On Friday 6 March 2009, the Australian All Ords, the barometer of the share market, reached 3,112 points. From the peak of 1 November 2007 of 6,853 points, the share market had fallen 3,741 points, losing almost 55% in value. One could smell the fear in the air: banks around the world were being nationalised, and headlines screamed ‘bottomless pit’, about the depths to which the markets had fallen. There was talk of massive unemployment in Australia. Talkback radio was filled with anecdotes of companies offering staff retrenchment packages or voluntary pro-rata decrease in pay and work hours so that business could continue operating. Governments around the world were working overtime to stimulate the economy by cash hand outs to the public while publicly declaring their confidence in the banking system. Even Prime Minister Rudd put cheques in the mail while his team was busy talking up the economy.
Almost a year on, the markets seem to have turned the corner. Twelve months on, the markets have recovered to about 4,600 points - an increase of about 40% from the lowest point. Those who were able to ride out this storm and keep their discipline, would have seen their share portfolios gain a healthy amount. Those who gave in to shock and horror stories and sold out their investments at the bottom, would have managed to secure returns of just around 5% in a bank deposit. For those brave souls who actually went into the market
BY PAWAN LUTHRApost March 2009, this would have been a year of healthy returns.
To an extent we are all affected by the markets, as most Indian Australians have shares through their superannuation statement. With the mandatory 9% of their wages being directed towards superannuation, most default funds will have monies invested in part in the Australian share market. Perhaps when they get their statements for this year, there will be a smile on their lips rather than a frown on their faces.
Going forward, it seems that Australia is well positioned to grow in the next few years. With China and India at one’s doorstep, it seems that the lucky country which once rode the sheep’s back to its fortune now has to unearth the treasures which lie beneath our feet to discover new fortunes. So far, the government has managed the economy well. Its gross public debt, as a percentage of its GDP is 15.9% for 2009, as compared to 114.9% for Greece, 71% for the United Kingdom and 84.7% for India. China sits at 20.2%. Australia is the only country in the world which actually increased interest rates late last year, inflation being the main worry for
the government.
By the same token, India is in a difficult position. While the economy is expected to grow at 8%, inflation is also high with the common man finding the daily needs to be a lot more expensive. As a result, it will be difficult for India to tinker with its interest rates while managing the economy. The pundits are puzzled as to why, when the Congress Party is in power, do the prices increase sharply.
Australia however is currently in flux, caught in the grips of two large global economies. It is well known that when the US sneezes, Australia catches the cold. However, with its proximity to China and Australia’s economic future dependent on Chinese demand, we are also susceptible to the movements in the Chinese economic policy. Over the past few weeks, as China has reigned in public spending, Australia has suffered a dip in its markets. So, between an American cold and a Chinese squeeze, it will take time for the Australian economy to align itself correctly.
Meanwhile it will be impossible for both China and India to stop their momentum for growth. Australia will ride their coat tails albeit suffering from a cold.
The Natyalaya School of Indian Dance presented yet another dance ballet on February 20 at the Rowville Secondary College. Dance ballets are mammoth productions requiring enormous commitment in terms of resources, time and energy that most schools produce one every two or three years, if possible. It is to the credit of Natyalaya’s founderdirector Ushanthini Sripadmanathan that she manages to produce one annually – and each year it is a different and new offering.
This year, the title of the ballet was ‘Geometry’ and the theme was the mandalas and the nine ‘planets’ or gruhas in the Indian astrological system: seven visible ones which include the sun and the moon besides Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn; and the two lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu. The ballet was new and different, depicting each of the gruhas in special postures; each deity and temple associated with a gruha; their powers and their significance.
The choreography by Ushanthini was excellent, well researched, traditional in the best sense of the term, and well
executed by her students. Despite not being a familiar story or a ballet with a simple story-line, the choreography and presentation were such that the audience was able to follow the complex ideas and concepts behind the evening’s dance.
The libretto and composition of the music for the ballet was by Kumbakonam Gajendran, a talented composer and
When the musical The Merchants of Bollywood made its debut in Australia in 2005, it was a resounding success. It was the first ever Bollywood production to tour straight from the Film City in Mumbai. Seen by over 2 million people worldwide and after more than 850 shows, it returns to Australia after hit seasons in London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Zurich, Geneva, Rome, Kuala Lumpur, Johannesburg and other major cities.
lyricist who has written and arranged music for several dance ballets in Tamil and Sanskrit. Nattuvangam was by Ushanthini, and Ahilan Sivananthan the vocalist, Ravichandhira on the mrudangam, with Murali Kumar and R Thiagarajan on the violin and flute respectively.
Chitra SudarshanI might have missed a delightful concert recently, had I not run into Ravi M Ravichandhira quite accidentally at a wedding on the same day. Ravi told me about the concert with vocalist Maharajapuram Ramachandran, an an impromptu “Chennai style” concert without the usual practice sessions that are the normal routine when visiting artists accompany debutants at arangetrams here. The interesting element was that not just me, but none of my friends had heard of this kacheri.
Ravi’s son Sai Nivaithan was to accompany this scholarly musician on the mridangam in the recital. It would be quite a test for Sai Nivaithan to be challenged into playing without having had previous interaction at this vocalist. Ravi seemed to be of the view that all senior students of the mridangam must be made to go through this form of challenge to acquire confidence as mridangists. The difference between an arranged arangetram and this kind of impromptu concert was that the accompaniments have to play for the vocalist and of course, the mridangist has to play for the violinist as well as the vocalist! One is not always mindful, as one admires the principal musician in a concert, say the vocalist, for his imaginative improvisations etc., that as the setter of his own agenda, the musician is always at a competitive advantage over the accompanists who have to literally dance to his tunes.
The concert was not very well attended, but an audience of more than two hundred including the fine resident artists of Melbourne, was probably on par for an unadvertised kacheri given also that we were in the midst of the wedding season. Having been in Chennai last December, the setting was reminiscent of proceedings
there, complete with the comings and goings to the canteen in the foyer.
The kacheri itself was another satisfying demonstration of the melodic fluency that is a hall mark of Ramachandran’s style. For the senior rasikas in the audience, the bhani and the slightly nasal voice along with the choice of krithis evoked memories of his father Santhanam and even his grandfather Visvanatha Iyer.
The concert was adorned by the accompaniment of violinist BU Prasad, a disciple of VV Subramaniam. His solo
the kalpanaswaram were aptly followed by the thani avarthanam by the father and son duo of Ravi and Sai Nivaithan. The thani rendered in 4 different tempos was performed with great panache by the youngster and with a pleasing competitive and challenging spirit. It was truly a feast to the audience. Particular mention must be made of the passage where the two percussionists blended two different beats producing a harmonious and pleasing dimension of sound. This effect of course, would have been impossible for a single mridangist to produce and brought to mind
It was not surprising, on returning after five years, that the performance was at the best of venues: the Arts Centre’s State Theatre for a mere 2 weeks. The show is much like the old one: about the history of the Bollywood film industry as seen through the family of Hiralalji Merchant (here as Shantilal Merchant) and his granddaughter Vaibhavi Merchant (Ayesha), two notable Indian choreographers. The musical has been described as “an Indian version of the Billy Elliot story” and is choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant herself. The Merchants of Bollywood features a cast of 40 performers and has received rave reviews.
A fictional story yet based on real life, The Merchants of Bollywood gives the audience an idea of the evolution of Bollywood cinema, especially the dances that are at the core the medium. This lavish new production features some hit songs and dance items from the biggest Bollywood blockbusters, more elaborate backdrops than before, and includes a write up which focuses a bit more on the history of Indian cinema than it did previously.
There are too, more classical and folk numbers in the new show – albeit rather short - and their fusion with modern dance and gymnastics was used cleverly to show Ayesha’s growth in Bollywood and the entertainment industry. Handsome and bare-chested Deepak Rawat’s energetic leaps and high octane gymnastics had the audience in raptures. There was something really joyful about the dances. Also, the folk dances and (too few by far) classical routines provided welcome relief and change of pace to the repetitive Bollywood numbers; when they showed the ‘transformation’ of Bollywood dance from the 1970s to the present, this reviewer could not see the difference – apart from the flared trousers!
to the vocalist. His replication of the vocalist’s swaras showed his mastery and diligence throughout the concert.
