2009-08 Sydney (2)

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INDIANLINK

Luthra

PUBLISHER Pawan

EDITOR

Rajni Anand Luthra

ASSISTANT EDITORS

Usha Arvind

Sheryl Dixit

MELBOURNE

Preeti Jabbal

CONTRIBUTORS

Sudha Natarajan, Divya Kapur, Farzana Shakir, Raka Mitra, Shivangi Ambani-Gandhi, Graham Sims, Shweta Sirohi Gupta, Noel G deSouza, Minal Khona, Viral Bhayani.

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Vivek Trivedi 02 9262 1766

ADVERTISING ASSISTANT

Priti Bhardwaj 02 9279 2004

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND LAYOUT

Rajeev Sangdhore

Indian Link is a fortnightly newspaper published in English. No material, including advertisements designed by Indian Link maybe reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the editor. Opinions carried in Indian Link are those of the writers and not necessarily endorsed by Indian Link. All correspondence should be addressed to Indian Link

Level 24/44 Market St, Sydney 2000 or GPO Box 108, Sydney 2001

Ph: 02 9279-2004 Fax: 02 9279-2005

Email: info@indianlink.com.au

Cleaning up our act

Indian students have been in the spotlight in the last few months for a number of reasons: their concerns about personal security; their helplessness at an education system which they perceive ignores their cry for help; their ongoing battle against the largely unregulated education industry with its share of corrupt education institutions and migration agents; their uncertainty as to changing rules for their courses etc. It has made it a difficult time for them in their pursuit of eduction in Australia. Added to this, the distance from family and friends in the home country, makes it even more challenging for them to ensure they use the education opportunities in Australia to maximum benefit.

These challenges are coupled with the ever persistent financial pressures of living here. They are aware of their work limitations, they are also acutely aware of the basic needs they need to survive here – food, clothing, shelter and education bills. They are also fully aware of the 28-factor i.e., the average conversion rate between the dollar and the rupee, knowing fully well that sourcing funds from India, over and above what they already have, will be difficult for their families. Their pride, to an extent, also prevents them from putting their hand out. Their newfound independence in Australia urges them to stand on their own two feet.

By Pawan Luthra

And so they turn to look for employment opportunities. With limited local experience, study schedules which make regular office work difficult, they turn to more flexible businesses – spice shops, restaurants, call centres, car washes, convenience stores and petrol stations, to earn a living. Often they turn to businesses owned by Indian Australians. There is a feeling of comfort and closeness as there are expats around and this brings a feeling of “home” in an unknown world.

While a majority of these jobs are wonderful and both the students and the bosses get value from each other, there are unfortunately rogues and charlatans who exploit their helpless countrymen in their hour of need. Staff are underpaid, physically and emotionally abused by their Indian employers who quickly understand that the local legal knowledge of the average Indian student is limited. Their reach to the forces of law being uncertain, they can be intimidated with threats of complaints to the Immigration department which can jeopardise their potential PR application. Female

students sometimes find themselves more vulnerable to the advances of their bosses. Certainly these incidents are far and few between, but they need to stop completely.

The Indian community is treading on thin ice in Australia. A lot of goodwill created over the last 30 years has been eroded with the uncovering of unscrupulous activities within the established Indian education and migration sectors. Shonky promotions by leading Indian business groups have also started sowing the seeds of doubt in the minds of mainstream Australians. More exposes of such nefarious activities will surely harm the community as a whole.

It is time to clean the skeletons out of the cupboards and move forward in a transparent and clear manner – not only in our dealings with those who can defend themselves, but especially with the weak, who cannot.

THE RIGHT APPROACH.THE RIGHT RESPONSE.

Upcoming events at Chinmaya Mission Australia (Sydney)

Ganesh Chaturthi: Sunday 23 August (10am–11.30am) at Chinmaya Sannidhi.

Men’s Retreat: Saturday 12 September (9am) to Sunday 13 September (3pm) at Chinmaya Sannidhi.

Ladies Retreat: Friday 18 September (8pm) to Saturday 19 September (6pm) at Chinmaya Sannidhi.

Free Public Discourses: Secret of Victory

Tuesday 29 September to Saturday 3

October at Chinmaya Sannidhi.

Holiday Program: Lord Ganesha, Success

Giver Wednesday 7 October & Thursday 8

October at Chinmaya Sannidhi.

Chinmaya Gurukulam (School with a difference) during School Holidays –

Monday 12 October to Friday 16 October at Chinmaya Sannidhi.

Holiday Program: My Friend Ganesha

Wednesday 14 October & Thursday 15

October at Holsworthy Public School, Holsworthy

Details call Chinmaya Sannidhi on 02 88507400

Seminar for pensioners

15 Sept Centrelink Parramatta and Parramatta City Library jointly present a seminar in Hindi entitled Helping you to understand Australian Pensions. Find out directly from a Centrelink Financial Information Officer everything you ever wanted to know about your finances.

Venue: Parramatta City Library (Darug Room), 1B, Civic Place, Parramatta (behind Parramatta City Council). Time: 10.30am-12.30pm. No bookings required. Details call Pauline on 02 9806 5159.

Kids competition

The Gandhi Peace Centre and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan are jointly organising a children’s competition to commemorate

COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD

International Peace and Non-Violence day (2nd October 2009).

• Create posters, paintings, slogans or songs. Choose from any one of the topics below:

Peace, Harmony, Unity, Non-Violence, Values of Multiculturalism, Truth, Honesty, Sustainable Future, Recycling, The Recession

Be a messenger of peace and harmony

• Itching to write your stories? Write about any one of the following:

• What’s happening to the world around me?

• People like me because…

• Disagreeing with views and not with the people

• If/when I start earning…...

• Be the change you want to see in the world

• My dream

• Self portrait

• The recession

Age groups: A) 7 to 12 years B) 13 to 17 years C) 18 years and above. Send your entry to: Nidhi Sharma and Bharati Mehta, Address: 3/1 Reid Avenue Wentworthville 2145 Ph: 9687 0061

Email: gandhicentre.australia@gmail. com

Entries close on 28th August 2009. Two prizes for all categories. Participation prizes for all entrants.

Details visit website: www.gandhicentre. com www.gujaratisamaj.com.au

OZINDCARE fundraiser

12 Sept OZINDCARE in association with Hamsa Venkat’s Samskriti School of Dance presents Anuragh, the experience of being in love - an expression through the stories of Shakuntala and Meera at the Science Theatre, 14 Baker St., Kensington, 6.30 pm. For tickets contact: Geetha

Mahadevan 9624 1314, Hamsa Venkat 9620 6026 or Anita Kurien 9825 6772

Classical music duet

25 Sept – 30 Oct The South Indian Fine Arts Association of Canberra sponsors the visit to Australia of Indian classical musicians Debapriya and Samanwaya, vocal and sitar performers. While in Australia, Dev and Sam are scheduled to perform at various venues in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Byron Bay. Details email devasaman@gmail. com or visit website www.myspace.com/ debapriyasamanwaya

Theatre fostering greater respect for ethnic diversity

5-29 Aug The Alex Buzo Company presents a season of two short plays at the Seymour Centre, Norm And Ahmed by Alex Buzo and Shafana And Aunt Sarrinah by Alana Valentine. Tickets at http:// seymourcentre.com.au

Ganesh Visarjan at SVT Helensburgh

30 Aug The popular Ganesh Visarjan festival will be celebrated with poojas, stalls, cultural programs, foods, children’s activities, procession with drumming and singing of Ganpathy Bappa Morya to Stanwell Park Beach and the final immersion of the idols at sea. Special Ganesh making workshops for kids. Simultaneous outdoor cultural programs and yummy food on sale. Details at http://www.svtsydney.org.

Third Bollywood Youth Talent Competition

23 Aug, 4.00pm-7.00pm AHIA presents the 3rd Bollywood Dance Competition at Ryde Civic Centre, 1 Devlin St, Ryde.

Open to youth of Indian origin, 15 to 25 years, in solo as well as group categories. Details call Pravesh Babhoota 0422 008 907

Ganesh Festival

23 Aug – 3 Sept The Western Sydney Ganeshotsav Incorporated is pleased to announce annual Ganesh Festival Program for this year. The festival is organised in the Swaminarayan Temple located at 1/44 Bessemer Street, Blacktown NSW 2148. Like last year, along with the Sahastravartan and daily Pooja a cultural entertainment program is organised on Saturday, 29th August ’09 at Blacktown Boys High School, Fifth Ave, Blacktown NSW 2148 to encourage children and local artists to show their talents and add some more cultural flavour to the celebrations.

Details call Uday Kulkarni 0439 130 729

Free fun day for people with disabilities,

frail and elderly

6 Sept The seva wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad is running free fun day camp for adults and children with disabilities and their carers and the frail and elderly from 10am to 3pm at Crestwood Community Centre, Crestwood. There will be games, singing and dancing, art etc. Vegetarian lunch and coffee and tea will be provided. Castle Hill member of parliament Mr. Michael Richardson and Baulkham Hills councillor Ms. Barbara Burton will be present. There will be a speaker from Woodbury school (the first wholly ABA school in Australia for children with autism and related disorders) as well. Please register before 31/08/2009 by contacting any of the coordinators. They are Uma Ramasubramanian 96170060, Akila Ramarathinam 8814 7016, Narayanan 9614 5788, Nalini Sankar 9802 5805 and Brij Pal Singh 9484 5204.

India’s Independence Day

Mr Amit Dasgupta reads out the message of the President of India Mrs Pratibha Patil

The Tricolour is unfurled

Sydney’s Indian nationals gather to mark the occasion

Scenes from the Independence Day celebration at the Sydney home of the Consul General of India (Sydney) Mr Amit Dasgupta, 15 Aug 2009

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SM Krishna “satisfied” with Oz over Indian students’ issue

These include Deakin University, Griffith dith Cowan University, acquarie nglish, and Australian provide more than ndia elbourne that will work to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries, Deputy Prime inister Julia Gillard announced during nstitute is a joint project of the robe outh Wales and they will invest around $2

He also interacted with indian students and the Indian community to learn firsthand the problems faced by them.

speaking with the media in sydney, he outlined a number of measures that must be taken to ensure the security of indian students here. the responsibility for this lies with many interlinked parties, he seemed to suggest. The first of these, were the students themselves. “Prospective students need to do a lot more research prior to coming to Australia – they should know well what to expect and what the situation here is,” he stated.

“the Australian government must work towards ensuring more security for the

towards better regulation of the education agents and promoters in india,” Krishna said. “We will set up systems to ensure that there is more clarity in the system in india”.

Krishna was in Cairns to participate in the Annual Post Forum Dialogue meeting of the 16-nation Pacific Island Forum (PiF), at which india is a dialogue partner. the forum focussed on issues like climate change and the situation in Fiji.

“I am quite satisfied that Australian government and state governments are very clear so far what kind of relations they want with India - they want a very positive and cordial relationship,” Krishna said

india, once due to indian elections and then because indian Prime minister manmohan singh was recovering from a bypass surgery early this year.

rudd was quoted as saying by The Australian. “i look forward to visiting india”.

“it’s an important relationship for Australia and like most of our relationships around the world, has some bumps in the road from time to time... but we can work our way through them,” rudd said.

the attacks on indian students in Australia notwithstanding, at least a dozen universities from that country are currently in india to woo students.

million bringing the total investment in the project to more than $10 million over three

“As the world’s largest democracy and a key emerging economy, India is redefining its role in international affairs. Its influence in our region and globally is growing. india is currently a top ten trading partner for Australia and the economic relationship between the two countries has grown strongly in recent years,” said Gillard.

“the institute will work to increase Australians’ understanding of india, its culture, its history and its place in the world by producing and promoting specialised knowledge about india.”

Bina’s Hair & Beauty Care

Pawan Luthra; IANS

indian diplomats join Foreign minister sm Krishna (extreme left) in taking questions from the media. seated (from left) are Foreign minster sm Krishna, High Commissioner sujatha singh, Consul(Consular) Gautam roy and Consul General Amit Dasgupta.

Seniors

Shining the light on seniors

The Sydney-baSed Sri Om Foundation has made a name for itself in the Indian community for having tuned in to and addressed the needs of seniors.

The foundation celebrated its third anniversary recently with a dinner dance at bowman hall, blacktown. The program offered a play, Laila Aur Majnu, in addition to a number of dances by children and young adults from the community. The play was directed by young budding artist nitya Raghavan and delivered a strong message of love.

Jay Raman, the vice president of Sri Om Care told Indian Link, “The evening was a roaring success with 526 people in attendance (regrettably at least 15 families had to be turned away). a total of $10,000 was raised in funds during the gala event which will go towards hall hire and equipment, voluntary services, morning tea and lunches and pick up services for the seniors”.

The Chairman hh Sri Om adi Sakthiyendra Swamiji flew in especially for the fundraiser. The list of guests included the President of the foundation, hh Sri Om Gana Sakthiyendra Swamiji, hon. Laurie Ferguson, Federal MP and Parliament Secretary, hon. Louise Markus was represented by her husband Jim Markus, and Councillor Kathie Collins. also present were various community groups such as SeWa International, auburn Tamil Society, FaIa, bank of Queensland (blacktown), VhP who have

provided their constant support to Sri Om’s activities.

The special invitees spoke of an increase in the elderly population in general and those who need additional care in particular. This, they observed was resulting in increased pressure on the younger generation. The lack of services

the aim to provide a platform for social interaction for the seniors of the Indian community. Their day Centres offer therapy and recreational services to seniors, frail and aged like light exercises, story-telling, movies, karaoke, games and lectures. The activities promote an opportunity for older people to maintain

during the annual fundraiser, the youth team presented a Power Point Presentation explaining the services available to the seniors and the ones that are planned for the future.

Jay Raman touched on some of the more thoughtful services offered to the seniors like the home and community care, the social support, domestic help, nursing services, shopping and visits to the temple. he also highlighted some of the projects in the pipeline including the plans for a retirement village and respite care.

On a final note during the evening, the President of the foundation requested members of the public to join the organisation and help the cause. he said, “We are constantly in need of donations which can be in kind (materials for food) or cash and we also look forward to volunteers with various skills and time.” To find out more about Sri Om Care visit their web site www.sriomcare.org.

provided to the community is leading to social isolation for the Indian seniors as caring for them is quite unique, difficult and time consuming. hence, the need for organisations likes Sri Om Care. The involvement of youth in senior services was highly commended as well.

