India is known to New Zealanders for Cricket, Bollywood but its cultural and social heritage are of great significance as well, and entertainment is an important avenue of promotion, a community and business leader has said.
According to Wenceslaus Anthony, Chairman of the WAML Group and Chairperson of the Divine Retreat Movement, it was time to promote New Zealand’s culture and tradition in India.
“As a Kiwi Indian, I am gratified to face people who are working to promote strong relationship between India and New Zealand,” he said, speaking at ‘Taj Mahal: A Dance Drama’ held at the ASB Theatre in Auckland’s Aotea Centre on March 31, 2012.
He said it was an honour to be present at a programme that highlighted an important chapter in Indian history, bringing together a cross-section of the Indian community in New Zealand.
Extoling the perseverance and persistence of Sasi Nambissan and his wife Dr Rita Sasidharan, directors of Aiswarya Entertainments Limited, which had presented the dance drama, he said that their passion for India and its cultural heritage encouraged them to counter challenges and disappointments.
“Their administrative and persuasive skills, along with the sacrifices, have made ‘Taj Mahal: A Dance Drama’ a reality. I know the many doors they knocked and have burnt many midnight candles. Despite the financial loss, they have had the courage to stage this grand programme,” he said and added that the greatest return that they would enjoy would be the goodwill and appreciation of the people of New Zealand.
He recalled the words of Mahatma Gandhi, who said in a letter to the Corinthians, “Love is patient; love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. The most important and integral component of love is sacrifice,” he said.
Mr Anthony said the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) of the Indian Government deserved praise for supporting the event.
He said independent India’s first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam established ICCR with ‘an extraordinary vision to promote the great cultural heritage of a great country all over the world.’
Quoting the late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (India’s first Prime Minister), he said, “We have had great men and we will have great men, but the peculiar and special kind of greatness that Maulana Azad represented is not likely to be reproduced in India or anywhere else.”
Mr Anthony urged all New Zealander Indians to be ‘ambassadors’ in building the relationship between the two countries.
Read our show review, Taj Mahal dazzles New Zealand landscape under Entertainmentlink.
