Firm Celebration

Festive fervour is upon us, and we, at Samvad, have been particularly busy on a wide range of things – many still in the works!  To break the monotony, we decided to start a new tradition. All of us (or atleast as many as we could), gathered together each day in Navratri colors to celebrate – joy of being a team, joy of purpose, joy of being a lawyer, joy of sharing tradition, joy of balancing work and life!  It was great fun and excitement to say the least.

While on this topic of tradition, gombe / gollu arrangement has been a big part of Navratri for me. Here are my 5 takeaways from this tradition that have resonated with me in my professional journey as well:

1. There are many steps for a good Gombe / Golu arrangement, much like skills at work. There are many tricks to this trade, and many skills to master. Some linear some parallel, but both very critical!

2. Each step is important and most often a different theme plays out in each step. One must make space for each step to shine through; there is space for everyone and each person and each skill brings value to the table as much as the other.   Take time to learn and hone each skill and honour the diversity. For a lawyer - drafting is as important as research or negotiation skills. I am sure this big picture of excellence in each skill is equally true across all industries, practices and professions. For a successful team, we need a Tendulkar, Dravid, Bumrah and a Kumble 😊.

3. While each step has a different theme, it still needs to tie into one concept. All the gombe / gollu themes need to come together and be cohesive for a great display. Success for an organisation is dependent on building successful teams. Cohesiveness in thought and common sense of purpose, shared victories and learnings can bring it all together.  Along with diversity, inter-dependence and co-creation is essential!

4. The only way to have a great gombe / golu arrangement is through dedication, patience, perseverance (= late nights often) and most important of all love. If you don’t love what you do, you cant find a way to piece them all together in a way that really shines through.

5. Last but not the least – setting up the gombes / gollus, is really just one part of it. Much like establishing yourself – it’s tough, takes time and requires a lot of consistent focused effort.  But the real fun lies in having people over, sharing your joy, celebrating everyday.  Notes to my professional self - keep building your network, teamwork is strength, create a community, learn a new skill (never too old for that), make a larger impact!

Wishing everyone a very happy Navratri! Big shout out to the team and to my wonderful colleagues Riddhima. P. Murjani, Junaira Rahman, Gauri Khanna, Pratik Patnaik and Ankur Singh!

PC and EC (event credits): Ayush Rastogi and Shivi Shrivastava. Forever grateful for the mentorship, Neeraja Ganesh