Sri Om Care was established with

links with the local community and make new friends. For those seniors who are cared for by a friend or a relative, the centre provides time off to the carers.

Sri Om’s day centres are located in Lidcombe, Seven hills, Parramatta, and blacktown. Two new centres are soon coming up in Riverstone and bankstown.

Farzana Shakir

Community kids and youth put on a show to entertain the elders

(Photo Bindi Shah)

Seniors fund-raise for themselves

The Marana hall at hurstville was full. Seniors from the resourceful australian Indian network (raIn) were seen everywhere welcoming guests along the foyer, selling tickets to the last minute arrivals… and also experiencing flutters of nervous excitement as the show of

their first effort in fund raising was about to start.

Ushabehn Sanghvi sat at the front desk, inviting people to buy little hankies embroidered by seniors; the very useful booklet of Yoga and Yoga Mudra written by Veda Srinivasan, and an array of greeting cards which are the handwork of the seniors group. They had worked tirelessly for this event, planning, holding meetings once a month, organising the menu for the snack pack and discussing various ways to make their dream come true… to buy a place for the Senior Care Centre.

The Mayor of Hurstville Cr Vince

Badalati launched the program with his speech, congratulating the group of seniors who meet regularly in the Hurstville Senior Citizens’ centre on Thursday afternoons. Seniors were VIPs for the day and they went on stage to perform their various duties of assisting with the function. It was amazing and touching, the way the whole program focussed on encouraging, honouring and respecting our seniors.

Smita Bhagat, the evening’s Master of Ceremonies took the audience through the varied moods of the evening, not only inviting everyone to enjoy the musical program but also to participate

prayer song for her grandma Vasantha amamurthy who is currently not so well, sang with such intense feeling that it brought home the fact that we do need a place where older people can be taken care of. Young students of Thrayee dance school delighted the audience with the first two dances; Karan who did the Shiva dance gave a fantastic performance. The highlight of the occasion was bollywood dancing by a senior, Gargi Shah who proved that the resourceful Seniors are capable and entertaining and fully deserve the appreciation they were receiving.

Mrs rita Dev Murari who coordinated this event should be congratulated for an excellent job done. The volunteer team of raIn was there, silently giving a hand and making the event successful beyond expectations.

extremely well done, team!

Sudha Natarajan RAIN

Ushabehn Sanghvi

Vince Badalati

Gargi Shah with Gangabehn Rangoonwala and Rita Dev Murari

Smita Bhagat

A dance for charity

It may be clichéd to say that there is hunger and disparity in this world and that it needs us for help, but it still is the truth. there is a little voice in all of us which often times is desperate for us to listen to it but with all the distractions galore, we are not able do much, either because we choose to move on or simply because we don’t know where to start.

Vision2020 is one of the many manifestations of that little voice. It was set up in 2003 by Dr.Nagarajan and a group of his friends who shared this vision. the focus of this charitable, non-profit, voluntary and ‘non-discriminatory’ organisation as emphasised by Dr.Nagarajan, are the needy and helpless children who are denied their basic rights to a decent life including education and a bright future that even we want for our own children. Vision2020’s projects also include those for the elderly and the disabled if the resources permit. this year’s vision for this group of philanthropists involves a charity school in Kottayam, Kerala, called Jyothis. Jyothis is a training school for milestone-delayed children with brain damage. most of the kids who attend are cerebral-palsied, but the school also caters for autistic, dyslexic and mentally-retarded children. Established in 2002, the school has branches in many districts of Kerala. It is run by volunteers providing basic education at no cost to the children.

Vision 2020, as Sydney-based supporters

the challenge of providing for the transportation needs of the disabled kids who attend the institution. Funds they raise will help provide a special bus that will be able to bring disabled or wheelchair-bound children and those from the poorest of the families, to the school.

And what a fun-filled fund raiser they organised recently, towards this end.

One can never go wrong with a timeless theme like ‘Beats of India’, with Bhangra and Garba being the highlight of DJ Vittal Iyer’s mixing skills. the evening took off with Garba gracefully demonstrated by asmita, Nimisha and arunditi mankad. after that, there was no stopping the crowds. as the lights went down, people

were drawn to the dance floor, unable to resist some of the best Garba tracks from Bollywood. and then there were those who showcased the best of traditional Garba in a trance like state to the devotional songs set in folk style music.

as the Garba warmed everybody up, it was time to step it up with the floor shaking, foot thumping and lilting Bhangra numbers. the Beats of Bhangra got the oldest and the youngest alike on to the dance floor. By this time, the floor was packed full of shouldershrugging, hip shaking and ‘want to dance like crazy’ dancers including dadis, daddus, gabru, mutiars, mums, dads, uncle and aunties!

all this was very thoughtfully complimented with the classic Indian menu

for such occasions. the table was set for all to enjoy a sumptuous meal or to simply re-fuel before hitting the dance floor yet again.

at every step in organising the event, focus was put on raising funds urgently required to provide the much needed bus to the children living within 30-40 kms of Jyothis. Gifts for the lucky dip were generously donated by friends and acquaintances. Even DJ Vittal Iyer offered his services for the evening, free. an impressive $9,000 were collected. No management and administration fees are deducted from the funds thus raised. at the end of the day, we live in a society that believes in ‘give and take’, perhaps more in ‘take’. But in the disguise of a musical and fun evening for family and friends, participants ended up being on the ‘giving’ end of the things and all for a good cause!

It is therefore safe to say:

Datavyam iti yad danam diyate ’nupakarine dese kale ca patre ca tad danam sattvikam smrtam this is a quote from the Bhagwad Gita which translates as: Charity given out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person, is considered to be in the mode of goodness.

Divya Kapur

Running for India

You don’t often come across nine-yearold kids running city marathons.

And raising nearly $1500 in charity, all on their own.

But that is exactly what naiesha Wise did on 9 Aug this year, as she ran the SunHerald City2Surf.

Her charity of choice was iIndia Project’s Jhag Children’s Village. In the few weeks before the run, naiesha raised $1450 for street kids in Rajasthan.

naiesha has always loved running: in fact, she’s been running since she was 18 months old! that’s why when her mother Mishell suggested they enter the annual City2Surf, she was thrilled. She finished the race in an astounding 88 minutes (the men’s winner clocked 41.02, and the women’s winner 47.47 minutes).

14 kilometres in 88 minutes would be a struggle for most adults but naiesha is only 9 years old!

“Heartbreak Hill was the hardest part but I loved the whole race. Mummy said I could stop and rest whenever I wanted but I didn’t want to stop.”

When asked why she picked the Jhag children to help, she replied with a shy smile “Well, they don’t have a lot of things like I do...”

the Jhag Children’s Village aims to build a safe haven for orphans and

destitute children 45kms from Jaipur city.

In many ways naiesha is like every other 9-year-old who loves playing with her two younger siblings (though she finds her brother annoying sometimes). She loves sport and recently won 6 out of 8 events at the athletics carnival in her school. She has gone on to represent her school at the regional level for various events. She was picked as one of the top ten runners in her entire school, which is a first for this Year 3 student.

naiesha also loves playing the violin, horse riding and doing math.

Parents Mishell and Robin are humble about naiesha’s achievements.

“We never had any expectations”, Mishell says. “She wanted to try the race, so we took her… but the dedication was all her own.”

Congrats naiesha, you’re a hero! (the race this year raised nearly $2 million towards charity, and created a record with 75,000 participants).

Raka Mitra

If you want to help the Jhag Children’s Village, please contact the I-India organisation via their website http:// www.i-indiaproject.org.au

naiesha Wise

Theatre to make you think

If a white aussie, clad in a t-shirt bearing the Australian flag were to stop you in a dimly-lit street corner, what would your first thought be? One late evening, outside a city construction site, when Norm asks him for a light, Ahmed hesitates - a shadow, a fear crosses his face.

“This isn’t India, mate, you’re in Sydney,” Norm tells Ahmed. “No Bombay Stranglers around here.”

They are characters from Australian playwright Alex Buzo’s play, Norm and Ahmed, which premiered in 1968. The first local Australian production to bring the Asian perspective to stage has now been brought back to stage by his daughter, and Founder-Director of the Alex Buzo Company, Emma Buzo.

She has also commissioned contemporary playwright Alana Valentine, to respond to this Australian classic with a companion piece – Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah: Soft Revolution. Both plays are showing in a double-bill at the Seymour Theatre Centre

a 45-minute dialogue between the two characters, displays some taut writing. Norm begins to befriend Ahmed, slowly winning his confidence, yet momentarily displaying racist, nationalistic opinions.

“A bloke at work said he didn’t see the point of bringing a whole lot of boongs out here. Excuse the term, Ahmed…”

A piece of graffiti in the backdrop for the play is threateningly foretelling of the relationship between Norm and Ahmed: “We grew here, you flew here”.

The audience is always on the edge: Is Norm a violent racist, or just an old widower looking for a little harmless conversation? Are they going to part as

friends, having learned a little about the “other” community? Can the native and the immigrant bridge the chasms created by change? Can the struggle between the conservatism and radicalism, between reason and belief ever be won?

The shocking climax of Norm and Ahmed triggered a censorship battle in the ‘70s, bringing the emerging australian theatre scene on the front page of media. The point of contention was the final line, “F.. king boong!”. The actors and director were arrested for use of obscene language in a public space. It was the penultimate word that was considered offensive – not “boong”, as one might imagine.

“Fairly soon after it was banned in three Australian states at the time of its premiere 40 years ago, the authorities could not contend with the play’s popularity,” says Emma Buzo. “It quickly became an Australian classic and has been studied in schools and universities around Australia ever since.” Norm and Ahmed is now part of prescribed text for the NSW HSC (20102012). “It has also received countless productions in Australia, Malaysia and India,” she adds.

Laurence Coy is brilliant as the middle-aged ocker, Normslipping in the occasional “boong”, recalling his days in the Vietnam War with violent re-enactments, while encouraging Ahmed to make his life in Australia.

Craig Meneaud is perfect as the immaculate, soft-spoken, yet opinionated Pakistani student, Ahmed. Although eager to avoid causing offence, he does however hesitantly give his honest opinion if asked.

The ever shifting, friend-foe struggle between Norm and Ahmed is timeless. Emma Buzo reveals that minimal changes were made to the original script to situate it appropriately for audiences today. “The character of Norm was originally a World War Two veteran. This production sets the action in the present and makes Norm a Vietnam veteran. This time, ahmed carries a backpack instead of a briefcase as per the original script,” she says. “Very few words had to be changed for it to sit comfortably in the present day.”

The play is also extremely timely, in an eerie twist of fact imitating fiction, with the recent reports of racist attacks on Indian students. “I commissioned a play to respond to Norm and Ahmed because it is perhaps more relevant now than when it premiered in 1968,” says Buzo. Its companion piece, Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah, is just as

timely, but strongly situated in the present, with its references to google, and the moment that altered the Muslim identity, 9/11. Again uncannily timed to the ban over the burkha in France, the story follows a young science student who wants to put on the hijab.

“I commissioned Alana Valentine... after she told me a captivating story about the opposition a young Afghani Australian Muslim woman faced from her own family about her decision to wear the headscarf,” writes Emma Buzo in the production notes. “We don’t often hear of diversity within an ethnic community,” she adds.

Shafana, inspired by Makiz Ansari from Affinity Intercultural Foundation, launches into a struggle of religious faith and political belief with her beloved Aunt Sarrinah.

Her aunt’s story is familiar to many immigrants. A well placed engineer, back home in Afghanistan, Sarrinah has settled for a job in a factory, and is studying to get her qualification recognised in Australia.

The cheerful woman of wit and humour at the start of the play, slowly unravels her deepest fears when Shafana insists on an outward display of her faith. Camilla Ah Kin, as Sarrinah, carefully unveils the confident Afghani-Australian: slowly disintegrating under the haunting memories of escape from Afghanistan. You cannot move on from your past sometimes - it lingers, waiting for a single moment of vulnerability.

Sheridan Harbridge exudes the enthusiasm of a young, passionate and sincere Shafana - she has understood, discovered her religion. And now, even the gravest of objections -restrictions in her social interactions and her career progression - seem petty.

Shafana fumbles, folds and unfolds the scarf, caught between her own convictions and the fears of her aunt - the one person whose judgement she trusts the most. Will Shafana put on the scarf? Will our society see the young girl, the scientist, under the hijab? Or will she remain forever burdened by the socio-political symbols attributed to the headscarf?

As the director, Aarne Neeme writes in the production notes, “Good theatre doesn’t provide solutions; it speculates – leaving the answers for the audience.”

Norm and Ahmed; Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah continue at the Seymour Theatre Centre until August 29. For further information, please see www.alexbuzo. com.au

Expect no easy answers in the double-bill of timeless, yet timely theatre by the Alex Buzo Company, writes SHIVANGI AMBANI-GANDHI

Laurence Coy as Norm, and Sheridan Harbridge as Ahmed (Photo Heidrun Lohr)

Makiz Ansari, whose story was the major inspiration behind Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah advises a young actress at rehearsals for the play.

Camilla Ah Kin as Aunt Sarrinah and Sheridan Harbridge as Shafana

(Photo Heidrun Lohr)

Indian students bring Bapu’s message alive

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “My life is my message.”

Indian students from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), brought this message to life again, by movingly enacting key moments of his life in Gandhi: The Power of One. The play was produced and staged by Vishwaas, the UNSW Hindu Society, on August 1 at the Greenhalgh Auditorium in UTS Kuringai Campus.

And in a truly Gandhian act, all proceeds from the tickets sold also went to the Medical Students’ Aid Project (MSAP) of UNSW, towards funding medical supplies for a rural hospital in India.

So, how well did a bunch of Uni students portray one of the most charismatic and revered personality of India, and the most critical moments of our freedom movement? The answer was ringing aloud in the enthusiastic cheering and applause after each act, as well as in positive conversations in the lobby.

