The Indian Weekender, 15 April 2022

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8 NEW ZEALAND Friday, April 15, 2022 The Indian Weekender Mana Andhra Telugu Association NZ committed to showcase Telugu culture NAVDEEP KAUR MARWAH New Zealand is a multicultural country, and the Kiwi Indian community is one of the most vibrant migrant communities in NZ. In Part 3 of our series featuring Indian cultural associations, we bring to you the story of the Mana Andhra Telugu Association New Zealand (MATA NZ) – a community association that was formed in December 2020 and hosted its first cultural event in the form of Ugadi Uthsavam 2021. The newly formed association aims to build connections amongst more than 10,000 Teluguspeaking people in NZ from the two States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana living in the North and South Island. Giving details about the organisation’s history, Dr Reginald Samuel, President, MATA NZ, says, “We formed this association to represent the people of Andhra Pradesh and engage with other communities and promote goodwill and understanding in 2020. "It is the first-ever Andhra Pradesh Association in the world. It started with just fifteen families, but now there are more than eighty-one families in a short span. We are continuing to grow and have members throughout NZ. Our most significant achievement is that people know what MATA is and what MATA is doing for the community. MATA NZ aims to enrich NZ Teluguspeaking residents’ and visitors’ lives by encouraging local involvement and interactions Dr Reginald Samuel within multicultural events and promoting NZ as a rich international multicultural destination for culture and art, performances and entertainment. Giving an insight into the activities and programmes that the association conducts to keep the Telugu culture and language Ours is a relatively new organisation. Since our inception, we have been doing some festivals of Andhra Pradesh. Last week we celebrated Ugadi (Telugu New Year) alive in NZ, Samuel says, “Ours is a relatively new organisation. Since our inception, we have been doing some festivals of Andhra Pradesh. Last week we celebrated Ugadi (Telugu New Year). "We also participated in international Telugu language seminars. We plan to start Telugu language classes here in Auckland. "As an organisation, we are trying our best to develop and promote the Telugu language here in NZ and teach the younger generation the values and ethics of Indian culture, especially Telugu. "However, funds are the biggest challenges we face in running this association.” Lastly, talking about the organisation’s future, Samuel, who feels cultural organisations play a very crucial role in the Kiwi Indian community in NZ, reveals, “We plan to do an Eid Milaap on May 6. Apart from that, many community-related works/ programs are lined up this year, such as blood donation and organising sports for the children, mainly youth, women’s empowerment programs, celebrating Andhra Pradesh Anniversary in November and many more. "We plan to start another association in South Island affiliated with MATA and make MATA a role model to other organisations in the next five years,” Samuel said. Christchurch wants to become a bike-friendly city MAHESH KUMAR With roads clear of the usual traffic, she said Spiralling petrol prices have forced many more locals than ever were dusting off their to reconsider their commuting choices. bikes and continued to use them afterwards. The government is doing its part by Christchurch city has also taken other offering subsidies and rebates to encourage the measures to make roads safer for cyclists. move to alternative fuels. The speed limit is being reduced While many Kiwis are discovering the benefits of driving Hybrids and EVs, Kiwis are on two central Christchurch streets — Colombo St, between Bealey Ave and also rediscovering the joys of commuting on Kilmore St, and Peterborough St, between good old bicycles. Durham and Manchester Sts, from 50kmh Almost every New Zealand city worth to 30kmh. its salt promotes bicycles and makes city The Christchurch City Council and roads bike-friendly. Though many criticise the over-emphasis Canterbury police have also recently signed on bike lanes at the cost of parking spaces up with an online service called 529 Garage to and driving lanes, one can’t deny that there has been a shift in cultural attitude towards biking in the country. offer free online registration of bikes. This is to counter the increase in the number of reported stolen bikes in the city. According Christchurch is one of the cities that still owns a car but has used it only once in the Many cycling advocacy groups based in to media reports, $2 million worth of bikes has invested heavily in cycleways, last month. Holkar admits that his bike trips the city form a community that wants to see were stolen in the city last year. using the opportunity to rebuild after may go down as winter sets in and rains become Christchurch take the lead towards becoming With the 529 Garage app, bike owners can the 2011 earthquakes. more frequent. NZ’s best and among the world’s best. register their bike’s serial number, features and According to Christchurch City Council’s Holkar is one among many residents Spokes Canterbury, a cycling advocacy even a picture of their bike. Residents Survey, half of the residents said of Christchurch who are always up to they had cycled in the past year. It is not a group, wants to make Christchurch one of The registration makes it easier for the biking challenge. tiny figure for the city with a population of the world’s top five cycling cities by the year police to return the bike to its owner and According to the Christchurch City Council, almost 400,000. 2025. The group’s primary goal is to establish a prove it was stolen. the city saw the highest global participate rate in Chetan Holkar, who moved to Christchurch comprehensive, connected, community-centred Council Transport Operations Manager the Aotearoa Bike Challenge, an annual monthlong cycling initiative. This year, over a million just two years ago from Hamilton, loves the cycle network. Stephen Wright said the council was keen to city and has rekindled his love for biking. kilometres, were cycled by 6,000 participants RAD Bikes (Recycle a Dunger) runs not-forprofit community bike workshops in the city free” initiative. get as many bikes registered using the “simple, Holkar told the Indian Weekender, “The fact in Christchurch. that Christchurch is relatively a flatter city In 2013, the council promised to build and welcomes people to help recycle and learn makes it easy to be out on a bike. It is not as 13 major cycleways connecting the city’s how to fix bikes for themselves or others. exhausting as biking on hilly places.” central suburbs. Only four of these have RAD Bikes community workshop cofounder Jess Smale said Covid lockdowns gave Holkar bought a used bike when he moved been fully completed so far, and the initial here and then upgraded to a new one as he estimated budget of $67 million has now biking a boost. loved the convenience that biking offered. He surpassed $300m.
