when work from home started corporate professional anshuls existing back problem began to flareup and started affecting his other daily activities toositting for long hours has been deemed the new smoking for the amount of problems it creates and not just back pain and a numb posterior it has been linked to higher risk of developing diabetes and cardiac issues anshul who works with a mobile wallet company in gurugram decided to make wfh as healthy as possible by investing in a standing desknow my back pain is much less and a standing desk allows me to walk around while my calls are on said anshul who spent rs 3500 on the desk branded products start from rs 20000 and can go up to rs 50000standing desks are an expensive and niche product with a small market in india while they are not new wfh has led to a surge in demand as people are trying to make wfh safer more comfortable and healthier at ergo desks a retail store in rajouri garden delhi sales have doubled before covid it was in the range of rs 50 lakh now its above rs 1 crore said rahul mathur of ergo desks at cityfurnish a furniture rental portal overall demand for wfh solutions has increased by more than 45 since the last quarter and is still growing steadily said its founder neerav jainamaresh ojha founder gympik has been using a standing desk during wfhwhile bulk orders for offices have decreased because of wfh retail sales have increased at purpleark an ergonomical furniture startup founder gunasekaran jayaraman said retail sales have increased 100 since wfh started in marchdr arun bhanot chief of spine surgery at columbia asia hospital in delhi said standing desks are a good idea when used the right way if you are leaning too much then it will lead to problems said bhanot your elbows should form a 90degree angle when your wrists are flat on the desk and its best if you dont stand longer than 30 minutes at a time hyderabad based programmer abhishek mandloi shifted to a standing desk about two months ago when his office offered him furniture allowance it cost me rs 27000 while standing i can move around which allows me to think better i can mull over things said mandloistanding desk allows you to be more active added amaresh ojha founder of fitness aggregator gympik and said that half the staff at his startup have also purchased standing desks