Diwali, the festival of lights, is a time of celebration, family, and the cherished tradition of exchanging gifts. In corporate India, this tradition often translates into a festive bonus or a thoughtful hamper. And for decades, the undisputed king of these corporate hampers has been the humble, flaky, and polarizing soan papdi.
It’s a sweet that has launched a thousand memes, famously known as the one gift that is endlessly “forwarded” from one household to another. This year, however, the joke took a bitter turn.
A video, now exploding across social media, captures a moment of unprecedented protest. In the clip, frustrated employees at a manufacturing unit are seen deliberately throwing unopened boxes of soan papdi at their company’s front gate, turning the quintessential Diwali gift into a symbol of defiance.
What Sparked the Sweet-Fueled Protest?
The incident unfolded at a manufacturing unit in Gannaur, just days before the nationwide Diwali celebrations. According to reports, employees were anticipating their usual annual festive bonus, a sum many working-class families depend on for festive purchases, paying off debts, or savings.
Instead of the bonus, the management handed out a box of soan papdi to each worker.
For the company officials, it was intended as a “goodwill gesture for the occasion.” For the workers, it was perceived as an insult. The frustration was not just about receiving a box of sweets; it was a culmination of deeper financial grievances. Workers reported that they were already struggling with the rising cost of living and, more critically, had been facing alleged delays in their regular wage payments.
In this context, the soan papdi—a gift worth a fraction of an expected bonus—felt like a token gesture that completely ignored their financial realities. What was meant to spread cheer instead sparked anger, leading to the viral act of protest. Factory officials later confirmed the protest took place but stated that there was no violence or damage to property.
The Internet is Divided: A Debate on Bonuses, Waste, and the Honor of Soan Papdi
The video’s spread was instantaneous, and the reaction from netizens was just as fast, splitting public opinion into three distinct camps.
1. The “Bonus is a Right” Camp
Many users expressed full solidarity with the workers, arguing that the protest was not really about the sweets but about a lack of financial respect. “A Diwali bonus is a part of the salary expectation, not a gift. Soan papdi in its place is a mockery,” one user tweeted. Another commented, “When you’re struggling with wage delays, and the company gives you a 100-rupee sweet box instead of a bonus… this reaction is understandable. They are protesting their treatment, not the sweet.”
2. The “Don’t Waste Food” Camp
On the other side, a large number of viewers were appalled by the act of throwing food, a strong cultural taboo in India. “No matter what the reason, throwing food on the ground is just wrong,” a popular comment read. This group, while sympathizing with the lack of a bonus, felt the workers’ method was disrespectful.
“I understand they are angry, but they could have just refused to accept it,” another user suggested. “Better yet, they could have collected it all and donated it to an orphanage or to the poor. There are so many people living in slums who would have appreciated it. Wasting food is a sin.”
3. The “Soan Papdi Defense Squad”
In a predictable (and more humorous) turn, many people rushed to the defense of the sweet itself. The incident was seen as the ultimate insult to the already-maligned delicacy. “Soan papdi is a good desi sweet,” one user wrote, defending its reputation. “People call it cheap, but there are many who can’t even afford it. The soan papdi didn’t do anything to deserve this backlash!”
A Symbol of a Larger Disconnect
Ultimately, the Gannaur incident has transcended the memes. It has become a potent, viral case study in employee-employer relations. The image of the discarded sweets piling up at the factory gate is a powerful symbol of the vast disconnect between management’s “goodwill gestures” and the on-ground financial realities of their workforce.
While the protest was about a missing bonus, the choice of soan papdi as the rejected object is what made it symbolic. It represents the moment a token gift, given in place of a genuine financial reward, becomes not just inadequate, but insulting. The workers in Gannaur didn’t just throw away a box of sweets; they threw away a gesture they felt was empty.
