The Sindhi community – which emanates largely from the north-western part of the Indian-subcontinent celebrated their second annual cultural celebrations on Saturday, December 12 at Aotea Square in Auckland.
Sindhis, inhabitants of Sindh region of the Indian subcontinent which is now in Pakistan are believed to be living in the region and north-western-central part of India right from the time of the ancient Indus Civilisation around 5,000 BC.
The 'Sindhi Culture Day' has been celebrated in the Sindh province for many years. However, in recent years, this has only been officially recognised by the state's individual party. Since then, the 'Sindhi Culture Day' has become an annual event in the Sindh region and abroad.
Approximately sixty men, women and children from Sindhi community attended the event that commenced with the Holy Quran's recitation followed by New Zealand and Pakistan's national anthems.
The women showed their love and commitments towards their culture through traditional handmade crafts such as 'Ajrak', the emblem of the Sindhi culture, like shawls, bedspreads also known as 'Rilhi' along with wall hangings generally displayed at home.
During the event, Sindhi men were seen in their traditional "Shalwar Kameez" along with the Sindhi 'Topi' and 'Ajrak'. Sindhi women and women wore traditional Sindhi embroidery and dressed with the 'Ajrak' print.
Sindhi music has its own uniqueness, with many folk songs such as 'Ho Jamalo', which is the most popular Sindhi-language folk song known to the people of Sindh.
Sindhis walked on Auckland's Queen Street with banners, while performing dances on their traditional songs.
"It was very refreshing to notice the locals being fascinated by the folk-dance performances to 'Ho Jamalo'.
"Our organising committee members, Manoj Rathi, Rizwan Ali, Waseem Samooro & others are determined to ensure next year's event is organised on a larger scale to attract more Kiwis and Sindhis," a spokesperson from the Sindhi community said.