Holi at SmartQ was different this year as we initiated our first culture circle, Rang De RISHTAA, that aligned with the core values of SmartQ - RISHTAA.
The planning & preparation of the event started a month back when a few members of our Marketing team, HR team, and Avikant from QShala sat together to discuss and brainstorm engaging ideas that could instill a sense of togetherness among people at SmartQ through various engaging and fun-filled activities.
After much deliberation and putting on our thinking caps, we finalized the activities that would cheer the employees up and make them participate with utmost exuberance.
Finally, on March 15th, the much-awaited day arrived, and we couldn’t hold our excitement.
Our office was decked up with colourful props that gave the whole space a festive vibe.
The celebrations started post-lunch with upbeat music. Some of us even played Holi on the 8th floor.
Our Engagement Specialist, Noorul, engaged the audience with his fun commentary and entertaining games. One of the activities was called 'crazy train', where the employees were distributed different colour balloons, and they had to blow balloons and draw smiley faces on them. This was followed by the team making a long human train and running around in the office. The team that formed the longest train won. The activity cheered the audience and gave a great kick-start to the event.
We had Zakki as our host who kept the audience captivated with his witty commentary.
The employees were asked to form a team of 10 people across departments and come up with a unique name for their team. My favourite one was ‘leftovers’.
The first activity was piecing together a ‘jigsaw puzzle’ where each team was given a set of puzzles, and each set demonstrated one core value of RISHTAA, I.e., Responsibility, Integrity, Servant Relationship, Harmonious Relations with All, Thinking Hatke, Agility, and Analytical Mindset.
Meanwhile, the music continued to play. It was a delight to watch them try to solve the puzzles. Some of them danced to the beats.
The next activity was an exhilarating one- ‘Treasure Hunt’, where the employees had to look for clues based on the riddles given to them on cue cards. Six clues were hidden at different locations in the entire building, including the cafeteria, basement parking, and our office reception. Each team had to perform a task to get the other clue. The first clue led them to our office reception. There were two bowls kept on the table, one was numbered, and the other one had different colours written on them. Each team was asked to pick one chit from each bowl and list down the number of items based on the colour they picked. The second clue was in the basement where they had to perform a ‘flip the bottle’ challenge to get to the third clue, which led them to our office cafeteria. For the tasks, we prepared some cocktails with varied ingredients, and the volunteers asked the teams to guess the ingredients. The next riddle led them to the 8th floor, where they were asked to sing a certain number of Holi songs. The final clue made them come back to the office in one of the meeting rooms where they were asked to repost one of SmartQ’s posts from their LinkedIn page.
It was a treat to watch them running, dancing, and performing quirky tasks for clues.
I feel treasure hunting is a great way of strengthening team bonding. It also teaches you to deliver your best during tight deadlines.
The teams at last gathered in the activity area once they were done running across the building to crack the code. Everyone was thrilled and eagerly waiting for the results. Avikant finally broke the suspense and announced the winners. Lastly, Keshav concluded the event by educating us about the culture circle and how it could help us connect better. A vote of thanks speech was also delivered by Bhaskar and Zakki.
And like any other event at SmartQ, this event was also incomplete without food. Zesty panipuri and savoury ice-gola were arranged for us at the cafeteria. We all rejoiced in the delicious treats and capped off a perfect evening of togetherness.
Rang De RISHTAA surely brought us all together and made us blend in the colours of SmartQ.