dhol (Indian drum); it was a joyous way to exit a toxic work environment and get a little fun revenge.
The story of the sales rep named Aniket was shared on Instagram by content creator Anish Bhagatt (520K followers). The latter had, in fact, helped Aniket organise the prank and the last-day celebrations.
Anish explained that Aniket was one of his social media followers and they both lived in the same city: Pune.
The viral video said that quitting was not an easy decision for Aniket — he felt stuck at his job, was disrespected by his manager, had stagnant pay, but was still held back from resigning by his socio-economic situation.
Nonetheless, Aniket decided to take the plunge and Anish helped him put it together.
First, they lined up people at the entrance of the office building with drums and placards of encouragement. One of these placards showed a cartoon of the iconic Bollywood actor Amrish Puri giving a thumbs-up gesture, with the dialogue: “Ja Aniket ja, jee le apni zindagi.” It was inspired by one of the most-loved scenes in mainstream Hindi cinema, in which a very strict father finally gives his daughter the blessing to go to the man she loves.
Second, they waited for the manager to step out of the door. As soon as the manager appeared, Aniket shook his hands, and said with a smile, “Sorry, sir, bye bye.” Then he turned and broke into a dance, as his friends immediately started beating the drums.
The furious manager began shoving the friends, showing exactly why Aniket was right to quit this job.
An after-party organised by Anish followed, where the now independent Aniket was gifted a great pair of gym shoes to get him started on his new career: personal trainer. His toxic sales job behind him, Aniket was now free to follow his passion.