In a moving gesture of respect, the organisers had freedom fighter Nana Badve spin a charkha and weave a thread on the stage, prior to the commencement of the play. Nanaji is a senior member of the Marathi Association in Sydney and has been in Australia for a few decades. He was through a book by Maxwell Klein. We first find the young, suit-clad and bumbling, but steadfast Mohandas aboard a first-class compartment of a train in South Africa. While the story is familiar, it is the little

engineering and bio-medicine student playing Gandhi, made the transformation on stage most convincingly. From the nervous, almost Raj Kapoor-ish gait of the young Gandhi in South Africa, to the concerned, but confused Gandhi arriving into to the resolute, brisk walk of a man determined, during the Dandi March and finally the disappointment of a nation divided upon independence – Wodeykar created an image of the Mahatma as we

When Wodyekar first walked onto the round

rimmed-frames and walking stick, he exuded the aura of a man transformed, convinced and determined to win freedom for his people. The audience succumbed to spontaneous applause - Wodyekar’s performance had provided yet another moment of great drama and theatre. He was of course supported by an enthusiastic and driven cast, many of whom played multiple roles. Engineering and commerce student Shankar Vasudevan, and the director of the play, could perhaps be a Bollywood filmmaker in the making. After all he displayed the one trait of a successful Bollywood director - in Gandhiji’s travels around India, he seized the perfect opportunity to sneak in some peppy folk songs, group dances and bling costumes. Vasudevan’s direction of some of the more sensitive and explosive scenes was also commendable. Jallianwalla Bagh’s terror was effectively recreated. The Dandi March progressed through the audience with followers joining Bapu in the march from different areas of the auditorium. At the start of the play, the organisers announced that the play was their quest into whether Gandhiji’s message is relevant today. The play was a great reminder of the responsibility we inherit from Bapu’s legacy in our struggles with today’s injustices. The show was also perhaps a motivating insight into Gandhiji’s life for second generation immigrants who may not be as familiar with his philosophies.

And of course his message is his life - and that was ringing aloud in the heart of every audience member.

Shivangi Ambani-Gandhi

To donate or participate in Vishwaas activities, please visit www.vishwaas.com

Kasturba Gandhi (Vruchi Waje) dispells young Gandhiji's nervousness before his first public speech

Chiranth Wodyekar’s performance as Mahatma Gandhi provided moments of great drama

Maxwell Klein (Shankar Vasudevan) and General Smuts (Apresh Singla) face off in Gandhi: The Power of One

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Sakhi Sangam 2009

A couple of months ago, I sent out an email to my girlies, asking them to block out August 2 in their diaries.

At that stage, I had no idea what I was heading into. I knew, from my basic knowledge of Hindi that Sakhi meant girlfriend and Sangam meant unity – so I worked out a Sakhi Sangam would have to mean a get-together of girlfriends. This is the information I passed on to the ladies on my elite list. Most just emailed back with a whole list of questions, what’s it for? What do we wear? Will there be food? Who is coming? Where is it? I got exasperated and said, “look, I don’t know. But let’s just go and find out!”

eventually I was able to answer most questions on a factional level. Venue: The croatian club, Time: 11 am and Theme: Dress up like your favourite Bollywood Actress (or actor).

August 2, I looked out to confirm that it was a pristine day outside with the winter sun at its brightest. Wonderful! The day was going well already (and I was still in bed)! Step 2: What to wear... Bollywood glamour in the day time? That required a lot of planning. So after wearing and discarding three saris I was finally ready. Ready to arrive at the croatian club fashionably late! The car park was packed: how many people are at this?! Every now and again we saw a swish of brilliant colours from a sari pallu, and heard the mystical tinkering of a girlish giggle.

And then I realised - I lost my tickets! Not just my ticket, but everyone else’s! Girlies were not impressed (disgruntled, in fact). Thankfully, after a small confirmation of our names we were allowed to enter - in fact we even got a present each, just for being late and forgetting our tickets! Each of the “Sakhis” were gifted a beautiful ceramic oil burner. And a bingo ticket! We walked into the party room - only to stop and gawk at the number of women there. everyone was bejewelled in their sparkling gems, sashaying in their latest Bollywood style sarees, lehengas, salwars. I looked at my entourage and watched as their faces broke into happy smiles - I had done well.

Just as we got to our tables Manjit’s Men arrived with our drinks and entrees. papri chaat and kaju cutlets, yummm... a great chaat and good chat are all a girl really needs! And with no men to give us looks of horror as we stuffed our faces - we really did stuff our faces! And the waistline? Well we could always dance it off after!

our tastebuds indulged in the culinary fanfare that was laid out in front of us; our eyes feasted on the magic that the dancers put on display. on many an occasion all we could do was look at each other and say, “Wow!”

lunch was a feast of our favourites from Indian banquets.

I wiggled my way around the women for a quick word with the two amazing ladies behind the whole event, Nandini Thadani and Sushma Ahluwalia. “This is our 11th year but it feels like only yesterday when we were just a few women having a good time together.” An event of such

magnitude could not have been possible without the unwavering patience and attention by the organising committee.

After lunch we settled down to play some serious bingo followed by the raffle prizes, our table had 2 winners!

When DJ Dimple took the microphone, we were all ready to hit the floor…and hit it hard. With 600 women on the dance floor, the atmosphere was buzzing. Every lady danced without inhibition. Girls hanging out being girls for girls with girls! Some girls notwithstanding the heat of the dance floor made their own stage at one corner of the room. There was dance and masti everywhere! There was a smile on every face, a sparkle on every bindi! ladies danced on while some went away for more food.

lots of prizes and many squeals later we decided to engage in every girls favourite pastime - shopping, of course. The Meena Bazaar was on in full swing, selling glittering, sparkling jewelleryand my favourite, bangles! There were bangles galore. After a significant hit to the bank account - and swearing each other to privacy - we decided it was time to head off.

The day was fun, relaxing and filled with giggles. Next time, we are taking our mums along - perhaps mine will then buy the bangles for me!

Finally, I will ask you to imagine a huge

By Raka Mitra

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Midway through last year, in what seemed a great idea at the time, i decided on total replacement of my right knee, and my skilled surgeon at “the San” at wahroonga, did his job. i woke up, high on morphine, and feeling so well that my dear wife told everyone that i’d be home any day. when the morphine wore off and they discovered i am allergic to it, i came back to the reality of pain and oh boy, was there pain!!

Fortunately, into my life came a young man

The kind kid from Kalol

Recuperating

in Vadodara, where he did most of his schooling. He first enquired about coming to Australia in 2005, specifically to undertake formal training as a nurse. to his delight, he was, in anticipation, granted a year and a half’s advanced standing, in the 3 year course in nursing at university of western Sydney. when i asked him why australia, rather than the uSa, Canada or great Britain, he confessed that he wasn’t too keen on the uS as “too many gujaratis go there to study”. Canada and the uK were too cold; besides he liked the friendly informality of the several aussies he had met and he felt that the climate here would be similar to home.

Rushi was justifiably confident about his English proficiency, as he regularly used English at home, especially with his father. the family frequently visited an ashram in Mumbai and their guru often used English; besides there were several foreign students, including australians with whom rushi practiced and extended his English. So in mid-2006, rushi arrived in Sydney, alone, jobless but undaunted. he laughingly shared with me his first impressions, “It was very cold!” followed by “where are all the blondes?” ypically, Sydney airport had so many asians. couldn’t tell if they were Japanese, Chinese or he was convinced he had boarded the wrong plane, and had landed “in tokyo, or hong Kong, or somewhere in asia, but not Sydney.”

Following the common pattern among indian students, he had been directed to harris Park, where he stayed for about two months, working as a casual in a marketing call centre. although he valiantly tried to get work as assistant in Nurse N), he ran afoul of the circular dilemma that he couldn’t get a job because he had no local ussie) experience, and he couldn’t get local experience until someone gave him a job! For six months or so, he eked out his existence in a variety of casual jobs, “everything except nursing.” the size and scattered nature of Sydney was initially daunting, but rushi used the internet to “get the reater Sydney, and bravely used public transport, always planning his trips so as to be on time for interviews (rushi places high emphasis on punctuality, although i must uncharitably remind him he was late for our interview on which this article is largely based.)

He relates a delightful experience the first time he tried to find the University of Technology in central Sydney. he went into a small convenience store to ask for directions and must have looked so lost, that the shopkeeper, although alone, took him out into the street and made sure he was “on the right track”. rushi often comments on the openness and friendliness of the people he has encountered. (his own manner is always courteous and polite which, even in a soulless big city, often helps.)

fter about a year of travelling around Sydney by public transport, rushi invested in a car, particularly since he had finally begun to get casual work in various hospitals, scattered across Sydney, often requiring him to be there at short e began full time study at the university estern Sydney, and was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Nursing in February 2008. as a part of his nursing experience, rushi had worked at the Sydney adventist hospital (the San) and,

when he placed this hospital as number one on his preference list, he was delighted to be offered a position there. he now moved to thornleigh, much closer to his place of work, and a pleasant, green and leafy bushland suburb (where, as it happens, i have lived for 35 years).

Like all people moving from overseas, rushi has had to come to terms with and adapt to an environment and lifestyle quite different from “back home”. he has been very honest in describing this to me. he is clearly not an “inner city”, “night life”, “high liver” sort of person. he prefers a quiet, meditative and peaceful life. He freely admits that, as an only son, he has been “spoiled” at home, where “everything was done for me”. in australia he had suddenly to learn to be independent, cooking, washing, renting accommodation, and organizing his finances, as well as his social life. his daily schedule was, and remains, busy and tight, including continued study and frequent night shifts. He remains in frequent contact with his parents who are happy for him. he readily acknowledges the support and help of his parents, not least of all given that the cost of living in Sydney is 2-3 times higher than back in his home town.

in March 2009, his parents came to Sydney to visit their son. his father had to return home after a month, but his mother stayed until May. according to rushi, his parents loved the green, open spaces, the australian bush and animals, and places such as the Blue Mountains (“very cold”) and the gold Coast, an obvious favourite.

understandably, rushi’s family ties remain very strong and he thinks he will stay in australia for about five years, during all of which he smilingly expects continued pressure from his parents to find “a nice, suitable Indian girl (either in australia or back home), settle down and have a family.”

Our interview ended with Rushi quietly acknowledging that, while living at harris Park, he was once the victim of a gang, who accosted him about 8 pm once night and stole his mobile phone (which was rather pointlessly recovered one year later). Neither then not now does he see this incident as racist per se. he believes he was targetted merely because he was alone at night. he believes that overseas students, including indians, gain maximum experience by not living in enclaves, but by seeking to participate in mainstream activities, including enhancing their English language skills. rushi himself is a successful example and already (almost) an aussie character.

from surgery, GRAHAM SIMS encounters a

Although he valiantly tried to get work as Assistant in Nurse (AIN), he ran afoul of the circular dilemma that he couldn’t get a job because he had no local (Aussie) experience, and he couldn’t get local experience until someone gave him a job!

rushi dave

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Confident Manmohan Singh says India headed to ‘new glory’

STRIKING A POSITIVE note on India’s 63rd Independence Day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted that Indians had immense faith and confidence in themselves and the world’s largest democracy was headed to a “new glory”.

In his sixth consecutive address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the prime minister sought to allay fears emanating from the global economic meltdown, unending terrorism and the swine flu to assert that India had the strength and resilience to overcome all obstacles.

“Some people question whether India will ever be able to attain its true potential,” Manmohan Singh said, as a slight drizzle accompanied his first Red Fort speech since he was voted back to office in May. “I have no doubt about this. We are rapidly moving forward. We have faith in ourselves. We have political stability. Our democracy is an example for the whole world. We are gaining in economic strength. Most importantly, we have confidence in our youth... I am sure that they will take our country to a new glory.”

Speaking in Hindi from a prepared text, the 76-year-old scholar-politician referred to a wide range of issues from climate change and water shortage to economy, terrorism and a new world order. But his tone was positive and he vowed to return India to a 9 percent annual growth.

Around 700 invitees, including school children attired in the national tricolour as well as political VIPs and diplomats, packed the seated and open enclosure facing the Red Fort, the majestic Mughal-built 17th century monument that is at the heart of independence day celebrations.

The prime minister said India was confident of returning to its 9 percent growth path despite the global economic crisis and also of achieving a 4 percent annual growth in agriculture in five years. He urged people not to let swine flu, which has killed 23 Indians, disrupt their lives.

Pointing out that India’s economic growth slid to 6.7 percent in 2008-09, he said “it is only a result of our policies that the global crisis has affected us to a lesser extent than many other countries”.

“Restoring our growth rate to 9 percent is the greatest challenge we face,” he said. “We expect there will be an improvement in the situation by the end of this year.”

An economist of repute, Manmohan Singh said the time had come for India to unleash another Green Revolution to dramatically boost its food output.

He said the country needed to embrace more modern means to succeed in

agriculture and make more efficient use of its scarce land and water resources.

“The country needs another Green Revolution and we will try our best to make it possible,” he said. He admitted that deficit rains this year would have “some adverse impact on our crops” and promised to help farmers in distress.

Manmohan Singh made a reference to swine flu that has killed 23 people and affected 1,400. He said while the central and state governments would do everything to contain the disease, “the situation doesn’t warrant a disruption of our daily lives because of fear and anxiety”.

Perhaps for the first time in recent years, the prime minister made no reference to Pakistan by name even as he addressed issues related to South Asia, terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir.

Describing terrorism as a global threat, Manmohan Singh said there was no place in Indian democracy to those who resorted to violence to voice their disagreement. “The government will deal firmly with such people.”

He said India’s security forces and intelligence agencies were being strengthened following the audacious terror attack on Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists that left nearly 170 people dead last year. “I am sure that with cooperation from all sections of our society, we will be successful in eliminating terrorism.”

Manmohan Singh said his government was committed to eradicating backwardness and unemployment and reduce disparities in income and wealth so as to combat the Maoist appeal.

The prime minister promised to assist the Jammu and Kashmir government to improve governance in the state where thousands have died in a separatist campaign for which New Delhi blames Islamabad.

“It will be our endeavour to ensure that human rights are respected in the state and all its citizens are able to lead a life of peace and dignity in an environment of safety and

security,” he said.

Manmohan Singh said India wished to tackle the problem of climate change along with other countries.

India also desired to live in peace with all its neighbours, he said, raising questions about the effectiveness of the multilateral institutions without New Delhi’s active participation.

Making promises to bring about sweeping changes in the lives of millions of Indians in the economic, educational and social sectors, Manmohan Singh said his Congress-led coalition had won “a mandate for starting a new era of cooperation and harmony in our national life”.

