Indians have been an integral part of the New Zealand ethnic mix for decades. It was way back in the late 1800s that Indians first settled in NZ, and most of these early migrants came from the regions of Punjab and Gujarat. Ever since then, the Gujarati community in NZ has been growing substantially. Many Gujaratis in NZ are into business, be it trading, dairy owners or even property development.
In this fourth part of our series on cultural associations in NZ, we look at Gujarati Samaj NZ (GSNZ), which has been working for the Gujarati community and making its presence felt across NZ for nearly a decade.
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 on the first Saturday of each month. They celebrate birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and various festivals of India, particularly of Gujarat. Members sing, dance, play music, perform drama, and invite other community groups to perform and entertain. During the summer months, the members go for outings on picnics & 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.”
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