Another delight was the choice of a relatively large number of Tamil krithis starting with a varnam in Tamil and following it with a viruththam from Bharatiyar’s Vinaayakar Nanmani Maalai in a cycle of ten beats. The Tamil words were enunciated very clearly to bring out the spirit of the poet, but without losing the lakshanam and beauty of the ragam.
The main piece was another krithi in Tamil – Saravanaguha bhavane - set to Madyamaavati in aadi thalam. The niraval Thanthaiyoodu thanaiyan and
Karaikudi Mani’s layachitra where he and the thavil vidwan Kaliyamurthi combined to produce the same delightful passage.
The Telugu krithi in Sankaraparanam set to Misrachapu thalam executed in slow tempo – Savukka kaalam - was a very soothing experience. The tail end pieces included SriChakraraja and Chinnansirukiliye in ragamalikai and the striking thillana replete with jatis challenging to the accompaniments crowned the kacheri to a memorable end.
The rich mixture of manodharmam and rhythmic structure throughout was a grand display of virtuosity by all artists on stage.
Sangeetha PriyanThe show did have many people dancing in the narrow aisles for some time – and would have had everyone up and swaying to the catchy numbers had the venue been outdoors
Chitra Sudarshan
The government is in the process of overhauling the education industry in a bid to rebuild the reputation of Australian education providers and to ensure long term growth. Education Minister Julia Gillard has recently agreed to an amendment strengthening the Government’s risk management approach. The new regulations are expected to weed out shonky operators and ‘decouple’ links between education and immigration. This has raised concerns that the good operators could go down along with the unscrupulous ones.
Members of the newly formed International Private Education Alliance Limited (ipeal) feel that there is an urgent need for reform of international private education. According to ipeal this industry has been an unqualified economic success story for Australia, worth around $16 billion annually, but it is currently under threat with the imminent loss of thousands of jobs if decisive action is not taken quickly.
The Government’s decision has already impacted the forward projection and business viability of many operators. Many people have lost their jobs within this industry as a result of the collapse of certain colleges. Thousands of students are also adversely affected. While the Government is to be applauded for its attempt to regulate the industry and clean up rogue operators, the whole process and resulting speculations are causing nervousness amongst the stakeholders
In a meeting held recently at Sandown Racecourse Mike Riddiford, executive director of ipeal said, “International students, colleges and education agents are all facing massive uncertainty as both State and Federal Governments struggle to outline a long term sustainable vision for the international private education sector.” The impromptu meeting was held on the occasion of holi in a bid to acquire the attention of visiting dignitaries. Unknown to most people who were dancing and playing holi outside, a serious discussion was underway in a hall upstairs along with a private lunch organized by ipeal.
ipeal is a non-profit organization that was formed in response to numerous enquiries from students, agents and RTOs in the international private education industry. ipeal aims to highlight the positive contribution that their sector has made to Australia. The organization’s emphasis will be on facilitating the development of solutions to the real and unprecedented challenges that the private education industry is now facing. Mike, who is also the spokesman for ipeal, proposed five specific industry reforms at the meeting. These involved safeguarding
cash flows for agents and RTOs, education agent representation and self regulation, transparency/predictability in Government policy and agreed service levels from key regulators.
The event was attended by Labour MP Tony Lupton, member for Prahran and Opposition leader Ted Baillieu. MP Nick Kotsiras, member for Bulleen was also present. MP Tony Lupton claimed that the Government understands the complexity of the situation and is trying very hard to address the issues. He assured ipeal and those present that he would take their message to the Parliament. Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu expressed his concerns about the rapidly dropping enrollments. He said the long term survival of this industry depends on enrollments and it should be the Government’s top most priority to keep them from dropping further.
The ipeal launch was coordinated by Nitin Gupta and Anchal Agarwal with the support of Australian Indian Innovations Inc (AIII). Liberal party member Nitin Gupta said, “Many families owning Colleges and Education Agencies risk potential bankruptcy unless the state Government takes some action. Thousands of jobs will be lost from within the Indian community in Melbourne. A huge number of students will be without an education option if their colleges collapse. It is high time that the Government takes steps to ensure the healthy survival of education industry.”
There are nearly 1314 universities, colleges and schools registered in Australia to teach overseas students. Under the new rules, institutions registered to teach foreign
students will have to re-register under tougher criteria by the end of the year. The decision to drop skills like cooking and hairdressing from the skills shortage list has already hit colleges that specialise in these areas, because they are no longer considered a pathway to permanent residency. The number of overseas students enrolling in Australian courses has plummeted since the media went into a frenzy over racial attacks on Indian students. An industry that was once thriving as the third largest export in Australia is now in disarray.
owner of VIT,
Imperial College of Technology and Management and other members of ipeal feel that a comprehensive review of laws and regulations may exorcise some of the problems, but as stakeholders in this industry they should also have some say in the matter. Given the current uncertain climate, ipeal is currently seeking an urgent dialogue with industry regulators on how business risk can be mitigated.
The government is in the process of overhauling the education industry in a bid to rebuild the reputation of Australian education providers and to ensure long term growth. Education Minister Julia Gillard has recently agreed to an amendment strengthening the Government’s risk management approach. The new regulations are expected to weed out shonky operators and ‘decouple’ links between education and immigration. This has raised concerns that the good operators could go down along with the unscrupulous ones.
Members of the newly formed International Private Education Alliance Limited (ipeal) feel that there is an urgent need for reform of international private education. According to ipeal this industry has been an unqualified economic success story for Australia, worth around $16 billion annually, but it is currently under threat with the imminent loss of thousands of jobs if decisive action is not taken quickly.
The Government’s decision has already impacted the forward projection and business viability of many operators. Many people have lost their jobs within this industry as a result of the collapse of certain colleges. Thousands of students are also adversely affected. While the Government is to be applauded for its attempt to regulate the industry and clean up rogue operators, the whole process and resulting speculations are causing nervousness amongst the stakeholders
In a meeting held recently at Sandown Racecourse Mike Riddiford, executive director of ipeal said, “International students, colleges and education agents are all facing massive uncertainty as both State and Federal Governments struggle to outline a long term sustainable vision for the international private education sector.” The impromptu meeting was held on the occasion of holi in a bid to acquire the attention of visiting dignitaries. Unknown to most people who were dancing and playing holi outside, a serious discussion was underway in a hall upstairs along with a private lunch organized by ipeal.
ipeal is a non-profit organization that was formed in response to numerous enquiries from students, agents and RTOs in the international private education industry. ipeal aims to highlight the positive contribution that their sector has made to Australia. The organization’s emphasis will be on facilitating the development of solutions to the real and unprecedented challenges that the private education industry is now facing. Mike, who is also the spokesman for ipeal, proposed five specific industry reforms at the meeting. These involved safeguarding
cash flows for agents and RTOs, education agent representation and self regulation, transparency/predictability in Government policy and agreed service levels from key regulators.
The event was attended by Labour MP Tony Lupton, member for Prahran and Opposition leader Ted Baillieu. MP Nick Kotsiras, member for Bulleen was also present. MP Tony Lupton claimed that the Government understands the complexity of the situation and is trying very hard to address the issues. He assured ipeal and those present that he would take their message to the Parliament. Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu expressed his concerns about the rapidly dropping enrollments. He said the long term survival of this industry depends on enrollments and it should be the Government’s top most priority to keep them from dropping further.
The ipeal launch was coordinated by Nitin Gupta and Anchal Agarwal with the support of Australian Indian Innovations Inc (AIII). Liberal party member Nitin Gupta said, “Many families owning Colleges and Education Agencies risk potential bankruptcy unless the state Government takes some action. Thousands of jobs will be lost from within the Indian community in Melbourne. A huge number of students will be without an education option if their colleges collapse. It is high time that the Government takes steps to ensure the healthy survival of education industry.”
There are nearly 1314 universities, colleges and schools registered in Australia to teach overseas students. Under the new rules, institutions registered to teach foreign
students will have to re-register under tougher criteria by the end of the year. The decision to drop skills like cooking and hairdressing from the skills shortage list has already hit colleges that specialise in these areas, because they are no longer considered a pathway to permanent residency. The number of overseas students enrolling in Australian courses has plummeted since the media went into a frenzy over racial attacks on Indian students. An industry that was once thriving as the third largest export in Australia is now in disarray.
owner of VIT,
Imperial College of Technology and Management and other members of ipeal feel that a comprehensive review of laws and regulations may exorcise some of the problems, but as stakeholders in this industry they should also have some say in the matter. Given the current uncertain climate, ipeal is currently seeking an urgent dialogue with industry regulators on how business risk can be mitigated.
