From Boardroom to Garba Classes

From : The Times of India

AHMEDABAD: Corporate house employees are on a festive high. Firms are packing off their staff to garba sessions after work hours to hone their dancing skills before the big day.

While some companies have hired choreographers for teaching basic and advanced steps to their employees, others have ensured that their staff joins classes a fortnight before the revelry begins.

For instance, Vodafone Gujarat has engaged a professional choreographer to train its employees a few steps of garba in a known environment before stepping out. "We organize garba for our customers and employees across all our branch offices in Gujarat. We engage professionals to teach garba to them during work hours," says Brajesh Bajpai, business head-Gujarat, Vodafone India.

Practice sessions and the event that follows creates an all round atmosphere of engagement. "People of Gujarat love this festival. We have many non-Gujaratis as well in our organization," says Bajpai.

Cadila Pharmaceuticals has gone a step ahead by hiring a choreographer from the Gujarati film industry to train its staff in new dance techniques. "A garba and dandiya raas competition is organized at all our branches. Employees, including senior officials, join in the celebration with their family members. Prizes are also awarded to the best dressed and the best dancers," says a company official.

Cadila also organizes a separate garba competition for the kids of its employees at the corporate campus. They are imparted dance training by veterans of previous garba events to prepare them for the contest. Though Airtel may not be sponsoring public events this Navratri, it has grand plans for its employees. Anant Arora, chief executive officer, Bharti Airtel, Gujarat, says, "Navratri is one of the key festivals of Gujarat which is celebrated with a lot of fanfare by Airtel. We have our own in-house talents who choreograph the entire show and also teach employees new garba steps. The festivities including the garba sessions are held after office hours, ensuring participation from the family members of the employee."

Depending on the training sessions, choreographers charge anything between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000 per session. Ankit Panchal, who has taught many managers sway to garba tunes, says, "There is a lot of interest among non-Gujaratis to learn advanced garba steps. While earlier, employees used to request for basic steps, now the trend is to learn innovative steps using props like matkas, diyas and chairs."

And the bosses are not complaining while their staff has fun at work. "It's a great concept that helps employees break away from the monotony at work and makes the atmosphere stress free. It also energizes employees and increases engagement and team work," explains Arora.