The Indian Weekender, 27 October 2023

8
NEW ZEALAND
Friday, 27 October, 2023
Read online www.iwk.co.nz
BOMMAI GOLU
Heritage beyond
borders, faith
NAVDEEP KAUR MARWAH
IN AUCKLAND
The vibrant and time-honoured
tradition of ‘Bommai Golu’, also
known as ‘Bombe Habba’ or ‘Golu’,
was celebrated enthusiastically in Auckland,
where it continues to thrive and bridge
the gap between cultural heritage and life
abroad.
Bommai Golu is a south Indian tradition
where colourful dolls and figurines are
displayed on multi-tiered shelves during
the Navratrifestival, showcasing gods,
goddesses, mythological characters and
scenes from daily life.
About nine years ago, Epsom residents
Yogi, her husband Ram, and the community
began celebrating Bommai Golu in New
Zealand.
Sharing their journey of keeping
this tradition alive, Yogi, who works as
Organisational Change Manager with
Fonterra, says, “It’s a tradition we’ve
always followed, and when we inherited the
‘kalasam’ from our parents, we naturally
carried it on.
“In the past, we invited people from
our community to come to our home and
celebrate with us. We’d work together to
create a special display for the occasion.
Our guests included friends, family, coworkers,
other parents from our kids’ school,
and even people from the general public.”
She says preparations for the Bommai Golu
festival are significant for the community.
Months of meticulous planning go into
curating the display, including carefully
arranging dolls imported from different
places on multi-tiered steps.
The display typically adheres to tradition,
with odd-numbered steps featuring gods
and goddesses on the top tier, while the
lower steps depict traders, devotees and
everyday scenes.
The festival serves as a means of
connecting with cultural roots and an
opportunity to share this vibrant tradition
with a wider audience.
Over the years, the event’s attendance has
grown, with up to 70 people participating in
this year’s celebration at Yogi and Ram’s
residence.
The highlights of this year’s event, which
took place on October 21, included unveiling
new additions to the doll collection,
captivating performances of traditional
songs, and a heartfelt aarti, followed by a
delicious dinner.
Reflecting on the response to the event,
the hosts expressed their joy at seeing
people’s interest in upholding traditions and
culture.
Ram, a SAP consultant, emphasises the
importance of events like Bommai Golu.
“We had guests from northern and southern
Yogi with
her husband
Ram, the
hosts for
the day.
India, including Tamil, Telugu, Malayali,
Marathi, and Sindhi. We’re happy to see
people’s interest in upholding traditions and
culture, and we have had a great response to
this event every year.
“These cultural celebrations are crucial
for the Indian community in New Zealand
as they emphasise the significance of
preserving traditions and culture while living
far from home.
"They offer a means for the younger
generation to learn and connect with their
roots.”
• Continued from Page 3
In response, Mann paid a visit to
Dhiman’s brother.
“He was threatening him: ‘I know some
police officers in India, they will take your
parents’.”
However, Dhiman persisted, taking his
case to the ERA. On 6 October, 2022, the
ERA ordered Mann to pay his former worker
$69,981 in arrears of wages, $28,153.14 in
arrears of holiday pay and interest on the
two amounts.
He was given 28 days to pay up, but
more than a year later - and with interest
mounting - he had failed to do so. And he
told Checkpoint he did not intend to.
“I’m prepared to go all the way,” Mann
said. “It might take me five years, 10 years,
15, but it will happen.”
Sunny Sehgal said delay tactics were
typical in cases like these.
“After the determination, the employer
does a runner on them, and they basically
give up, because it’s too hard for them to
keep chasing these employers who have
disobeyed the directions.”
Level up: The Employment Court
Dhiman and his advocates then took the
case to the Employment Court.
In August, the court ordered Mann to pay
a fine of $10,000 on top of what he owed
Dhiman, “to deter him from any future
breaches” and “underline the fact that
compliance orders must be obeyed”. Of
this, $6000 would go to Dhiman and $4000
to the Crown.
However, Mann had ignored this fine too.
Another of Deepak’s advocates, John
Wood, said it was time to pursue an even
tougher penalty.
“A term of imprisonment is warranted
because of his failure to engage in respect
of the money that he owes.”
When a person failed to comply with an
Employment Court order, the court could
fine the person up to $40,000, order the
seizure of their property or sentence them
Deepak Dhiman (right), with advocates John Wood (left) and Sunny Sehgal (centre), walk out of Employment Relations
Authority after a compliance meeting in March that Devinder Mann failed to attend. (Tom Taylor / RNZ)
to a prison term of up to three months.
In September, Wood filed another
application in the Employment Court.
“We’ve been there previously, and last
time we obtained a penalty against the
employer,” he said. “But unfortunately, that
had no impact, so we’re going back to the
court.”
As Mann had already been issued a
fine, that left the options of property
sequestration or prison.
Next stop, prison?
Employment experts Checkpoint spoke
to said they had never heard of the
Employment Court sentencing an employer
to prison for failure to comply with a
compliance order.
However, employment lawyer Barbara
Buckett said the court did have this power.
“I don’t think courts like issuing
compliance orders or any order and people
just flouting it,” Buckett said. “I don’t think
they’ll take that lightly at all.”
The Employment Court had sentenced
an employee to 21 days’ imprisonment for
non-compliance.
In the 2017 case ALA v ITE, Judge Bruce
Corkill said, “Whilst the imposition of a
sentence of imprisonment is an order of
last resort, and I have not been referred
to any recorded instances where this has
occurred previously, that possibility must
be considered on this occasion, given
the multiplicity of breaches, against the
continued deliberate flouting of the court’s
compliance orders”.
Buckett said such non-compliance
was becoming commonplace among
employers.
“Particularly, too, a lot of these are in the
vulnerable workers area,” she said. “We’ve
got minimum statutory requirements
that they haven’t met, and when they
get a determination against them, these
employers either disappear or just resist
and resist and resist.”
‘Nothing more than a… parasite’
Mann claimed Dhiman’s advocates were
trying to ruin his life.
“It’s all to do with John Wood,” he said.
“I’m so pissed off. These guys are nothing
more than a ****ing parasite to society.”
Checkpoint asked Mann why he had
not presented his case to the ERA or
Employment Court
“Who’s going to listen?” he said. “I went
there… They’re all ****ing crooks.”
Mann failed to show at an ERA
meeting Checkpoint attended in March.
In Mann’s absence, ERA member Eleanor
Robinson ordered him to comply with the
ERA’s October 2022 determination and pay
Dhiman what he was owed.
At a previous meeting, when the ERA
told Mann he would be under oath, he left
without producing any evidence, claiming
the whole process was a “set-up”.
Mann told Checkpoint that Dhiman had
worked under about six different managers
and said the ERA had not considered this.
“So, you’re telling me I’m corrupt, or
everyone else who worked at the company
- six managers he worked under - are
corrupt.”
Checkpoint pointed out that Mann was
the director of the company.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “He was
reporting to the manager, not me.”
In its 2022 determination, the ERA found
that given Mann’s role as sole director
and shareholder of Naanak Limited, “it
is apparent that Mr Mann was heavily
involved in the breaches”.
Mann had now been served with a
summons to attend a financial assessment
hearing, where his ability to pay what was
owed to Dhiman would be assessed.
Checkpoint asked him what he thought
would happen if he kept refusing to pay.
“I got nothing, simple as that. You can
send me to prison, I’ll go to prison - I’m
ready for it.”
Dhiman welcomed this prospect.
“I was working in his store like I’m a
prisoner,” he said. “If he goes to prison
then he will know how it feels working as a
slave.”