Ganeshotsav of Aurumine Naturals Pvt Ltd.

Festivals are an important aspect of everyone’s life, be it at home with families or at the workplace with your colleagues- they just can’t be missed. Festivals are a unique opportunity for every company to promote motivation among employees and boost their morale. An increased motivation and morale leads to the increase of productivity and team building behaviors.

Festivals can be of a wide range from traditional festivals of your country to internationally celebrated festivals. And just as much your employees would enjoy a celebration at their workplace, festivals are also a great chance for the Human Resource Departments of your organizations. The HR sees festivals as opportunities to engage employees in a proactive and incremental way.

We, Aurumine Natural’s Management feel that celebrations at a workplace can provide a great change from the monotony of everyday work routine. Employees can have a good time and return to work the next day with a fresh mind. This not only helps them enjoy a change, but also contributes significantly to improving their work-life balance, which in turn boosts their effectiveness as well. After all, which company doesn’t love a happy and healthy workforce at the same time?

Every month, we organize different employee engagement activities in Aurumine Naturals. For September month of 2023, we had organized ‘Dhol Pathak’ in Ganeshotsav. Indian freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak, championed it as a means to circumvent the colonial British government ban on Hindu gatherings through its anti-public assembly legislation in 1892. Lokmanya Tilak started the festival in Pune and Girgaon, Mumbai.

The aim behind ‘Ganeshotsav’ and ‘Dhol Vadan’ as employee engagement activity was to bring people together, to increase fitness level, to celebrate our culture. Also, we had organized ‘Mahaprasad’ on this occasion. Mahaprasada, (Sanskrit: “favour” or “grace”) in Hinduism, food and water offered to a deity during worship (puja). It is believed that the deity partakes of and then returns the offering, thereby consecrating it. The offering is then distributed and eaten by the worshipers.

On this occasion, HR department has done the decorations. We made a plan for ‘Aarti’ so that each department can equally participate. Everyone were getting fresh start of day by doing ‘Aarti’ in morning. Also, we had organized a ‘Rangoli Competition’.

We choosed ‘Dhol Vadan’ beacause the rhythmic beats of Dhol ‘Pathaks’ (Groups or processions) have been an integral part of Maharashtra’s cultural fabric, resonating through the ages and capturing the essence of traditional festivities.

In training days, participants were suffering from lot of issues. It was very hard to hold that heavy dhol for a long time but they were dedicated for it. After having many injuries, participants did not give up. After getting 7 days of training from one of the popular Dhol Pathak ‘Shiv Shambhu Avtaar’, the day has come. All women participants were wearing ‘Nauwar’ (Marathi traditional outfit) and gents were wearing (Kurta). Everyone was shoked when our Directors – Mr. Milind Katariya with Mrs. Anjali Katariya and Mrs. Dhanlaxmi Patwardhan held the Dhols and joined the ‘Dhol Pathak.’ After some time, rain started falling, but no one has stopped. Dhol Vadan was successfully completed in one hour.

Drumming equals joy. Taal is in everyone and everything. The beats of Dhol Tasha transcend time, carrying with them the echoes of Maharashtra’s rich cultural heritage. We joined the celebration, felt the rhythm, and become a part of the living history that is Dhol Vadan. Tried it out as a new hobby this year. It will be a memorable one for sure…

Great Lessons from Ganesha –

• Embrace your Imperfections
• Actively Listen
• Never give up
• Practice Forgiveness
• Use knowledge wisely
• Value humility and respect everyone
• Be optimistic
• Practice patience
• Cherish relationships
• Positive attitude in times of stress