City Scientist to Talk About Being Hindu in New Zealand

January 28, 2007

Author: Alanah May Eriksen

Source: The Rotorua Daily Post

http://www.dailypost.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3718792&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

Similarities between Hindu and Maori customs and language are making living in New Zealand an easier transition for some immigrants.

Some Hindu cultures are more similar to Maori than most people realise, says Rotorua Scion senior scientist Dr Guna Magesan. His son has even been mistaken for a Maori.

Next month Dr Magesan will share his Kiwi experience at the World Hindu Conference in Prayagraj, India, where he has been asked to talk about what it's like being a Hindu living in New Zealand.

He and his family have found there are many similarities between their own culture and that of Maori.

Those similarities have made it "very easy" to live as a Hindu in Rotorua, according to Dr Magesan, who moved to New Zealand from Nilgiri in India in 1988 to complete a PhD in Soil Science at Massey University.