The Minister of Immigration has announced changes to the skilled migration system to cater for the long term skill shortage in Australia and at the same time, he is addressing the issues arising from the flow of overseas students. The changes announced by him will favour people working in the industry who have a good command of English. The new changes will affect two groups of people. Offshore GSM applications lodged before September 1, 2008 and overseas students seeking extension of their stay in Australia, on completing their post qualification. A new skill occupation list will be announced from mid-2010 and the MODL list has been removed altogether. This will have no impact on overseas students as the list has been removed completely without discrimination to any particular skill or group of people. It has also been announced that a new SOL will continue to be adjusted in future to meet the labour demand. Therefore students should not rush into changing courses upon the announcement of the new list, as there is
no guarantee that the SOL announced in mid-2010 will not change by the time they are eligible for PR. The new laws will work in the favour of meeting skill shortages in key areas in Australia. At the same time, students will still be able to come to Australia to study and enhance their chances of employment. It will also encourage students to seek employment in their related area of study.
In the long run this policy will benefit those students who are serious about their studies and would like to gain an Australian qualification. My advice to the students even before this policy was announced was always to seek employment in the trade they are studying and improve on their English language skills. Let’s say that even if the trade which they study is removed from the new SOL, so long as they are working in the industry they can get a visa under the employer nominated schemes. For example, the hospitality industry is still predicting skill shortages and there are ample jobs for the right candidates.
Paramjit Jaswal CEO Imperial College of Technology and Management Melbourne
The new changes of withdrawing most vocational trades, including hairdressing, cookery, plumbing, welding and carpentry from its skills priority list, apart from the proposal to remove cookery and hairdressing from the list of occupational skills in short supply, is a step that will have widespread ramifications for the 15-billiondollar international education industry of Australia.
Hairdressing and cookery are popular courses amongst Indian students as extra migration points allowed a “fast track” to their residency in Australia.
Victoria’s largest intake of overseas students is from India. The news of the changes has immediately impacted on our Education industry, reflected by a drop of more than 50 per cent enrolment of student numbers from India.
In contrast, for the year to July 2009,
VSA Hockey Series
7-28 March, 2:30pm onwards at the Monash University’s Hockey Grounds in Clayton. The games will be played over 4 weekends, March 21will be the official day of the games. Free event organised by the Victorian Sikh Association, with entertainments. For details call Gurbinder Gill on 0430 107 480 or secretary@victoriansikhs.com
Odissi performance
14 March at Darebin Arts & Entertainment Centre. Dancing Moon and Sun dance performance in celebration of Dr Chandrabhanu’s 60th birthday. Tickets: $35/ concession: $28. For bookings and inquiries call 9428 4395: Ambika: 0414 678 923; Deepika: 0400 536 597
Mehfil Night
19 March, 8-10pm at Coburg Library Hall, corner of Luisa and Victoria Street, Coburg. Open night with keyboard support and karaoke for singers. Free event supported by the Australia India Society of Victoria. Enquiries- Phone Dr.Saratchandran 9366 5444
Sundar Kaand Path recital
2-5 April at 5pm. Recital of Sundar
Kaand Paath (fifth chapter from Sri
Ramcharit Manas) by Poojya Sri Ashvin Kumar Pathak. Free event organised by Australian Association of Indian Culture and Education. Venues: 2 April: Chandler Community Centre, Keysborough: 3 April: Wyndham Leisure and Events Centre; 4 April, Sai Baba Temple Camberwell; 5 April: Cafe Saffron Restaurant South Morang. Prasad sponsors and volunteers, please contact Amitabh Singh 0422 028 076 and Aastha 0413 156 139 or email aaice.inc@ gmail.com
Vedanta Society Lectures
8 April, 7.45 - 9 pm Lecture on Gita
Ch.8- Akshara Parabrahma Yoga (The path to the eternal Brahman) by Sw. Sridharanandaji of Ramakrishna Mission @ Law Lecture Theatre L1, Building
12, Monash University, Clayton campus, Wellington Rd.
9 April, 7.45 - 9 pm Lecture on Gita
Ch.8- Akshara Parabrahma Yoga (The path to the eternal Brahman) by Sw.
Sridharanandaji of Ramakrishna Mission @ Law Lecture Theatre L1, Building
12, Monash University, Clayton campus, Wellington Rd.
10 April, 11 am to 12 noon Lecture on Gita Ch.8- Akshara Parabrahma Yoga (The path to the eternal Brahman) by Sw.
national training sector enrolments jumped 44 per cent on 2008, reflecting the popularity of private training colleges as lucrative businesses thrive on fees from international students. What this means is that most of the 2007-2009 intake will be left stranded with these new changes. Most will not be able to secure employment sponsors, thus in limbo will have to return to India with the rug being pulled from underneath them.
Other small businesses are also being impacted. Restaurants crucially applying to bring over chefs from India now have to make financial guarantees to sponsor the applicant. We all know that small business will not be able to sustain such requirements. Temples and other places of worship requiring specialist religious workers will suffer the same.
I suspect international college closures to be the tip of the iceberg. Many other businesses will suffer the same fate. In the long term, we will all experience the negative flow-on effect at a community level.
We understand and support the idea of aligning our skilled migration program with the economy in order to maintain the inflow of quality migrants. However, the way these changes have been approached means Australia may be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. That is, our economy will miss out on talented individuals with assets, experience and ideas coming to this country because of a cloud of uncertainty that hangs over its reputation for giving people a fair go.
In the demand for skilled talent in the western world, I believe other skilled migrant destinations including Canada, UK and US will again grow in desirability as their visa processing process is significantly clearer, and they maintain a consistent policy stance and campaign that has emphasised the importance of skilled migrants.
At this point, there needs to be strong leadership and first hand communication to the Government from the Indian community to express what is happening. Without this clear communication, the other
issues around community concerns for safety and the spectre of perceived racism will facilitate the decision of international students to eliminate Australia from their future plans more likely.
I advice students affected by these changes to lobby their community bodies to engage with Local Government at an effective level. I urge our community bodies to come together and approach these discussions in parallel. In Melbourne, I encourage Mr Jose Alvarez and Dr Luigi Soccio from the Immigration Department help direct these dialog.
Harvin Dhillon President Victorian Sikh AssociationThere is something quite creepy, and seriously undemocratic, about the way Brumby uses Overland as a virtual uniformed cabinet minister, a kind of unelected deputy premier.
Hardly a Victorian has heard of the Police Minister or Attorney-General, but Overland is everywhere in the media extolling the virtues of Victoria’s police policies - a very dysfunctional element of a very dysfunctional government.
Shyam Adhikari Glen Waverley VICFor a few years, we had the Labor Premier John Brumby and his Police Commissioner in denial over violence in our streets, in particular violence targeted against Victorians of Indian background or Indians living in Victoria.
The huge swing against the State Labor Government in the Altona by-election was a tribute to Ted Baillieu’s honesty and courage and readiness to speak the truth in the face of terrible obfuscation by the State Labor Government.
Thank you Altone voters for showing your support to Ted Baillieu, and the Indian community.
Mahek Usmani Glen Waverley, VICSridharanandaji of Ramakrishna Mission @ Law Lecture Theatre L1, Building
12, Monash University, Clayton campus, Wellington Rd.
Gangaur Mela 2010
25 April, 11:30 am to 3:30pm at Hawthorn Town Hall, 360 Burwood Road, Hawthorn (Mel Ref 45 A10). Rajasthani Kutumb of
Victoria presents “Rangeelo Rajasthan” a musical featuring festivals of Rajasthan. Traditional Gangaur sawari and ghoomar dance, henna painting, turban tying and traditional cuisine. Tickets: $5 per person (children under 3 free). For enquiries call Rakesh Saraf 0414 853 557, Sury Prakash Soni 0433 661 327 or visit www.rajkov.org for ticket outlets.
Emotions unfurled, vitality recharged, love renewed, fun indulged. The colourful swirls of Holi seemed to do all that and more for people in Melbourne as they gathered in Sandown Racecourse on February 28. Nature was not in sync with the reigning mood and the sky remained stubbornly cloudy, but that did nothing to dampen the spirits of the revellers as they continued their pursuit of hedonistic pleasures of eating, singing and dancing.
