The dark side to Nykaa’s beauty business

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Editor's note: Priya Chhetri, 26, was set on making it in Mumbai. She quit her job as a fashion coordinator in New York to land in Maximum City, armed with an offer from online beauty retailer Nykaa. “Besides, my name is Priyaa, it's as filmy as it gets,” she says. In about a month’s time, Chhetri left the firm, disillusioned and sounding quite distraught while narrating her trauma about her short-lived stint at the firm on a call from her hometown in Nepal. Chhetri’s isn’t the only toxic tale to emerge out of Nykaa. An anonymous Instagram handle recently carried a series of posts from former employees alleging body shaming, rape jokes and making fun of people who didn’t dress or speak right. Nykaa isn’t the first startup to be called out for its toxic work culture. The Morning Context reported on the punishing workplace that is Hotstar, while in January, The New York Times wrote about the pressure on employees of hospitality chain OYO.  Nykaa’s, too, looked like a beautiful success story. It was launched in April 2012 as an online …