South Asian Heritage Month with Aviva Origins

From bhangra to books to bhajis, we’ve been celebrating all things South Asian!

This South Asian Heritage Month, Aviva Origins and our South Asian Professionals Network helped us to recognise the rich culture, history and contributions of South Asians – both within #LifeAtAviva and beyond.

 And did they have some fantastic stories to tell!

Varun Malik arranged an Indian Folk Art Exhibition in our London office, inspiring some talented artists among us, who created their own beautiful pieces during a workshop with Sheetal A.

We danced away Bhangra-style, hosted by Rupinder Roopra in London and Jimeet Romen Shah in Bristol, at our workshop with Gita Mistry-Patel from Bollywood Magic

Zena Patel indulged us in South Asian literature through our Book Club throughout the month, paying homage to authors from around the globe

Anna D. interviewed best-selling author Jaspreet Kaur about her journey to getting ‘Brown Girl Like Me’ published, and hosted a live Q&A with our Group CEO’s Chief of Staff, Saratha Rajeswaran, about her identity, career and role models

Nabihah Khan sensitively explored mental health and neurodiversity in the South Asian community, when Gurdas Taak, Anum Bandey, Pramila Mayuren and Subashini M joined a panel to share their personal insights

Aatman Vora helped colleagues - everywhere from Bristol to Bangalore - to get flexible with Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur Yoga, from the comfort of their desks, with a book giveaway to continue their spiritual yoga journey

And, yes, we did mention bhajis! Sophia Qayum brought a taste of South Asian food to our offices today, the perfect end to South Asian Heritage Month judging by all the smiling faces at lunch time!

Beatrice Edera Panariello, from Aviva Investors, took part in the dance class and reflected on this month:

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 – 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵-𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘈 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘚𝘈𝘗 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬!”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.