What an amazing Hawaiian Day we had at Foradian!

During our usual lunch conversation, my colleague friends Aarthi and Karan seemed really excited about the fact that we were having this Hawaiian day at office. I guess the moment Karan saw the mail from HR, he had already decided what his attire would look like (Here we thought only girls wanted to deck up!). It probably took him seconds to virtually go through his wardrobe and decide what he would wear and how he would beat the rest 30 odd men in the office to be crowned as Mr. Hawaiian. And ultimately he did! Aarthi on the other hand, made a reference to her previous office culture. She told us how her ex-colleagues showed up to work, dressed in shorts and T-shirts. There, every day was a beachwear day. She was nostalgic. Soon she felt the urge to go shopping for the occasion. You know, she wanted to be dressed impeccably like the perfectionist she is!

Like them, I was new to this place too! It had only been a few months that we all had joined Foradian. I was very apprehensive about this whole thing. Because, the idea of turning up to office in a beach-dress freaked me out. What if I had an impromptu client meeting? And I am sitting there clad in a wraparound with a Hawaiian lei hanging around my neck. Not to forget a fruit hat on my head. Yet, I wanted to come dressed well to celebrate the spirit of Hawaiian (Indian) summer. I was the only person unsure as to what I wanted.

Everybody in my office (especially Sanju!) kept reminding me how competitive the world is, how we should work together and beat the technical team (we being from marketing team) from winning any of the titles. This made it interesting. Everybody were mentally making plans, and so did I. The event had to be postponed by another week, because everyone wanted some more time for preparations.

Finally, the day arrived. I came dressed as a semi Hawaiian, with a loosely hanging, full-arm, cotton top, orange capris and matching flip-flops. The only thing missing at my desk was a Pina colada. Girls came in beautiful long skirts, full length dress and matching accessories. Men wearing their brightest colored shirts, shorts and flip-flops. Given the fact that the average age of people in the office is 27, we all looked even more young and enthusiastic. There were pictures taken, sweets shared and mocktails distributed.

Joining Foradian, immediately after my graduation from an MBA college, felt more like coming home. Because, when you are in an MBA course, there is a continual unhinged pressure to perform and be outstanding in every possible skill. MBA made me more like a ‘corporate’, in a not-so-good-sense of the word. But having an event like this at my workplace gave me something to look forward to. For a change, we spoke about the best Hawaiian delicacies than talking about the schedule details for the next meeting. Being in Bangalore, we don’t have the chance to go to a beach often; but the beach was brought to us, here at Foradian. People here, come from different cultures, education and background. At Foradian, we celebrate our own customs and traditions. We celebrate freedom by creating the right kind of values, vision and environment we want to work for. The fact that I was a part of this small yet revolutionizing community of passionate people made me proud. We are called FORADIANS!

I want to specially thank the HR team and hope to be back together to celebrate more such hues of life.

So, the final winners were:

• Tech team: 1 (Mr. Hawaiian Steve, Kudos! You deserve it, undoubtedly)
• Marketing Team: 3 (The beautiful ladies – Ms. Hawaiian Preethi and Ms. Hawaiian Rajini. The hunk – Mr. Hawaiian Karan)

The article is written by: Shruti Kolagad. She works with Foradian Technologies as Assistant Manager-Enterprise Sales. A fresh MBA graduate with an interest in the field of marketing, Shruti believes that the road to success is ‘keep trying’!