The Game Changers - Energized, exuberant and zestful
Today’s youth exults a confidence of being able to do things that have not been done before, having the gumption to challenge the limits and break through barriers of mindset. Be it a young girl dreaming to become a Grammy singer at 19, a successful entrepreneur right out of college, a 20-something youth leader fighting for just policies, a programmer by day a Dj by night and harbouring Miss Universe ambitions in her gambit of multi tasking; todays youth can pull it all off.
Our vibrant community has few gems of their own, we had the opportunity to feature them in our paper in the past year, here a big round of applause to them.
Great going guys, you are an inspiration as your conviction and drive will make bridges for the other generations.
Congratulations to the team at Indian Weekender on its anniversary and dedicating this edition to the youth. The way it has been making efforts in promoting Indian youth in New Zealand is truly acknowledgeable. Last year I had the privilege and honour to stand in the Local Government elections as one of the youngest candidates, while I received tremendous support from the people across a wider section of communities, enabling me to gain the highest number of votes among all candidates born overseas, it was pleasure to find a proactive approach from Indian Weekender that prominently featured me on its front page alongside Mayor Len Brown. I take this opportunity to thank all the readers of the newspaper and those who supported me last year.
I believe this is a turning point for the Indian community, not only for our generation Indian youth or the ones born in New Zealand but also for our parent’s generation who moved to settle in New Zealand for the betterment of their children like us. While the parents have done their hard yard and our young generation is moving forward to make its mark in society, it equally puts an onus on our Indian organisations i.e. community associations, religious organisations and most importantly the ethnic media to support this integration process. In my opinion most of them should be congratulated for playing their roles effectively that has resulted in incredible opportunities available today for the community as never before
- Shail Kaushal, Secretary at Labour Party, Mt Roskill
We are really privileged to be featured with the Indian Weekender, it is a true community newspaper which puts the needs and wants of the people of the community before itself. Indian Weekender has always taken the forefront in helping groups like ours gain recognition and done everything in their hands to promote us.
On their 5 year anniversary I would like to thank them for all their work so far and have no doubt they will only grow stronger in the coming years.
We look forward to working with the Indian Weekender on many more successful projects.
- Rahul Chopra, on behalf of The Garagewalas and 50/50 Dance Crew
Young Professionals Auckland, was founded in 2012 by Navtej Randhawa, Sid Sharma, Sid Bhandari, Dev Dhingra, Sonu Luthera, and Gawan Bakshi; all young professionals themselves, to respond to a changing world that is powered by the ambitious and motivated. As a member of the informed youth, Indian weekender has and will continue to have an impact on me. The impact is straightforward. Getting wellresearched and non-biased information at the correct time. With Indian Weekender and its well diversified news articles, the community at large is able to stay savvy with a mixture of areas within the society.
The most informative articles I personally find are the articles published in relation to the economy and commerce directly correlated to the Indian community in New Zealand. Encouragement and support to young talent in any forte has always been showcased by the Indian Weekender this prompts optimism in the community and in the youth especially. I hope they will continue to do so.
I congratulate them on their tremendous work on various editorials and their second Hall of Fame.
- Gawan Bakshi, co-founder of Young Professionals, Auckland
I am very proud of my Indian roots and maintain a strong connection with my culture. When the Indian Weekender approached me for a feature about my diverse musical appeal, I was ecstatic. The Indian Weekender gave me the perfect platform to reach out to a wider Indo-NZ community, which was very important to me. It meant a lot to be able to connect to my own people, talk about all the work I have been doing, and be able to share my musical journey through the paper.
I wish the Indian Weekender a very happy anniversary! They have done a great job so far in bridging the gap between the Indian community in NZ, keeping us up to date with what’s important and relevant, and giving a voice to artists like myself to help share the love, the dreams and the journey. Hope they keep doing such great work. All the best!
-Sayanti Chatterjee Indian-born New Zealand singer-songwriter
Indian Weekender has been a part of many households for years. I have seen over the years how well it has served the community, by acknowledging the talent that exists amongst it. This is probably one of the main reasons why I chose to speak to Indian Weekender about my story for the Kiwi-Indian audience. They wrote some extremely beautiful words about my talent and featured me when I never expected it to happen. It felt great to also receive positive response from many of my family and friends, and also the wider community. It has supported many young talents like mine and it would be an honour for me to be associated with Indian Weekender in the future too. I wish them all the best for the years ahead.