College De Munde, Honda Chalaonde the lyrics of this Punjabi song constantly resounded in my ears as my camera captured hundreds of munde and kudiyan as they danced and played. Massive speakers boomed with a great selection of songs by DJs Oorja and Richi Madan. Opposition leader Ted Baillieu and Labour MP Tony Lupton also joined in with a thumka or two. It was impossible not to be affected by all the joie de vivre.
Pink, red, green, purple - colours ran riot and so did the exuberance. As I braved the festival-filled atmosphere I was smothered in colour by complete strangers. It certainly wasn’t a festival for the shy and retiring. Luckily I am none of those, so it was easy to join in the fun. Holi used to be my favourite festival ‘back home’ in India but somehow over the past few years I had lost touch with the sheer joy of running amuck with colour.
for the dry cleaners and for the laundry,” joked Opposition leader Ted Baillieu as he briefly addressed the crowd. Both Tony and Ted (Labour and Liberal MPs) stressed on Victoria’s multiculturalism and what a great place it is to live in.
Multicolour festival in multicultural Victoria
As part of the Australian Friendship Games, the Victorian Sikh Association, VSA will be holding a series of hockey matches between the best of Victoria’s Indian origin players against Hockey Victoria’s top teams. The games will be held over four weekends starting from March 7 to March 28, at the Monash University’s Hockey Grounds in Clayton. They are expected to start at 2.30pm.
VSA was founded 22 years ago and began in 1988 with a small group of Sikh families who formed what was then known as the VSSA (Victorian Sikh Sports Association). What started out as an informal network drawn together by common interest and a shared love for sport, rapidly grew to a vibrant association committed to sharing and celebrating our cultural heritage through sports, cultural exchange and active community participation.
A name change in 1992 to VSA Inc (Victorian Sikh Association Inc) marked a new phase in the growth of the Association, reflecting changing needs of the growing Indian community. While the name may have changed, the association’s core values have remained unchanged. Embodied in VSA philosophy is a steadfast commitment to promoting multiculturalism and to fostering a strong sense of community.
VSA believes that in order to promote multiculturalism and to foster a strong sense of community it is important to engage. Sport is a universal tool for engagement between cultures. At VSA, this is done via intra and inter cultural sporting events. At least 30% of the organization’s sports teams (soccer, hockey, golf, netball and volleyball) are made up of players from a non-Indian background and the figure is growing.
The recent events involving Indian students and sensationalising of these events by the Indian media prompted the VSA to up the ante. We engaged with
said Usha Sharma, an AIII committee member. “Besides the fireworks, food and entertainment, Bollywood dancing is a major attraction,” she added. Judging by the numerous movers and shakers on the ground, she wasn’t wrong.
All that dancing made everyone hungry
hued alien behind my steering wheel while I grinned to myself and cranked up the volume on my music system. Holi ke din dil khil jaate hain, rango me rang mil jaaten hain.
More photographs on pages 20-21
Staying true to its philosophy, VSA have initiated the Australian Friendship Games as part of its commitment to the State Government agenda of promoting understanding, multiculturalism, tolerance and fostering a strong sense of community. Though the games will be played over four weekends, March 21 will be the official day of the games.
All are invited to this free community event, to show support towards the cause of sport and promoting of
match, music, DJs, drummers will entertain. This is a good unity.
VSA has confirmation that the Indian Consul General, Ms Anita Nayar will be attending on behalf of the Indian Government. The Premier’s has also been invited, along with Members of his cabinet and local Members of Parliament.
For more information, please call 0430 107 480 or email secretary@victoriansikhs.com
Gurbinder Gill
The Australia India Society of Victoria (AISV) recently celebrated India’s 61st Republic Day and Australia Day at a glittering function held at the Buckingham International. The gala dinner dance promised great food, amazing entertainment and an opportunity to mingle with people, and they delivered on all accounts. The guests were a healthy mixture of Australians from Indian and non-Indian backgrounds. Chief Commissioner of Police Simon Overland attended the event with his wife Barbara. Clad in his famous tuxedo, Overland proved very popular with the ladies.
The President of AISV Dr Gurdip Aurora took the opportunity to briefly reflect on the significant role AISV has had in promoting and protecting the rights and welfare of Indians in Australia. Most recently, protection of Indian students has been the focus of work by the AISV.
According to him, over the past two years, the management committee of AISV has worked persistently on co-authoring a submission to the State and Federal Governments with regards to issues affecting Indian students who are studying in Australia. The document provided 45 comprehensive recommendations, including a request that Victoria Police make publicly available statistics on assaults on international students that involve racial abuse or vilification; that the Government
public register; and that only appropriately qualified/lecturers should be hired to teach international students. The document was made public on the evening.
Dr Aurora also commented on current concerns about safety of Indian students. “A large number of Indians that I have spoken with do not believe the great majority of attacks on Indians that have occurred recently, are racially motivated. What we do acknowledge are serious law and order issues that are affecting all citizens in
‘lucky country’. Australia and India have traditionally held strong ties with positive regard for each other. In times such as these, we must attempt to remain positive rather than picturing our fellow citizens as racist or discriminatory” he said.
In his speech, Simon Overland reiterated that not all attacks on Indian students were racist in nature and the Victorian police are making every effort to ensure the safety of students in Victoria. He said that police numbers have increased
February 2010 was truly a month of significance for the Indian community of Melbourne. Through the sheer perseverance of President Vasan Srinivasan and a discreet nudge from the Victorian Multicultural Commission, the Federation of Indian Associations Victoria (FIAV) moved their office, quite appropriately, to the famed Little India at 85 Foster Street (First Floor), Dandenong.
FIAV made the inauguration of the new premises a huge affair. At the entrance, damsels served mishri and nibbles and welcomed invited dignitaries by placing sweet-smelling garlands around their necks and applying tilaks. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the guests were led upstairs to meet and greet each other and enjoy soft drinks. Guests then moved to the backyard to continue the ceremony.
MC Sushil Sharma invited Mark Dryfuss the Hon’ble Member for Isaacs to the dais, and he praised the Indian community’s contributions to overall Australian society. Victorian David Davis, a cherished MP in the community, insisted that Australia cannot let the actions of a few thugs destroy our cultural diversity. He also stated that 50,000 Indians live in the close vicinity of Dandenong and that FIAV could not have chosen a more opportune place for their presence. Davis termed Indians “a respectable, harmonious and prospering community”. Inga Peulich, MP who represents an emperor’s portion of south-east Victoria, praised the parliamentary democracy Australia and India share, and pledged to work together to solve issues.
Dr. T J Rao was introduced by Vasan as ‘The Father of FIAV’. He related that the Federation actually came into being in 1982 than 87, when he and other stalwarts met political leaders and agencies and finally laid the inception of
FIAV; a place where members could meet and enjoy a quiet evening. “Service to humanity,” he quoted, “is the service to God.” Commander Trevor Carter of the Victoria Police deplored regrettable developments against Indian students and pledged 24/7 support to Vasan and various other community groups. Carter presented Vasan with a Victoria Police 2010 plaque as a goodwill measure. Consul General Anita Nayar was all praise for Vasan’s insight, and his wish that the offices of FIAV and Consular worked together. Primus Australia CEO Ravi Bhatia commented, “Australia and India have issues to keep in perspective.”
Multicultural Commission Chairman George Lekakis, who cherishes Indian culture and food, was all praises for the contributions India continues to instill in the Victorian society. On the lighter side, Vasan awed the audience when he presented a highly surprised Lekakis a small statue of Bala: the god of riches, he portrayed owned ‘more gold than the Vatican’, and who does not differentiate on the basis of caste, colour or creed. Provoking laughter, Vasan hoped that Bala would motivate Lekakis to grant FIAV more financial aid. Michael King of the Urban Development said that FIAV’s presence in Little India will revitalise Dandenong. More shops, new buildings and restaurants, King believed,
and police are actively and visibly involved in reducing crime in the state. MP Tony Lupton member of Prahran said that the Government is putting laws into place to severely punish those who are convicted of crimes that are deemed as racial in nature .He said that more funding has been provided by the Government to support and increase police presence in Victoria. Mr. Jose Alvarez, Director of Immigration, and Sushi Das, senior Age reporter were also present.
Bollywood was definitely the flavor as the audience tried some Bollywood moves with Nithya Ramesan from Natya Bollywood Dance School. Aarti Chhabra and Gurmit Sahni continued promoting the Bollywood mood by singing popular songs from yesteryears. Both singers displayed great talent and passion for singing with their renditions. Vice President of AISV Manjula O’Connor did a commendable job as MC. Her vivacious style kept the momentum going. The evening ended with a vote of thanks from AISV Secretary Sheena Bakshi.
will enrich the already multicultural environment of the city. Cr. Jim Memeti, Mayor, City of Greater Dandenong, rated the Indian community as a revenue generator and related how many thousand visited his city during Diwali celebrations at Sandown Park, besides other Indian festivals.
