Tuesday holiday not Friday !

Free Thinker *

Why do you prefer Tuesday to Friday as an additional holiday ? My simple response is that it is a holy day and it will be convenient for many to do some ‘puja path’ and also feed some lovely creatures who are supposed to be our ancestors vis-a-vis evolution. Moreover, we can easily overcome the Monday blues by getting instant rest on Tuesday. Then we can restart efficiently on Wednesday.

If I have the power to fix the weekly holidays – I shall make Tuesday a weekly holiday in addition to Saturday and Sunday. To add one more day it should be Tuesday and no other day. Certainly not Friday because almost all our great leaders were sacrificed or martyred on this day.

Some innocent students desire to have Friday also a holiday. Young people want more holidays – that is quite natural. Holidays for three consecutive days are a wonderful proposition. But they must understand that we still follow certain rules and regulations. Normally the Government has the power to declare holidays or decide the number of working days.

Of course, we also have non-Governmental holidays during bandhs, shut-downs, blockades, etc – that are done in extraordinary circumstances. And that is outside the preview of the law.

The holiday is an important aspect of life; without a holiday or holidays humans may not be able to function efficiently. The rationale behind weekly a holiday or holidays is to recharge our body or system to work for 5/6 days. Rest for rejuvenation is required for everyone.

It is difficult to trace the weekly holiday history. Whoever started had a logic behind it. Whether it is one one-day break or a few days break in a week, a break is necessary to prepare for the coming working days. Universally the working hours are also 7/8 hours a day, not more than that.

One Spanish Pradip told me that in Spain Saturday and Sunday are weekly holidays. But by Friday afternoon nobody is available in the office. The offices are almost empty by Friday late afternoon. The weekends are considered extremely important. Because everyone has to recharge for the next five working days.

In Muslim countries Fridays and Saturdays are holidays. Friday is their holy day and Saturday is their rest day. Sunday is a working day. This is done according to their convenience and culture. We are nobody to comment upon their practice. That is their internal matter. As far as our internal matter is concerned the Government of India and the State Governments are still competent enough to take their decisions.

Most Christian countries including the USA have Saturday and Sunday off. Friday is still not included. However, as a matter of policy whenever they have to declare public holidays – they always try to make sure that the extra holiday falls either on Friday or Monday so that people can enjoy three weekly holidays. As of now all over the country, they have 5 days working days and Saturday and Sunday holidays. There may be a few States where only Sunday is the weekly holiday. Please find out.

Narayana Murthy‘s proposition for the youths to work for 70 hours a week so that we become more advanced and more competitive, is a good idea. But Sir, our youths need more rest these days. They are working overtime. Apart from their normal office work, they have to handle- their social network accounts like WhatsApp, Facebook, X, (and ex too), Instagram etc.

Though it is a wonderful proposition our youngsters may not like it. They will simply say that in any case, we are becoming an advanced country by 2047. And a 5 trillion dollar economy is knocking at the door. A reverse brain drain is happening. What is the hurry? I know everyone will be happy to have more holidays in a week. However, there is a procedure to follow.

If we are longing for 4 working days in a week, that is fine. Because we all know that we are intelligent and hardworking and we can easily manage the work-load. Even after months of disturbances we still can function as normally as ever. The system itself adjusts according to our circumstances.

CS is indicating ‘don't indulge in obnoxious illegal activities like declaring holidays by incompetent authorities’.

Teachers may kindly teach the students that there is something called the Negotiable Instrument Act and underwhich holidays are declared or fixed by the competent authorities. So, first, they need to become the competent authority to declare Friday a weekly holiday.

Tuesday will be better than Friday for various reasons. Most importantly it will calm down the Monday madness. After breaking the Monday blues we can start afresh from Wednesday. Moreover, Tuesday is the day of a living God (immortal).

Let us go for Tuesday instead of Friday (Jesus was crucified on Friday). Of course, we can have a dialogue to decide the day. But, I believe there is almost unanimous agreement on 4 days working and 3 days off in a week.

Tuesday or Friday holiday in addition to Saturday & Sunday (holidays) will be a novel idea for the world to emulate.