• PM announces new measures for women, housing, energy, education

PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN Singh has announced a series of new schemes for women and for the housing, energy and education sectors.

“Our government will make sustained efforts for social and economic empowerment of women. We have decided to launch a National Female Literacy Mission, through which female illiteracy will be reduced by half in the next three years,” he said in his Independence Day address to the nation.

Noting that the government had started the Jawaharalal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for the urban areas, he lamented that “lakhs of our citizens live in slums which lack basic amenities”.

“We wish to make our country slum free as early as possible. In the next five years, we will provide better housing facilities to slum dwellers through a new scheme, Rajiv Awas Yojana,” the prime minister said.

To increase the use of solar energy and to make it affordable, Manmohan Singh said, “We will launch the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission on 14th November of this year”.

Secondary education will be expanded

through a programme that will ensure that every child in the country gets its benefit, the prime minister said.

“We will endeavour to provide bank loans and scholarships to the maximum possible number of students to support their education. A new scheme will be started to help students from economically weaker sections of society by way of reduced interest rate on their education loans. This will benefit about five lakh students in getting technical and professional education,” Manmohan Singh said.

•

Bollywood icon SRK detained in US, send fans into a tizzy

BOLLYWOOD ICON SHAH Rukh Khan was detained and questioned by immigration officials at a US airport for more than two hours on arrival to take part in a function to mark India’s Independence Day, sending his fans into a tizzy.

But hours after being detained at the Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey, Khan participated at an event advertised as a “Dinner with Shah Rukh Khan” at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino.

Though he jokingly referred to the incident during his performance, SRK spoke out strongly against his treatment at the airport after the event, saying “it was not a good feeling” when the security officials took him to a separate room for questioning.

“I appreciated my independence a million times more today, I wish I was in India on Independence Day,” said Khan who was on way to Chicago to take part in an Independence Day event.

In New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Vishnu Prakash said India had taken up the issue with the US embassy.

“The matter was taken up with the US embassy,” Prakash said.

In a statement, US Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer said: “We are trying to ascertain the facts of the case - to understand what took place.”

Airport drama for Shah Rukh Khan: Life imitates art?

Shah Rukh is a “global icon” and “he is a very welcome guest in the United States. Many Americans love his films,” the envoy added.

The Indian consulate in New York said by the time they were informed about the incident and contacted the superstar, Khan said the incident was already over.

“I was taken to a room for questioning. They said my name kept popping up on the computer,” Khan was quoted as saying. Immigration officers wanted to know why Khan was visiting the US after his name appeared on a computer screen at a counter.

“Khan is a Muslim name, and I think the name is common on their checklist,” the actor said. “I was waiting for my bags. I thought it was nice of them to take me to another room, but that was apparently a second check. I had my papers in order.”

“I was really hassled at the airport because of my name being Khan...The couple of hours of interrogation wanting to know if I know anyone in America while all around people were vouching for me from India and Pakistan (sic),” the Bollywood superstar said in a statement.

“Only these guys just would not let me through. Finally they allowed me to make a call, which I did and the Indian Consulate helped me through.”

“It was absolutely uncalled for I think, me having just finished working there for more than a month...just a couple of weeks ago. They said I have a common name which is causing the delay...checked my bags...I felt angry and humiliated,” Khan said.

He said after about an hour, he asked the officials if he could make a call. “They said it was not allowed from here but they could make an exception. I called a friend who contacted an Indian embassy official who came and vouched for me,” Khan said.

“I am assuming this country is paranoid with a certain section of religion in the world. This has happened to me before. This is not the first time.”

Khan’s latest film My Name is Khan produced by Khan and director Karan Johar is set against the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and examines their impact on an Indian Muslim living in the US.

The film, shot largely in the US, is near completion and US-based Fox Star Studios has secured the global distribution rights for a deal which industry insiders estimate to be about 20 million dollars.

• India will get back to 9 percent growth soon: PM

INDIA WILL SOON return to a high growth path of over 9 percent with the economy expected to completely rebound by the year-end, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

“Going back to a 9 percent growth path is our greatest challenge. For this, we will take whatever steps required,” the prime minister said in his Independence Day address from the majestic Red Fort in the city’s old quarters.

“By the end of the year, I am confident there will be a major change,” the prime minister said in the 40-minute speech as he laid down the agenda for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that returned to power in May.

“Till then, we all have to cope with the situation,” he said in the speech delivered in Hindi, adding: “I appeal to business leaders and industrialists to work together in this endeavour and meet their social

obligations and responsibilities.”

According to Manmohan Singh, it was because of his UPA government’s policies that the country was able to grow at 6.7 percent in the last fiscal when the world was facing one of the worst downturns in eight decades.

He said steps will be taken to ensure adequate spending on development projects to boost growth further and capital will be sought not only from domestic sources but from overseas as well.

“India can progress only when each Indian makes a contribution. Our endeavour has been to reach the fruits of development to every citizen. I know we have a long way to go.”

The prime minister said he was also aware that high commodity prices were causing hardship to citizens, especially the poor. “We have enough food stocks. Every

“Our goal is four percent annual growth in agriculture. I am confident we will be able to achieve this in five years.”

• Delhi to be slum free in next four years: Dikshit

THE DELHI GOVERNMENT is all set to allot around 10,000 low-cost houses to the poor and to make the national capital a slum-free city within the next three to four years, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.

“The vulnerable families would become proud owners of their houses with a respectable address in welldeveloped colonies,” she announced at the Independence Day function at Ambedkar Stadium.

Dikshit also asked people to make rational use of electricity and water to curtail consumption by 10 percent as this would

contribution in this regard,” she added. While referring to the social sector, Dikshit pointed to the success of the “Laadli Scheme”.

“The number of registrations of the girl child has overtaken registration of boys in the capital, which is a shining example of a change which was effected due to the Laadli Scheme,” she maintained.

Dikshit, who hosted the flag for the 11th consecutive time, inspected the parade which comprised contingents from Delhi Police, Civil Defence and Home Guards, Delhi Fire Services, three wings of NCC and school children.

She presented a service medal for meritorious service to Deputy Inspector General of Prisons C.R. Garg for his outstanding contribution in bringing a positive changes in the Tihar jail complex.

Indian envoys’ meet to focus on Pakistan, economic diplomacy

WITH INDIA’S neighbourhood seething in turmoil and major multilateral summits in the offing, the external affairs ministry has called around 120 Indian envoys later this month for a conclave in New Delhi to brainstorm on key foreign policy challenges.

This will be the first such exercise after the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) returned to power in May.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address the opening session of the threeday conference that begins Aug 24, official sources said.

The prime minister is expected to focus on building stronger relations with neighbours, sustaining momentum in ties with major powers like the US and Russia, and pitch for a more vigorous economic diplomacy in multilateral fora.

He is also likely to explain to diplomats his reasons for embarking on ‘trust but verify’ policy vis-a-vis Pakistan and address their concerns over his Sharm-el-Sheikh joint statement with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The July 16 joint statement delinks Pakistan’s actions against terrorism from the composite dialogue process and includes the first reference to Balochistan in a bilateral document that has not gone down well with sections of India’s foreign office.

possible step will be taken to bring down prices,” he said.

At the same time, he appealed to all state governments to use all administrative and legislative measures at their disposal to ensure that prices of essential commodities like cereals and pulses are brought down.

In this regard he also promised to deliver a food security law under which every family that is below the poverty line will get a fixed amount of foodgrain every month at a discount over market rates.

The prime minister said it was equally imperative for the country’s farm sector to grow faster and said the country needed another Green Revolution in order to emhance productivity further.

“More attention will have to be paid to the needs of those farmers who do not have means for irrigation,” he said, adding:

go a long way in ending power outages and drinking water shortages.

The chief minister said that her government has been vigorously taking steps to accelerate regularisation of unauthorised colonies and is duty-bound to bring a visible change in such colonies.

“We have been provided an opportunity to transform Delhi into a world-class city as we are concentrating our efforts in making the Commonwealth Games successful and memorable. The infrastructure which is being developed for the Games would continue to be a permanent part of the legacy of the city,” she said.

“We shall be requiring better civic sense and dedicated volunteers to present our etiquette and courtesy during the Games. The school children and college students would be able to render a constructive

A host of cabinet ministers, including External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor are expected to address the envoys.

They will discuss India’s neighbourhood policy, ties with Pakistan that continue to be under stress after the Mumbai terrorist attacks and recent strains in bilateral ties with China, the sources said.

The envoys will also brainstorm on emerging foreign policy and strategic challenges like climate change to fine-tune India’s position for the Copenhagen summit that is expected to find a successor to the Kyoto protocol for fixing new targets for greenhouse gas emissions.

The global economic downturn will also figure prominently in the meeting that will take place a month before the G20 summit in Pittsburgh Sep 24.

Continued on page 30

A Bollywood classic for you to plant yourself in: Delhi designer Nida Mahmood brings back Bollywood’s poster art in a brand new avatar. Her new line is created in collaboration with poster artists who have lost out on their livelihood thanks to digital technology (IANS Photo)

With the external affairs ministry focusing on re-organisation and expansion of the Indian foreign office, issues relating to housekeeping will also figure in the conclave.

The last such conclave was held here in December against the backdrop of India’s diplomatic offensive post 26/11 Mumbai carnage

•

Raje refuses to quit, BJP summons her to Delhi

THE BHARATIYA JANATA Party (BJP) has summoned to Delhi a defiant former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje after she refused to step down as leader of opposition in the state assembly, while over 50 legislators trooped into the capital in a virtual show of her strength.

According to party sources, Raje was summoned to Delhi by party’s top leadership which was determined that she stepped down from her post after the BJP’s poor show in the April-May elections in the state.

Raje, on the other hand, stuck to her guns arguing that she alone could not be held accountable for the poll debacle that took the BJP down to an apologetic four Lok Sabha seats from the 21 it won in the 2004 polls out of total 25 in the state.

The former chief minister was asked to step down by BJP president Raj Nath Singh.

The BJP, however, was yet to spell out its views on the Rajasthan poll debacle nor had it even said that Raje had been asked to go. Despite repeated attempts, no BJP leader concerned with Rajasthan developments was willing to speak on record. The only official version from party spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad, when IANS contacted him, was: “No comments.”

Earlier Friday morning, some 57 BJP legislators from Rajasthan trooped to the house of senior party leader L.K. Advani to express solidarity with Raje.

The legislators drove in here to protest the leadership’s decision to remove Raje from the post. They first met Rajnath Singh and later went to the residence of Advani, who snubbed them by declining to meet them without a proper appointment.

This provoked the legislators to raise slogans in support of Raje. One of the legislators later said, on condition of anonymity, that Advani subsequently refused an appointment to them.

Rajendra Kumar Rathore, BJP MLA from Taranagar constituency, who was also part of the delegation, said: “All MLAs want that Vasundhra Raje should continue as leader of opposition. And we have come here to request the party for this.”

They are believed to have conveyed to the party leadership that a majority of the 78 BJP legislators in the state support Raje.

north India’s vanishing water

UNSUSTAINABLE USE OF water in India’s northern states threatens farm output and can fuel the spectre of a major water crisis, distressing 114 million people living there, warns a new study.

Human activity like irrigation has pushed groundwater levels in India’s north down by as much as one foot per year over the past seven years, says the study by scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

More than 26 cubic miles of groundwater vanished from aquifers in the states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and the National Capital Territory of Delhi since 2002, says the study that has used NASA’s satellite data.

“The amount lost is double the capacity of India’s largest surface-water reservoir, the Upper Wainganga, and almost three times the capacity of Lake Mead in Nevada, the

largest reservoir in the US,” says the study, which has been published in the Nature magazine.

The team of hydrologists found that the underground water supply was being pumped and consumed by human activities such as irrigating cropland and was draining the aquifers faster than natural processes can replenish them.

The finding is based on data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) twin satellites, which sense changes in the distribution of Earth’s mass and gravity field distribution, including water masses stored above or below the surface.

“As the twin satellites orbit 300 miles above Earth’s surface, their positions change relative to each other in response to variations in the pull of gravity,” said the magazine.

The scientists said data provided by India’s ministry of water resources for the study suggested groundwater use across India was far exceeding natural replenishment,

but the regional rate of depletion was unknown.

“We don’t know the absolute volume of water in the northern Indian aquifers, but Grace provides strong evidence that current rates of water extraction are not sustainable,” said the study leader and NASA scientist Matt Rodell.

“The region has become dependent on irrigation to maximize farm output,” said Rodell.

“If measures are not taken to ensure sustainable groundwater usage, the consequences for the 114 million residents of the region may include a collapse of agricultural output and severe shortages of potable water.”

Although less than a third of farmland there is irrigated, crop irrigation accounts for up to 95 percent of groundwater use. “If farmers could shift away from waterintensive crops, such as rice, and implement more efficient irrigation methods, that would help.”

The researchers examined data and models of soil moisture, lake and reservoir storage, vegetation and glaciers in the nearby Himalayas in order to confirm that the apparent groundwater trend was real. The loss was particularly alarming because it occurred when there was no unusual trend in rainfall. In fact, rainfall was slightly above normal for the period.

The only influence they couldn’t rule out was human.

Changes in underground water mass affect gravity enough to provide a signal that can be measured by the Grace spacecraft. After accounting for other variations, such changes in gravity are translated into an equivalent change in water.

• Rehabilitating poster artists of a bygone era

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY may have taken away the jobs of Bollywood poster painters, but designer Nida Mahmood has hunted them out in the dingy lanes of the capital and teamed up with them for her latest collection.

Mahmood along with her partner, Raul Chandra, launched New India Bioscope Company - a fashion and design conglomerate that is trying to rehabilitate these poster artists.

“This is our first project – we are designing old posters of the Bollywood masala movies in a new format,” Mahmood explained. The collection encapsulates the drama of Bollywood, with the flamboyant and

Miss India Ekta Chowdhry poses on the runway in the evening gown segment of the 2009 Miss Universe Preliminary Competition, at Paradise Island, Bahamas, Aug. 16, 2009. During the Aug. 23 final pageant, Miss Universe will be picked from among contestants from 84 countries (AP Photo)

dramatic imagery of hand-painted posters and hoardings captured in a kitschy manner.

“I have not picked up any original poster for my collection. I just pick up elements,” she added.

