Appreciating Diversity - Do we really care?

It was Mouli's tenth birthday and she had already started behaving like a grown up. She wanted to fund her party from the prize money she won in a dance reality show. As encouraging parents, Rudra and Shakti not just let her fund her party but also included her as an organizer. Mouli had to come up with a list of invitees, decide the menu and entertain her guests. It was a big responsibility for a young girl of her age but she was all excited to take it up. Shakti encouraged Mouli to take care of the interest of her guests while planning for the party and Rudra made arrangements as per Mouli's plan.

On the "The Day", Mouli got ready before time and checked with Niyoti, her cook if she had prepared all what she had requested for. Niyoti aunty held her hand and showed her all the preparations. She jokingly asked Mouli why she had asked her to prepare khichdi. To which the young girl replied that her grandma's digestion was poor and she liked the khichdi which the cook prepared. Niyoti was quite impressed with how thoughtful Mouli was.

Satisfied with the preparations, Mouli played the album of soft music which she had created keeping in mind that her elders would also join the party. Soon her friends and relatives started coming and she became busy with settling them and keeping all her gifts. She seated all her friends in a room and played Chinese whisper with them. All her friends enjoyed playing the game and the winner was enthralled to receive a gift. Her elder cousins joined her in the room and could not help but notice how wonderfully Mouli had organized the evening. Mouli was excited to see them and innocently requested them to play Tambola with them.

Everyone was enjoying the evening. It was a get together after a long time for the elders too. Shakti asked her little angel to cut her birthday cake and invite everyone for dinner. As the evening came to an end with the guests departing, Mouli began opening all her gifts. Shakti and Rudra saw their little packet of joy and smiled at each other reassuringly.

As Shakti went to bed, she pondered on how as an HR professional, she could inculcate the value of appreciating diversity in her organization too. She fully understood that appreciating diversity meant far more than including more women in the workforce. It was about understanding the point of view of others and taking care of others interests to achieve mutual goals.