Indians present included Australia-India Society President Dr. Gurdeep Arora, Victorian Tamil Society Secretary Vicki Vikramasinghe, NRISA President Dr. Santosh Kumar, ISCA President Dr. Prem Phakey, Usha Sharma, Krishna Arora, Shashi Gajree, Shano Rajkumar, Sushma Gupta, and Guru Deepika Shome and son Andy, Baba, of Baba Entertainments, and various other business-owners.
The vegetarian lunch was catered by Tandoori Junction, Glen Waverley.
The FIAV office consists of a reception, two office rooms with computers, a small room by the kitchen where members could rest, play games, hold small meetings and enjoy tea/coffee/ biscuits. There is no room for larger groups; however Vasan explained that the quarterly meetings would be held in the backyard, with shamianas and chairs, at no extra cost. There is plenty of parking around the premises and benevolently, the railway station is a 2-minute walk away, as is Thomas Street where most buses to all parts of Melbourne commence.
FIAV invites members of the community to visit them to relax and to make more friends. For more information, please contact the office on 1800 342 800 between 10 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday.
George ThakurOn the lighter side, Vasan awed the audience when he presented a highly surprised Lekakis a small statue of Bala: the god of riches
It is a tragedy that has stunned and shocked the community. Not just here in Melbourne, but Australia-wide, and also back home in India. It is hard to imagine how a little child, a beautiful boy could be plucked from his home and left to die in a location 30 kms away and in such an inhumane manner. The very thought is sufficient to send shivers down the spine. No doubt we can expect to hear more chilling details in the next few days, but we already know that a housemate has been taken into custody and charged with manslaughter.
Our hearts go out to the bereaved parents, mum Harpreet Kaur Channa and dad Harjit Singh Channa, who have looked too stunned to even cry in the photos we have seen of them since the death of their young son. How many of us as parents have imagined the same situation: it’s a regular day, you go out briefly, your wife’s in the shower, and in those few moments when your child is unattended, the unthinkable happens…
Photos from the family album show a young, happy family and a smiling, content child. However, they weren’t as happy in Melbourne, with the dad unable to find a job and having to share housing with over half a dozen other people in Lalor. And we now know that they intended heading back home to India, as things hadn’t worked out in Australia.
The 23 year old Indian taxi driver Gursewak Dhillon who was charged manslaughter due to criminal negligence, was a housemate of the family. Reports
that emerged at the time of going to press indicate that Dhillon admitted putting the unconscious three-year-old into the boot of his car and driving around with him for three hours before dumping him without checking whether he was alive. The
For the family, it’s a relief to hear that the perpetrator of this crime is now in custody. Said family spokesman Tim Singh Laurence, “(They) were not just coping with the loss of a three-year-old, but also coping with not knowing what would happen. So that is some small relief, thanks to the Victoria Police.”
A small group of friends, Consulate officials, the FIAV and the entire Indian community and indeed, the state have all offered support. “They were also touched by people who sent messages
heartrending in what must surely still be a bewildering situation for them.
The boy’s parents desperately want to bring his body home. “They’re now focused on taking the child back to where their family and community is and following the Sikh customs there to lay their child to rest,” said Laurence.
We offer sincere condolences to the bereaved family and hope they find the strength to bear this terrible loss.
Rest in peace, little Gurshan.
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There has recently been much spoken and written about the possible exploitation of some of Australia’s international students, and the Overseas Students’ Support Network Australia (OSSNA) believes that the senior management of less than 10% of private Registered Training Organisations is undermining the relationship building, excellent work, and outstanding results achieved by others in the education and training sector.
In some quarters there is a total denial of any problems or issues involving international students, but the Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission, the Overseas Student Education Experience Taskforce (Victoria), the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), OSSNA, and a considerable number of private Registered Training Organisations, believe that swift and substantial action is required.
Lyn Glover, CEO of the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) and Andrew Smith, CEO of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) continue to ignore urgent issues. The VRQA and ACPET have constantly refused to acknowledge that problems exist, and even now seem to avoid any positive action to address the true situation. Six months to begin a ‘rapid audit’ of ‘at risk providers’ and a further three months to report on the ‘rapid audit’ does not seem to address the urgency of the situation.
Now when any situation is researched, we must reject any idea that contradicts an absolute fact. We must suspend belief in any method of evaluation incapable of establishing absolute fact and leave no room for pseudo-rational arguments or pretentious illusions.
Here are the absolute facts:
Fact 1
In recent times, Australia has sustained a significant increase in the numbers of overseas students choosing to study here, with the numbers growing from 73,000 in 2002 to over 150,000 in 2008.
Fact 2
In the State of Victoria the post secondary education sector is comprised of:
l 18 public Technical And Further Education Institutions (including four TAFE divisions within universities)
l 1,345 registered private Registered Training Organisations (RTO)
l 10 universities and 59 approved providers of higher education (which includes 5 TAFE)
Fact 3
Approximately 50,000 international students live in Melbourne, which has almost 4 million residents from over 140 nations. 45 per cent of Victoria’s community is either born overseas or has at least one parent born overseas. More than 150 different languages are spoken in Victoria.
Fact 4
The recent report by the Overseas Student Education Experience Taskforce (Victoria) stated “International education is having an increasingly important impact on Victoria –not only as a rapidly growing and significant part of the Victorian economy, providing direct economic benefits through export income and employment opportunities, but also enriching the community in many ways. If Victoria is to continue to grow its involvement in international education, it is essential that overseas students not only gain the educational outcomes that they are seeking but also enjoy the overall experience of being here.
Fact 5
In order to continue the success of Victoria’s overseas education sector, to continue to attract high quality overseas students and to continue to benefit from the enhanced cultural diversity that overseas students bring to Victoria, it is imperative that on offer to them are the highest standards in teaching and learning experience, facilities and student support.
Fact 6
Public perceptions, both domestically and overseas, of overseas students’ safety and welfare, highlighted in recent media articles however, have the potential to deter new students from choosing Victoria as their preferred destination for study and research.
Fact 7
The ability to interact freely and closely with local students and others is a core component of the overseas student experience. There are many factors currently working against this happening as well as it should. These range from the way some classes and institutions are organised through to a student’s lack of time because of significant academic and employment demands, and their perceived command of the English language.
Fact 8
International students feel more comfortable among people from similar backgrounds, nationality language etc. so tend to find accommodation among a type of micro community. This leads to the possible formation of largely closed communities where students from the same countries or cultural background remain insular
and disconnected from the wider community due to language and cultural differences which diminishes the student experience.
Fact 9
A number of submissions to the Overseas Student Education Experience Taskforce raised issues concerning education agents. Evidence also provided by overseas students and their families at course registration and/ or orientation stages suggests that there are a growing number of incidences where the information provided by agents is not complete, and in some cases misleading, which can lead students to having unrealistic expectations or at worst may lead to them being placed at risk of exploitation.
Fact 10
Ensuring the quality of the educational experience is critical to the continued success of the international education sector in Victoria. The vast majority of students come to Victoria in order to gain the knowledge and skills that will enable them to pursue their chosen careers so it is vital for the industry as a whole that the quality of courses offered and delivered meets the highest standards. An effective and responsive quality control process is therefore required, recognising that Victoria’s reputation for quality is hard won and can be easily tarnished.
Fact 11
The Fair Trading Act 1999 Act No. 16/1999 regarding false representations in relation to goods and services states, “A person must not, in trade or commerce, in connection with the supply or possible supply of goods or services or in connection with the promotion or advertising by any means of the supply or use of goods or servicesl make a false or misleading representation with respect to the price of goods or services; or l make a representation that is false, misleading or deceptive in any material particular.”
Fact 12
Regarding false representations in relation to employment, the Act states “A person must not, in relation to employment that is to be, or may be, offered by the person or by another person, engage in conduct
that is liable to mislead persons seeking the employment as to the availability, nature, terms or conditions of, or any other matter relating to, the employment.” So why are some overseas education agents contracted to Australian Registered Training Organisations permitted to operate in ways that do not uphold the actual words, and spirit, of the Fair Trading Act?
