The Web Was Beautiful, Until I Realized I Was the Victim.
Pros
Good Deeds ------------------------------------------------------------------ I learned how things actually worked. A delayed salary wasn’t really a delay. It was a silent donation. While I borrowed money to survive, newcomers enjoyed smooth onboarding, on-time salaries, and fresh hikes, unaware that their stable start was supported by people juggling delays and still keeping things running. Festivals, outings, photoshoots… all perfectly on time. The only thing that never arrived on schedule was the salary of those making everything possible. And through it all, we stayed late, learned new skills after working hours, interviewed and trained newcomers. We stayed proactive for the team, even when our own energy was down to the last few percent. I understood the pattern because I was a newcomer once too. Honesty ------------------------------------------------------------------ When asked about my pending salary or employee benefits, I never got a straight answer. Instead, I was met with explanations and lines like, “We’ll handle your experience letter and know what should be written,” “During checks, we know what to say,” followed by, “Don’t worry, we don’t do it.” The reassurance somehow made it feel worse, not better. At times, it felt like I was asking for their personal savings, or like they had given me a job and I was supposed to pay them back. Then came the next level: “We have access to cameras. And yes, audio too.” Nothing builds trust like being reminded you’re basically on a live recording you never agreed to. Interests ------------------------------------------------------------------ Salary was delayed for months and I ended up paying interest to banks just to survive. They delayed the pay. I paid the interest. But if I missed even a single day of work because of the same pressure, the deduction showed up right on time. And while your income is frozen, your personal commitments start to fall apart. People around you start losing trust in you because you are trying to survive on hope instead of salary. Being married adds a bonus layer. It’s no longer just your problem. You now get the privilege of justifying salary delays to two families instead of one. Interest matters. But not to them. Benefits ------------------------------------------------------------------ TDS wasn’t deducted, so I had to settle it myself later. There was no PF or ESI either, which meant no security, no insurance, and no real safety net. If anything went wrong, it became my responsibility, not the company’s. Bonuses and incentives felt more like folklore. I heard about them often but never actually saw one. The pattern was simple: if it benefited me, I couldn’t rely on it. If it cost me, it was already mine. Ethics ------------------------------------------------------------------ The company’s size changed with the conversation. When it suited them, they were a big organization. When I raised issues, the response was that even big companies had the same problems. But when I asked about big-company benefits, they instantly became “just a small firm.” The switch didn’t even take a blink. If they want me to join early, leaving my old job became the “right decision.” But if I wanted to leave early because of their practices, the definition of ethics flips instantly. Minor issues around timing or formalities were treated as serious discipline issues. Big things like delayed salaries and employee benefits? Met with silence so deep you could meditate in it. Tactics ------------------------------------------------------------------ When salaries were delayed, management handled it thoughtfully. Instead of pressuring juniors directly, the responsibility was passed to seniors, who were asked to push juniors. From a junior’s perspective, this worked well, seniors appeared to be the problem, while management stayed comfortably out of sight. Notice periods showed the same selective enforcement. When the company wanted me to leave, it was immediate, with no buffer to find another job. Clearing my pending salary, however, required repeated follow-ups with no clear timeline. When I wanted to leave, notice periods became strictly non-negotiable, policies were enforced carefully, especially where deductions from my pending salary were involved. I sent so many reminders it felt like Gmail might start charging me rent. Despite being relieved, I was still expected to be available and support them.
Cons
Transparency ------------------------------------------------------------------ Whenever the real problems surfaced, clarity was the first thing to disappear. There were no clear updates and no proper meetings. Instead, management discussed the issues with each employee individually, gave different explanations, and discouraged people from discussing them further. Which, ironically, made people talk even more. When employees asked questions together, it was labelled “creating disturbance”. The issue was never the question. It was the fact that it was asked as a group. It felt like a live demo of “divide and rule” straight out of a school textbook.