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Shubh Diwali In one way or another, Manisha Morar has spent her whole life advocating for her community. Born in Wellington, Manisha grew up observing how the traditions of the New Zealand Indian community have become a fixture of a firmly multicultural society. We sat down with Manisha, the General Secretary of the New Zealand Indian Central Association Inc, to talk about what it’s like to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Aotearoa.
What is it like to be a leader in your community? My involvement in the Indian community has evolved over the years. When I first started, I was only involved in the cultural arts and social aspects of it. But, when I grew with the community, I learnt what community was about and what it deeply meant to me and to those around me. I learnt about the nuances, the challenges and ways to engage with people’s thoughts and behaviours. How has Diwali changed over the years for you, your family and the wider community? My upbringing follows the typical Indian dairy story. At Diwali my mum would wipe down the cash register and light a diya (lamp) in front of it. She’d then make a pile of Gughra (fried pastry with sweet semolina filling). I’m not sure what happened in other Indian households, but that’s what would happen in mine. When I was little, Diwali was quite simple. In fact, I always believed Diwali was about the community coming together and putting on a Indian cultural show. That was the most exciting part of Diwali. We would be looking forward to Diwali with weeks of practice and wear our hand-made costumes. The mothers would bring us girls together and do our hair and makeup before the show. Then we’d share food, and that would be it. When Indians from Fiji came to New Zealand after the Fiji coup in the 1980s, a lot more Indian shops started opening, and you could now find more costumes for Diwali. It became a lot more common for the wider community to experience Indian culture at fairs and other community events. There would then be 10
private groups such as companies asking for an Indian dance item. So it was becoming a lot more prominent. With the large Indian population in Auckland, a lot more of the culture was visible there, and it slowly filtered to the rest of New Zealand. It was exciting for the Wellington Indian community when the festival went public for the first time at the Wellington town hall. Everyone got behind it, creating some incredible craft stalls and food. My role as MC was initially intimidating because I really didn’t know if people were interested in listening to me talk about Diwali, but when hearing comments in passing and that gave me confidence knowing people were genuinely fascinated. Since then, Diwali celebrations starting moving into a new era. Businesses like banks were celebrating Diwali with their staff. The Government started celebrating Diwali at Parliament in the early 2000s, which also helped to elevate it. The nature of Diwali celebrations has really changed in my lifetime. For example, with Bollywood dance the new craze, traditional dance is now a dying art. When I was a child, my mum had to make do with whatever ingredients were available. Nowadays, most Indian commodities and food items are readily available. As a community we tend to celebrate Diwali closely with family and friends. Where do you see other traditions that originated in India appearing in mainstream culture? I see how things like yoga have been absorbed into the Western culture and lost their foundational meaning. Do you know why we do yoga? It’s more than exercise - it’s about mindfulness, balancing the chakra. Similarly with food, it is collectables.nzpost.co.nz