Fact 13
In regard to harassment and coercion the Fair Trading Act states “A person must not use physical force or undue harassment or coercion in connection with the supply or possible supply of goods or services to another person or the payment for goods or services by another person.” Why are some Registered Training Organisations permitted to pressurise students into making advance payments for upcoming semesters, and also to withhold services, unit or course results until these advance payments are made? International students have every right to feel frustrated.
Joan McPhee, RMIT PhD student, in Privately Owned Registered Training Organisations in Victoria – Diversity as an Emerging Theme, observed:
l “The interviews raised a wide range of issues and uncovered diverse perceptions and opinions. Not all of these could be considered reasonable or entirely wellinformed – but they show private training providers have concerns with the system.”
l “Another emergent theme concerns the negative attitude expressed regarding the extent of support received from the Office of Training and Tertiary Education (now the VRQA). Comments were made such as government would like to have private RTOs disappear.”
l “Concern was expressed by many of those interviewed about the lack of support .... More importantly perhaps, criticism was made by national companies about the lack of uniform and/or consistent treatment of their training operations in different States.
We must all consider genuine ‘absolute facts’ when deciding ‘what’ to believe about the standards of education and training available to local and international students in Australia.
When others offer constructive criticism, it usually means they want us to do even better than we already do and are not afraid to offer us helpful feedback. Because we are not afraid of making mistakes, we welcome constructive feedback. While our first reaction might be blushing, anger, feeling misunderstood or chastised, we may eventually see the underlying benefits of the message.
By looking constructively at how we could have done something better, we may discover new ways to help us improve our performance.
There are many positive stories to be told – but these stories must not be sullied by the small percentage of ‘shonky operators’ in the industry who care little about education, and even less about the welfare and ambitions of international students and their families.
ROBERT PALMER reviews the plight of overseas students and offers a fair analysis of the actual situation, along with a glimpse of a solutionRobert Palmer is Executive Director, Overseas Students’ Support Network Australia
The government has begun an ambitious programme to wire up the entire northeast and remote border regions with telecom, wimax and broadband connectivity and unleash an IT revolution in the region, says Minister of State for IT and Communications Sachin Pilot.
“I believe that the northeast can become a big centre for attracting investments from the private sector - in business process outsourcing (BPOs), knowledge process outsourcing,” Pilot, 32 said during an exclusive interaction at the IANS office.
“Young people there have a lot of talent and are easier to train and impart skills to for this kind of work. If we can have rural BPOs then I am sure we can have BPOs in the northeast,” he added.
A bulk of the money under what is called universal service obligation fund, collected by the government from private players to meet the demands of rural connectivity, will be deployed in the northeast, he said.
At the start of this fiscal, more than Rs.18,000 crore ($3.6 billion) was available under this fund.
On a mission to do a “lot more” in the northeast that “has not been done so far”, Pilot said Assam, for example, will see optical fibre cables laid across the state - seen as a must for large data transfers required by such service providers.
“We are launching optical fibre cables at the panchayat level in Assam soon. This will be the first state in India to have it,” Pilot said, adding Wimax services had already been unveiled there last month.
“We launched Wimax in Chaygaon, on the outskirts of Guwahati in Assam. It’s a wireless, high speed internet broadband connectivity - such that people living in a radius of 15 kilometres can access the internet easily,” he said.
Moving beyond Assam, Pilot said the government is also planning a software parks project at Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, which will be an export-oriented scheme for developing computer software and extending related professional services.
“I have already met the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh. We are hoping to start this project soon. The state will then have a lot more money from the government of India, which it can’t afford now,” he said. India’s northeastern region covers the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
Pilot said he is also planning to give the satellite phone facilities to villages in the northeast, which are cut off from others due to their location, along with a muchsubsidised tariff.
“There are some places of Arunachal
Pradesh, which are 12,000 feet to 14,000 feet high - no spectrum, no mobile phones. Therefore, besides the paramilitary forces, I am trying to give satellite phones to these villages and reduce the call charges,” he said.
In Sikkim, Pilot said, the IT ministry has helped in the setting up of a small business process unit and launched 3G services through the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
“The chief minister of Sikkim wanted to set up a 50-seat unit through an entrepreneur. So, we not only gave them connectivity but also gave it to them at one-fourth the cost. We also launched 3G services there,” the minister said.
“I want that all the states of the northeast to feel as involved in what’s happening in New Delhi and Mumbai in terms of new innovative ideas.”
***
Delhi Metro said it was making special arrangements to facilitate passengers’ movement at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium station during the Commonwealth Games beginning Oct 3.
“We are making special arrangements at the Stadium Metro station from opening of the Games Oct 3 to closing ceremony
Oct 14. The station will have five entry and exit structures so that public can access the station easily and extra staircases of much wider width are being provided so that more people can be accommodated easily,” Delhi Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal said recently. “The staircase width, which is normally 2.4 metres in other stations, will be as much as 4.25 metres at the Stadium Metro station to accommodate the extra rush. There will also be four escalators connecting the concourse with the platform,” he added.
According to Dayal, the station at the stadium can deal with a crowd of 4,000 passengers per minute in peak time and has been designed to accommodate a total traffic flow of 80,000 persons per hour in the platform area of 1,800 sq. metres.
There will be 20 automatic fare collection (AFC) gates instead of eight AFC gates normally provided at most stations.
“The operations department of the DMRC is preparing a special plan and procedure for clearance of commuters who will be coming for the opening and closing ceremony by Metro trains, with high frequency of Metro trains to ensure very fast clearance at the platform to avoid crowding,” he said.
“Volunteers and Sahayaks (helpers) will be posted to assist passengers at all the important points of the station such as the AFC gates, escalators, platforms and entry and exit points where first-time Metro users
may face difficulty,” Dayal added.
A special control room will be established at the Stadium Metro station from where public announcements will be controlled and LED signs will be displayed for guidance of passengers.
Railings will be installed and there will be extra lighting for good visibility.
The Delhi Metro will provide easy Metro connectivity to 10 out of 11 venues of the Commonwealth Games 2010. These are the Games Village, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi University, Thyagaraj Complex, Siri Fort Sports Complex, National Stadium, Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Talkotora Indoor Stadium, Yamuna Sports Complex and R.K. Tennis Complex.
***
Defence Minister A.K. Antony asked Pakistan to shut down 42 terrorist camps he said were functioning in its territory if India-Pakistan talks were to succeed.
“Pakistan has not made any serious attempt to disband the camps that are functioning close to Jammu and Kashmir. The decision for bilateral talks has been made consciously and it was not an ad hoc one,” Antony said. “Though there was no breakthrough (in the foreign secretary talks), being a conscious decision the process (of talks) will continue,” he added.
The minister said the central home ministry and the Jammu and Kashmir government had evolved a formula to check infiltration and help terrorists to return to normal life.
“Many have surrendered too. With the conditions becoming normal, there is an increase in tourist arrivals in Kashmir. Attempts for terrorist infiltration are there and the armed forces are maintaining vigil on the border,” he said.
On the US supply of arms to Pakistan, he said Washington should make sure that the weapons were used against Islamist militants on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and not targeted at India.
He denied that the government had any information that the Chinese were covertly helping Indian Maoists.
“The army will give logistic support to the state police (of Maoist-affected states). Paramilitary forces will be used for training the state police,” said Antony.
He said the acquisition of defence equipments and aircraft had increased considerably in the past five years.
“The process for acquiring the Kiev-class aircraft, Admiral Gorshkov, from Russia is in the final stage,” added Antony.
He said that after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the threat through sea had
increased. The armed forces were engaged in coordinated efforts to prevent similar attacks.
“One of the positive aspects is that even fishermen have become alert and are giving valuable tip-offs to the (security) forces,” said Antony.
Ten Pakistani terrorists sneaked into Mumbai in November 2008 by the sea and went on a killing spree over three days. They slaughtered 166 Indians and foreigners.
***
South
Vietnam - the bloody stage for a 30-yearwar with France and then the US - was once home to a bustling Hindu settlement devoted to Shiva and Vishnu. Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, was the business hub of the South Indian Chettiyar community that set up money-lending businesses.
“The relation between India and Ho Chi Minh city dates back to more than two centuries when the Chettiyars, the trading community from south India, first came to the city to establish their money lending business. Subsequently, when they flourished, they entered the retail trade and formed a place for themselves in local society. They were followed by several other trading communities and religious groups from India,” writes veteran journalist, scholar and social activist Geetesh Sharma in his new book, Traces of Indian Culture in Vietnam
Ties between India and Vietnam date back to more than 2,000 years when Hindu traders from the Bhagalpur region established the ancient Champa kingdom in central Vietnam, Sharma says.
