Perzen shares her story of moving to New Zealand from India, adapting to a new country, it's cuisine and how she and her husband built a Spice business called 'Dolly Mumma', all from her kitchen.
Interesting article. But included at the very beginning is a ‘pepeha’ in an undisclosed language. While I realize most people can recognise, read, and understand this language I can’t and assume at least a few others can’t either. If the ideas expressed in the quote are important, why not include a translation in a footnote or even a parenthetical.
You're right Julie, I should have included a translation. Even though I wrote my pepeha in te reo Māori, I'm new to the language myself. Here's a translation:
Ko Damavand te maunga - Mt Damavand is the mountain I call home
Ko Arabian te moana - The Arabian Sea is my water
Ko Parsi te hāpu - Parsis are my tribe, my community
Ko Patel tōku whānau - I'm part of the Patel family
Ko Perzen tōku ingoa - my name is Perzen
What I didn't get to go into in this piece is the significance of a pepeha in Māori culture. It's a form of introduction that's meant to share the places and people that are important to you.
Interesting article. But included at the very beginning is a ‘pepeha’ in an undisclosed language. While I realize most people can recognise, read, and understand this language I can’t and assume at least a few others can’t either. If the ideas expressed in the quote are important, why not include a translation in a footnote or even a parenthetical.
You're right Julie, I should have included a translation. Even though I wrote my pepeha in te reo Māori, I'm new to the language myself. Here's a translation:
Ko Damavand te maunga - Mt Damavand is the mountain I call home
Ko Arabian te moana - The Arabian Sea is my water
Ko Parsi te hāpu - Parsis are my tribe, my community
Ko Patel tōku whānau - I'm part of the Patel family
Ko Perzen tōku ingoa - my name is Perzen
What I didn't get to go into in this piece is the significance of a pepeha in Māori culture. It's a form of introduction that's meant to share the places and people that are important to you.
Thanks for the comment Julie. I'll contact Perzen for the translation and update the post.
Thank you Perzen, understanding the significance of a pepeha, makes it even more important for non-speakers of the language to understand the words.