It is the season of merriment and giving at Technopark as employees kick off Christmas and New Year celebrations. The week has seen companies, big and small, organising a variety of programmes – Christmas sales, get-togethers, exchanging of gifts, competitions, carol singing, decorating offices and so on to celebrate the season.
One event that almost all the companies organise without fail is decorating cubicles and bays. “The best bay takes the prize. It has almost become a mandatory feature in the celebration. The participants have to ensure that traditional components such as a Christmas tree, crib, star and so on are there,” says a techie. In The Allianz Trivandrum, the decoration of bays had a theme – it was on the four elements of earth, water, wind and fire. The bay that won the first place chose the ‘wind’ and depicted wind festivals, wind-powered technology and wind-related mythology. Meanwhile, in IBS, there was a competition among seven blocks. “While the traditional elements such as Christmas trees, crib and stars were there, one block had a tableau depicting the nativity scene,” says Dileep C., manager, human resources, IBS.
Exciting contests too were on the list. While Allianz had a ‘Bake a Cake’ contest in which employees baked cakes and decorated those in Christmas themes, Infosys had a star-making contest.
UST Global made it different with a ‘Man and Woman of All Seasons’ contest, a personality contest for employees of the company. Parwathy Gopan and Vishnunarayan Babukumar walked away with the titles. Alexander Varghese, Country Head of UST Global, said: “The holiday season is very significant for a culturally diverse workforce such as UST Global. It is also a fine platform to showcase talents and leadership skills.”
Carols were also sung. IBS had a carol singing contest in which seven teams participated. In some companies, carollers went around the office, spreading Christmas joy.
No festival is complete with a feast. So, IBS had a sale of home-made delicacies. Allianz had a biriyani fest, wherein the amount collected went towards charity. UST set up stalls where Christmas cakes and other goodies were on sale, along with designer garments.
Gifting is an integral part of the celebration. The employees of Allianz collected gifts from the employees and presented it to 18 children of Poornasree Balika Sadan. This time, IBS introduced ‘Be A Buddy’ programme wherein an employee registers with a common database listing his/her likes and dislikes. Each of them would be assigned a friend. By surfing the database he/she would come to know what the friend likes and then buy a gift for him/her.
And what has come as a blessing for the techie community is the portal www.pulkoodu.com., started by Anish John and Arun C.S. of Breezego Solutions in Technopark. On sale are Christmas sets of three kinds – basic, advanced and premium. “The advanced set (Rs. 1,300) is in great demand,” Anish says. It has a crib with clay figurines, a Christmas tree, decoration kit, LED lights, star and balloons. The items are delivered at your doorstep. The duo is even planning to market crackers via the website. Technopark Store, an online store for techies, has got a good collection of gift options, an attraction being handmade greeting cards.
It is also the season when many employees, mostly of European/American-based companies, go on a break as the world celebrates the season of joy.
