London's fortnight long Diwali celebrations concluded with a gala at the prestigious Waldorf hotel, hosted by the City Hindus Network, which is also celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The new Chairman Neel Patani along with his team organised an exciting evening that included some special speakers, inspiring and discussing importance of values, that affects our everyday life.
Chief Guest Lord Jitesh Gadhia speaking about how faith instills value- a recipe for success, touched upon some very crucial aspects of Hinduism in today's City life and how the increasing number of Hindu networks are example of growing importance of diversity in City life.
Gadhia who was a part of the Network's inception in 2007, spoke about how values have affected the ups and down of the financial world. In a tantalising speech, he said, “I was honoured to be present at the official launch back in 2007 and was a keynote speaker alongside Mayor Ken Livingston at City Hall. Looking back at what I said a decade ago - I am struck by how much of its content has stood the test of time and still strikes a chord – and resonates – today.
“I might go as far as saying that the sentiments proved prescient in light of subsequent events. My first premise – perhaps counterintuitively – was that faith is a personal matter and I don’t believe religious beliefs should have a prominent role in business or professional life.
“What faith does bring, however, is a set of values. Hindu culture is firmly anchored in a set of time honoured human values.
“So whilst I don’t believe we should bring our faith in its narrow sense into the workplace we can and should bring our values into everything we do.
“I also argued that these values could create a competitive advantage for those trying to build a successful career in the City.
“I was speaking a year before the financial crisis, at a time of peak hubris for the global financial community. Faith is a personal matter and I don’t believe religious beliefs should have a prominent role in business or professional life. What faith does bring, however, is a set of values. Hindu culture is firmly anchored in a set of time honoured human values.
“Subsequent history has demonstrated what happens when organisational cultures becomes detached from values and purpose. We have painfully spent the last several years reconnecting with and rediscovering the original ethos on which the financial services sector was actually built – trust, transparency and integrity – dating back to those 17th Century coffee houses in the square mile.
“So the City Hindus Network was in many ways ahead of events, as were numerous other Hindu Professional Networks which have now been in existence for over 15 years –starting originally with the PwC Hindu Network, which celebrated its 15th Anniversary this year, through to Schroders which has just become the latest significant City institution to establish a Hindu Society in the past year...”
Talking about the importance of the key word 'network' Neel Patani, the new Chairman of CHN raised some very interesting points. He said, “Diwali is a time for reflection, and this year, given that I am new to the seat of Chairman, I have come to think about what it really means to ‘network’, and the pitfalls associated with it. In my view, networking is effective when considered in three dimensions.
“First, it is networking with those people who inspire you, those people you can look up to, and those people who have ‘been there and done it’...Second, it is about networking with your peers, as they will be the leaders of tomorrow.
“This evening, we have representatives from Barclays, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, PwC, as well as the medical and legal professions. And I urge you to engage them informally, as you never know who you might meet, or what ideas you can share.
“Finally, and in some respects, most importantly, we must network with those who did not have the same privileges as us, and need a helping hand to elevate them from whatever struggle they face...”
Other speakers included, Dia Chakravarty, a Bangladeshi-born British political activist and journalist. She is Brexit Editor of the Daily Telegraph, a former Political Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance and a singer, Sindhu Vee, an investment banker turned stand-up comedian, Manoj Ladwa & Sina Patel who discussed the importance of organ and blood donation. A panel discussion hosted by Nishma Gosrani, with a singing performance from Dia and stand-up comedy from Sindhu Vee added to the grand evening of the celebration.
