Too Hot, Too Cold: Inside Mumbai’s Office ‘AC War’

Office life is hard enough. There are deadlines, endless follow-ups, and that one senior who thinks "just a quick change" is a perfectly reasonable request five minutes before leaving time.

Then comes summer.

For the employee who has just survived a sweaty Mumbai local train commute, lowering the AC temperature feels like divine intervention. But spare a thought for the unfortunate soul sitting directly under the vent. One person is finally cooling down; the other is slowly transforming into a human popsicle. What begins as an ordinary May morning at a Mumbai tech company soon escalates into what employees refer to—only half-jokingly—as The Great AC War.

Remote battles

At the centre of the conflict is a small white remote hanging innocently on a wall. Like many office remotes, it appears harmless. In reality, it possesses enough power to trigger emotional reactions usually reserved for budget cuts and surprise Monday meetings.

By mid-morning, the office splits into two camps. Leading Team 24-Degree is a senior manager who arrives daily armed with sweaters, shawls and thermal socks, looking less like an office-goer and more like someone preparing for a Himalayan expedition. Her supporters firmly believe the workplace resembles a commercial freezer. One employee claims his fingers go numb.

Another produces a 47-slide PowerPoint presentation complete with charts and graphs to scientifically justify his preferred temperature. The science, according to coworkers, is "creative at best."

"When the temperature is too low, it affects my concentration and sometimes my fingers feel frozen," says Krisha Shah, a PR intern.

Across the battlefield stands Team 18-Degree, who maintains that cooler temperatures improve focus, boost productivity and simply feel right.

There is also a third faction: Team Sweater. These employees refuse to take sides. They adapt. They wear jackets, sip coffee and observe the conflict like anthropologists studying a newly discovered climate-based civilisation.

War goes digital

By afternoon, the battle migrates online. First a WhatsApp group called AC Justice. Minutes later, supporters of the opposing side launch Cool Logic.

"It affects productivity and people's mood," explains advertising intern Shreya Koticha.

"Some employees keep leaving their desks to warm up, while others try to cool down after commuting."

Advertising intern Shanica Gonsalves sums up the struggle perfectly: "The worst situation is when you're working on a 50-slide presentation and the AC is so cold that both your body and your brain stop cooperating."

More than just temperature

As tempers cool, employees realise the issue is never really about the remote or the temperature. It is about understanding that everyone arrives at work carrying different pressures—long commutes, deadlines, expectations and insecurities."It would bring a drastic change in everyone's efficiency and comfort if people felt their concerns were heard," says Soubhit Mondal.

The lesson from the Great AC War is simple: listen to your colleagues. Adjust when you can. Recognise that comfort means different things to different people. And most importantly, know when to stop arguing—before a disagreement over two degrees turns into a full-scale office civil war.

Published on: Sunday, May 31, 2026, 08:05 AM IST