Lights,cheer & new beginnings

The employees of Setu Advertising received a unique Diwali gift this year: A hamper containing bottles of six types of pickles,two kinds of chutneys and one Maharashtrian thecha. “The simple reason is that gifts usually contain sweets,dry fruits and so on. We wanted to give something that people would not pass on to others,” said Rugwed Deshpande,director,Setu Advertising. “This gift would remain on dining tables for the next two or three months,and will be remembered well.” Five hundred such hampers were custom-made by Prakash Kolhapuri Masale (PKM) Foods for the firm. “Being from the advertising world,we even designed it for them,” said Deshpande.

Sandhya Potdar,chief consultant of corporate communications at Foundation for Liberal And Management Education (FLAME),sent out e-mails over a week before Diwali,urging faculty members,staff and students to avoid plastic and adopt plants this festive season. “I gift saplings and plants to my relatives and friends on occasions,and every time I meet them they tell me how the plants are flowering,” said Potdar. “Saplings are cost-effective,they don’t perish and you can see them grow.” She helped set-up an exhibition-cum-sale of saplings,of Banyan,Peepal,Neem,Bakul,Parijat,Mosstick and more,on the campus,drawing enthusiastic response.

The employees of Ubisoft Entertainment India,Pune,received laptop bags as Diwali gifts. “Getting gifts apart from sweets is always good,especially if the gift something you can use daily rather than occasionally,” said Chintan Patel,associate producer at Ubisoft.

“This year,we decided the gifts should be unusual,” said Shlok Tripathi,manager,sales,Pegasus India. Instead of shopping vouchers,the company gave out BlackBerrys to some employees,laptops to those who set examples of ethical conduct and even a bike to an employee who used to travel in an autorickshaw. “We decided to give them what they needed,acknowledge their work and make them feel the company cares for them,” said Tripathi.