People, faces, dialogues, conversations, posters and hoardings are her basic elements that come alive in the bold choice of colours. These are put on clothes, bags, diaries and home decor elements.

The collection is divided into two lines, one affordable and one for collectors.

As always, Mahmood’s work is inspired by the mundane things of life. “I like very basic things that people don’t observe or don’t care about. Small, insignificant things inspire me. I like to dramatise very boring things of life and turn them into something significant and bold. This is my forte.”

• Kashmir wooing Bollywood back

SPArklIng rIverS, regal Chinar trees, flowering meadows and snowcapped peaks - the beauty of kashmir had been depicted in several hit Hindi movies like Aarzoo, Kashmir Ki Kali and Betaab until insurgency hit the valley. After a long hiatus, filmmakers are once again going there and Piyush Jha’s Sikandar is the latest to capture the state’s picturesque landscape.

releasing Aug 21, Sikandar stars Sanjay Suri, who visited the place after 18 years to shoot for the film. The actor, who was born and brought up in kashmir, feels more and more films should be shot in the valley.

“I hope more films can go to Kashmir and be made there. I hope the local authorities can provide enough facilities so that people can come and go without any fear. It will also bring a lot of employment and prosperity and films are no doubt a great medium for that,” Sanjay told IAnS.

“I’d love to go back to kashmir again. There are not many films being made on kashmir; so some day I just might make one myself,” added the actor, who has teamed up with child stars Parzan Dastur and Ayesha kapoor in the movie.

With the start of insurgency in 1989, kashmir ceased to be a preferred location among Bollywood producers and they stopped going there due to security reasons.

“Producers and filmmakers are keen to shoot in kashmir even now. But when it comes to taking their unit there, then the security problem is always on their minds,” Gautam Kaul, noted film historian, told IAnS.

“The government of the state is extremely

welcoming and want more films to be shot there, but filmmakers are still doubtful and only a handful have been shot in the valley in the last 20 years,” he added.

In the last two decades a few films like Mission Kashmir, Yahaan, Tahaan Shaurya have been shot in the valley.

But in earlier decades, kashmir was the perfect backdrop for Hindi films like Jab Jab Phool Khile, Do Badan, Aap Aaye Bahar Aaye, Junglee, Kashmir Ki Kali, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila and Rocky among others.

But as shooting movies in became impossible due to militancy, foreign locations attracted filmmakers and they shifted their attention to the Alps in Switzerland.

Apart from Jha, acclaimed director Jagmohan Mundhra recently went to Srinagar and Sonamarg to shoot a song for his forthcoming actioner Chase.

“A lot of people told us that dangerous and we shouldn’t go there. When I was young, most of the songs used to be picturised in kashmir... but now not many films are being shot there. People have forgotten kashmir. So we wanted to show the paradise on earth to audiences through this song,” said Mundhra.

“We didn’t face any problems during the shooting. The government was very supportive. It was actually a pleasure to be in such a beautiful place,” he added.

Jha, who did thorough research in Kashmir to find the best locations to shoot for Sikandar, says support from locals made his work easier.

“People in kashmir want the industry to come back and thus are very welcoming. The kind of support I got from the locals was inspiring. It’s a beautiful place and shooting there is just not a problem,” he said.

Commenting upon the locals’ attitude to movies being shot there, k you make films that are not about Kashmir and only dance-drama routines or for that matter serious stories where kashmir is only in the backdrop as a beautiful location, then you will face no problem shooting there. But if you try to make a film that deals with the people there, then protests are bound (to happen). Just like problems faced by Rahul Dholakia’s film Lamha.”

Starring Bipasha Basu and Sanjay Dutt, Lamha is essentially a love story that also depicts the pain and suffering of kashmiris.

In november last year, the director had to cancel the shoot due to protests by locals but he returned to the valley early this year to complete the film.

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Living in another culture

Therecent problem that Indian students have faced in Australia brings up an important question. Have Indian students been trained, through their education and upbringing, to interact with Western cultures?

A cultural gap exists between students coming from India and Indians who have settled in Australia. This became evident by the unfavourable reaction to the tenpoint plan put up by FISA (Federation of Indian Students in Australia) for solving the problems that Indian students face by the Indian Consul-General’s Community Committee on Indian student issues to that plan.

In India, ethnic groups tend to persevere in inculcating their traditions and values in their young so as to preserve their “cultural purity”. This engenders ethnocentrism, leaving no room for appreciating facets of other cultures. Indeed, little attention is normally paid to teaching young people about other cultures and how to interact with them. Thus when young Indians come to the West, they become candidates for “culture shock”.

In India, as in Australia, other cultures are perceived through stereotypes, most of which are negative. People are often grouped on single factors like religion, caste, language or country, thus ignoring the diversities that exist within any single group. The greater the distance from where people originate, the broader the factors become. In India, all “Europeans” or “Westerners” are often lumped into one category. Likewise, Australians tend to categorise all “Asians” together. Only in recent times have “Indians” been differentiated from “Asians” and “Middle Easterners”. Such broad generalisations lead to erroneous stereotypes.

Two contradictory stereotypes prevail in India about the West. The first is that the West is prosperous and modern, but the second is that Western culture is decadent and should be avoided. Young Indians are, therefore, cautioned about never losing one’s original culture and the values of one’s elders when in the West.

When young Indians come to the West they get the impression that everyone is living in ease and luxury with the trappings of modernity, such as cars and electronic goods. But as time passes, considerable disillusionment can set in as the newcomers realise that homelessness and deprivation also exists. They begin to realise that their own lives are not made of ease and luxury, and this culture shock can cause resentment and inhibit personal development.

That is why Indian students, before coming to Australia, should have adequate knowledge of Australian geography, history and culture, thus avoiding the inevitable culture shock that many

individuals feel when immersed in an unfamiliar way of life. Both Australia and India are multicultural countries, but in different ways. As Indian states are carved on linguistic grounds, an Indian from one state could be at a loss in another state which has a language which he or she does not understand. This is particularly true in small towns and the countryside where the local language predominates. If Indian students coming to Australia feel lost, then they should ponder on how they would feel in parts of India where they do not know the local language.

Multiculturalism in Australia, in contrast, tends to channel migrants from diverse origins into a mainstream culture fashioned by English alone which is the medium of education, law and parliament and which dominates the entertainment media. However, diverse cultures have contributed to the mainstream culture and study of other languages is encouraged.

Australia has been undergoing a quiet cultural revolution through its education system. It teaches its young people about other cultures through programs, like the “Cultural Diversity and Community Relations Policy” in New South Wales, which are designed to “enable students from diverse cultures and communities to identify themselves as Australians within a democratic multicultural society …...” Students are also taught to be sensitive to disadvantaged people such as the sick and infirm, the aged and Aboriginals.

Geography is used to “develop an understanding of and empathy with people from different countries and cultures” and to appreciate “different perspectives that people and communities have.” Much has also been achieved through Asian Studies which gives quite some importance to India.

Visiting Indian students should realise that sympathies and antipathies exist between individual humans everywhere. There are persons who will be friendly with some and not with others. Knowledge of good spoken English, including its Australian variant, can help. They should also realise that there is no utopia anywhere. One should not take needless risks remembering that honesty and dishonesty are human traits no matter in which culture.

Australia has taken great pains to put a racist past such as the White Australia Policy behind it just as India has with regard to disadvantaged castes, untouchability and tribes. Those who are looking for a perfect society in Australia need to ponder on the situation back in their own countries. They should realise that many diverse peoples have happily settled in this country.

NOEL G DE SOUZA on integrating with the mainstream

Australia has taken great pains to put a racist past such as the White Australia Policy behind it just as India has with regard to disadvantaged castes, untouchability and tribes.

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Why not a Wedsite?

Marriages may be made in heaven, but all the planning takes place here on earth. And planning a wedding can be a stressful and busy time. Creating your own individualistic ‘wedsite’ aka wedding website is an ideal way to keep friends and family informed about the wedding plans as they unfold.

The world of the internet has grown far beyond its early function as a means of sharing information in an encyclopedic fashion. It has become a social networking tool for staying in touch despite our chaotic lifestyles; and weddings are no exception.

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A wedsite can not only provide practical information about the day’s events, but also allows the couple to share their stories, photos and other personal details for the family and friends (and most importantly, themselves!) to enjoy.

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A labour of love

Anshuma and Ravi, who tied the knot in November 2008

We were all game for a wedsite. It seemed like the perfect platform to share our excitement about the most important day in our lives. As a couple we wanted to plan and share our wedding with the people who matter the most to us, and a wedding website could facilitate this and so much more. It was online right after our engagement and months before the wedding day. So friends and family from both sides had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the bride and groom. Our friends and family were way too excited about the new concept. We published the web address on our wedding cards as well, so people visited the website and shared their good wishes. And many still rely on it for checking out updates on our life or just reminiscing over our wedding memories.

themselves!) to enjoy.

So what kind of information goes on a wedsite? Virtually anything you want to communicate with friends and family can be added. A few suggestions from various wedding portals include an introduction of the bride and groom, the story of how they met, where they plan to live, and where the honeymoon will be. You can also share photos and stories of your wedding day and invite visitors to add their well-wishes and memories.

The initial setting-up cost was around $500, which included webmaster’s fee, buying a domain name and space etc. This excluded the concept developing cost as we both did it together rather than getting it professionally done. The running cost is approx. $200 per year. Couples can create their wedding webblogs for much less, as many websites offer free services on set templates for a limited period of time. But we wanted something special and unique that reflected our personal styles, beliefs and cultural backgrounds, as well as entertained and included our guests. So we created ours from scratch. We would highly recommend the idea to all to-be-married couples. In fact, some of our friends liked it so much that they have asked for a wedding website as their wedding gift. They want us to develop it for them when they get married. Another career option for us, you reckon?!

SHWETA SIROHI GUPTA investigates another novel trend that technology has on offer, this time in preparing for matrimony

But wedding websites aren’t all about the memories. They can play a very functional role as well. Function dates are available long before the invitations are mailed, so that guests from far away can plan accordingly, using added directions to wedding and party venues. Guests can often post messages or email questions to you directly from your wedsite. And after the wedding, it can be the best platform to proclaim your thanks and appreciation.

Adding personal touches and distinctive

elements to the wedsite helps make the couple’s wedding day truly unique and exciting.

Technology is changing the way weddings are conducted, deviating from the traditional Indian methods of sending out invites and stacking up wedding albums. Your wedding will be one of the most important events in your life – so why not share it with as many loved ones as you can?

The perfect platform

Shikha and Shantnu, who wed in February 2009

Whenwe announced that we were getting married, we had loads of friends and relatives with questions needing answers, and we just didn’t have enough time to contact everyone. So we realized that a wedding website could be the one central place that can not only disseminate important dates and information, but also allow us to share our excitement with loved ones. We wanted the wedsite to be a reflection of our individual styles and we made sure it was well-coordinated with the colours and themes we were using for the wedding ceremony.

In this day and age of jet-set weddings, time and money are of vital importance, and most couples rarely have the luxury of either one of them. And let’s face it, while personal wedding planners can put up and organize a dream wedding, they can

cost a fortune, creating a sizable dent in your budget. Besides, at times a wedding planner can be a little overbearing, making you feel like a mere spectator at your own wedding. We wanted to be a part of it and having a wedding website was an obvious answer.

We had a variety of ethnic Indian or western templates and backdrops to choose from. There was an option to make the wedsite private or public. Additionally, we had an e-invite put up on the site which was the best way to invite our loved ones across the globe. We added photos to make it convenient for guests to view the celebrations, particularly those who couldn’t make it in person. Our guest-book almost overflowed with their compliments. After all, at the end of the day or a lifetime, you want to hold memories that fill your heart with happiness, and a wedding is one such memory.

Barso re Megha!

As the fury of the rains tapers down to a drizzle, friends share their monsoon memoirs with SHWETA

Regional rainy revels

News from the west coast of Kerala and Karnataka is that the monsoon has once again graciously blessed these states in full swing. If you NRIs are already making plans to visit India during the monsoon, there are some serene places to consider. Take Chikmaglur for instance. Visit the hills of Bababudangiri, Mullayyanagiri and Kemmanngundi as they remain covered in mist for three months. See Ayyanakere, a large lake just outside the town at the base of the tallest hill in Karnataka. Feel the wet weather of Malnad region, see its foggy hills, gushing streams the green vistas.

The monsoon at Jog Falls, India’s tallest waterfall, is in its element now. Fog and rains play with the views of the waterfall, making it disappear and re-appear every few minutes. The waterfall is reduced to a trickle for most of the year, but it returns to its glory in the monsoons.

Monsoon in Coorg. It is usually raining heavily here, a sight to be seen. All you have to do is drink coffee, eat delicious food and sit in the balcony with a book, watching the rains come down. It’s what makes a perfect holiday.

Monsoon in Cherrapunjee. It was once the place that held the world record for highest annual precipitation. The charm remains.

If all this isn’t enough to entice you to visit the motherland during the rainy season, visualize the atypical monsoon staple - chai-pakoras combined with a hot cup of cardamom infused tea. See you soon.

Arun, Bangalore

Showers of blessings

SIROHI GUPTA

I’m very much in love nowadays. With the monsoon rains, that is. These days, I’m not really in the mood for poetic or deeply thoughtful writing. Simply because I have to tackle a dreadful combination of weekly and monthly work deadlines. Grrrrr! But I needed the effects of magical rain to make me feel good, specially the showers in Khandala and aamchi Mumbai! The good thing is that us Mumbaikars have finally got some good rains. This time the monsoon was truly delayed and even when it did rain, it was just too little. But, no complaints now! The rain gods are no longer miserly.

Along with Mumbai, Khandala is also cloudy and pleasant, and the temperatures are just perfect. The greenery is lush, and there is lot of life and activity in nature. Paddy fields have young saplings that form a carpet of green on the surface of the earth. Streams are flowing, full of water. It can’t get more beautiful. My fiancé gave me a lovely birthday surprise by driving us to Khandala and we stopped only at the typical desi tea stall where the roof leaks straight into the boiling milky potion of monsoon flavored tea. Of course, kanda bhaji aka onion pakoras and bhutta (roasted corn cobs) completed the ‘High Tea’ experience.

