The fluorescent yellow single-storeyed structure that caught the eye to the right of the Major Arterial Road on entering New Town from Sector V is now ready to welcome people looking for a change of setting after a year of working from home.

The workspace, christened Happy Works, was inaugurated last Friday. As reported in the cover story of The Telegraph Salt Lake on December 4, 2020,.

The other two are coming up opposite Eco Park, this is the first of three working pods planned in each of the three action areas in New Town and is located next to the old NKDA office near the Owl crossing, and near Sankalpa 4 housing complex.

The 20 work stations are desks separated by wooden partitions at the sides and glass partitions in front. “The transparency will work as vigilance by fellow users against objectionable websites being accessed,” said a Hidco official. One has to bring one’s own laptop or device. The ground floor is air-conditioned and wi-fi connectivity is being offered free in the initial weeks.

The first hour and half will cost Rs 30 and Rs 20 for each hour thereafter. One can even rent a seat for a monthly fee for Rs 3,999, plus GST. Twelve women from the women’s self-help group Jagarani have been given six days’ training to run the working pod and sell hot beverage. There is also a photocopying facility.

A corner has books ranging from Shirshendu Mukherjee in Bengali to Agatha Christie in English. Next to it, two sofas have been placed for people wanting to read books in comfort. “The books have been brought over from New Town Library at Nazrul Tirtha across the road and will be changed from time to time,” an official said. Housing and transport minister Firhad Hakim who inaugurated the workpod also left word to keep some of the chief minister’s works there.

“The township is home to youth working in the IT sector, three or four of whom often share a room on rent. They can come over here to work comfortably in their own space,” said Hakim. As chairman of the board of administrators of Calcutta Municipal Corporation, he would try to replicate the idea in Calcutta as well, he said.

The Happy Works working pod is designed on 836sq. ft. of space by Abin Design Studio. Above the single storey are a flight of steel steps which test one’s knees being double the usual height of steps. They are not meant to take one up to the roof but sit those who want to work outdoors in the winter months. “The increased height of the steps makes it comfortable for tall people to sit on them,” an employee of the design studio explained. “They are reminiscent of the steps we sat on at Presidency College,” said Hidco managing director Debashis Sen, whose brainchild the work pods are.

He pointed out that the facility was meant for the use of the immediate neighbourhood from where people can walk up. “The target customers are those who need space to work, not so much for watching films,” Sen added.