Community spirit endears and brightens Diwali
A Tree Consultant, who visits the Editor of this newspaper regularly, never fails to impress.
“We work five days a week for ourselves and our family and spend dinner time and evenings with our loved ones. Saturdays are meant for community service and Sundays are reserved for God. Thus, we are more about ourselves than the community and the Almighty.”
Samoans are known for their community spirit and our Tree Consultant is no exception.
Those are also the qualities promoted by Lilly Ise Tomanogi, who is featured here as the ‘Model of the Festive Season,’ the first ever in Indian Newslink.
Lilly symbolises the ideals that are not only endearing but also imperative to the modern society. As we wrote in our August 15, 2015 issue (in which she was our ‘Model of the Fortnight’) family unity, community work and welfare, support and assistance to those in need and most important of all Service to God at least once a week at the Community Church are among her finest traits.
As we had mentioned, Lilly is a typical Islander; she is multicultural, loves to meet people from varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds and understand their customs and lifestyles.
Those are the qualities that are inherent in Hinduism and the spirit of Diwali.
Religious fervour and community service comes naturally for Lilly who hails from a family of well-meaning people. Her father is a Minister at the Methodist Church in Lower Hutt.
“I am a believer and sincerely thank God for blessing me with this opportunity of becoming a Model of the Fortnight. I believe that “first impressions make the best impressions” and hence dress and present myself well within the limited resources available to me,” she said. In featuring this young woman who is a model of humanity, we wish her well and draw inspiration from her and her loving community.
-Venkat Raman
Photography: Bhikhu Bhula
For more pictures of Lilly Tomanogi, visit www.indiannewslink.co.nz. These pictures appearing in our print and web editions are the intellectual property of Indian Newslink, Bhikhu Bhula. Any reproduction in any form for private, public, commercial or non-commercial purposes is prohibited and any breach would be an offence under the relevant laws in force. For modelling photo shoot, please contact Bhikhu Bhula on (04) 3887861 or 021-0616030. Email: bqbhula@hotmail.com
You can also follow him on Facebook (Bhikhu Bhula)
