ISSUE
Friday, August 22, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 73
A restaurant owned and run by Kiwi Indian couple Nilima and Vivek Kalambi in the city of Pune in India is a focal point for the city’s small but dedicated All Blacks supporters.
The couple runs “Way Down South”, a popular restaurant in the city’s bustling software precinct, featuring an extensive South Indian menu presented innovatively. Nilima and Vivek, who have a home in Howick, Auckland, have been living in Pune to build their restaurant and other businesses in the city.
“We may be out of New Zealand, but the Kiwi spirit is always with us,” Nilima told Indian Weekender on phone from Pune. The couple has been popularising rugby, in which few people are really interested.
The restaurant has been plastered with All Blacks insignia and the matches are displayed live in the restaurant, despite the seven and a half hour time difference. “There are people interested and the buzz is growing,” says Vivek.
India’s fledgling rugby team is being coached by professional Kiwi rugby coaches at its base in the town of Ahmednagar, not far from Pune.
It’s great to see support for the All Blacks come from a cricket mad, non-rugby playing nation half way across the world, egged on by a staunch Kiwi Indian couple.
A restaurant owned and run by Kiwi Indian couple Nilima and Vivek Kalambi in the city of Pune in India is a focal point for the city’s small but dedicated All Blacks supporters.
The couple runs “Way Down South”, a popular restaurant in the city’s bustling software precinct, featuring an extensive...
A restaurant owned and run by Kiwi Indian couple Nilima and Vivek Kalambi in the city of Pune in India is a focal point for the city’s small but dedicated All Blacks supporters.
The couple runs “Way Down South”, a popular restaurant in the city’s bustling software precinct, featuring an extensive South Indian menu presented innovatively. Nilima and Vivek, who have a home in Howick, Auckland, have been living in Pune to build their restaurant and other businesses in the city.
“We may be out of New Zealand, but the Kiwi spirit is always with us,” Nilima told Indian Weekender on phone from Pune. The couple has been popularising rugby, in which few people are really interested.
The restaurant has been plastered with All Blacks insignia and the matches are displayed live in the restaurant, despite the seven and a half hour time difference. “There are people interested and the buzz is growing,” says Vivek.
India’s fledgling rugby team is being coached by professional Kiwi rugby coaches at its base in the town of Ahmednagar, not far from Pune.
It’s great to see support for the All Blacks come from a cricket mad, non-rugby playing nation half way across the world, egged on by a staunch Kiwi Indian couple.
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