WATCH | Newly Elected Indian-Origin New Zealand MP Takes Oath In Sanskrit; Hails His Native Roots

The 33-year-old Labour Party MP for Hamilton West, Dr Gaurav Sharma on Wednesday took oath first in indigenous language of the island country and then in Sanskrit.

Photo: Screengrab from video posted by Gaurav Sharma, MP for Hamilton West

One of the youngest and newly-elected Indian-Origin member of the New Zealand Parliament, Dr Gaurav Sharma on Wednesday impressed the World as he took oath first in te reo – the indigenous language of the island country – and then in Sanskrit, showing deep respect for cultural traditions of both India and New Zealand. The 33-year-old Labour Party MP for Hamilton West works as a General Practitioner in Nawton and lives in Frankton, but originally hails from Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur district. Gaurav shared the footage from the ceremony which soon went viral attracting a lot of praise for the MP on social media.

Replying to a Twitter user who asked why he didn't take oath in Hindi, Sharma said it is hard to keep everyone happy, Sanskrit pays homage to all the Indian languages. "To be honest I did think of that, but then there was the question of doing it in Pahari (my first language) or Punjabi. Hard to keep everyone happy. Sanskrit made sense as it pays homage to all the Indian languages (including the many I can’t speak)."

As reported by news agency PTI, Sharma did his MBBS from Auckland and MBA from Washington and is working as a General Practitioner (GP) in Nawton, Hamilton now. He has previously been involved in public health, policy, medicine and consulting in New Zealand, Spain, the US, Nepal, Vietnam, Mongolia, Switzerland and India.