Lower Hutt marked a new milestone by celebrating Diwali for the first time.
Jointly organised by the Hutt City Council and local community organisations, such as the Wellington Mutamizh Sangam, Wellington Tamil Society and the Hindu Council of New Zealand, the event was held at the Lower Hutt Event Centre and attended by a large multicultural crowd.
Addressing the gathering, Indian High Commissioner to New Zealand Neeta Bhushan opened her remarks by acknowledging Lower Hutt as her “new hometown,” which drew enthusiastic applause. She described the Tamil language as an integral part of Indian civilization.
Drawing a parallel between NZ and India, the high commissioner said both countries were “diverse societies, but both have unity in diversity.”
High Commissioner Bhushan said Diwali was a time to bury differences and spread joy and cheer. It also contained the message that “darkness gives way to light.” Rangoli decorations were created in every household, which symbolised the removal of “demons from our hearts and minds.”
Earlier, Wellington Tamil Society President Brabhaharan traced the historical origins of Tamil language and culture. He cited the Tamil bell housed at the Te Papa Museum, which was steeped in mystery: “Some say it was brought here by Tamil people many centuries ago and [who] intermixed with the Maori population at the time.”
More recently, Tamils arrived in Wellington some 50 years ago, and the Wellington Tamil Society was established in 1983, he noted.
Karuna Muthu, president of Wellington Mutamizh Sangam, said the organisation ran projects to serve the Tamil communities in Wellington, which included a Tamil school, te reo Maori language classes in partnership with the Maori Language Commission, youth sports clubs and the Covid-19 project. Tamils were an ethnic group hailing from different nation states, including India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa and Fiji, he pointed out.
Muthu shed light on the general status of Tamil, with a specific reference to its declaration as a classical language of India in 2004. Tamil is the mother tongue of over 66 million people around the world, he noted. He traced the earliest Tamil writing to 5 BC.
The vote of thanks was delivered by Kiran Thakrar of the Hindu Council of NZ.
The dignitaries in attendance included Hutt City Deputy Mayor Tui Lewis, members of parliament Ginny Andersen and Chris Bishop.
The programme was interspersed with classical Indian dances as well as foot-tapping Bollywood routines. Yudhishtir entertained the audience with his live band, with members of the audience joining him on stage.
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