Ather Energy, an electric two-wheeler manufacturer, faced online criticism after sharing photos of their Onam celebration at the office. The company's co-founders, Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, were seen wearing traditional Kerala attire, and employees were shown enjoying a festive Onam Sadhya meal. However, the inclusion of chapatti, a non-traditional item, in the meal sparked widespread backlash.
Onam is Kerala's largest cultural festival, and the Sadhya meal is a key part of the celebrations. The traditional meal consists of an elaborate vegetarian feast served on banana leaves, featuring dishes like avial, sambar, and payasam. Chapatti, a staple in northern India, is not typically part of the Sadhya meal.
Comments on social media quickly turned critical, with users pointing out the inconsistency. Ather Energy's CEO, Tarun Mehta, had shared the photos on X, showcasing the company's Onam celebrations. While the intention was to share the joy of the festival, the mistake was widely noticed and criticised. As the users left critical comments on the post. After that, the company released an official announcement regarding this incident.
"There have been reports of a particular lunch served at one of our offices recently. This occurred a few days ago, when chapati was seen on a banana leaf. Thankfully, no Malayalees were hurt in this incident. Our teams have looked at the photo and identified the root cause. While the photo showed a chapati on the banana leaf, what it failed to capture was the white rice and brown rice served thereafter. Rice, Sambar, and other curries remained completely unaffected during this incident. All items in the Sadhya were made by Malayalee chefs at a facility in Bengaluru and served by Malayalee colleagues," the official statement reads.
"We would like to further clarify that chapati was an option for our colleagues who respect personal choices. However, we'd like to admit that some extra papadams were damaged while being relished with payasam.This was a rare lapse of judgement on our end, and we have since conducted numerous cultural sensitivity workshops to prevent any such occurrences. With love, 135 Malayalees at Ather."
