A couple of hours before dusk sets in, hundreds of employees in different software companies, mostly located outside the city, prepare to face a reality that they feel is getting worse every day.

“Dust, pollution, increasing work pressure, and worst of all, over four hours spent doing almost nothing,” says Araddhna Joshi, explaining what multiple traffic jams are to her. Ms Joshi, a resident of T. Nagar and a software engineer for a year now, commutes to Siruseri every day.

Others such as Arul Krishnan have, over four years, seen the situation worsen. “I travel from Koyembedu to Chenglepet every day. The first two years were relatively easy as there was not much work pressure. The ‘bus time' was spent composing jingles with friends,” he says. However, now as part of a support team that provides ‘24x7' technical assistance to an Australian bank, Arul spends most his return journey working on his laptop.

“I do it because I feel it is a better use of time,” he says. Many of Arul's friends and counterparts, aiming to crack competitive B-school tests and other exams, utilise the time to solve sums, read comprehension passages and even attempt mock tests. “There are plenty of online and mobile applications specially designed for commuting hours that help you test and improve your vocabulary and general aptitude. Weekends are not enough for those who wish to crack these entrances,” says Sheikh Samar, an employee with an IT firm. And it's not all work too. Some professionals have specific movies planned for every journey while others depend on music, books and mobile phones to while away the time.

Doctors, however, believe that both working and entertainment through laptops and mobile phones for long while commuting can adversely affect professionals' health. “Bad roads and uneven movement disturb the quality of the image, leading the employee to fixate his vision more,” says Amar Agarwal of Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital. The dryness of the eye reduces the ‘blink reflect' action, often leading to the computer vision syndrome, that many people who extensively use computers experience, he says. A five-minute break after working on mobiles and computers for an hour would help the eye-reflex become normal, he suggests.

Companies are trying to improve this situation, say consultants. While the big ones now have a dedicated number of ‘route champions' who coordinate with each other to devise the best route to lessen traffic woes, most firms also have counsellors and mentors to help their employees. Often online counselling services permit anonymity and also provide advice on schedule management methods to combat stress, say professionals. Many companies now allow their employees to work from home once a couple of months, and organise frequent ‘stress-break' sessions, outings and family days.

However, psychiatrists feel the regime of an exhausting five-day work week and two days exclusively for recreation does not really help. “The everyday commute often leads to adjustment disorders and increased levels of anxiety in the employees,” says R. Sathianathan, former director, Institute of Mental Health, suggesting the time should be best spent in relaxation exercises.

“The industry exerts a lot of pressure and not all its employees are able to sustain it. There should be consistent efforts made to help the employee cope with the everyday stress by analysing his strengths and shortcomings rather than merely engaging him in temporary outings and CSR activities, after which he returns to the same grind,” he adds.

Some IT persons utilise travel time to solve sums, attempt mock tests

“Five-day week, two days recreation do not help”