Paperjam: Please, introduce yourself and your association.
Sahil Goel: My name is Sahil. I came to Luxembourg to do a master’s degree in business administration at Sacred Heart University in Kirchberg in 2017. When I arrived, there were fewer than 2,000 Indians living in Luxembourg. I approached certain organisations to help as a volunteer, one of them being Indian Association Luxembourg.
This association has existed since 1991, so it’s almost 35 years old now. I was appointed its fifth president in October 2023. The previous presidents did a very nice job, laid a very good foundation, and I have to carry it forward. We do a lot of events, mostly focused on cultural awareness, and we do informative sessions.
So that’s the main aim of the association: to keep people from Indian origins connected, along with their friends and colleagues whom we can introduce to new cultures, new festivities, new dance forms, new music or new kinds of food. Actually, in Luxembourg, it’s really easy to do this--to introduce other nationalities to our culture--because Luxembourg is a melting point of various cultures and nationalities.
Do you also offer guidance for people who want to move here?
No, we don’t directly help people come here. But if there are questions around that, if people are new to Luxembourg, if they have a job offer, if they have questions around housing or schooling--then we have a public Facebook group where people go and post, as well as a Whatsapp community where people are connected in one group (with multiple subgroups and different topics). There are a lot of people residing here and helping to answer questions around housing, education, jobs… or other basic questions like where to find a plumber. It’s a private group but anybody can ask to join, and it’s huge, like 2,000 people.
How are you funded?
We have a membership fee of around €25 a year, which is more symbolic. Although it’s not that huge, we try to give back this €25 in one form or another to members, for example by giving discounts on our Diwali event.
Most of our events are free, although behind them there is a cost, and we get support from the embassy of India and the communes. The Ville de Luxembourg is a good supporter. They have helped us organise the biggest event this year, the tenth edition of India Day at Place Guillaume. The commune is a big supporter of this event. It’s at the end of summer, 14 September. They are providing us with the venue, helping us with the logistics, promoting it--so that’s a very good help.
And also other communes: Esch has been quite helpful in the past years.
We also welcome in‑kind sponsorships and support from individuals, businesses and organisations who share our vision, so people are free to contact us. There is a list of our current alliances and partnerships on our website.
So India Day is your biggest event, it sounds like? Could you tell us more about it?
Yes, it was very nice idea ten years ago by the IAL executive team. The idea is to have a small fair--it’s not the Schueberfouer but it’s on the lines of the Schueberfouer--where people have food, which is quite important to everybody, then entertainment from 11am to 4pm which is including dance performances, singing performances, bands and other acts. It’s a stage set for the people. We invite people to participate. We do the program management of this with the artists and the performers. Then we also have some art stalls, some information stalls--last year, we had an information booth for various types of cancer. There is an art workshop with a local artist of Indian origin. It has an entry fee with the proceeds going to an NGO, the AEIN (Aide à l’Enfance de l’Inde et du Népal), which is Luxembourg-based. Two henna artists are doing hand art with the proceeds also going to that NGO.
The embassy of India is quite supportive of the event: the ambassador visits every year, giving a nice message to the community, and they have a booth there for any embassy-related services or information. The event was also visited by the former prime minister 
Last year we had, I would say, 3,000 people at the event. Maybe 2,000 people entered, but from the stage you could easily see 1,000-plus extra people standing there [outside the event but listening in] at any given point in time. It’s a big area. It’s Place Guillaume: we cover from in front of the Luxembourg Tourist Office to the statue of Guillaume.
OK, wow. How many events do you do per year?
Last year we were engaged in 19 activities, but not all of those were our activities, as we join as a partner or participant sometimes, like at the Festival of Migration--or recently openscreen.lu screened a documentary on the bravery of the women from the state of Maharashtra, directed by a Belgian guy of Indian origin, and afterwards we had a Q&A session with him.
But we do events from the Festival of Colours, which is called Holi, to the festival of lights, which is called Diwali. Diwali to Indians is like Christmas to Christians. And we also did an event for Eid last year in collaboration with some local Muslim communities. So we’re quite open to all sorts of festivities.
Besides India Day, another of our biggest events is Diwali. Last year we did it for the first time at Luxexpo. It’s a big venue and we were expecting around 600 people, but we ended up having a lower number, around 430. But still it was a very decent event. On stage we had two dance groups performing, we had a DJ and a drummer after the dinner, we had catering from one of the Indian restaurants in Kirchberg, we had a couple of sponsors to support us for the cost of the venue because it was huge. All in all, it was a very engaging event: an audience of 430 people sitting around tables in a gala setting.