The Indian Weekender Friday, April 15, 2022 NEW ZEALAND 9 Kiwi-Indian woman sets out to bridge gender gap in financial literacy NAVDEEP KAUR MARWAH In most households, of most societies, often it is conveniently assumed that taking financial decisions is often the sole prerogative of men only, reinforcing the myth that women are in any way less competent to plunge into financial decision making. A Kiwi-Indian female entrepreneur Hesha Irani is set out on a mission to demolish this long-held perception and empower fellow women through financial awareness. She is addressing this inequality through her business venture, aptly named - Her Financial Independence (HerFI). Talking about her inspiration behind the initiative, which aims to increase awareness of financial literacy among women as well as make financial education easy and more accessible to women, Hesha says, “HerFI was born in August 2021, during Covid-19, to empower women to become financially savvy and take control of their financial lives. The response has been phenomenal with close to 100 sign-ups for the membership waitlist within a month.” The 30-year-old, who originally hails from Mumbai, reveals that the existing financial knowledge gap between genders led to this venture’s establishment. She has completed a Bachelor of Commerce in Financial Markets, followed by a Master of Commerce in Business Management and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program. “My passion for working in the finance industry was ignited at the age of 16 during a Commodities trading course at the Multi Hesha Irani Commodity Exchange. Since then, I have spent more than a decade studying finance or working in a financial market-related role. During my time in financial markets, both overseas and in NZ, I could see stark differences in how men versus women within the industry perceived investments and discussed personal finances. Even in social settings, I was mildly surprised to find that women do not discuss money matters with their friends, family, or colleagues. Girls are taught to save money, while boys are encouraged to assume risks and build wealth. Women are majorly excluded from conversations around investing. This is largely responsible for women displaying lower financial knowledge than men and feeling less confident in their financial knowledge and skills Despite these differences, women often depend on men to make financial decisions for their teams, themselves, and families,” she says. Hesha feels that if we want to progress as a society, it is vital to increase the awareness of financial literacy among females. “Women are majorly excluded from conversations around investing. This is largely responsible for women displaying lower financial knowledge than men and feeling less confident in their financial knowledge and skills. I believe that by normalising money conversations among everyday women, Gen Z and upcoming generations will have the opportunity to grow up observing their mothers being able to participate in household financial decision making.” So, how is she planning to raise this financial understanding? She says, “I am launching NZ’s first Women’s Finance Club at HerFI where financial education is not complicated, not dull and not jargon-filled. It is a great way to connect with like-minded women and explore what’s behind the doors to the intimidating world of finance. One of the outstanding features of the Club is that it provides a platform for mothers and daughters to participate in money conversations together. The freemium membership plan (at no cost) gives you access to all the resources and tools you need to take control of your financial future. Whenever you are ready to implement the learnings into your daily lives, the premium membership plan gives you access to masterclasses, accountability sessions, coaching sessions, and live events. Apart from them, we are doing webinars, and online workshops are ongoing throughout the year. If the Covid situation gets better, I hope to have an in-person event for Mother’s Day in May. Sharing her journey and experience, Hesha, who moved to NZ around five years ago, reveals, “When I immigrated to NZ, I started my investing journey from scratch. However, my financial knowledge, backed by extensive research, helped me become a proud first-home owner in Auckland alongside building a retirement fund. I continue to share my experience with millennials helping them transition from renters/ lodgers to first-home owners and build long-term wealth,” she signs off. Easter fervour pervades Indian community AVINASH SEN One could argue that next to Christmas, Easter is one of the biggest Christian holidays. However, despite it being a Christian holiday, it tends to be celebrated by many people of different religions as well, as a cultural event. This of course includes Indians. Even if we are not Christian, we are very much familiar with the holiday: the candy eggs, the celebration and its ties to the rebirth of Jesus Christ. But obviously, since Indians are themselves such a diverse community, it means that even though we celebrate the same holiday, we all tend to do it