The festival of lights in our office

We are similar to many offices throughout the world…We have employees from all backgrounds, countries and religions.
So on the 17^th October we celebrated Diwali as an office.
This gave us a chance to learn about the meaning behind Diwali and give everyone in the office the chance to get involved.
How did we get the team involved?

1. We sent out a series of emails throughout the week with teasers of information to build excitement.
2. We got people involved with creating the pot lunch, everyone was bringing something and some were even cooking from scratch.
3. We decorated the office first thing in the morning to build excitement throughout the day.
   
4. Those that had ethnic attire wore it.
5. We had a lunch with so much food we even had left overs
6. Emails were still sent out on the day with team lists and ideas of Rangoli design
7. At 4.30pm everyone was called into the training room for the Rangoli competition. Drinks and snacks were provided and contestants even came with printouts of designs they wanted to create.

For those that don’t know, here are some great facts about Diwali:

• Diwali is the festival of lights, spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil and hope over despair.
• Diwali is the celebration of this Inner Light over spiritual darkness, knowledge over ignorance, right over wrong, good over evil.
• Diwali dates back to ancient times in India, as a festival after the summer harvest.
• Before Diwali night, people clean, renovate and decorate their homes. On Diwali night, people dress up in new clothes or their best outfit, light up diyas (lamps and candles) inside and outside their home, participate in family puja (prayers) typically to Goddess Lakshmi
• Goddess Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity.
• After puja (prayers), fireworks follow, then a family feast including mithai (sweets), and an exchange of gifts between family members and close friends.

We not only celebrated the festival Diwali, but also demonstrated the underlying unity and inclusiveness of our multicultural Australia. It shows the bond we share with each other. The entire celebration at Quay Appointments enriched the multicultural fabric of Australia that adds to the vibrancy of our organization.
Please let us know how you celebrate culture in your office we would love to hear from you.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali!