The Hastings Punjabi community came together at the Hastings Library to celebrate New Zealand’s third annual Punjabi language week.

However, this is the first time the Hastings community has gathered to celebrate the event.

From November 21 to 27 the community celebrated with community leader speeches, traditional food, dance and prayer.

With Punjabi being one of the most widely spoken Indo-Aryan languages around the world, and Hawke’s Bay having more than 1000 families who speak the Punjabi language, it was very important to the community to celebrate.

Community leader and member of Akaal rider NZ, Sukhdeep Singh, explained it is very important to celebrate the language weeks; these celebrations foster a culture of acceptance, diversity and inclusion not only in school but in the community and workplace.

“It makes us feel very proud of our social and cultural identity, the language connects past and present, and we feel we can pass our traditions, values, beliefs and culture through the language to our kids and grandkids,” Sukhdeep said.

Srishti Singh, Hudson Singh Khaira and Dhaanvi Khanna - aged between 6 and 8 years old - performing Bhangra a traditional Punjabi dance. Photo / K&S Film Production Ltd

Sukhdeep added, “celebrating the Punjabi language means paying respect to the mother tongue and we hope to increase the awareness of culture, history, connect generations and most importantly feel proud of our own cultural identity.”

NZ Police Inspector Damin Ormsby and Sargent William Tran impressed those who attended the Hastings Library event by introducing themselves to the crowd in Punjabi.

This year’s event was organised by Sukhdeep and Manjit Singh, with financial support from the Akaal riders New Zealand group.

The Hastings Library provided a venue for the event for free, and Radi Spice and Punjabi Herald (Punjabi newspapers) promoted and supported the event.

Sukhdeep would also like to thank the teachers at both Sikh temples for getting the children ready for their performances.

While this year’s celebration was a small get-together; next year Sukhdeep wants to plan a bigger event for the language week with more Punjabi folk dance performances and bringing a couple of keynote speakers to Hawke’s Bay.