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Luncheon talks

Anjali Prayag

These days when executive lunch breaks are just an extension of working sessions, there's one company that has made a serious attempt at breaking out of the monotony that the new era has brought in. Bangalore-based TNT India Ltd, started the ` TNT Lunch Club' more than three years ago. And the idea has caught on so strongly in the company that today the club is a professional body.

``We even have elected members of the club like chairman, secretary, etc,'' says Nitin Dave, Assistant Manager, Product Development. Needless to say, the club has its rules: Lunch break is from 1.30 to 2.15 every day. Any employee who's lat e should inform the elected members the reason for being late. ``If they happen to be late without informing the concerned people, they have to buy sweets for the others,'' says Ajay Kaul, Head (Sales and Marketing), who has breached the rule freq uently.

According to Dave, the club has an agenda for discussion everyday. ``It's not office gossip or frivolous chats, but topics of general interest.'' This encourages a lot of camaraderie among employees and all those who have partaken of the l unch and participated in the discussion claim that they come back to work totally rejuvenated. ``Our inter-personal relationships have improved greatly after the Club was started,'' claims Dave.

It has also attempted some philanthropic exercise by collecting contributions for an orphanage. The membership is voluntary and most employees have opted for the membership. ``It just shows how popular the idea is,'' quips Kaul.