Celebrating Cultural Diversity Week
Celebrating Cultural Diversity Week
Cultural Diversity Week, 18 – 24 March, is celebrated every year in Victoria and is an opportunity for us to celebrate and recognise the many different multicultural communities we have across Victoria and their stories.
Metro is proud to have a culturally diverse workforce and we strive to represent the community we move.
To celebrate Cultural Diversity Week, we spoke to Melbourne Central Station Master Deepak Vinayak, who shared a bit about his culture and what cultural diversity means to him.
Deepak was born and raised in a small town in Punjab, India and earned an Engineering degree before moving to Australia 27 years ago.
Deepak received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the multicultural community of Victoria. He has led social projects in the multicultural, multi-faith and regional communities in Australia for more than 20 years.
“I came from a very ordinary, but extremely principled, Hindu family. Both of my parents were teachers, who instilled values in me from a young age. I’m proud to be an Indian-Australian and of my journey from international student to OAM recipient,” Deepak said.
The Indian culture is full of festivals that hold importance to the communities who celebrates them. Diwali, Holi, Dussehra, Bhaidooj, Ganesh Chaturthi, Id, Gurupurab are important festivals to participate in when living abroad.
According to Deepak, one of the most popular customs and traditions in Indian culture is the Namaste greeting. Common rituals are also practiced in all Hindu households including puja, meditation, performing charitable work, visiting a temple, and chanting the name of their beloved God.
For Deepak, cultural diversity is about bringing people together from different backgrounds, then creating an environment that celebrates these differences, to help create a space for people to authentically be themselves.
Cultural Diversity Week is a key celebration for our staff, including for many of Metro’s Stations teams around the network.
Deepak said that he celebrates with his team at Melbourne Central every year, and this year’s theme of ‘Our Shared Stories – Celebrating Together’ is a fitting one.
“Many employees have their own migrant story to inspire each other and remember that whoever we are and wherever we come from, we all bring something unique to our workplace and our communities in Australia.”
“Cultural diversity is one of Metro’s greatest strengths. We are strong not in spite of our differences, but because of them, and I’m proud to work at Metro,” he said.