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

4
NEW ZEALAND
Friday, 7 October, 2022
Making a difference
Read online www.iwk.co.nz
to vulnerable lives
IWK BUREAU
social inequities and family violence.
“With a belief that mass media can
their ethnicity, age and gender.
She has also set up a language and
This year’s Community Service make a huge difference in spreading cultural school at Bhartiya Mandir in
Excellence Awardee is well awareness, I started my journey of Auckland. “For 13 years, I served as
known community leader Roopa community development in New Zealand the Education Chairperson of Bhartiya
Suchdev.
Speaking to Indian Weekender,
by hosting Hindi radio and television
shows some 26 years ago,” she says.
Mandir,” she says. She runs the weekend
school as the Education Chairperson of
Suchdev said, “From India to Auckland, I
have been keeping my passion to serve
the community alive following my Indian
culture and values to give back to the
society.”
As a co-founder of Bhartiya Samaj
Charitable Trust, she has been working
with communities for more than 25
years, making a meaningful difference
in the lives of people of different
This led to the establishment of Roopa
Aur Aap (RAA) Charitable Trust, a notfor-profit
organisation in 2008 that
fights against domestic violence and
urge every silent sufferer to break the
chain of violence and live without fear.
The organisation worked with a vision to
restore and enhance the quality of life of
victims while working to prevent family
harm in the community.
Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust.
She is President of the Urdu Hindi
Cultural Association and aspires to use
the two great languages – Urdu and Hindi
– to bring together diverse communities
of the Indian Subcontinent.
Suchdev has been honoured with the
Queen Service Medal (QSM) and the
India International Friendship Society’s
Bharat Gaurav Award in 2016.
backgrounds in New Zealand.
RAA has been facilitating mediation, “My vision is to continue to be the
In her role as a radio and TV host, crisis intervention, legal aid, and carried change in the life of people with my focus commitment to keep serving individuals
journalist, teacher and community out hundreds of awareness campaigns on the grass roots practice. The impact and communities with the values of
worker she has strived to serve people in and networking opportunities for people of work carried out by Bhartiya Samaj social justice, inclusion, equality and
distress –especially those suffering from in crisis and distress, irrespective of Charitable Trust and RAA drives my empowerment,” she adds.
Staying relevant and vibrant a century later
DEV NADKARNI
Auckland
Indian
Association Inc (AIAI) is
this year’s winner of the
Indian Weekender Community
Organisation of the Year 2022.
AIAI is New Zealand’s oldest
Indian organisation. Formed in
1920 in the home of an early
Indian immigrant in Auckland,
the organisation has grown to
become the largest among
Indian organisations in NZ
with its headquarters, the
Mahatma Gandhi Centre
complex in Auckland’s prime
Eden Terrace precinct, often
referred to as the “Home of
the Indian diaspora”.
The organisation has a
long and respected history
of good governance that
has resulted not only in
building a strong foundation
for the organisation with
excellent infrastructure and
initiatives for its members but
also the wherewithal to serve
the larger community well for a
long time to come.
Most recently, during the
Covid-19 pandemic, AIAI was
at the centre of community
service in offering its premises
and its selfless volunteers to
distribute food and essential
goods to the needy in the
community.
Run by a large team of eager
volunteers with an equally
tireless leadership, AIAI is a fine
instance of how even a centuryold
community organisation can
continue to grow and become
even more relevant to the
community it serves.
Indian Weekender interviewed
community leader, long-time
AIAI life-member and current
President Dhansukh Lal about
AIAI’s past and plans for the
future.
IWK: How has AIAI evolved in
its involvement with the Indian
community in New Zealand
over the past 100 years?
Dhansukh Lal: Auckland
Indian Association was formed
in 1920 with the aim to raise
issues about discrimination
against Indians in NZ.
The aim was also to preserve,
protect and promote the Indian
culture, language, arts and
music in NZ. This still remains
our main Focus. Our forefathers
laid the foundations and it is our
aim to build on that whilst also
evolving in line with the times.
One major change from the
original constitution was that
in 1971, Mahila Samaj was
recognised and embedded in
our constitution. This gave all
our female members a platform
to come together, discuss
issues, have cooking classes,
women wellbeing and Women
Empowerment.
This was a major change
from the male dominated
Organisation.
Today we also have various
subcommittees such as Senior
Citizens, Health & Fitness,
Gujarati School, Catering,
Mandir Committee, Youth,
Business and Public Relations.
We are always working with
various government agencies
to bring awareness of issues
affecting our people such as the
Ministry of Ethnic Communities,
Ministry of Immigration, and the
Police.
IWK: How has the organisation
moved with the times to
stay relevant?
Dhansukh Lal: We are now
focusing on giving incoming
generations a sense of
belonging and a platform to
stay connected to their culture
while being away from their
motherland. We organise various
events which brings awareness
about, Mental Health, Suicide
Prevention, various health
related seminars and Women
Empowerment. Our Mahila
Samaj also has fundraising
dinners annually in support of a
chosen charity. Our Association
has held various events where
we have invited dignitaries to
showcase our culture, language
and heritage and this has given
us the leverage to include local
talents within our membership.
IWK: How is AIAI changing to
accommodate the changing
nature of demographics of
Indians in NZ?
Dhansukh Lal: Auckland Indian
Association was instrumental
in forming the Auckland Indian
Diaspora and uniting about 29
other Indian organisations.
The aim of this Auckland Indian
Diaspora was to come together
for three national events
annually, which are Republic
Day of India, International
Yoga Day and Independence
Day of India.
During the Pandemic, with
the help of the Indian High
Commission and the Wider
Indian Diaspora Organisations
we organised two food
parcel distributions. We also
distributed masks and RAT
kits to the wider community.
Our Constitution allows anyone
from Indian Origin to join the
membership and we already
have members from quite a few
different ethnic communities
actively serving the Association.
How does AIAI's offering to
the community differ from
NZICA's?
Dhansukh Lal: Auckland
Indian Association is more
directly involved with the Indian
community while NZICA is the
umbrella organisation which
supports our activities.
NZICA is looking at ways
to get all other community
organisations to join so that
they can have a united voice for
the Indian Community.
IWK: As President, what are
your priorities and what initiatives
will you drive in your
tenure for AIAI to stay relevant
to NZ-born youngsters
of ethnic Indian origin?
Dhansukh Lal: I endeavour to
increase youth involvement by
hosting events that appeal to
the younger generation.
With the formation of the
Centre for Indian Performing
Arts (CIPA), I aim to showcase
the Indian traditional and
classical performing arts by
tapping into the local talent and
hosting quality programmes
for our audience to enjoy.
This organisation and our
collaboration with the Mohan
Nadkarni Foundation, allows us
to connect with the wider Indian
community at these events.
We want to digitalise our
membership records and
take better advantage of
technology to make our
processes more efficient.
We are also in the process of
upgrading our website which
will also allow members to pay
their subscription and other
payments online via the website.
I am proud to have been given
this opportunity to lead this
prestigious Organisation and
although we were also affected
by the Pandemic, we still
carried out the objectives of
this Association.
This Pandemic taught us new
ways of communicating with
our Communities.
Our Priest performed All
our religious activities in our
Temple and he got this Live
on our Facebook pages so that
members could view and take
part in the various Religious
activities during the lockdown.
This shows that our
membership is embracing the
changes with the times. We are
now sending all our newsletters
via emails rather than physically
posting the envelopes.