I used to hate Mumbai rains because of all the inconvenience, getting drenched and my clothes splattered with mud. I still hate that. But somehow my take on rains and monsoon has slightly changed. It is quite a beautiful and if I may say so, romantic season. The grass looks greener. The trees look lush. It is the season to let loose and enjoy. The traffic jams and water logging remain, but somehow now I have begun to appreciate how beautiful nature is during the rains. In hindsight, too bad we Mumbaikars didn’t get to see the solar eclipse because of the clouds.

Darshi, Mumbai

Singing of the rain

The monsoon is my most awaited and favourite season of the year, like most Mumbai-wallas. It makes everyone feel rejuvenated and not to forget, a little romantic too. I’m sitting in my open balcony, breathing in what we always knew as the aroma of wet earth. The plants in the balcony are no longer limp and weary with the heat. The trees down below are bright green, looking fresh. Yes, the monsoon has arrived. Finally, thankfully!

And so, to celebrate my most favourite season Bollywood style, I will tune in to some of my favourite monsoon songs from the ‘black and white’ era. These are classic songs about the monsoon, about clouds, rain and cooling breezes. They evoke a longing for rain and they rejoice in the welcoming of the rain. That’s why I love to listen to O sajna…barkha bahar aayi, ras ki phuhar layi, ankhiyon mein pyar layi; Zindagi bhar nahi bhulegi wo barsaat ki raat; Ek ladki bheegi-bhaagi si, soti raaton mein jaagi si;

Barssat mein, hum sey miley tum sajan tum sey miley hum, barsaat mein and finally, Pyar hua ikraar hua hai pyar sey phir kyun darta hai dil

Monsoon tours are now becoming a popular activity, so why not plan a trip back home during the rains? India’s waiting and so are we…

Leena, Mumbai

Monsoon Mumbai style (Photo Bibi Moni)

Fascinating falls

The deficit rainfall in northern parts of India has been bad news so far this year. What started as a slow and perceived deficient rainfall even in southern India, especially coastal Karnataka and Goa, ended up being surplus by mid-July. Although late, copious rains have filled the State’s reservoirs. I witnessed heavy rainfall in coastal Karnataka, Goa and the western Ghats during my travels this monsoon. I encountered swollen lakes and rivers, broken embankments and general flooding all over the coastal areas between the Western Ghat mountains and the Arabian Sea.

I took a short, well-deserved break and the plan was to leave Mysore early in the morning to reach Jog Falls, India’s tallest waterfall, by lunchtime. After a couple of hours there, we would leave for Goa and arrive the same evening. Jog Falls is best seen when the monsoon fury is tapering and the Linganamakki dam over the Sharavathi River is full. Jog Falls is also the highest plunge waterfall in India, falling from a height of about 829 feet. My trip was in the middle of the monsoon and so what I saw was quite a spectacle, but the Falls were still not at the maximum flow of water. What was mesmerizing was all the mist created by the water falling from such a great height. Clouds of heavy mist would drift in and out, occasionally blanking out the view of the falls and their surrounding hills completely, and then vanishing mysteriously. There was intermittent drizzle from the rain, nothing that drenched us, but enough to create a magical atmosphere overall. It’s no wonder male and female leads in masala Indian movies break out into song and dance routines in such locales, the environment makes anyone want to sing and dance! But I wouldn’t try it, having been born with a mediocre voice and two left feet.

Raghupati Raghav Rajaram, Patiti Pavan Sitaram

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Anup, Mysore

It’s a food fest at Moni-ka Dhaba

You like North Indian Punjabi food –the finger linking tandoori chicken, the succulent kebabs, the crispy naan bread… no worries, mate! Make your way to Monika Dhaba at Hurstville.

North Indian food too robust for your liking? You want the crispiness of a dosa, either masala or plain, soft and fluffy idlis and rasam with its fiery, spicy qualities… no worries, mate! Head to Moni-ka Dhaba at Hurstville.

No onions or garlic in your diet? You like your food prepared to Jain principles… no worries, mate! Head to Moni-ka Dhaba at Hurstville.

You are vegetarian and want to make sure the food is ‘shuddh’ (pure)… no worries

mate, just call 02 9585 0032 before you head out, and you can have that also.

When Moni ka Dhaba promises that it has all types of food to cater to all palates, you better believe it, they do!

And to meet their growing menu and more clients, they have now expanded to a seating capacity of over 200. You are not jam packed in small tables and chairs; after all, with more than 60 dishes to try from their conventional menu, you want to have more room on your table and hopefully an appetite to match. The fun part is your wallet does not have to be large! The food prices still are economical and the pricing

prices, sounds good, doesn’t it?

Moni-ka Dhaba it has been serving great Indian food for over 15 years. Your host Satish Moorjani fully understands what you need and has now included mithai as part of his menu. With the festive season fast approaching for all living around the area, it will be a wonderful opportunity to do all your Diwali sweet shopping from Monika Dhaba. Or if you are feeling a bit lazy, call them on 9585 0132 and they can even home deliver your order for lunch or dinner in the Hurstville local area (minimum order

Does not get any better than this, does it? Yes, it does – they also cater for parties and functions. Go on, give them a try. North Indian, South Indian, Jain food, pure vegetarian, Indian Chinese – all this and lots more.

Anjum Tripathi

Moni-ka Dhaba, at 309 Forest Road, Hurtsville, is open for dinner every night and lunch Tuesday to Sunday. Call them on 9585 0032 to make a booking.

These shoes are meant for walking!

We have all suffered from shoe-bites at some point or the other. Yet, in our zest to be trendy, we tolerate them and limp around in pain! Shoe-bites plague us from childhood right into old age, if we end up buying the wrong ones. Here are some guidelines on how you can choose the right shoes, so your feet don’t get blisters or bites.

Research has found that most women wear shoes that are a bit too small for their feet and a large percentage of them will readily admit that their shoes are painful. Is it any wonder then that a lot of women develop foot problems because of ill-fitting shoes? As a result, as they age, these women have trouble finding shoes that fit well because their feet have developed bunions and other deformities. As with fashion, a lot of women choose style over comfort but in this case, while a pair of sexy stilettos may give you a stylish look and enhance your height, your feet are tortured in the process, especially if it is an ill-fitting pair.

Shoe-bites happen to most of us because a shoe may be too tight or ill-fitting. Some women have wide feet or feet that are wide only in the front. Shoes are made to standard sizes worldwide, so getting the right fit is not very easy. From my chats with shoeshop owners and women who have found a way to minimize the shoe-bite problem, I have rounded up some suggestions on shoe shopping that will help you find the closest, most comfortable and best possible fit.

• Never wear just one shoe to try on for size. Most people have a slight difference in the size of their feet, so choose the one which fits the larger foot better.

• Wear both shoes and walk around the store, and try out the pair before you decide. As you walk, make sure your heel doesn’t slip out or feel too tight in the shoe. Also, the toes shouldn’t feel like they have been forcibly clamped together in the front. This is true of shoes which are narrow in the front. Your feet must slide in and out comfortably from the shoe.

MINAL

on how to be shoe-smart

• Because of walking, our feet swell over the course of a day. The best time to shop is during the late afternoon or evening, by which time the swelling is likely to have reduced, so your feet are their normal size.

• When you ask for your size, check if the shoe extends at least half an inch from your longest toe in the foot which is the larger of the two feet. This helps to leave room for your feet not to feel pinched, even if you are walking around in them.

• The size written on the box may not be the correct one for you. Always judge a new pair of shoes from their fit, and not by the size marked on

the box. The shoes must be as close to the shape of your feet as possible and comfortable from the start.

• Some people have broad heels and some people’s feet are broad in the front, just after the toes. Make sure that the widest part of your foot fits comfortably in the shoe.

• You may fall in love with a pair of shoes at first sight, but don’t buy it if it is tight and then expect it to stretch and loosen up.

• Some of us have a high in-step, so make sure that the shoe supports your in-step adequately, or you will end up walking around with feet bent inside the shoe because of the space between the in-step and the floor of the shoe. This is especially true while buying boots.

• If you do end up with a pair that may be too loose, get an in-sole as a filler to make it fit slightly more snugly.

• To prevent shoe bites, apply a little petroleum jelly on the inside of your new shoes and leave overnight. Wipe off the next morning and you can use them right away. Coconut oil can be used to soften a new pair of shoes in a similar manner.

• Make sure you carry band-aids with you at all times for, despite making the right choice or softening them in advance, your new shoes might still pinch and give you a shoe bite!

As with fashion, a lot of women choose style over comfort… while a pair of sexy stilettos may give you a stylish look and enhance your height, your feet are tortured in the process, especially if it is an ill-fitting pair.

An avocado affair

Salads and sandwiches. That’s what instantly comes to mind when we think of avocado. These fruits contain nutrients, are rich in Vitamin C, help maintain healthy weight and lower cholesterol, are a powerful antioxidant, are great for the skin and help protect your liver.

The avocado, which has been recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the most nutritious fruit in the world, can be used in innovative culinary styles. Here are a few examples.

Avocado Soup

2 avocados

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup lemon juice

Fresh ground pepper

Salt to taste

Puree avocado with lemon juice and stock in blender. Heat gently until hot, but do not boil. Season and add cream before serving.

The garlic should be soft enough to squeeze from its skins. Roughly mash the avocado in a bowl and fold in the roasted garlic, lemon juice, crushed fresh garlic (optional), fresh and dried herbs, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with a variety of dipping breads and biscuits.

Avocado and Chicken Tortillas

4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup lime juice

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 small jalapeno chilli, seeded and finely chopped

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander

2 avocados

2 small plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 finely chopped red onion

- Dash of Tabasco sauce

8 small tortillas, white or wholemeal

Avocado and Mushroom Fettuccine

1 large avocado, sliced

- Juice of 1 lemon

250g fettuccine

1 tbsp prepared pesto sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

1 sliced onion

4 sliced garlic cloves

200g sliced mushrooms

2 tsp salt reduced soy sauce

- Pepper - Whole or shredded basil leaves to garnish

- Lemon wedges to serve

Place the avocados on a plate and drizzle with lemon juice. Cook fettuccine in a large pan of water, to the desired consistency. Heat the oil and stir-fry the onion for one minute over a mediumhigh heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic and continue cooking, stirring for two minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir

By Sheryl Dixit

4 shots of tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Blanch the corn in boiling water for 3 minutes, then mix together with all the remaining ingredients in a suitably sized bowl. Serve as a compliment to seafood, eg. shrimp. Can be refrigerated for up to three days.

Asian noodles with avocado

560g Asian noodles cooked as per pack

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips

4 sliced garlic cloves

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp Oyster sauce

2 sliced spring onions

2 avocado

1/2 sprig fresh coriander

Heat sesame oil and vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan. Add ginger and garlic, fry for 30 seconds, then add cooked noodles and stir fry. Pit and peel avocado and cut into chunks. Add onion, avocado, soy and oyster sauce to the noodles and stir fry for a further minute or until all ingredients are well combined and hot. Serve garnished with fresh coriander. Cooked chicken or prawns can also be added to the stir fry.

Avocado and Prawn Salad

2 avocodos, just ripe

1 cup red capsicum strips

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

- Juice of 1 lime

- Salt and pepper to taste

11/2 tbsp chives, chopped

100 gms baby spinach leaves

1 kg cooked prawns, peeled and deveined

11/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Can be served hot or cold. If serving cold, there’s no need to cook the soup, just puree as above and add seasonings and cream.

Serve with warm, crusty bread.

Avocado and Roast Garlic Dip

1 whole garlic flower

11/2 avocados

2 tsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed fine - Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to hot. Cut about 1cm from the top of the garlic flower and brush cut surfaces with oil. Place in a baking pan and roast for about 20 minutes.

4 wedges of lime - Salt to taste

Marinade the chicken breasts with half of lime juice, garlic, chilli pepper and half chopped coriander and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut the avocados into cubes; add tomatoes, red onion, remaining lime juice, chopped coriander and Tabasco sauce. Add salt to taste, cover and refrigerate.

Drain the chicken and cook in a casserole for 10-15 minutes. Cut cooked chicken into strips. Spread the avocado mix on the tortillas. Place the chicken strips in the middle of the tortillas and sprinkle with lime juice. Fold the tortillas over the filling. Tortillas can be grilled in a sandwich press, if required.

in soy sauce and pepper. Toss the freshly cooked fettuccine with the pesto sauce, mushrooms, and the avocado slices. Serve immediately with basil and lemon wedges.

Avocado and Corn Salsa

3 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and diced into large cubes.

2 cups of corn kernels

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lime juice

1/4 cup freshly chopped oregano

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp chilli powder

Slice up avocados into a large bowl. Add chopped chives and sprinkle with salt and pepper; drizzle lemon juice over. Toss gently to combine.

Mix capsicum strips with sweet chilli sauce in a separate bowl.

Arrange spinach leaves on a large platter. Place prawns and avocados on the leaves. Along the top, arrange the capsicum strips attractively (such as in a single central line across the length of the platter).

Sprinkle some more chopped chives over the top.

Drizzle with oil. (Try some flavoured olive oil if you can find it, such as a lemoninfused variety).

SEEKING BRIDES

Australian citizen, 27, 168cm, Handsome Punjabi Hindu Khatri boy. Masters in Accounting & Finance. Own Business. Well established family in Sydney. Seeking good looking and qualified match. Caste no bar. Please contact: 0401057224 or send details with photo to: matriaussyd@gmail.com

Seeking well qualified match, from good family background, for handsome, well settled Gujarati boy 31, 5’7”. Raised in India, living in Sydney since past 9 years. MBA from Sydney, CPA ongoing. Working with leading FMCG as accountant. Please respond with details and photo email: kdsydney@gmail.com

Seeking well qualified and beautiful girl for a Gujarati Nagar Brahmin boy, 29, 5’10”, Masters in Engineering, permanent resident of Australia. Currently working as a Project Manager in Sydney. Please contact bgtmatri@gmail.com or on 02-96327398.

Parents invite matrimonial alliance for their younger of 2 sons. DOB: 23 Oct 1984, B.Com LLB (Hons.), half-way through CPA, permanent government job (APS 6), handsome, fair, 170 cms, non-drinker, non-smoker, vegetarian. Father doctor in Canberra, elder brother software engineer. Email mpgupta@

hotmail.com or mobile: 0419 749 448.

