India, April 21 -- In the land where chai-fueled all-nighters and back-to-back meetings have long been worn as badges of honour, a quiet rebellion is brewing. India's Gen Z is calling a timeout on the hustle. The same young professionals who grew up watching their parents glorify exhaustion are now doing the unthinkable: choosing sanity over stress, mental peace over burnout, and, in a move that might give old-school workaholics heart palpitations, embracing something called micro-retirement.

"Micro retiring is all about taking shorter, intentional breaks throughout your career instead of waiting for one long retirement at the end of your working life. Instead of investing time in work, one invests time in their own self, passions, inter...