The book, was released by ICCR president Karan Singh in New Delhi recently.
The 77-year-old Kolkata-based writer, who has visited Vietnam 13 times, had been researching the historical ties between the two nations since 1982.
“Vietnam - once a household name in Kolkata made popular by Communist slogans such as ‘tomar naam, amar naam, Vietnam’ (your name, my name is Vietnam) - captured my imagination in the 1970s when I attended demonstrations against the Vietnam war in the city. I realised that Vietnam shared a lot with India - and Bengal,” the writer said.
“The first lot of people who migrated to Vietnam during the first and fourth century AD were temple artisans and traders from Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. Hindu culture is still alive in Vietnam. Several communities of ethnic Cham people in the country speak a tongue that is a phonetic blend of Devanagari and Sanskrit. I also came upon a local theatre troupe which performs a version of Ramayana,” Sharma said.
The Vietnamese adaptation of Ramayana, ‘Ms Sita’, is woven around the lives of local prince Po Liem, a local version of king Rama and his wife Sita.
“The king dies and the crown is passed on to the king’s ex-wife’s son. Liem and Sita are forced to live in the forest. Demon Riep (Ravana) falls under the spell of Sita’s enchanting beauty and forces her to become his wife. Po Liem rescues Sita with the help of General Hanuman,” Sharma said, narrating the story.
But the Vietnamese Ramayana ends with a twist in the tale. Sita refuses to return to the palace with Rama and pledges that she would see him only in death. “She enters the imperial palace to die in Po Liem’s arms”.
Sharma has toured 17 ancient Hindu sites
across Vietnam.
“Vietnam has at least 200 Hindu temples. Mysol, a Unesco World Heritage Site, alone had 40 temples before the Vietnam war; but bombings reduced their number to 20. The remaining temples have been restored,” he said.
Sharma also quotes new research to prove that Hindus had settled down along the banks of the Mekong river in southern Vietnam.
“It is an incontrovertible fact that by the time of the establishment of the Hindu Champa kingdom in central Vietnam, a large number of Brahmins, Kshatriyas and traders had settled down in southern parts of Vietnam.
“The Hindu caste hierarchy in Vietnam was free of Shudras. Recent excavations in a large area of the Mekong delta have unearthed relics of Hindu gods and goddesses - mostly Shivalingas and yonis,” he said.
Sharma said the Fu Nan dynasty, the ruling dynasty in the Mekong delta, was established by a Brahmin named Kaundinya from India.
“According to a Chinese version, Kaundinya, who came to Vietnam from India via Cambodia, married a local princess Nagi and founded the dynasty. Shiva commanded supreme obeisance among the Hindus followed by Vishnu and the Buddha. Subsequently, the Buddha replaced Shiva,” Sharma said. ***
India assured Sri Lanka of its support in resettling nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians displaced by the civil war in the islandnation and pushed for a political settlement when Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo.
Rao met Rajapaksa over lunch at Janadhipathi Manidiraya and congratulated him on his landslide victory in the Jan 26 presidential polls.
This was the first high-level contact between New Delhi and Colombo since the Sri Lankan presidential polls.
“She expressed India’s willingness to continue assisting Sri Lanka in the resettlement of the IDPs (internally displaced persons),” an official statement from the Sri Lankan presidential secretariat said in Colombo.
“India was also keen to assist in the complete restoration of the railway line in the north,” it said.
The statement said that in her meeting with Rajapaksa, Rao was of the view that Sri Lanka had made considerable success in resettling the displaced families in the north and the east, with the number now standing at less than 70,000.
In her discussions, Rao stressed the need for a political settlement and devolution of powers to address the aspirations of the Tamil minority, official sources said in New Delhi.
The two sides discussed problems faced by fisherman from both countries, the proposed coal-based power generation project in Trincomalee, and the necessity for understanding between India and Sri Lanka on the protection of the environment and the eco-systems, the statement in Colombo said.
Rao, who had earlier served in Colombo as India’s high commissioner, conveyed an invitation from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Rajapaksa to visit India soon. India has allocated Rs.500 crore for the relief and rehabilitation of the war-hit Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka.
President Pratibha Patil buried a ‘Time Capsule’ on the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) campus on the occasion of its golden jubilee celebrations and also unveiled a nanosatellite developed by the institute.
The capsule, which is made of a special metal, contains pen-drives, chips, images and several other documents related to the landmark achievements of the IIT-K. Lauding the nanosatellite Jugnu’s development team, Patil said it projects the complex nature of tasks that the students there were equipped to handle.
Congratulating IIT-K students and faculty, Patil said that the institute has come a long way in its 50 years of its existence, and also called upon the institute’s students and faculty members to develop such devices that can harness energy in efficient ways with minimal negative impact on the environment.
“It (IIT-K) had made an impact on technical education within the country, while its students through their innovations, have played an important role in India, as well as around the world,” the president said. Jugnu, developed by a team of 50 IIT students, will help in collection of information related to floods, drought and other natural calamities.
According to IIT-K officials, ISRO, after conducting a series of tests, will launch the
170,000 Olive Ridley turtles lay eggs in Orissa’s Gahirmatha
At least 170,000 endangered female Olive Ridley turtles have laid their eggs in the protected Gahirmatha sanctuary, a famed nesting site in coastal Orissa, during the past 11 days, an official said recently.
The turtles came ashore from the Bay of Bengal and laid their eggs in the south beach of Nasi Island-2 in Gahirmatha, located in the coastal district of Kendrapada, Divisional Forest Officer P.K. Behera said.
“The turtles began mass nesting on Feb 24 and since then every day large numbers of turtles were arriving for nesting. On March 6 too, about 1,000 turtles nested there,” Behera said in a phone interview from the nesting site.
“All the turtles have nested along a one kilometre-long and 60 meter-wide area of the beach,” he said.
The Gahirmatha sanctuary is one of the world’s largest turtle nesting sites, where more than a half million endangered Olive Ridley turtles nest every year.
The turtles arrive and congregate in the shallow coastal waters in October and nest between December and March. Most hatchlings emerge by May.
“Last year around this time at least 180,000 turtles had nested,” Behera said. Conservation measures have helped bring down the turtle casualties this year, he said. Last year, around 2,000 turtle carcasses were found on the beach. This year, so far only 1,700 carcasses have been found, he said. However, Biswajit Mohanty, coordinator of the turtle conservation group Operation Kachhapa, disputed the figure and said the number of turtles found dead this year could be about 5,000.
The state has two other turtle nesting sitesalong the Devi river in Puri district and the Rushikulya river in Ganjam district. Turtles have however not yet begun their mass nesting in those sites, a state wildlife official said.
Like tigers and elephants, the Olive Ridley turtles are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Trapping, killing or selling of this species could result in a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment. In spite of the several protection measures taken by the government, thousands of turtles get killed every year mostly by mechanised trawlers.
It’s mid-evening in Sydney, and lunch break in Delhi for Rani Mukherjee, who agrees to take a few minutes out of her busy schedule to talk to Indian Link. Rani is in the middle of a long filming schedule for her new film No One Killed Jessica, which also stars Vidya Balan, but in early March she will head to Australia to open the Sydney and Melbourne editions of the Indian Film Festival Bollywood and Beyond 2010.
This will not be Rani’s first visit to Australia; in 2006 she was one of a number of Hindi stars who performed at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
This visit, however, will allow Rani’s
admirers in both Sydney and Melbourne to see her, when she introduces her latest film Dil Bole Hadippa to open the festival. And Bollywood and Beyond will be showcasing a selection of Rani’s best films, from the multi-award-winning Black (as she told us, it’s her favourite Hindi film), to Hum Tum, Bunty aur Babli, Paheli and KANK; it’s a season that demonstrates her range and diversity as an actress.
Rani Mukherjee has established herself as both a consummate and critically acclaimed actress and as very popular star; she’s the only Hindi performer to win both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards in the same year (for Hum Tum and Yuva respectively). She has a plethora of other nominations and awards for her work.
As Rani comes to the phone and begins to talk, her warm hello in her trademark husky voice suggests an equally warm smile. Bright and articulate, she comes across as an exceedingly friendly person who is thoughtful and conscientious about her career. Tonight, however, she’s in a talkative mood, her vibrant personality evident in her voice.
