Diwali at Advance
In line with Diwali celebrations, we spoke with Nicky Mehta, Housing Finance Manager at Advance, to hear about his plans for Diwali and why he thinks it’s important to respect every cultural holiday.
Nicky’s grandparents were born in India and moved to East Africa after getting married, which is where both his parents were born. Nicky’s parents moved to England in the 1960s, so while he views the UK as his home, he has three generations of family heritage spanning across the world. Nicky has worked at Advance since January 2025.
Why is Diwali important to you?
Diwali is like Christmas – it’s a great opportunity to spend time with family, go to one of the local temples to pray and enjoy all the lovely food available there. It’s a nice time to catch up with people you maybe haven’t seen recently too. My wife always decorates our house and you inevitably end up putting weight on from enjoying the Indian sweets gifted from friends and family.
It's also a time to think of people that are not as well off as me – some people might struggle during Diwali. One of my friends lost his sister this year, and I know this Diwali will be an emotional time for him, so I’ll check in on him to make sure he’s alright. It’s great to be able to celebrate with colleagues too, because we spend lots of time together - sometimes more than with family! - so it’s a nice time to take in some extra sweets and say, ‘this is from me, Happy Diwali!’
Why do you think it’s important to celebrate Diwali in our communities?
I think it's important because I think the UK is so multicultural. There's people from all walks of life here and celebrating is just the way that everyone gets involved. I think it’s important that we all respect everyone's culture. We all have our own beliefs, but you need to respect people and understand what it's all about.
At Christmas, I’ll enjoy going out and watching the procession with all the carols even though I’m not a Christian. It’s just nice to get involved and it’s the same with Diwali. You can go to people’s houses and people who don’t celebrate Diwali will turn up and enjoy the food and festivities. We’re all so busy with our lives it’s hard to find time to catchup, so Diwali is a great instigator for get togethers. I’ve got three days off work to be at home and go see family to celebrate.
How does Advance make you feel included and valued?
It’s nice to able to bring cultural food into work that I’d normally be enjoying during Diwali. Having time off work is great too – I feel like I’m respected and that my boss understands why I need that time and it’s a level of respect that’s positive to see. My boss was aware that Diwali was coming up and told me to make sure I put my out of office on and not to worry about work. Advance respect mine and everyone else’s cultures and understand we all celebrate in different ways.
What does inclusivity look like to you?
Inclusivity means treating everyone with the same attitude and respect and making sure to adapt to situations, like giving employees time off around significant holidays for their culture or religion. That’s how I feel with my team – I know that a couple of people have taken time off for Ramadan, which is important, to allow people to spend time with family.
How can organisations continue to celebrate diversity and promote inclusion all year round?
Culture is a great way to connect with people.
When I worked at a previous housing organisation and there was a large Hindu workforce, we all chipped in and bought loads of cultural food to celebrate Diwali and the whole team had a great time – everyone was away from their desks and talking about things other than spreadsheets! I think it’s great when organisations and teams can do that and it’s fun when people can try different food from other cultures or countries. I once offered some Indian chocolate to a colleague and this led into a chat about football, so I think it’s important to use cultural celebrations to build inclusion and form relationships with others throughout the entire year.