The Indian Weekender - Kiwi-Indian Hall of Fame Special - 07 October 2022

22
NEW ZEALAND
Friday, 7 October, 2022
Read online www.iwk.co.nz
Savouring the
NZ-Gujarati
connection
When one talks about
the Indian diaspora
in New Zealand, the
significant role of the Gujarati
community can’t be ignored.
It was in the late 1800s that
Indians first started settling in
NZ, and most of these early
migrants came from the regions
of Punjab and Gujarat. Since
then, the Gujarati community in
NZ (approx. 25000) has grown
substantially.
The Gujarati community in
NZ has well preserved its rich
traditions and customs that
have deep roots in their past.
The colourful mosaic of ageold
traditions, along with a
tinge of modernisation, best
sums up the culture of Gujarat.
Gujaratis wonderfully represent
their vibrant culture even in
Aotearoa, from their clothing
and language to their enigmatic
celebrations and delectable
food, which explains why there
are many Gujarati associations
across NZ.
Gujarati Sahitya Mandal New
Zealand (GSMNZ) - a not-forprofit
organisation aims to
promote the preservation and
development of the Gujarati
language, literature, performing
arts and culture in every form
in NZ.
GSMNZ was incorporated
in May 2016 and has been
promoting Gujarat’s cultural
and social heritage since then.
Giving details about the history
of GSMNZ, Sonal Bhavsar-Joshi,
one of the Core Committee
Members of GSMNZ, says,
“When likeminded people like
Rupesh Parikh and Shailesh
Prajapati often met in social
gatherings, they eventually
realised that Gujarati diaspora
in NZ is in dire need of a cultural
connection and that’s how
Gujarati Sahitya Mandal came
into being.”
Sonal maintains that they are
passionate people who aim to
provide a comfort zone to the
Gujarati diaspora, especially
to the young generation who
are desperately looking for a
cultural connection and a sense
of belonging.
Interestingly, another prime
motive of GSMNZ is to provide
a platform to our community’s
budding artists. “When we
migrate to a new country, we
work harder to carve out a
future for ourselves and our
family, but during this process,
we make a lot of sacrifices.
We forget the artists, poets,
musicians, actors or Singers
living within.
At GSMNZ, we help you keep
those artists alive in you and
provide a platform to showcase
it,” explains Sonal.
Every year GSMNZ produces
several community events
where community members
soak in Gujarati arts and culture,
language, literature, heritage,
and local talents get a platform
to showcase their talents.
“We have organised events,
ranging from motivational
talk show by popular Gujarati
motivational speakers from
India to theatrical play with the
largest cast of 35 local artists.
We also organise Gujarati
talent shows, free Garba
workshops, Gujarat Formation
Day celebrations and our most
popular yearly event, Let’s Go
Garba (a Garba night with a
local Live Band),” says Sonal.
When asked about the
organisation’s plans, Sonal
says, “With a near future
branch extension taking shape
in Melbourne, Australia, we
believe we’re in the right
direction. We at GSMNZ aim
to serve the community with
more qualitative and inclusive
community events every year.
We strive to reach out to more
people and connect with them.
"We’re also planning a Web
Series that showcases local
talent again and a Gujarati
Carnival (Melo) where we’ll
be replicating and giving an
overall experience of a Carnival
originating from Gujarat.”
Gujarati Samaj’s President
Kiritkumar Keshavlal Thaker
says, “GSNZ was established
in May 2012 by a handful of visionary
people having prudence and foresight to
preserve the rich culture, heritage, and
language of Gujarat in the community.
It aims to provide a platform for people
of Gujarati origin to showcase their
creativity and talent. It is a social
circle of Gujarati-speaking people.
Today, we are proud that GSNZ is
an assemblage of vibrant Gujarati
people and has a membership of
about 300 people and is growing
exponentially. We have four wings
- Senior Citizen Wing, Youth &
Children Wing, Women Empowerment
Wing and Migrant Support Wing.”
Interestingly, unlike some other
cultural associations, GSNZ is governed
by a democratically elected committee
of executives every two years.
This executive committee elects a
president, vice president, treasurer,
secretary and joint secretary from them.
This executive committee manages all
the activities of GSNZ with the support
of various sub-committees formed
periodically with a group of dedicated
volunteers.
GSNZ aims to provide a platform
where everyone from the Gujarati
community and broader communities
gets an opportunity to
take part in the cultural
programmes to show their
talent, share ideas and have their say
to keep Gujarati culture, language,
traditions and values alive in today’s as
well as next generation of Gujaratis.
Explaining the activities of GSNZ,
Thaker says, “The members of GSNZ
meet every month on the first Saturday
from 10 am to 1 pm at Friends
Club Inc at 3063 Great North Road,
New Lynn, Auckland.
They celebrate birthdays, wedding
anniversaries, and various festivals of
India, particularly of Gujarat. Members
sing, dance, play music, perform drama,
Celebrating the Gujarati community in NZ
Down the line, in the next
five years, we are looking
forward to growing our
membership to 500 + as
we are approaching more
and more Gujarati families,
especially youth and
children, to join and take an
active part in our activities.
and invite other community groups
to perform and entertain. During the
summer months, the members go for
outings on picnics and tours to places
of interest. GSNZ members also go for
movie shows and dramas.”
He adds, “With increasing membership
and most members being seniors, the
biggest challenge to run the Samaj is that
we are looking forward to bigger venue
ideally around central Auckland (mainly
with Bus/train connectivity).”
Thaker believes that Indian cultural
organisations play a significant part in
preserving Indian culture in NZ. He says,
“These multicultural organisations in
NZ allow people from ethnic, cultural
communities to showcase their talents
amongst the wider community and
promote their culture overseas.”
On a parting note, Thaker says that
he is hopeful to have the membership of
GSNZ increase to more than 500 soon.
“Down the line, in the next five
years, we are looking forward to
growing our membership to 500 +
as we are approaching more and
more Gujarati families, especially youth
and children, to join and take an active
part in our activities. Gujarati Samaj has
now got an identity amongst the wider
community
“We are focused on the women’s wing
to grow through lots of activities, youth
and children to take active parts to
strengthen Samaj and keep our culture
alive. Our ultimate vision is to take
Samaj to a new high.”