Archna and Surinder’s wedding in March 1990 – the start of Archna’s new life. Within less than two months that year, she had secured a scholarship for her PhD in Biochemistry at Lincoln University, met and wed Surinder through an arranged marriage, and moved to Lincoln.

Archna and Surinder at their wedding ceremony.

Courtesy of Archna Tandon

When they moved to New Zealand, Archna and Surinder continued to celebrate Indian festivals, including Diwali, with a small group of Indian friends. In 1998, they started Christchurch Diwali festival with an Indian group and organised and supported it for a number of years. It is now a major cultural event attracting thousands of Cantabrians each year.

Archna has been involved with Lincoln Rotary Multicultural Festival since the first event was held in the small community centre in Lincoln in 2004. The Council got involved in 2016 and it is now a much bigger affair called Selwyn CultureFest. Over 50 cultures are represented at the main event and two weeks of supporting activities around the district. Archna and Surinder continue to volunteer each year at this celebration of Selwyn’s rich cultural diversity.

Archna with stallholders at Diwali, 2016.

Courtesy of Archna Tandon

Archna’s experiences in moving to a new country underlie her passion for making positive contributions to our community. She has been involved with organisations like Christchurch Multicultural Council, Canterbury Migrants centre, Christchurch Resettlement Services that support people of many ethnicities, faiths and life circumstances.

She helped establish the Canterbury Indian Women Group and organised the first ever Indian Women Expo in 2016. She has also worked with the Christchurch branch of Shakti, an organisation that supports migrant women to overcome barriers and discrimination.

Archna at Shakti in 2017.

Courtesy of Archna Tandon