Work Isn't Working: Why the system fails employees and how we survive it

Corporate India has glass walls, glossy brochures, laminated policies and an endless supply of
motivational posters. But behind all of that lies something far more complex and far more
entertaining. It's a system held together by hierarchy, habit, accidental comedy, selective
empathy and the collective exhaustion of its employees.
This sharply observed, darkly funny and painfully honest book takes readers on a guided tour
of the Indian corporate ecosystem. From onboarding mazes to background verification
nightmare loops, from caste-coded cafeteria rules to the quiet tyranny of dress codes, from
narcissistic co-workers to managers who mistake meetings for leadership, every chapter
offers a story that is both deeply personal and universally recognisable.
Drawing from real experiences, anonymous anecdotes, and the lived absurdities that unite
corporate workers across industries, the book reveals how the system works, why people
behave the way they do inside it, and how dignity often gets negotiated away without anyone
noticing. Whether it is a leave request treated like a national security breach, or a notice
period that suddenly turns into a negotiation drama, each incident becomes a lens into larger
truths about power, culture, identity and survival.
Written in the voice of a columnist who has seen too much and forgotten to stay quiet, Work
Isn't Working blends humour with social commentary, satire with empathy, personal narrative
with cultural critique. It exposes the invisible caste hangovers in air-conditioned offices, the
obsession with ratings and trackers, the fragile egos hiding behind job levels, and the
hierarchy that follows employees around like a shadow.
This is not a book about companies. It is a book about people inside systems that were never
designed for them. A book about work, but also about life. A book for anyone who has ever
stared at a meaningless spreadsheet and wondered, "Is this really it?"
By the end, readers may find themselves laughing, nodding, wincing or rethinking their own
jobs. But one thing is certain: they will never look at corporate India, or their own workplace,
the same way again.