With a long list of official holidays, Indians don't need vacations

Given the number of national holidays and political protest-prompted days off that India has anyway, little wonder so few working Indians avail of their annual quota of paid vacation, unlike the British, Canadians, Danes, French, Norwegian , Singaporeans, Spanish and Swedes, who take their full complement of leave.

What with serendipitous positioning of religious festivals and commemoration days before or after weekends, whole weeks to be enjoyed away from work. Just last month, the West Bengal government was on holiday for 10 days.

The survey that recently identified Indians as the fourth most vacation-deprived (or rather, vacation-shy) workers after Japan, South Korea and Australia should have factored in this unusually generous holiday list. The few Indians who do take vacations remain technologically tethered to office during that time is not surprising either.

Bosses may indeed take a dim view of those who want to take more days off than the plentiful government-sanctioned ones and shut down their communication gadgets during that time as well. After all, we have the world’s best telecom tariff rates.

One reason Indians opting for 'staycations' is encashment of leave. Even some Europeans — for whom summer vacations in August are sacrosanct — have been staying put of late as recessionary times have strained wallets.

Poor planning as a reason for not availing leave, however, implies that, at least in one respect , India is becoming westernised: last-minute trips are disincentivised by higher plane, train and hotel room rates for late booking.

If only Indians were the sort who would doss down in the great outdoors and cook over campfires. Maybe they will eventually, if mobile connectivity is guaranteed.