Auckland’s Malayali community gathered together on Saturday, April 10, at Blockhouse Bay Community Centre under the aegis of Auckland Malayali Samajam to celebrate two popular festivals of Kerala – Easter and Vishu.
Continuing the long-held tradition of hosting the two popular festivals jointly together, the Auckland Malayali Samajam once again brought together an event with a magnificent and colourful display of the Malayali culture in Auckland.
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Hundreds of Keralite community members turned up, dressed in their traditional attires at the event that was adorned with three hours long display of a spectacular cultural programme with nearly 60 artists performing at different cultural items.
Dr Deborah Russell, Labour MP for New Lyn and Parliamentary Under-Secretary, and Bhav Dhillon, Hon Consul of India were the chief guests, who spoke generously about the richness of the culture and natural beauty in the Indian state of Kerala and how much value they bring to New Zealand’s cultural scene.
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Deborah Russell extended warm greetings to all people of the Kerala community on the festivals of Easter and Vishu while simultaneously acknowledging the cultural diversity & richness and the breadth taking beauty offered by the state of Kerala back in India.
Similarly, Bhav Dhillon also highlighted the world-renowned Kerala model of development that is characterised in the form of a strong showing in social indicators such as improved access to healthcare, high life expectancy and low infant mortality, often at levels comparable to developed countries despite having a lower per capita income.
Speaking on occasion, President Soby Bernard Thomas emphasised the three core values that the Samajam had adopted as the main theme of this year - connection, reaching out and support.
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Dr Abin Mathew gave the welcome speech – the secretary of Auckland Malayali Samajam, who thanked members for joining together to celebrate the festival along with thanking the main sponsors of the event - NZ mobile mortgages, Sarath Jose, the real estate agent- Harveys Papatoetoe, Biriyani Company.
Thanking Covid 19 frontline heroes.
One of the main features of this event was paying a special tribute to all frontline health workers of New Zealand who have been working tirelessly to keep New Zealand safe from the Covid-19 virus.
To mark this gesture, all attendees of the event, including the guests, had worn a special badge designed to “Thank Covid 19 frontline heroes”.
“We were delighted to have all our guests wearing this special badge as a mark of respect to our frontline workers.
“It has been an incredibly tough year, and our frontline workers have been doing exceptional work. This is our small gesture of appreciation for all their hard work,” Soby Thoms said.
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