Seeking well qualified match for Hindu boy, 27, 6’ 1”, medium built, talented, smart and handsome. Boy raised in India / Australia. Masters in IT from Sydney University. Currently working as Project Manager in US based MNC earning $90K+. Both parents well educated professionals. Family settled in Sydney. Please respond with details and photo to eskay82@gmail.com

Australian Caucasian male, age 44, business man, financially secure, seeks beautiful, slim, caring Indian / Fiji Indian or Sri Lankan girl. Age open for genuine relationship with a view to marriage. If interested please text 0423 074 109.

Matrimonial alliance invited for Indian origin gentleman, 37 years old, simple and sensible, born and brought up in Mumbai. Mangalore University degree holder (economics, sociology and literature), and a professional diploma holder. Fluent south and west Indian languages. PR or visitors welcome. Please respond on phone 02 9676 2512 or mobile 0458 678 054

Sister-in-law seeks a suitable bride for her handsome Sikh Khatri cleanshaven brother-in law, 28, 5’9”, Aust citizen, Business Manager, Melbournebased, Masters in Finance. Has a perfect mix of east and west culture. Contact matrimonial.mb@gmail.com

Handsome, clean shaven, 28 5’-9’’ professional IT engineer, MBA, Australian citizen from well settled Jat Sikh family in Sydney, seeks beautiful slim (5’ 4”+), educated working professional from well settled Sikh family in Australia, with strong family and cultural values, and a good sense of humour. Email Groom09@hotmail.com

SEEKING GROOMS

Parent of beautiful Punjabi Khatri girl, 28/5’8”, professionally qualified, working in a multinational company in Sydney, seeks professionally qualified well educated, settled boy. Caste no bar. Please e-mail bio-data and recent photograph to seekmat@gmail.com

Suitable alliance invited for Hindu Punjabi girl, 29 years, 157 cm, fair, smart, talented and beautiful. Very social, sweet natured and religious.

Qualified (BCA, MBA ), working as SAP HR consultant with IBM in India. Earning very good per annum package. Very well settled family, brother working as a manager in Hong Kong. Please email details to bharat@cssri.ernet.in

Seeking professional match for 28 years/152cm North Indian girl, very fair, very beautiful, excellent job in IT, innocent divorcee. Family well settled in Australia. Please respond with details to eeshkripa@gmail.com

Professional parents, Australian citizens with SriLankan Tamil Hindu Vellala heritage, look for a suitable partner for daughter, B Com & LLB graduate; 26; 5’3”; well mannered and well presented, traditional with modern outlooks; vegetarian; reply sv200704@gmail.com with details.

Parents of Sikh Khatri girl invite alliance for their beautiful, slim daughter, 29 /5’-1”, Australian citizen, never married. Currently working in Sydney as analyst with one of the biggest esteemed banks. Family settled in Sydney. Seeking professional, well-educated match with good family background. Caste no bar. Contact: 0411 513 703 or email: roopan09@yahoo.com

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We at Indian Link have been dedicated to seeking Indian links in Australian life. One such major link can be found in street names in all of Australia’s major metropolitan centres. Sydney’s roads for instance are replete with references to India that tell us a lot about the links between our two countries (and in some cases, reveal the real nature of the people who live on them – example, you know the average weight of the residents of Motu Place, Glenfield).

There is some dispute about whether Indian settlement in Sydney began at Indus Place (Kearns) or Indus Rd (Erskine Park). There are those who will tell you it all actually began at Hind Place (Chipping Norton).

Yet others will swear that the largest Indian ghettos in this metropolis are to be found along Currey Place (Fairfield), Currie Ave (Annangrove), Curry Rd (Forestville), Currey Rd (Oakville), Curry Lane (Artarmon), Curry St (Rooty Hill), Curry St (Eastern Creek) and Currie Place (Seven Hills).

Legend has it that early townplanners had a number of Indophiles amongst them, who are responsible for names such as Delhi St (Chatswood, Lidcombe), Bombay St (Lidcombe), Anduman St and Nicobar St (both in Kings Park), Lucknow St (Willoughby), Agra Place (Riverstone), Baroda Place (Elizabeth Bay), Himalaya Cr (Seven Hills), Kashmir Ave (Quakers Hill), Orissa St (Cammeray, Campsie, Doonside), Simla Rd (Denistone, Lidcombe), and Malabar Ave (Dural, Coogee, Maroubra, Canley Vale).

Perhaps some of these early townplanners had served as officers of the British Raj. How else would you explain Gymkhana Place (Glenwood), Motorkhana Rd (Lippington), Burrawalla St (Caringbah), even Durbar Ave (Kirrawee)??

These very same culprits (or heroes, as the case may be), filled with nostalgia for the days of the Raj, gave us nomenclature such as Bangalee Place (Bangor), Bindi Place (Beacon Hill), Bindee Close (Glenmore Park), Naranghi St (Telopea), Sitar Place (Plumpton), Guru Place (Glemnore Park), Wazir St (Bardwell Valley), Mynah Close (St. Clair), Myoora St (Pymble), Koel Place (Ingleburn) and Bulbul Ave (Green Valley).

And when their imagination was running low, they picked random Hindustani words

Pendle Hill’s Nirvana St and Holsworthy’s Sanananda Rd are home to the selfactualised, while those who believe in rituals rather than philosophy, prefer Jupp Place (Eastwood) instead.

they could remember, falsely believing they were safe from the scrutiny of Hindustanis who would never travel to their shores. And so we got Besant Place (Rooty Hill), Canoon Rd (Turramurra), Garema Ct (Kingsgrove), Geewan Ave (Kellyville), Hera Place (St. Clair), Kalyan Ave (Bradbury), Kanya St (Frenchs Forest), Lodi Close (West Hoxton), Patanga Rd (Frenchs Forest), Mahan Way (Minto), Mera St (Guildford), Milon St (Prestons), Pukara Place (Cromer), Tarana Ct (Casula), Cuscus Place (St. Helens Park) and Biman Place (Whalan).

While these may still sound exotic, how about this sample: Atka St (Tregear),

Link Road

Bunda Place (Glenmore Park), Pyalla St (Northbridge), Carrara Rd (Vaucluse), Maida Rd (Epping), Milmil St (Milson’s Point), Gully Gully Rd (Mooney Mooney), Dilkara Ct (Menai), Nyari St (Kenthurst), Nada St (Toongabbie), Mulla Rd (Yagoona), Mowla St (Jamiesontown), Tambu St (St. Ives), Tawa St (Ashfield), and this is true, Becharry Rd (Blacktown). Becharry street, is all we can lament, for that last one!

And then, many years later, when the Indians did invade their shores, there were many who the local councils chose to honour, by naming the streets after them.

RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA rides rampant through suburban Sydney in search of inventive Indian links

already know, is named after Sydney entrepreneur Firdaus (Freddie) Zulfiqar.

Even Bollywood links can be found on Sydney’s roads. While we don’t have an

On the other hand, high levels of depression have been recorded along Rona Cl (Berowra), Rota Place (Kings Park), Rulana St (Acacia Gardens) and Rulwalla Place (Gymea). Daraya Rd (Marayaong) is home to those afflicted with delusions of persecution, and we don’t even need to tell

Entertainment Rahman, tujhe salaam!

“And finally today, in the spirit of friendship and goodwill, I am very pleased to make an announcement about one of India’s much loved sons. Oscar award winning artist, A.R Rahman, has generously agreed to offer a one off, free public concert, as part of the Sydney Festival in January next year. The NSW Government in conjunction with the Sydney Festival will host the event at Parramatta Park. Without doubt one of the world’s great talents, I am sure he will show Sydney why he is one of the all time highest selling recording artists…. and why this year Time magazine placed Rahman in the Time 100 list of ‘World’s Most Influential People’. I congratulate Mr Rahman for his leadership and goodwill. We all look forward to having him here next year.”

Excerpt from speech by Nathan Rees, MP and Premier of NSW, at the India Australia Friendship Fair on August 9, 2009.

Allah Rakha Rahman. AR Rahman.

Singer, musician, composer, record producer. Patriot and philanthropist. AR Rahman is all this, and much, much more. Time magazine’s assessment of the musician’s worth is truly accurate, as, apart from being a household name in India, AR Rahman is also a name to be reckoned with in the global music arena.

Winning Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire put this talented musician in the spotlight, but AR Rahman has been mesmerising Indian audience for a long time now. He has now become India’s leading icon, moving

SHERYL DIXIT on India’s leading musical genius who will rock Sydney with his song and rhythm next January

the Big B reluctantly into the backseat in fame, talent and humility.

AR Rahman was born on January 6, 1966 as AS Dileep Kumar in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to a musically affluent Tamil family. He lost his father at a young age, and was raised by his mother Kareema (Kashturi, as she was called). He began training in music and obtained a scholarship to the Trinity College of Music, where he graduated with a degree in Western classical music.

… this free concert is so typical of the humble and unassuming AR Rahman, that his personality, stage presence and music will triumph.

In a career of just over a decade, AR Rahman has sold more than 100 million records of his film scores and soundtracks worldwide, and over 200 million cassettes, making him one of the world’s all-time top selling recording artists.

He has worked in various film industries and theatre, both in India and globally. In his youth, he played in the orchestra of MS Viswanathan and Ramesh Naidu, and accompanied Zakir Hussain, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and L Shankar on world tours.

Music is in Rahman’s soul, and his

indelible mark on India’s film industry can be seen through his work. He initially composed music jingles for ads, Indian TV channels and scores in documentaries, but his soundtrack for Mani Ratnam’s Roja won him the Best Music Director at the National Film Awards, the first time ever by a firsttime composer. Since then, Rahman’s music for Hindi films like Lagaan, Bombay, Fire, Rangeela, Dil Se, Taal, Rang de Basanti, as well as a number of Tamillanguage films, won him fame and acclaim. He has a versatile and distinct style, combining western classical, carnatic, traditional/folk, jazz, reggae and rock music to his scores, giving them a unique feel and rhythm which almost instantly enthrals the listener.

Referred to as the Mozart of Madras by Time magazine, Rahman has worked with Indian poets and lyricists such as Javed Akhtar, Gulzar, Mehboob, Vairamuthu and Vaali. His collaborations with some film directors have always resulted in successful soundtracks, particularly with directors Mani Ratnam and S Shankar in

the films Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian, Jeans, Mudhalvan, Nayak, Boys and Sivaji.

AR Rahman is a force to be reckoned with on the international music scene as well. One of his first releases was the Mandarin language picture Warriors of Heaven and Earth in 2003, after researching and utilizing Chinese and Japanese classical music. He co-scored the Shekhar Kapoor helmed Elizabeth: The Golden Age in 2007. His compositions have made appearances in Inside Man, Lord of War, Divine Intervention and The Accidental Husband. In 2008, he scored the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, for which he won a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards, becoming the first Indian citizen to do so.

Music isn’t Rahman’s only forte, he has been involved in various charitable causes, lending his talent to raise funds for a raft of organisations. He was appointed as the Global Ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership, a project by WHO, in 2004. He has shown support to charities including Save the Children, India, and worked with Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam for his song Indian Ocean. He produced the single We Can Make It Better by Don Asian, alongside Mukhtar Sahota.

AR Rahman composed the theme music for a short film The Banyan in 2006, in aid of destitute women in Chennai. In 2008, Rahman, along with percussionist Sivamani created a song titled Jiya Se Jiya, inspired by the Free Hugs Campaign and promoted it through a video shot in various cities in India. He also made an album Vande Mataram (1997) on India’s 50th anniversary of independence which met with stunning commercial success.

Since the last six years, Rahman has performed three successful world tours of his concerts to audiences in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Dubai, UK, Canada, the US (Hollywood Bowl and 3d tour) and India.

Rahman’s last tour of Australia in 2005 sold to full houses in Sydney and Melbourne, and was such a success that Indian Link had called the euphoria “AR Rah-mania”.

And now, AR Rahman is set to rock Sydney in January 2010. What a fabulous way to begin the year! I can envisage the scene at Parramatta Park right now… overrun with fans of his music, thronging from all parts of Australia, and waiting to see India’s avatar of music work his magic. They will brave January’s searing heat, unexpected showers, the nightmare of finding parking or even standing space, but they will be there. I empathise with the organisers, handling a free concert by one of Indian music’s leading lights will be a logistical nightmare. Simply anticipating how many people will actually be there is a mind-boggling feat in itself. Add the stage set-up, technical, electrical and acoustic demands, as well as the pyrotechnics that accompany such a show, and you can bet that Parramatta Park will never be the same again. But this free concert is so typical of the humble and unassuming AR Rahman, that his personality, stage presence and music will triumph. After all, for him, it’s all dil se!

Salman aims to match AAA fame

Salman Khan, Bollywood’s macho man is ready to take on the character of Anthony in the remake of Manmohan Desai’s classic blockbuster film, Amar,

play the character of Parveen Babi in the movie. Naturally, the three characters of Amar, Akbar and Anthony will be played by Salman and his brothers. While Salman will don Big B’s character, Arbaaz Khan will be the character played by Vinod Khanna, and Sohail Khan in Rishi Kapoor’s

more promising filmi liaison. Sources say that she has signed up to work with none other than Shah Rukh Khan in an upcoming Yashraj film. Now it’s no secret that there’s no love lost between Sallu and King Khan, so the blow’s going to be to Salman’s ego. However, Katrina, smart girl that she is, has made it clear to her macho beau that when it comes to Bollywood, she’s out to do the right thing for her career. And now that she’s proved her acting talent in New York, working alongside John Abraham, another of Sallu’s so-called enemies, Sallu can’t impose any bans on her. Sources say that the mega-budget Yashraj flick has been in the pipeline for a while now, and has finally emerged, much to everyone’s relief. Poor Salman can’t do much, now that Katrina’s proved that she can keep her personal and professional lives separate, and still be successful. So will Katrina be able to make peace between the feuding Khans? Guess it takes a Kaif to know a Khan!

Akbar, Anthony. Sallu will play Amitabh Bachchan’s character, in an epic depiction of one of the Big B’s most celebrated roles.

