Embracing Diwali Celebrations: Fostering Cultural Inclusivity in the Workplace

Hi,

I am planning to celebrate Diwali in my office with some activities. Please suggest me some ideas.

Regards,
Kavita Sharma

Hi Kavita,

You can organize the following by dividing staff into different teams:

- Diwali-based fashion show.
- Comic skits (spoofs on TV serials, ads, movies).
- Rangoli competition using diyas, bulbs, etc. (related to Diwali).
- And of course, asking the employees to be in traditional wear and then choosing the best-dressed male and best-dressed female.

- Payal

Hi Kavita,

What we do is organize a small Diwali mela in our office. We get some food caterers to set up small stalls for exciting food and have other stalls for games like card games, puzzle-solving, and huddle games, etc. We also hire a photographer to take photographs. The entire office is decorated with flowers and lights. Everyone dresses in Indian outfits. In the main reception area, we have a professional rangoli made and decorate it with diyas and all. It's always fun to do all this a day before Diwali.

Hope this information is useful for you.

Jasneet

Dear Friends,

Diwali Get Together

Apart from the activities suggested by our friends, you can organize an employee get-together to facilitate the exchange of greetings. Lighting the lamp symbolizes a bright future for everybody, sharing the significance of the Diwali Festival, discussing the overall perspective of the business's future. Giving a Silver Lakshmi coin to each employee and having a High Tea are some ideas. You can add much more to this. Allocate just one hour for this function.

Regards,
N.R. Srinivas

Gentlemen,

Don't you think it's ridiculous? What is the difference in the workplace regarding your private affairs? Do you expect employees to publicly disclose their emotions and preferences?

India is a great country with multicultural, religious, linguistic, and regional festivities. All these private affairs are meant for celebrating at home with close friends, relatives, and family members. Public display at the office or workplace limited to greetings is a gesture of socializing. However, that should not be officially promoted as a ritual or mandatory event.

Regards,

Sawant

We organize housie/tambola every year on the occasion of Diwali and give away electronic items as gifts to the employees. People actually look forward to this day and eagerly await to play the game. Also, we have a snacks party while playing so everyone enjoys it to the fullest.

Dear Sawant, this is not ridiculous!

This is the only way to celebrate the festival with colleagues as a family member. Think about those companies that have a 24/7 environment, where employees are not supposed to go home to celebrate with family members. This is the only way to provide them with an environment as if they are at home.

Seeing the smiles on employees' faces is the duty of HR.

Hope you understand!

Well, I wish you a very happy Diwali in advance!

Regards,

Pankaj Chandan

Those who work 24/7 are bad organizations, and those who spread this concept are engaging in bad HR practices. Except for some industrial nature activities such as oil & gas offshore exploration or space aviation, working 24/7 can be understood, but not in a commercial/industrial entity.

Celebrations in the office should be for success and achievements, not for festivity or cultural events. There are many festivals exclusive to women that cannot be celebrated in the office. This is ridiculous.

Regards,
Sawant

Mr. Sawant, first of all, your language is not professional. We are not talking about an individual; we are talking about celebrating the Diwali festival. I see that you have some problem with celebrating the Diwali festival. Am I right? If not, then why do you use this kind of language? One more thing, you are not supposed to stop anyone from celebrating any festival.

Correct your words!!

Regards,

Pankaj Chandan

Dear Mr. Sawant,

It seems that staying in Saudi Arabia, you have restricted yourself too much. It seems you have forgotten to even display your emotions like happiness, brotherhood, oneness, etc. publicly. You make it seem as if celebrating a festival is a big crime.

Remember the adage "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." One's workplace is not supposed to be a detention camp where people are supposed to come, keep a straight face, and just do nothing but work and leave.

Only if there is some camaraderie between the staff will they actually enjoy their work and be more productive. Celebrating a festival like Diwali goes a long way in building up this spirit of brotherhood, unity, etc., and it gives the employees a feeling that their organization does not treat them as just machines but as human beings and does care for their happiness and well-being.

If you have any contrary opinions, you are free to follow them, but please do not try to impose your views on others. Do take care of your language while writing; it might sound offensive to others.