Source: The Economic Times (Bangalore)

WORRIES ABOUT the sub-prime crisis and financial meltdown were put on the backburner for a few days as the Dussehra festive spirit spread to IT campuses. It was time to bring out colourful clothes as techies took a break from their cubicles to let their dandiya sticks do the talking.

“Festivals at Cognizant are perfect opportunities to get together and celebrate different cultures and traditions... we celebrate various festivals through numerous initiatives like workplace decoration competitions, music and dance performances, to name a few,” says Cognizant human resources assistant vice-president Sriram Rajagopal. Employees at its Hyderabad and Chennai centres had a heady time at the dandiya raas organised by the company.

Dandiya was the flavour of the season as companies like Cognizant, HP, Infosys, Birlasoft, Tech Mahindra and Convergys organised dance events to boost employee morale. US-based Convergys’ development centre at Hyderabad saw Navaratri being ushered in with all traditional symbols this year.

It was with a dance competition that Convergys Information Management in Hyderabad welcomed the nine-day festival. “We celebrated Navaratri on its first day with a dandiya dance competition. The participants, dressed in colourful, traditional outfits, performed amidst a medley of dandiya and garba songs,” said Convergys information management director (finance) Jatin Jhala.

While the human resource department looks upon festivities as a way to promote team spirit between employees, Sundaram Infotech in Chennai went a step ahead to invite family members as well. “As part of our Navaratri celebrations, we organised a fancy dress competition for our employees’ children that brought a refreshing and colourful look to the evening with the children turning out in traditional dresses... This was an opportunity for the families of employees to interact with each other,” said Sundaram Infotech Solutions CEO Malli Sivakumar.

The company also organised a golu contest for its employees that saw a lot of participation from men. Split into teams of five members each, the teams had to use dolls, within a 4ft x 4ft space to set up golus with themes ranging from global warming to futuristic arrangements. Sivakumar says such events create “a bonding among employees who may otherwise not engage with other project teams”.

The dandiya programme at HP’s Chennai centre was arranged at the cafeteria. “Initially, people were hesitant to dance, but slowly many joined in. The place was decorated with dance lights and about 100 pairs of dandiya sticks were hired for the occasion,” says Parthasarathy, a senior software engineer at the tech firm. Festive clouds hung over Birlasoft with its north India centres dancing to Dandiya beats during the Navratras while the south celebrated Dussehra and Ayudha Puja by decorating their cubicles and distributing sweets. “We have employees coming from every nook and corner of the country. We respect and appreciate each one’s culture and traditions,” said Birlasoft senior vice-president (global marketing) Ravi Kathuria.

The ‘Dandiya Night’ at Infosys’ Bangalore campus was a grand affair with a deejay being hired for the event and employees turning up in traditional clothes. The company is planning to replicate the event in Chennai this week.

At Tech Mahindra, celebrations began with the traditional ‘Satya Narayan’ pooja at the office premises. But the main attraction was the ‘Dandiya Night’ organised by internal club TechM JOSH for employees to have fun, which is not usually possible with tight work schedules. Dance floors were put up at all locations of Tech M.

Employees turned out in large numbers displaying the spirit of JOSH among all ‘TechMighties’. Awards for best-dressed (male/female), best-dancer (male/female) and the best dressed IDU were given out on the same night.

While it was a lavish song-anddance affair at some places, others chose to liven up the workplace, trashing staid formals during Navaratri. Telecom application services company NetXcell celebrated the spirit of women through colours as Navaratri symbolises the Devi. “As the festival is for nine days, we chose a single colour theme for each day... women came to office dressed in clothes of that colour. Besides, we also decorated our work space and office premises using the same colour,” said NetXcell general manager (new business initiatives) Suresh T Kumar. He added that they also arranged a traditional song and dance festival on Vijayadasami.

Some remembered to do their bit for society even as the festivities were taking place. “As part of our community initiative programme, we invited a group of senior citizens from the Sri Satya Sai Seva Ashram to join us for the celebrations,” said Jhala of Convergys. On Dussehra day, employees visited the residents of the old age home and prepared meals for them.


(With inputs from Chandra Ranganathan in Chennai, Vanisha Joseph in Bangalore and Sreekala G in Hyderabad)