Work-Life Balance: Delhi lawyer living in London says why she will never return to Indian corporate culture: ‘I don’t get any emails after work; I actually have time to pursue my hobbies’
An Indian woman living in London reveals why she would never return for a corporate job in her home country. Jasleen Kaur, a Delhiite and dual-qualified solicitor (India and England & Wales), says she is done with Indian corporate culture. After working as a legal professional in London for two years, where it is normal to have a work–life balance, she refuses to return to corporate burnout.
A career without compromising other aspects of life
In a video shared on Instagram, the woman spoke about how she has a life beyond work in London. “I learnt that I can have a career I love without letting it become my entire identity,” the woman captioned the video.The woman spoke about how, in London, her employers do not expect her to work overtime. “I can never work in Indian litigation or Indian corporate culture because I have worked in the UK for two years now and it has ruined me,” she said.According to Kaur, she clocks in at around 9:30 am and leaves at 5:30. Her phone is not flooded with work emails or messages after that, and she does not have to work at weekends. “I log in at 9, 9:30. Nobody expects me to log in earlier. I log out strictly at 5:30 once I’ve completed my seven or eight hours of work. I don’t get any emails or calls from my teammates or my seniors after that. I don’t work at weekends,” she said.In the United Kingdom, the work culture is professional, fairly balanced, and values personal boundaries. Working beyond office hours is not expected, and people usually value punctuality. Standard office hours are often around 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, and paid leave is a protected part of employment culture.According to Kaur, she has a life beyond her work in the UK. “The work–life balance is amazing. I actually have time to pursue my hobbies, cook for myself, work on myself, read, watch films, try whatever I want to do,” she said.After completing an LLB in India in 2019 and getting her first job in civil litigation in Delhi, she moved to London. She pursued an LLM in Entertainment Law and graduated with a distinction in 2022. She started working in London in June 2023.
The possiblity to think and grow
Beyond the hours, UK culture granted her something harder to quantify: intellectual permission. She is not afraid to talk about work with her manager. “I’m not scared to ask my senior or my manager any question. Every stupid question is a good question. I’m encouraged to ask questions. I’m encouraged to bring my queries because, according to them, that helps them as well,” she said.The question Kaur posed at the end cuts deepest: “Why would I ever want to go back?” According to her, India’s corporate machinery expects people to have no life beyond work. She knows that work, even meaningful work, does not have to consume one’s identity. It does not have to colonise weekends or make you fear your phone. She knows that one can be a committed professional, deliver results, and still have energy left for oneself by 5:30 pm. “Why would I ever want to go back to the culture that expected so much out of me, expected me to have no life of my own and treat my work as my life when I’m just earning to actually enjoy the rest of my life?” the woman said.The video has grabbed the attention of many online and sparked conversations about the pitfalls in India’s corporate culture. “India needs labour laws IMMEDIATELY. Without a second’s notice! And if there are labour laws, then they need to be enforced more strictly!” one user commented. Another netizen shared their experience of working from India for a UK-based company, where the work–life balance matches the standard of Britons: “I work remotely for a UK-based immigration law firm, and we follow the same rules and professional standards as if we were based in the UK. Even though I work online from India, everything you said still applies.” A third tried to explain the gap: “Yeah girl, that’s called being in a developed country and in a developing country. The work–life balance would of course be different.” A fourth user, who claims to be a corporate lawyer, agreed with Kaur: “As a fellow corporate lawyer, I can’t agree more. I can feel this stark difference between the mindset of Indian management and foreign management.” The video is sparking larger conversations about employee welfare in India compared to the UK.
