Saturday, June 2, 2018, marked the completion of four years of the formation of Telangana State, as the 29th and the youngest state of India. Telanganites in India and its members across the globe hosted several significant events to commemorate the big day and acknowledge the sacrifices of hundreds in getting its statehood.
The Telangana Association of New Zealand left no stone unturned in making the most of this event and hosted a grand show to celebrate Telangana Formation Day. The association acknowledged and dedicated the Formation Day to the martyrs of the movement that led to the formation of the new state in 2014.
The chief guest of the event was Honorary Consul of India, Bhav Dhillon, who applauded the spirit of the Association, and the community members for putting up a grand show on the State Formation Day occasion.
Other prominent community leaders attending the event included Jeet Suchdev of Bhartiya Samaj, Narendra Bhana and Lingappa Kalburgi from Auckland Indian Association, Harshad Patel from NZICA and Prakash Birader among others.
Uma Salvaji, vice-president of Telangana Association of New Zealand, commenced the event by inviting the guests to light the lamp -the traditional way of starting any auspicious Indian event. It was followed by singing of Telangana state anthem ‘Jai Telangana’ and observing two-minute silence to remember the sacrifices of hundreds of men and women, some of whom have lost their lives, and many others have persevered through years of struggle and hardship in making Telangana an independent state.
“We cannot forget the martyrs of Telangana movement who laid their lives for our state and strengthened our will to work towards giving Telangana its statehood,” president of Telangana Association of New Zealand Kalyan Rao Kasunganti said at the event.
It was noteworthy to see a full-house event despite being Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
The children, men and women gave more than 20 small group performances and several duets and solo performances at the event. The youngest performer was a girl aged four who danced and performed on a Telugu song at the stage.
Brand Telangana
Brand Telangana, an initiative to promote products of the state in New Zealand gave a stellar performance at the event exhibiting the works of poor weavers back in Telangana.
The concept behind the initiative Brand Telangana is to help promote the clothes and other products manufactured by weavers back in Telangana and create a small market for them here in New Zealand by selling their craft and thereby empowering them back in the state.
Telangana State Formation Day was a signature event by the TANZ, and it was also successful in getting the younger generation Kiwi-Indian Telanganites born in New Zealand closer to their heritage, culture and their roots.
Performances by the young children going to playschool and children pursuing higher studies in New Zealand showed their connection to their roots as Telanganites who will carry the baton of their culture to their future generations and keep the spirit of attachment to their roots alive.
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