Now Salman’s taking on a mega challenge, feels the industry, as he will find it hard to live up to the expectations of an eager audience. Not long ago, Ram Gopal Varma’s remake of Sholay bombed badly at the box office, despite Big B playing the character of Gabbar Singh. So sceptics in the industry aren’t putting too much faith in this remake. However, the project goes on with Salman and his brothers Sohail Khan, Arbaaz Khan, and even Katrina Kaif has been roped in to

role. The role of Neetu Singh, who played love interest of Rishi Kapoor, is yet to be finalised. But the star attraction of the film isn’t the Khan brothers in full force, but an even more powerful avatar, that of Katrina Kaif. Sources say that she could well guarantee a success, with her screen presence and current popularity. So will Katrina pull a cat out of the bag? It won’t be a surprise if she does!

OKing Khan for Katrina

It seems that Katrina Kaif, Bollywood’s beauteous bombshell, is seriously trading in macho beau Salman Khan for a

OSwine flu doesn’t scare Bollywood

Bollywood’s leading film studios will continue with their shooting schedules though schools, colleges, cinema halls and malls in the city will be shut down for a week to contain the spread of swine flu. “All shooting schedules are going on according to previous bookings.

As of now, no shoots have been cancelled due to any flu scare,” said Parvesh Shinde, booking manager of Film City, in an interview.

Rajinder K. Ridlan, booking manager for Mehboob Studio confirmed, “All shootings are going on and no shoots have been cancelled.”

Said Sunil Amin, booking manager at Kamal Amrohi Studio, “This is already a laid-back period due to monsoons and recession and there is not much shooting happening. However, swine flu has got nothing to

process as a film, if it has to be shot, will be shot under any circumstances. Hence everything is taking place as per schedule.”

A representative from Filmistan Studio confirmed that shooting for Himesh Reshammiya’s Radio will be on as scheduled. The source also informed that despite the

filming

alert, the studio was booked for Dharma Production’s Shah Rukh Khan starrer My Name Is Khan, in fact the set for the shoot was almost ready.

While Shinde and Amin didn’t reveal the names of the films currently being shot at their studios, industry sources said Mehboob Studios is booked for two films Salman Khan starrer Veer and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzarish. So will Bollywood escape the onslaught of swine flu? Fingers crossed, we hope so!

OAbhay to salsa for Ayesha

F rom salsa lessons to riding classesAbhay Deol, who is back here from New York to shoot for Ayesha, is well into readying himself for the film that is due to hit the floors later this month. Director Rajshri Ojha is set to direct the delayed project of Anil Kapoor’s production with Abhay and Sonam Kapoor. The film will be an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma, about the perils of misconstrued romance.

“I know there were rumours about the future of the film. There always will be rumours about everything. I’m taking salsa lessons for my character from my choreographer Ashley Lobo. After this, I’ve to start taking riding lessons. So work is on full swing,” said Abhay, who made it big with Dev D.

The actor admits he hasn’t read Austen’s novel as part of his preparation for Ayesha “But all of Jane Austen’s heroes have some distinctive traits,” he was quick to add. Ayesha would seem like a far more conventional film than the quirky off-

Katrina Kaif

Shah Rukh Khan

Abhay Deol

VIRAL BHAYANI and ABHILASHA SENGUPTA bring us up-to-date on what’s hot and happening in Bollywood

Salman Khan

mainstream character he has been playing lately. “You forget, I started my career with a romantic comedy, in Socha Na Tha’,” Abhay said.

Ayesha will be shot in Delhi, Mumbai and Hrishikesh, which means that Abhay will be in India for a while. “I’ve got to return to the US in October. I’ve other acting offers in Mumbai, but I’m in no hurry to sign. Right now I’m focussing on my production house, besides Ayesha,” revealed the actor.

Abhay wants to buy an apartment in New York, but the kind of money that he’s offered in Bollywood won’t pay for his new home. “I’ve looked at a place that I like in New York, but it’s too early to buy property. I need to earn the money first, which is why I’ve started my own production house Forbidden Films, so I can work for myself and pay myself with the profits and really get to know my market value. Everybody needs money. I’m not here for charity.”

Abhay has finished a script and is now looking at a director for his first production. Well, at least he’s honest!

OSave the environment, says Priyanka

Do your bit to save the environment even if it is a tiny step, urges actress Priyanka Chopra who is working for a greener tomorrow as the brand ambassador of NDTV-Toyota’s Greenathon II campaign.

“This is a fantastic initiative. I’m a part of the young generation who questions almost everything. But we need to understand that it takes little things for something to become big,” said Priyanka recently.

“Youngsters often ask‘What can we do?’ But I believe it is only the simple things we can do that can bring about a change. Get involved in such initiatives, spend a weekend doing something good for the environment and you will feel happy... let’s make the earth a better place,” she added.

The first edition of Greenathon, a campaign initiated by The Energy and

Resources Institute (TERI) in association with NDTV and Japanese auto giant Toyota, aimed to raise funds for the Light a Billion Lives project. The aim was to take solar lanterns to rural communities. The campaign ended up raising Rs.20 million and lit up 55 villages across India. Bollywood’s leading lights need to take their cue from Priyanka and make the world a better place, don’t you think?

OGovinda aala re!

T usshar Kapoor is happy with Govinda’s presence as co-star in the forthcoming Abbas-Mustan movie Life Partner and says the comic actor adds as much value to the comic caper as Salman Khan did in No Entry

Life Partner tells the story of two young men played by Fardeen Khan and me. And then there is Govinda who keeps coming in and going out of the scene, just as Salman did in No Entry,” said Tusshar.

“In No Entry, the story revolved around Anil Kapoor and Fardeen Khan, but no one could deny the importance of Salman in the film. It’s the same scenario in Life Partner too, where Govinda is an integral part of the plot,” adds Tusshar who is also working with Govinda in Run Bhola Run, a comedy. Directed by Rumi Jaffery and produced by Abbas-Mustan, Life Partner is due for release soon.

Talking about the three male protagonists in Life Partner, Tusshar said, “The best of the enterprise is the conflicting view that each of us has around marriage. Fardeen is quite flamboyant and believes in love marriage. He has a girlfriend (Genelia D’Souza), is very westernised in appeal, just as he is in real life too and has a free side to him. We play best friends in the film.”

Adds Tusshar, “While I play someone who believes in an arranged marriage and gets hooked up with Prachi Desai, Govinda doesn’t believe in marriage at all. In fact he plays a womaniser. As a divorce lawyer, he keeps advising Fardeen and me against the socalled evils of marriage. He loves putting a spoke in the wheel even though at heart he is still full of . Whenever he comes on screen, there is bound to be excitement amongst the audience.”

Tusshar, who featured in last year’s big hit Golmaal Returns felt that all three roles complemented each other without compromising their characters.

“The film shows conflicting point of views of three guys and to show the right contrast amongst them, you can’t play around with their screen time. It is very

important to see that each marriage in the film is important. One has to enjoy all the characters otherwise the whole fun of watching the film would be lost,” he said.

Although reports on the film seem positive, Tusshar is cautious before jumping the gun and calling Life Partner a sure shot success way in advance. “There is no success formula. A few months ago it seemed like the comic genre was succeeding at the box office, so everyone rushed to make comedies. And instead, we saw huge box-office flops. You can’t be sure about anything. One can mainly concentrate on making a good film, promote it well, get a branding in place and leave it for the audiences to decide. Saying anything else in advance would be making an announcement too soon,” he claimed.

Looks like Govinda and Tusshar are set to become partners for life.

The Mahatma’s last journey

Bollywood seems all set to revisit Gandhigiri. But this time it’s debutant director Amit Rai narrating a part-factpart-fiction story on Mahatma Gandhi’s principles through his Road To Sangam, while telling the story of how a Muslim man restored the vintage Ford truck

that carried Gandhi’s ashes in 1948. The director says he was inspired by a news story about the Ford V8 engine’s restoration by Allahabad-based mechanic Hashmat Ullah. He has roped in veteran actors Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Pavan Malhotra, apart from Gandhi’s grandson Tushar, who plays himself in the film.

“I got the idea for the film from a news story that came on NDTV over 2 years ago. It showed that the vehicle that carried Gandhi’s ashes in 1948 had been reduced to junk and was restored by a Muslim guy,” said Rai in a telephone interview.

The vintage vehicle was lying in a state of disrepair at a museum in Allahabad until Hashmat Ullah restored it. The remains of Gandhi’s ashes, which had been kept in the locker in Orissa, were carried on the same vehicle and immersed in the sea in Mumbai on his death anniversary on Jan 30, 2008.

ORoad To Sangam had its world premiere at the Ahmedabad International Film Festival and was also screened at the 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival to a “standing ovation and a second screening on-demand”. Celebrating the Mahatma in any form is an invigorating and inspiring experience. And Road to Sangam promises to be a winner.

CAPTION CONTEST CAPTION CONTEST

What’s Saif saying to the world in this old photo?

What’s the chitchat between Malaika Arora-Khan and Rani Mukherjee?

Malaika to Rani: You teach me some Hindi, I’ll teach you some English, ok?

Ranjeeta Sharma

ACT

Priyanka Chopra

Cinetalk

A grisly, spooky whodunit

Film: Agyaat

Director: Ram Gopal Varma

Cast: Nitin Reddy, Priyanka Kothari, Gautam Rode, Rasika Duggal

Jungle fever has never been more contagious. Every corner of the Sri Lankan jungle in Agyaat, as shot with mesmeric skill by cinematographer Surjodeep Ghosh, is filled with danger.

There lurks a diabolic unknown (‘agyaat’) monster in the treacherous greenery. Ram Gopal Varma has always

CINETALK

two groups of three characters each are shown interacting amongst themselves and eventually it turns out that all of them were in the same room. Or the entire hotel sequence where a drug deal goes kaput. And then, of course, the eventual coming together of all the 10 odd characters who are connected to one another.

been a master of manipulative terror. His camara range is constantly petrifying and persistently resonant. The sequences in Agyaat are ceaselessly shot in a way that suggests the presence of lethal characters and entities who we and the people on screen cannot see... only feel.

In this endeavour to evoke ghoulish visions of omnipresent danger, Varma is vastly aided by the sound design.

Sound designers Dwarak Warrier and Leslie Fernandes go easy on the eerie sounds and beguiling banshees. Instead there are chilling eruptions of noises that you probably hear in the wilderness but don’t pay attention to as being anything remarkable.

The sound also includes snatches from Hemant Kumar Mukherjee’s immortal Kahin deep jale kahin dil from the old Bees Saal Baad.

But this is well into the new millennium. The perils of modern life such as cut-throat competitiveness often lead to the throat being literally cut.

Who knows who’s killing the film unit in Agyaat? Maybe it’s their own fears and ambitions that are killing them. And the crew’s calm cinematographer (Kali Prasad Mukherjee) finally commits suicide. The spoilt bratty superstar’s spotboy (Ishteyak) is pulled into a gruesome death even as he chants mantras to protect himself.

While in Varma’s previous comparativelytacky horror outing Phoonk, god felled the devil, in Agyaat nothing works. You are doomed in the jungle. No force can protect you.

As one member after another of the film-within-film gets eliminated, Varma

seems

to be

spoofing Agatha Christie’s 10 Little Indians

There are dollops of tantalizing irony in the way the typical and tight hierarchy in a film unit evaporates as imminent peril puts people in perilous positions. The repressed spotboy’s outburst against

And yes, Shahid and Priyanka have a crackling on-screen chemsitry. After Kaminey, audiences would be expecting a lot from him each time.

Director Vishal Bharadwaj has redefined filmmaking with Kaminey. While making the film there was absolutely no reference

Set in Mumbai, the film is mostly shot in real locations. The director’s insistence on canning shots outdoors pays off as the backdrop becomes difficult to disentangle from the elements of this thriller.

So what one gets to see is a day in the life of two brothers who are on the run for different reasons. Guddu (Shahid) has seen a sudden marriage with Sweety, played by Priyanka Chopra who is excellent in her relatively short but meaningful and important role. He is now being followed by Sweety’s brother (Amol Gupte).

Charlie (Shahid) has got hold of drugs worth Rs.10 crore and is now all set to sell them off to fulfil his long cherished dreams.

And in between, there are cops, gangsters, international drug mafia, narcotics department, a ‘Jai Maharashtra’ slogan-raising brother, an over-’coked’ friend and his two mad Bengali brothers -- all of whom make sure that Kaminey turns out to be one joyride that keeps the excitement on till the credits start rolling.

The film starts off decently though one has to concentrate hard to get the point of the narrative. All of that starts making sense after 30 odd minutes, but you still feel that there could have been a little more meat to the proceedings.

However, the post interval portions make Kaminey simply irresistible. Layer after layer unfolds, dark as well as humane side of people are put on display

the spoilt superstar played by Gautam Rode, every inch the despicable brat, is a masterly manoeuvre designed to show how fear melts all class differences.

Portions of the brief supernatural whodunit are unintentionally funny. But all said and done, Agyaat gives us enough spine-chilling moments to make us wonder at the end, who the hell is killing all these people???

The grisly plot weaves in humane moments. Nitin Reddy, who makes his Bollywood debut with this film, is confident, honest and has a skilful body language. He and his assistant Sameera (Rasika Duggal) have this very believable bonding that perhaps Shah Rukh Khan and Karisma Kapoor had in Dil To Pagal Hai

Nonetheless, this unknown jungle remains chilling and ominous.

Bharadwaj, Shahid redefine filmmaking

Film: Kaminey

Director: Vishal Bharadwaj

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Amol Gupte, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Tenzing Nima, Shiv Subrahmanyam, Hrishikesh Joshi

In Kaminey, Shahid Kapoor has dared to pick a subject which would have looked impossible to execute when read on paper. With his outstanding performance in the film, Shahid joins the list of top actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan.

point for Bharadwaj, at least not in Bollywood cinema. He picked from Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino brands of cinema and adapted it perfectly to a Bollywood milieu.

Bharadwaj takes his audience into a world that has perhaps never been explored before on Indian screen. He keeps introducing characters for the first 30 minutes while making sure that the twin brothers (Shahid) aren’t brought together in a single frame till way past the interval.

He also confuses his audience on purpose in at least a couple of sequences and tests their intelligence. There’s the scene where

and finally comes an explosive climax that pretty much justifies the route that Bharadwaj takes in Kaminey

After watching the film, the first question that comes to mind is, ‘Why was the ‘A’ certificate?’

Kaminey is one of the few must-watch films of 2009. From narrative to execution, Bharadwaj shows that he knows the art of creating a new world of cinema and lays out a road ahead for many aspiring filmmakers. IANS

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