Today is the start of a new year for many Indians. It’s Happy Ugadi for our Telugu friends, Happy Yugadi for our Kannada friends, Happy Gudi Padwa for our Maharashtrian friends, Happy Cheti Chand for our Sindhi friends, Happy Sajibu Nongma Panba Cheiraoba for our Manipuri friends and happy Navreh to our Kashmiri friends.
This diversity is unique to India and precious but we make no big deal of it. Ensure you get your team members to bring the special treats of their respective new year celebration to work today or on Monday. Also find a way to get them to wear their traditional outfits. It’s a lot of fun and you will learn something valuable besides enjoying great food.
Nature is diverse and that’s why it flourishes. Imagine if you had a monochrome world and just similar looking human beings eating the same food, wearing the same type of clothes and laughing at the same jokes – that would be pure hell. Diversity is a essential. Learn to enjoy it and encourage it.
For today try figuring out where Manipur is on the map of India and what they do for their new year. For starters did you know, they are followers of Vishnu ? Also for my dear North Indian brothers and sisters, Kannadigas and Telugu people are not Madrasis :). They speak two different languages and their food is different and just amazing.