‘Rs 370 biryani’ joke costs youth his job, raising several questions for society

In the race to be funny, witty, and smart to catch netizens’ attention for a second in the infinite digital universe, people often fail to differentiate between cool and crass. Content creators Ranveer Allahbadia and Samay Raina paid the price last year but the lesson has possibly not trickled down into every nook and cranny of Indian society.

A 22-year-old web developer has now learned his own personal lesson the hard way by losing his job for making what can best be described as some lewd and insensitive remarks about his “date” which he apparently intended to be amusing and entertaining.

A crass ‘joke’

Himanshu Jangra, a Gurugram-based web developer, was in the audience at comedian Pranit More’s show when he casually described, to peals of laughter from the host and the audience, his sexcapades on a date where he spent Rs 370 on chicken biryani. Besides the lewdness of it all, what made netizens see red was his suggestion that since he had spent the princely sum on the meal, he expected “something in return” from his date, or it would be “a loss”.

Also read: SC protects Ranveer Allahbadia from arrest; says ‘something dirty in his mind’

A clip of Jangra’s interaction with More quickly went viral on social media, inviting severe backlash from scores of netizens aghast at the young man’s sense of entitlement by paying for dinner. Unsurprisingly, people quickly found out from his profile that he worked at the Gurugram-based branding and social media company Starvik Design. And the company’s founder, Vivek Vishwakarma, drowning in a sea of emails and messages from action-seeking angry netizens, was soon forced to take a decision.

What about a second chance?

Soon, Vishwakarma shared an Instagram video announcing that the company had decided to fire Jangra, not because of what he did outside of office hours but because those actions had started adversely affecting the company. He also made it clear that Jangra’s remarks did not align with the company’s values and said opinions had been sought from other employees too.

However, instead of slamming Jangra outright, Vishwakarma also pointed out that nobody within the company, including female employees, had any complaints against Jangra. He said they told him that Jangra was professional and respectful, and he felt that while people should pay the price for their actions, they should also get a chance to introspect, apologise, and move on.

Also read: Allahbadia told cops he made a 'mistake' with controversial remarks: Officials

He also pointed out that Jangra was only 22 and might suffer the consequences of this incident for years to come. While many netizens rejoiced at Jangra’s firing, many others felt Vishwakarma was right about striking a balance between retribution and redemption. Vishwakarma himself was not immune to the backlash either. His soft request for reconsideration also riled up netizens who observed that the company might not have acted at all but for the social media backlash.

Where to draw the line?

The incident raises several questions. Is it high time content creators, especially comedians, learnt to spot the not-so-fine line between humour and crassness? Should they consciously edit out vulgar content before these can reach the wider audience and raise hellfire? How far can the consequences be allowed to go for imprudent behaviour? Should netizens act as the judge, jury, and executioner in such cases? And where does society as a whole draw the line between retribution and rehabilitation?

As for Jangra, who issued an online apology saying he did not want to hurt any sentiments and the “sexcapade” itself was made up to “entertain” the audience, his two minutes of fame (rather, shame) have now cost him his employment as well as reputation. The “370-rupee chicken biryani” has indeed turned into a huge loss, much bigger than he bargained for.