- Shirley Setia, Rj and Bollywood singer
Indian Weekender has been a medium that has lifted our community and I would like to congratulate the team on this milestone.
Indian Weekender has been a quality voice of the community that has me bound to their publication every fortnight or their online material. Having worked with the team on some of my event promotion publications I was practically shown by the team how a great write up can make a difference. The team was supportive and understood my vision and took full responsibility in presenting my work to the community. I would again wish Indian Weekender the best of decades of publications to come. “Pen is mightier than sword”
-Areeb Taimoori
Congratulations to Indian Weekender on celebrating 5 years of publishing and for your ever inspiring and valuable contributions to our community.
A very humble thank you to Nilam Patel, formerly a reporter at Indian Weekender, for writing a beautiful piece on me in the issue published in July, 2013. I was rather humbled with all the admiration that I received, after. By day I am a Senior Programmer at Grab One, and by night DJ Charlie. As DJ Charlie, I have featured at some of Auckland’s top nightclubs as well as clubs in Australia. I can be found every Saturday at Bollywood Affair at No.1 High Street playing tunes with DJ Areeb and making people groove to our music. I wish the very best of luck to Indian Weekender and the hard-working team behind. I wish you continued success in the years ahead.
- Prerna Sinha, Dj, Model and PHP Developer
Indian Weekender, a newspaper that unites us as a community and makes us feel closer to home and our people. I have supported Indian Weekender in its 5 year journey thoroughly with my family; and Indian Weekender in turn has encouraged me. With my modelling career, Indian weekender has supported me and made me a recognisable and familiar face within our community and gave me the exposure I needed to become the first Kiwi Indian to succeed in to the Final Round at Miss Universe New Zealand. As part of the youth this is a great platform for the talented youngsters to reach to and be linked to. The newspaper keeps you up to date with all major events that you can be a part of and which keeps you connected to your roots. A message from me to the youth, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars and to change the world.” I would like to thank Indian Weekender for all their efforts, and wish Indian Weekender all the best in their 5 years anniversary and many more to come.
- Neekita Naidu, Remy Martin Brand Ambassodor (NZ)
At only 5 years old, the Indian Weekender is a publication that is targeted at the 120,000-strong ethnic Indian readership in the New Zealand. A first of its kind, it has helped me, reach out to the community to help raise awareness for Leukemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand by covering my Shave For a Cure event. When my father and I approached them to cover my event, they were friendly and open. The representative who was going to cover my event was succinct, and to the point while still maintaining a professional and approachable attitude. When my article was published, I was approached by people at school and my sponsors rapidly increased and I was fortunate enough to experience firsthand, how widespread this newspaper really is! The aim of a newspaper is to inform, amuse and make the reader think, and Indian Weekender does an exceptional job. It is essential for people to become more aware of the difficulties of others and issues in society today, and the Indian Weekender has helped me to raise almost $7000 for the families affected by Leukemia or Blood Cancer in New Zealand. It has not only helped me, but has helped hundreds of other kiwis to make their voices heard, and I hope it continues to grow so it can continue helping to connect the Indian community.
-Neha Kolhe
This issue has been my opportunity to write my words of thanks. On IWK’s 5th Anniversary I would like to extend my sincere gratitude for their generosity, enthusiasm and their unwavering commitment to help provide a sense of community to Kiwi and global Indians. Arts community heavily relies on community support and encouragement; IWK has consistently provided strong support. Their wide coverage such as recreation, community life, youth, religion, ethnicity, and traditional arts and crafts is commendable. I hope IWK continues to further bring every segments of diverse India much closer.
-Padma Akula, Director, P120 Productions
Congratulations to the Indian Weekender on this exciting milestone and thank you for the part that you played in making the Hindu Youth Conference the success that it was. I had the pleasure of presenting at the conference and it was great to see so many representatives from our community present. May you have many more years of success to come. The Hindu Youth New Zealand is a not for profit, volunteer organisation for youth. Providing platforms to young people enabling them to realise their full potential and reach their goals in the areas of their respective interest.
- Divya Hariharan, Youth speaker and Business Analyst