The oldest temple in New Zealand, Bharatiya Mandir in Sandringham, Auckland which opened for public after remaining closed for nearly four months has started getting devotees back to its doors. Due to some Red traffic light restrictions some of the services are still not fully functional and people are waiting for Auckland to move to Orange level on the night of 30th December to get more freedom to move around.

Bharatiya Mandir runs many free services and activities for the benefit of community and that includes Bal Vikas classes for children, Mums & Babies group for (0 to 5 years kids), Technology classes, Bhagvad Gita classes, Yoga classes, Career Workshops etc apart from serving the community on the religious and social aspects of life.

One of the women’s support groups called ‘Sakhi,” is being run with a purpose of growing together and supporting one another. The support is provided to the women in the group through socialising, networking, holding educational activities and also helping each other at the same time. Some community services are also undertaken time to time.

Since most people were confined to homes during lockdown period so the members of this group went around contacting such isolated people online and cheering them up by talking to them and lifting their moral and supporting them emotionally. Many Volunteers like Jyoti Parashar, Aditee Naik, Lavanya Komalgiri, Smriti Saini, Nadya Poonawala and several others were available to chat with the ladies with depression like conditions.

The “Sakhi ‘group recently conducted Yoga and aerobics classes in the park and Christmas celebration which was well received by the members filled with lot of fun, laughter, and joy.

Programme convener Jyoti Parashar told The Indian News that it was worth the effort to see smiles on so many faces after passing through some very challenging times. Anyone wishing to join this group can contact Jyoti Parashar @ 0212082915. -TIN Bureau