On 15 June this year we also did something for the 11th International Day of Yoga. In 2015 yoga was accepted by the UN as an international gift from India to the world for peace, harmony, prosperity. That’s something formal, but yoga has been there for many, many years--everybody knows about it. But since 2015, that day--21 June--is the official date. But we always celebrate the Sunday before, at an iconic place if possible, this year at Neimënster Abbey. They’ve been quite supportive for many years.
Some of these are clearly quite big events. What kind of team do you have?
So basically our team is structured as an executive committee. Then we also have a working committee, where volunteers come and go as per their availability and interest.
Recently, we had a new volunteer who helped us organise a badminton tournament which attracted 100-plus participants. He joined us as a working committee member, but his interest is in sports. So we have people who have a specific interest and we help them channelise their energy as they want. This is quite helpful, because then the executive team members get a breather and focus on the main events. Although the smaller events are not smaller--well, maybe in terms of the number of people coming, but it’s equal responsibilities in terms of communication, registrations, administrative tasks, doing the event on the day, closing the event. But we are not an event management company!
You mentioned that there were around 2,000 Indians living in Luxembourg when you came here in 2017. Any idea how it’s changed since then?
By now it’s beyond, I would say, 6,000. The official number is 5,700 or something but a lot of people have acquired the Luxembourgish nationality, maybe 700 or 800. So those people are not counted because we are not allowed to have two passports.
The Indian community is one of the fastest growing ones in Luxembourg. And there are big employers like Amazon bringing in masses of people from the UK, US, India. So it’s changing.
For people coming from India, what’s the most surprising or strange thing about Luxembourg?
I think the landscape. Yeah, the landscape is quite unique. And the free--and hassle-free!--transport is really appreciated. I had my uncle and aunt visiting for a month, and they are from Mumbai, one of the busiest cities in the world, and they really appreciated the transport facilities. It’s quite easy to take a bus nearby, or take a tram, and with free wifi you don’t need a local Sim card. My uncle and aunt could message me through the public wifi, which they found, at the age of 70, quite fascinating.
Just to go back, sorry--but what’s different about the landscape?
Oh, the multi-story nature of Luxembourg City. This kind of landscape is quite unique. It feels like a hill station, in the Indian mindset, because the streets are up and down, it’s not a plane.
Ah, I see. What about food? Two parts to the question: Luxembourgish (or simply local) food and the Indian restaurants that you have here?
I think, for Indians, our food is unique. It has received a good amount of love on the world stage, and not only naan breads and curry, but also biryani. There are many Indian restaurants in Luxembourg, many of them operated by non-Indians. They’re operated by Nepalis, but they do very good Indian cuisine because Nepal is very close to India and they learn quite fast.
Oh? Why are there so many Nepalis running Indian restaurants?
I think it’s something to do with history and when Nepalis entered Luxembourg somehow. I don’t know. I mean, I came here only eight years ago, but some of the Nepalis are here for 25, 30 years. And they are good in the restaurant business. But there are plenty of Indian restaurants operated by Indian owners too. One of them is the New Delhi Restaurant (Gaasperech), running for 20 years. Another one is a South Indian restaurant, Krishna Vilas (Gare)--or Moien Masala (Gare), Kohinoor (Howald), Kripa (Rollingergrund)--yeah, there are plenty of restaurants! [He laughs.] I can’t name all of them, but there are good restaurants.
But Indian people also try to enjoy the local cuisine at fairs, like the Christmas markets, the Schueberfouer. Normally we can cook Indian cuisine very well at home, so we like to go to other restaurants, to have Spanish tapas or Portuguese or Italian cuisines. Luxembourg is a melting pot of a lot of nationalities, it offers very good options for restaurants, there’s a good culture of going out to eat every week. Actually, Indian restaurants are run on the clientele of non-Indians, who go there because they want to try it.
And finally, any message for newcomers to Luxembourg from India?
On behalf of Indian Association Luxembourg, I warmly welcome all newcomers from India to the grand duchy. Luxembourg offers a unique blend of professional opportunity, cultural diversity and community warmth.
My advice is simple: embrace this diversity, connect with both local and international communities, and make the most of the excellent quality of life here. We at the IAL have since 1991 been here to help you settle in, celebrate our culture and create a sense of belonging. Stay open, stay engaged and enjoy your journey in this beautiful country.
(Visit our website to become a member or email us to become a volunteer for our events and activities. We appreciate all forms of volunteering efforts!)
