Chapati in Onam Sadhya sparks controversy, Bengaluru-based Ather Energy faces flak

Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy recently found itself in the center of social media criticism after pictures of them celebrating Onam at office went viral.

The company's co-founder Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain were seen together in a post shared by the former on X which also had a photo of their meal, known as Sadhya in Malayalam.

A meal of Kerala origin, Sadhya is served on a banana leaf and has a variety of vegetarian dishes accompanied by rice and is usually eaten with hands.

However, the company faced criticism since the picture of Sadhya shared by the founder had a chapati in it, which traditionally is not a part of the meal.

Netizens came down heavily on the company for serving roti as a part of Sadhya.

"This is a random meal served on a leaf. Invoking the powers vested in me, I disqualify this as a Sadya!" wrote one user while another called this "blasphemy".

Apart from this, users were also disappointed with the number of items included in the meal which they alleged were too less. Another topic of discussion that was prevalent in the comment section was why Onam was being celebrated in offices in Karnataka.

"What's the relationship between Onam and Karnataka. 1st you start celebrating Ugadi and kannada Rajyotsava," a user commented while another said: "Onam has no relevance to Karnataka culture and society, not sure why it is celebrated in Bengaluru offices as a big event where as Ganesha habba, Ugadhi are not celebrated and Kannada Rajyothsava is not celebrated or celebrated as a academic."

Meanwhile, the company issued a clarification on the addition of chapati in the Sadhya.

"There have been reports of a particular lunch served at one of our offices recently. This occurred a few days ago, when chapati was seen on a banana leaf. Thankfully, no Malayalees were hurt in this incident. Our teams have looked at the photo and identified the root cause. While the photo showed a chapati on the banana leaf, what it failed to capture was the white rice and brown rice served thereafter. Rice, Sambar, and other curries remained completely unaffected during this incident. All items in the Sadhya were made by Malayalee chefs at a facility in Bengaluru and served by Malayalee colleagues," the official statement read.

The company further clarified that chapati was just an option in the meal for colleagues who had their personal choices.

"This was a rare lapse of judgement on our end, and we have since conducted numerous cultural sensitivity workshops to prevent any such occurrences. With love, 135 Malayalees at Ather."