Zero Hour

Caste system, one of the most ancient and divisive social systems of India, has seen its influence eroded by several modern technological and economic advancements. These advancements, however, have repackaged some of aspects of the caste system. This is best illustrated by food habits: food continues to be considered sacred and people prefer (sometimes, demand) to share their meal space only with others from similar or better socio-economic backgrounds.

To counter this behavior, I implemented ‘Zero Hour’ - a program that brought together employees across hierarchies from six key functions of an Indian manufacturing unit to interact with each other in small informal groups over a meal. This social experiment, which neither required any financial investment nor led to a loss of productive time, was held every week for 6 months.

The test results were significant: a steep improvement in inter-team cooperation, efficiency and retention rate was observed across functions. It was apparent that placing the teams in a novel and safe context made past patterns less accessible allowing them to form new relationships with old colleagues. Success of this program indicates a possibility of enhancing culinary diplomacy as a tool of soft power to reduce biases and conflicts in communities.