Explaining how racism angers him, Anil Sharma talks about the role of Kiwi Indians in New Zealand. These Kiwi Indians who call New Zealand their home, have been a hard working group of prosperous individuals who have contributed immensely to this country over the years.
They have marked their names and charted their successful careers in this country and their contribution is undoubtedly equal to that of their Kiwi counterparts, he says.
According to Anil “One such example of hard work and sincerity in the Indian Comunuty is Roshan Lal Nauhria”. Roshan is known for his deep involvement in social and philanthropic activities in the Indian community. Running multiple large successful businesses including Precast and Reinforcing, hiring hundreds of employees, firmly on the path to the economic growth of the country, Roshan has always found the initiative and commitment to contribute his time, money and services to the needs of the community.
Roshan Lal Nauhria has also been conferred with the honour of Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth-II for his services to both the business and the community in New Zealand. When Hannah Tamaki of Destiny Church, from Vision NZ, made a statement saying put a “stop to all further mosques, temples and other foreign buildings of worship being erected in our country”, does it make any sense? asks Anil.
“Building a temple or a mosque helps people integrate with each other. They are not just places of worship but they also give the people an opportunity to provide for a safe and heathy environment to support each other, provide opportunities to volunteer for the communities and have a place for gatherings to celebrate the important days including birth, death, festivals which enables people in sharing their joy and grief together”, Anil explains.
“The idea of Bharatiya Mandir on Balmoral Road was started in the 80’s when Roshan along with a few others felt the need for a temple to be constructed for the community. It was his determination and steadfastness, where Roshan dug deep into his own pockets along with the community stalwarts who also donated that it was made possible without depending on the government for any funds. It took a total of $2 million and seven years later the project was ready in 1993,” stated Anil.
The temple on Balmoral Road, which is indeed a landmark today in central Auckland, attracts more than 4,000 people every week and on festive occasions over 3,000 visit it on a single day. Food is served free of cost to all the people who come to the temple for the festivals. Every week on Tuesday nights, there is a sumptuous vegetarian dinner is prepared by the local volunteers and served to all the people who visit.
About the role he plays in the community, Anil says “Numerous other religious organisations like the Gurdwara in Hamilton, Otahuhu and Kolmar Road Papatoetoe Sikh Temple have also been the beneficiary of his boundless acts of giving. He has been an active member of the well known Hare Krishna temple (ISKCON) at Riverhead and has supported many other temples in Auckland. The Balmoral Road where he is the trustee of the temple, runs free English classes in conjunction with MIT, computer lessons and classes for adults and children, gardening, yoga, meditation, free vegetarian lunches for seniors and programmes for their mental and physical health and well being, as well as multiple other programmes for the benefit of the communities”.
Roshan has extended his philanthropic activities in his country of birth, too. A place of worship has been made by his contributions in India in the town of Dharam Kot in Punjab where he was born. There is a charitable hospital opened in the name of his father Babu Ram Dass Nauhria, which has all the updated modern amenities. He has also donated funds to build an educational institution with all additional facilities where he has been sponsoring the children from families who cannot afford to pay the fees.
Anil Sharma praised Roshan Nauhria’s entrepreneurship and said his success symbolised the Kiwi Indian community’s capacity and sincerity for hard work. “Roshan Nauhria is not just a successful icon but an asset to the economic growth of the country”, he added.
Anil signed off saying, “When a country prospers, it is due to the collective hard work of the entire set of its citizens and not due to just any one group or community. The collectivism approach helps us to understand the fact that each group adds their own specific set of skills to the fabric of the country. This is just one example of a Kiwi Indian who has excelled and set an example for the local community. There are hundreds of other such Kiwi Indians who are equally important in making New Zealand what it looks like today on the larger global scale.”
-TIN Bureau (Disclaimer: The Indian News is published by Roshan Nauhria, who recently joined the opposition National Party)