“All work no play makes Johnny a dull boy” so goes a saying. We at Oracle do not follow this to the last word. We have a blend of people who are both geeks and fun lovers. To encourage the lighter side, Oracle in India has a group of volunteers who have formed a club called Fun@work.

The Fun@work club is a serious business here. We have a corporate committee that has elected representatives from each facility. They all come together in planning and organising various non-work events across locations through out the year.

The Fun@work club started at the same time when the IDC operations commenced. It was this bunch of self-motivated driven individuals who thought adding fun to work would induce a sense of bonding among fellow employees. Back then (around 15 years ago to be precise) India operations were growing in full swing branching out to various line of businesses.

The club that we see now is a result of all that efforts the members across Oracle have put in. It was not a one-day one person’s effort. It has come a long way like the way Oracle has. Though it was the brainchild of few enthusiastic employees, the trend continued and evolved. What is most important to note is, the support and guidance that was given by the management for an idea that would keep all the members bonding intact while having fun. What more, finance wise too while the employee contributes a bit, the organisation too contributes its part and together, all come as a team to reap the benefits.

The core objectives of Fun@Work whish is a registered society are:

(a) to promote a healthy corporate social life amongst the employees of Oracle India
(b) To encourage, organize and arrange:
·Cultural and social activities and fine arts
·Sports and games, which are non-speculative in nature
·Literary and knowledge sharing activities
·Health related activities
·Benevolent and social development activities

The best part about the club is its all voluntary. Indirectly, it is making it loud and clear how when nobody is leading everybody leads. All employees are members of employee club. The volunteers come up with their ideas and strategies and put the calendar of events for that year.

Some of the events that Fun@work have done are:

·Utsav Oct’08: A mega cultural event that captured the sprit of more than 8500 Oracle employees at Bangalore
·Kids@Work Sep’07: A chance for the little ones to experience the feel of their parents’ workplace.
·Painkiller Oct’06, Dec’07, and Mar’09: A cultural event to showcase the in-house talent of Oracle Employees.
·Giveaways: Distribution of free Watches, T-Shirts, Silver bars
·SteamOff April’09: A musical evening and showcasing Oracle Band.
·Wellness Carnival: Free health check camps
·Seminars and Workshops on various topics of interest viz., SuJok, Yoga, Mindfulness meditation etc by eminent personalities in the field.

… and the list is endless.

During these times, all the fellow members of Oracle family spread across various locations in Oracle Bangalore come together and have a merry time. At the end of it all, it’s a family – the Oracle family. Each member of this family get back to work with even more gusto and tell themselves

“There weren’t any strangers there. But friends that we did not know”

The author of this article is part of Oracle’s India Recruitment Team with inputs from Uttam Kumar - the committee treasurer and can be contacted at pushpalatha.sreenivasan@oracle.com