Why do people get a day off in Australia? According to one Indian man living there, sometimes the answer is simply: why not have some fun?Aditya Khaneja, who says he has been living in Australia for 10 years, shared a humorous take on how public holidays in the two countries are decided. His Instagram video has now sparked a discussion online, with users sharing their own experiences and opinions.“I want to talk about public holidays. I’ve been in Australia for 10 years, and I’ve realised that people here don’t seem to like anything more than having fun,” Khaneja said in the video.He then pointed to some of the public holidays observed in different parts of Australia. Talking about the AFL Grand Final holiday, he joked that people get a Friday off to have fun.He also brought up Melbourne Cup Day, questioning why a horse race comes with a day off. In Queensland, he mentioned the Royal Queensland Show holiday, describing it as a day to go to a fair. Picnic Day in Darwin also made it into his list.Khaneja then compared this with India, where public holidays are often linked to religious, national and culturally significant occasions.“India mein kitni religious aur kitni, matlab, auspicious cheezon ki chhutti milti hai na,” he said, referring to holidays such as Independence Day and Diwali.But his biggest observation was about holidays that fall on weekends.“If Diwali falls on a Saturday in India, it feels like the end of the world. Here, if a holiday falls on a Saturday, the government says, ‘Don’t worry, take Friday as a public holiday.’ And if it falls on Sunday, they say, ‘Take Monday instead.’ It’s great,” he said.“Tumhe kabhi kisi ne bola hoga na ki Australians laid-back hain aur tumhe reason na pata ho, ye reason hai,” Khaneja added.He wrapped up the video with another joke: “There’s one thing the rest of the world can learn from this – the fun shouldn’t stop.”Sharing the clip on Instagram, Khaneja captioned it, “Public holidays in Australia vs India. As if there were not enough reasons to love this country.”Internet reactsThe comparison got plenty of reactions, with some users agreeing with Khaneja while others challenged his take.“So true,” one user commented.“Unfortunately, NSW doesn’t have these kinds of public holidays,” another wrote.A third user disagreed, saying, “Hey man, stop spreading false information. India has more holiday and chill life compare to Australia.”One user also asked Khaneja how many public holidays Australia has in a year. He replied, “Not many. 13.”
