Kiwi-Indians from Telangana came together in Auckland to celebrate as their state entered the 10th year of its formation on June 2, 2023.

Telangana became the 29th state of the Indian Union when it was carved out of a unified Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

The New Zealand Telangana Central Association marked the decadal celebration with an event last week at Mount Eden War Memorial.

Several dignitaries turned up at the function, including cabinet ministers Michael Wood and Priyanca Radhakrishnan who were the chief guest. They congratulated the attendees on the successful journey of the southern Indian state.

Radhakrishnan, who is the Minister for Ethnic Communities, recalled her previous visit to Telangana, pointing out the state has achieved rapid development and displays outstanding administrative talent.

The President of New Zealand Telangana Central Association, Kalyan Rao, said he was pleased to see the turnout and the enthusiasm.

“We are very happy to see all the Kiwi-Indian community come together to see our culture and traditions at our Telangana formation day celebrations, which marked the achievement of our state over the last nine years.”

During the programme, tributes were paid to martyrs, followed by a visual presentation on Telangana's development over the years.

The state’s achievements were also highlighted back in India last week when Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao credited the participation of the people and the state’s welfare programmes.

He had said the “Telangana model” of governance is now available to the people of the country.

At the Auckland event on June 2, the organisers recognised Kiwi-Indian achievers hailing from the state with "Pride of Telangana in New Zealand" awards. The winners were picked from various fields.

Hon Consul of Indian in Auckland Bhav Dhillon sent his congratulatory message to the attendees and organisers. MPs Kieran Chaur and Helen White; former MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakhshi, National candidates for the 2023 elections Kharag Singh and Siva Kilari, and ACT leader Rahul Chopra also attended the function.

Members of the Kiwi-Indian diaspora from across communities were also present, including New Zealand Indian Central Association Inc President Narendra Bhana, Auckland Indian Association President Dhanshukh Lal, Waitakere Indian Association President Sunil Kaushal, New Zealand Telugu Association President Suneel Kuncha and Auckland Tamil Association President Ravindran Vai among others.

The audience were treated to captivating folk and cultural performances by youngsters. Three other groups performed at the event - Chennai City Gangzta, Auckland Marathi Association and Uttarakhand Association of New Zealand.

The event was successfully organised by members of New Zealand Telangana Central Association’s core group, including Rammohan Danthala, Ram Reddy Tatipatri, Laxman Reddy Kalakuntla, Kiran Pokala, Srikanth Vemula, Srinivas Pudari, Ashutosh Raj Goulikar, Swathi Sandeep, Sandeep Pyaaraka, Srihari Rao Banda, Gautham Reddy, Venu Erugeshi and Ranjit Poladi.

Aishwarya Koka paced the event well as master of ceremonies. The Telangana ‘dawat’ (feast) was supervised by Giridhar Morla, Manohar Rao, Ashok Rao, Murali Annuand Archith Nadipelli. Shweta Kundu and Alok Kundu supervised the technical and sound departments.