Wellington-based Kiwi-Indian, Sunita Narayan, has been conferred with the prestigious Vishva Hindi Samman, under foreign category by the Government of India in the recently concluded 11th World Hindi Conference in Mauritius.
This was announced in a social media post by the office of the Indian High Commission, Wellington, earlier today.
"Ms Narayan richly deserves to receive this award for her outstanding work towards promoting the learning of Hindi in New Zealand. Congratulations!," the post said.
It is noteworthy that Fijian-born Sunita Narayan is a tireless champion for Hindi language and culture in New Zealand.
Narayan, who moved to New Zealand in 1987, has volunteered at the Wellington Hindi School since 1995, working as a teacher, fundraiser and administrator.
She’s used her experience to help develop several other community language schools and has presented papers nationally and internationally on the subject.
Ms Narayan, along with a selected very few passionate activists are at the forefront of promoting the Hindi Language in New Zealand, including raising the demand of its inclusion in NZ school curriculum.
The Indian Weekender wishes many congratulations to Ms Narayan for this well-deserved Samman.