A bit like Bollywood:
Festival of lights delights
Bollywood dance moves, traditional music and authentic curries greeted more than 8000 Cantabrians at the annual Diwali Indian festival of lights.
The event at Christchurch’s Horncastle Arena on Saturday was a four-hour showcase of the best of Indian dance culture.
About 360 performers in 28 groups took to the stage after months of rehearsals and organisation, India Social and Cultural Club of Christchurch vicepresident Amit Raut said.
Performers were volunteers from the Indian community in Christchurch, with one group travelling to the event from South Canterbury. The trend to use ‘‘fusion music’’ to showcase traditional and modern dances was evident, Raut said. ‘‘It gave a nice mix and a nice flair that appealed to all of the audience.’’
An Indian re-mix of Ed Sheeran’s hit Shape of You was also popular with a number of groups, Raut said.
For the first time the event hosted performers from Mallakhamb, direct from India, who had featured on Britain’s Got Talent.
For the second year running, four members of the police delighted the audience when they joined performers from the Bollywood Dream dance school for an impressive act.
A range of Indian food from 18 stalls kept hunger at bay, including south and north Indian dishes and traditional street food.
Indian crafts such as lamp painting and Rongoli art works using coloured rice and flour were popular, as was the chance to dress up in traditional Indian clothing.
When the final group took to the stage with a traditional Bhangra dance from the Punjab region the audience finally got to join the action, Raut said. ‘‘You could see the entire arena dancing. It was wonderful. With Indian dancing you don’t have to know it, you just have to enjoy the moment.’’
Growing up in Auckland, the annual cultural highlight was the Easter Show or maybe the Santa parade.
I thought about this when I attended the opening of the Auckland Diwali Festival last weekend and witnessed the amazing energy, vivid colours and dazzling performances of this annual celebration.
Diwali, which in Indian culture celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, highlights New Zealand’s rich cultural diversity.
I’m impressed by how this festival has grown since the Asia New Zealand Foundation started it in 2002. I even recognised some of the young performers from previous years – they too had grown.
Witnessing thriving festivals like this, I can’t help but think about India’s growing significance in New Zealand and on the world stage.
India’s rise as an emerging power presents exciting opportunities for us as a country.
Without question, we need to embrace, nurture, and grow our strong ties with India. And cultural events like Diwali help us achieve that, which is why we invest in them.
They help New Zealanders become more familiar and comfortable with the rich Asian cultures in our midst, which in turn gives us a real edge in our engagement with countries in Asia.
Although in many ways India and New Zealand are vastly different countries, we also have strong bonds that link us.
Indian immigration to New Zealand dates back to the 19th century. We are both part of the Commonwealth, have similar legal systems, and a shared love of cricket.
We also share democratic values and many people-to-people relations. Sir Anand Satyanand became New Zealand’s first governor-general of Indian descent in 2008.
Despite this, when we say Asia in New Zealand, India is rarely the first country that comes to mind. Instead we tend to think of countries such as China, Japan or Korea.
This predominance of North Asian countries in our conversations about Asia is also reflected in the New Zealand media’s coverage of the region.
India’s rise as an emerging power presents exciting opportunities for us as a country.
For some reason, India does not seem to attract the same amount of coverage, despite the exciting developments happening there that will have a real impact on us as individuals, as businesses, and as a country.
Is it because of our high degree of familiarity with India that we have tended to not think about it a lot?
According to 2016 data, around 170,000 people of Indian descent live in New Zealand, making them our second-largest and fastestgrowing Asian ethnic group.
They are active in business, in government, and many other aspects of Kiwi society.
India is now New Zealand’s ninth-largest trading partner. Negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement started in 2010 though progress has been slow because of contrasting views, particularly on tariffs.
India is home to 1.34 billion people, 18 per cent of the world’s population, and is projected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country by 2024.
It is currently the world’s seventh-largest economy and is growing faster than any other large economy except for China. Its economy is projected to become the world’s second-largest, behind only China, by 2050.
The official visit to India last year of then-prime minister Sir John Key exemplified its growing importance to New Zealand. I was lucky enough to be part of his delegation and witnessed firsthand the warm reception he received.
Are New Zealanders, including businesses, recognising the opportunities the emergence of India presents? We can only surmise, but I do hope so. After all, we have a lot of commonality with India and it’s high time we capitalised on that.