Venu Menon
Wellington, September 12,2023
The High Commission of India in New Zealand and the Wellington Hindi School jointly celebrated Hindi Diwas in Wellington on 10 September 2023.
The event coincided with the School’s annual day celebration.
The Epumi Communnity Centre at Lower Hutt, Wellington, resonated with song and dance as schoolchildren showcased their talents, which included poetry recitation, skits as well as a fashion show.
The participants were drawn from the various branches of the Wellington Hindi School, located in Lower Hutt, Wellington City and Newlands, as well as Wellington Online.
The ceremonial lamp was lit by Indian High Commission Second Secretary (Press, Info & Culture) Durga Dass, Fiji High Commission Second Secretary Josua Tuwere, Tourism New Zealand Head of Digital Marketing Rashmi Pathak, and Fiji Indian Association President Rattan Prakash.
Pathak, who gave the keynote address, recalled his days as one of the earliest students of the school when it was started some 30 years ago. It was a time when families, freshly arrived from Fiji, were “navigating their way in a new land.”
Tuwere of the Fiji High Commission gave away prizes to the winners of the Matariki poster competition. He shared fond memories of India and Bangladesh where he had worked, and drew applause from the audience when he mentioned that his wife was fluent in Bengali.
Rattan Prakash then distributed certificates to mark Girmit Day. He traced the origin of Girmit Day, which marked the arrival in Fiji of the first shipload of indentured labourers from India.
Second Secretary Durga Dass, while commending the role of Sunita Narayan and the teachers, stressed the part played by great writers and poets, such as Munshi Prem Chand and others, in the propagation of Hindi. Their writings inspired the freedom struggle in India.
Hindi was spoken widely in India and united the country, Dass noted. He highlighted India’s hosting of the G20 summit as well as the triumphant moon landing by Chandrayaan.
Second Secretary Dass presented awards for excellence in Hindi, which was followed by the launch of young author Avyan Vardhan’s book, titled “Horse with a Hoarse Throat [Karkash Gale wala Ghoda].” The Hindi translation, also by Avyan, was read alongside.
The evening closed with a fashion parade by the students, followed by a spirited rendition of Vande Mataram and a poem written and read by Sunita Narayan.
The Wellington Hindi School was founded by a group of Fiji Indians, based in Newlands, three decades ago.
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