a little differently. This is why Indian Weekender reached out to various members of the community to find out more about Easter and how they celebrate it. Read on as Father Sebastian, a Roman Catholic Priest in Auckland, Syamdev Vasudevan, the secretary of the Kerala Cultural Forum (KCF), Rupal Solanki, a Kiwi Indian performing arts enthusiast and host of Indian Weekender’s Gujarati show, and Alen Tomy, the secretary for the Wellington Malayali Association, share their thoughts. How significant is Easter among the Indian community in NZ? Father Sebastian: ‘Easter’ is not confined to an individual group, or particular society of cultural ethnicity or integrity. Instead, it is far reaching to anyone who is ready and willing to receive the truth in the message of Easter. Easter is, “the first message of the resurrection of Jesus from the very first day of Jesus’s actual rising from death to life.” Therefore, the church’s teaching has always been very clear and concise in this regard, and that is; “Easter” is the celebration of Christ’s triumphant victory over death. The apostles felt grief stricken and full of fear at His death. They doubted that He would return. But true to His promise Jesus, showed up, dispelling the fear and doubt, anxiety and despair in their troubled hearts, illuminating them with His presence. They were shocked, when they heard him say ‘peace be with you’. My wish and prayer for you this Easter therefore is that each of you would experience the true faith of the Holy Catholic Church. May this truth illuminate your hearts. Rupal: Easter is more important than Christmas. Easter is the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus which means defeat of death and hope of Salvation. As a follower of Jesus, it is believed that the sins of humanity were paid for by the death of Jesus and that his resurrection represents the anticipation believers can have in their own resurrection. Once you accept Jesus as your personal saviour, you resurrect as a new individual with a covenant to lead a righteous life. Syamdev: Easter is celebrated by Christians as a joyous holiday because it represents the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament and the revelation of God’s salvific plan for all of humankind. In commemorating the resurrection of Jesus, Easter also celebrates the defeat of death and the hope of salvation. Easter is a big celebration in our Kerala community. During this time many Christian people do their fasting for a month till Easter day (Lent). Most of them will eat only the vegetarian foods and they won’t consume any alcohol. The Indian community takes lots of effort to make the Easter event enjoyable. My family celebrates Easter here with my friends and their families. We organise Easter breakfast, lunch and dinner in different houses. We have a big celebration along with lots of cultural events and food. Alen: Our association is mixed culture with people from different castes and religions like Christians, Hindus and Muslims. We don’t especially celebrate Easter, because on this week the Hindus also celebrate Vishu (a day which celebrates the astronomical year as well Lord Vishnu and his avatar Lord Krishna). We don’t give more importance to one holiday over the other, so it is more like a family meet up. It’s a unification of different people, no matter what their religion. We treat the day like a family meet up. How do you celebrate Easter here? Syamdev: My family celebrates Easter here with my friends and their families. We organise Easter breakfast, lunch and dinner in different houses. We have a big celebration along with lots of cultural events and food. Rupal: We go to church in the morning and celebrate by greeting each other. Churches have fresh hot cross buns and Easter eggs for everyone to enjoy after the church service. Later in the day we visit friends and family or just go for an outing. During your time here, have you noticed any changes in the way people celebrate? Syamdev: Yes, there have been some changes over the past two years due to Covid-19. We had a lockdown before and now there are limitations to people attending gatherings. I feel people really want to go out quite badly nowadays. I can see the difference. I hope we will have better times soon. Rupal: Just like Christmas, Easter has also been commercialised. It is made to believe and practice that Easter is all about Easter eggs, Easter bunnies etc. The Easter bunny is marketed with Easter; however, it has no mention in the Holy Bible or has any connection with Jesus. The faith of a follower of Jesus remains as it is with the hope of resurrection and repentance of one’s sins. Alen: Talking about the functions, before we would have happy, good celebrations. But nowadays, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, things have changed. People are focusing more on themselves right now and less on meeting and getting together. As with most festivals in the Indian community, Easter is a multicultural holiday that is celebrated by everyone in the community together. We wish you all a very happy Easter.
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