To mark its 20th year of publication, Indian Newslink started its festivities with the Sixth Annual Indian Newslink Sports, Community, Arts and Culture Awards, recognizing nearly 120 persons from Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch at a function attended by over 700 guests at the Ellerslie Event Centre in Auckland on June 24, 2019. Included in the distinguished list of awardees was Kersie Khambatta, a semi-retired lawyer practicing in Auckland. He had earlier practiced in the Bombay High Court until his family migrated to New Zealand in 1992. The award was conferred on Khambatta for being a writer. He has authored a book of short stories and five illustrated books for children (see "A pet rhino and other tales,” Books, Parsiana, April 21-May 6, 2019).
Kersie Khambatta (l) receiving award from Phil Goff Photo: Narendra Bedekar
"Inclusion is the key word in tonight’s event as we honor not only people of Indian origin from all over the world but also people from South East and South Asia, and more importantly, New Zealanders who have coached, mentored and supported young New Zealanders to excel in sports, community service and performing and non-performing arts,” noted a report on the Indian Newslink website. Ethnic communities minister Jenny Salesa, Auckland mayor Phil Goff, National Party Members of Parliament Mark Mitchell and Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, and Indian High Commission charge d’ affaires C. Doss Jeyakumar who were present at the event stressed the importance of recognizing and rewarding achievers in Indian and other communities for their outstanding contributions or services to New Zealand.
"Tonight is an occasion to celebrate the services of our people; services that have made a difference to us — as a country, as a society, as a community and most important of all, as ordinary people in the ordinary course of our lives,” said Bakshi. "A quarter of all people who call New Zealand home were born overseas and our region is home to more than 200 different ethnicities,” stated the website.
When Khambatta’s family migrated to New Zealand, there were barely a handful of Zoroastrian families. "We knew each other well and visited regularly. Many Parsis and Iranis chose the Pakuranga locality in Auckland, and it was jokingly called Parsiranga. Overseas qualifications were not recognized here, and doctors and lawyers had to re-qualify which of course was a long and painful process. I had to go through that though I had 25 years of experience as a lawyer in the Bombay High Court,” he recalled.