New Zealand is a country that assimilates many cultures in itself, and that makes NZ genuinely multi-cultural. There is no denying that Kiwi Indians make up a significant part of NZ's population. And when we talk about Kiwi Indians and various Indian communities in New Zealand, the mention of the Kiwi-Tamil diaspora comes automatically.
The Tamil community in New Zealand has been doing its bit to preserve its rich Tamil culture and heritage in NZ. And that is why there are over 30 Tamil associations across NZ in cities such as Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, among others, that cater to around 4000 strong Tamil community members in NZ.
In this eighteenth part of our series on Indian cultural associations in NZ, we look at Christchurch-based Canterbury Tamil Society (CTS), which represents Tamils living in the Canterbury region and is actively involved in promoting the Tamil language and its cultural values.
Interestingly, CTS came into being back in the year 1995. Talking about its history, Suji, President of CTS, says, "In 1995 a group of Tamils lived in Christchurch region realised the need of formal representation of Tamils in the Canterbury region and CTS is a result of that. “As a result, the Canterbury Tamil Society was formed in 1995. It was formed by Malathy Nagulaswaran, S.Ilanko, S. Naguleswaran and Tulsi Gopal.”
CTS, which has over 100 members, endeavours to promote Tamil language education, culture and sports and foster improved relationships between the Tamil community and other communities in NZ.
On being asked to talk about the activities/ programmes, CTS conducts to keep the Tamil culture and language alive in NZ? Suji says, “We mainly focus on promoting our Tamil language through our Tamil Language school, where classes take place every Saturday evening. We also make sure to celebrate special occasions such as festivals through traditional dances, dramas and songs.
“Apart from that, we celebrate Tamil Cultural Events Such as Thaipongal, Tamil New Year and Theepavali, among other festivals, with full zeal and enthusiasm so the next generation can learn and continue our identity. Our upcoming events in the calendar are Navratri, Diwali and our annual picnic.”
On a parting note, Suji says that CTS is for whoever speaks Tamil from anywhere in the world. “We are Tamils; we speak Tamil, we belong to Tamil.
It is important to pass our culture, our language… our identity to the next generation.”
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