We start by talking about her early career. I ask, did she always want to become an actress?
RM: I was very apprehensive and not keen to be an actress, but a longstanding family friend was very keen to launch me. I really wanted to be on the other side of the camera because my dad had been a director … but my mother was very encouraging and told me you don’t often get a chance like this, go and try it out, if it doesn’t work you can go back to your studies and normal life, and if you do OK you can continue. I was at a stage of life trying to decide on
I really wanted to be on the other side of the camera because my dad had been a directorCritical as well as popular acclaim: Rani has made a habit of wnning awards Rani in Laaga ChunriMeinDaag
It’s mid-evening in Sydney, and lunch break in Delhi for Rani Mukherjee, who agrees to take a few minutes out of her busy schedule to talk to Indian Link. Rani is in the middle of a long filming schedule for her new film No One Killed Jessica, which also stars Vidya Balan, but in early March she will head to Australia to open the Sydney and Melbourne editions of the Indian Film Festival Bollywood and Beyond 2010.
This will not be Rani’s first visit to Australia; in 2006 she was one of a number of Hindi stars who performed at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
This visit, however, will allow Rani’s
admirers in both Sydney and Melbourne to see her, when she introduces her latest film Dil Bole Hadippa to open the festival. And Bollywood and Beyond will be showcasing a selection of Rani’s best films, from the multi-award-winning Black (as she told us, it’s her favourite Hindi film), to Hum Tum, Bunty aur Babli, Paheli and KANK; it’s a season that demonstrates her range and diversity as an actress.
Rani Mukherjee has established herself as both a consummate and critically acclaimed actress and as very popular star; she’s the only Hindi performer to win both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards in the same year (for Hum Tum and Yuva respectively). She has a plethora of other nominations and awards for her work.
As Rani comes to the phone and begins to talk, her warm hello in her trademark husky voice suggests an equally warm smile. Bright and articulate, she comes across as an exceedingly friendly person who is thoughtful and conscientious about her career. Tonight, however, she’s in a talkative mood, her vibrant personality evident in her voice.
We start by talking about her early career. I ask, did she always want to become an actress?
RM: I was very apprehensive and not keen to be an actress, but a longstanding family friend was very keen to launch me. I really wanted to be on the other side of the camera because my dad had been a director … but my mother was very encouraging and told me you don’t often get a chance like this, go and try it out, if it doesn’t work you can go back to your studies and normal life, and if you do OK you can continue. I was at a stage of life trying to decide on
I really wanted to be on the other side of the camera because my dad had been a directorCritical as well as popular acclaim: Rani has made a habit of wnning awards Rani in Laaga ChunriMeinDaag
a career. I was in a confused state at that point not knowing what path to choose, so I went there and I think there was no stopping after my first film. Although her first film Baraat (1997) was noticed by people in the industry and subsequently got many offers; two of these would really set her career on track. Firstly she worked with Aamir Khan in and then with Shah Rukh Khan in Hota Hai, under the direction of Karan Johar.
Rani agreed that this was an enormous influence on her personally and professionally...
RM: What I learned from them was a work ethic which I think is most important for an actor because if you don’t have that ethic, if you don’t work sincerely, you don’t get anywhere in this industry. That helped me so much, and I got to work with two such great actors of our generation so closely. It really helped me groom myself as an actress.
Since entering cinema in the late nineties Rani Mukherjee has made over 40 films, including a number of significant cameo appearances. are considered landmarks in contemporary Hindi cinemaBlack, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham does she choose her roles?
RM: The first criteria has always been my role and what can I contribute to the film; for that you have to be in love with the character and really be challenged as an actor for that particular role. So firstly the role, and then it’s a combination of the script and director and who the producers are. I strongly feel films can only really be made the way they need to be made if the producer is able to create what is needed. If the producer does not have the vision
professional backing, so all these things are ultimately important to choosing a role.
I have been very lucky by the grace of God that directors have chosen me for very diverse roles and they have landed in my lap.
I am extremely grateful that I was thinking correctly at the time, to say yes to many of these roles. Films like Hum Tum, Chalte Chalte, Yuva, Bunty aur Babli, Black and Paheli, are very dear to my heart because I have been able to show a different side to my personality in each film and that has really enriched me as an actress. All the directors from these films helped me continually improve in my work. This period of my career (from 2002 to 2006) was beneficial personally and professionally because I got to work with great co-stars, and with talented directors who I learnt a lot from, and fortunately they were all good films.
Rani Mukherjee’s entrance into the film industry came at a time when the industry was undergoing changes and films were starting to attract more critical and audience attention outside India, especially after Lagaan was nominated for an Oscar in 2001. How had the industry changed for her?
RM: Actually for me personally, Bollywood
has not changed as much as it might have for other people because early in my career I was doing films like Hey Ram and Saathiya which were very realistic films and that helped me see the change, because many of the films were becoming more modern and contemporary, moving away from what might be considered the stereotypical Hindi film. At that time there was a conscious change in the way people were working, a lot of people started treating Indian films more professionally, it became a more professional set up on all levels. So I guess it started at the time I was trying to make my mark in the industry. I actually got into films that were considered that new type of cinema, and it gave me a taste for that kind of cinema. I managed to do films during this period that were entertainment but had a message, films like Yuva and Black, which were also helping me grow.
Rani Mukherjee’s most recent film Dil Bole Hadippa offered her a new challenge as an actress; she had to play someone from the opposite sex. DBH is a delightful and lighthearted story of a Punjabi girl with a very special talent, but to Rani its underlying message is extremely important.
I always want to see women excel in every field. As a woman I feel very strongly about this, because even today in parts of India women are not treated as they should be. I feel very very lucky that I come from a place like Mumbai, where right from childhood I have not seen that inequality. But there are many places in India where there is still a big difference between a man and a woman, and they are not allowed to do certain things apparently because of the culture. In many places there has not been any discernible change, or the change is so gradual, really very very slow. When I do films like this I want to give a message in an entertaining way. So it’s not about muscle power or anything else, it’s just about having the talent and having the passion to use that talent. What if the girl wants to play cricket, why should she be stopped because it’s considered a man’s game… is she not considered as strong as the men? There were lots of factors in the film that really really intrigued me... because if she plays as good as the guys, why can’t she be in the team?
In parts of India the reaction has been very strong and positive, but also I was anxious and curious to know how they would react to me playing a Sadar boy. Lucky for me they were quite fascinated and really tickled by the work and that was a winner for me!
I had such a lot of fun playing that role; of course you want to be tested as an actor, and along comes a role where I am playing another gender. I just felt this was such a great opportunity for me to show another side. I thought, if I were a man, how would I be? I would be a cute, naughty little brat… and that’s what I tried to portray on screen.
I have been able to show a different side to my personality in each film and that has really enriched me as an actress
There’s an overwhelming response to a unique initiative promoting unity and multiculturalism
BY DEVRAJ BHATTACHARYAAfter the recent attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, the city has been branded as unsafe and racist by many here in Australia and overseas. Thousands of people from all over Australia and around the world set out to dine at their local Indian restaurant on February 24, to prove them wrong and make a statement against the allegations.
The campaign, dubbed “Vindaloo against Violence”, was the brainchild of Flemington digital media professional, Mia Northrop. The event began initially on January 24, with Northrop creating an open event on Facebook, sending out an invite to 100 of her friends. A month later, approximately 17,000 protesters and 400 restaurants registered via the free website she had set up.
Though based in Melbourne, the event even spread overseas with all participating restaurants around the world - from the USA to Tajikistan - mapped out on the website. The immense interest generated also induced Australian, international and even Indian media to cover the event, which was aired on major television and print networks. This was much to the purpose of the event, as stated by Northrop herself at a press conference in South Yarra’s Little India Bistro & Tandoor
“They are going to hear the story that Australia is a country which values cultural diversity, and supports and respects immigrant communities,” she stated.
The press conference at Little India not only marked the opening of the event, but also played host to lunch for over 70 teenage protestors and staff from South Yarra’s prestigious select entry Melbourne High School. Initially posed as a mere question at an assembly, the school’s event was received with immense interest by students from several cultural, geographic, and socio-economic backgrounds, and places for the event filled up to maximum capacity within two weeks.
“The idea of a school-based event was raised at one of the senior assemblies, and as it goes, it ended being translated into our own Facebook event, and the event was filled in no time,” said
Anthony Lay, the school’s Student Council president.
Organising the event was mainly via Facebook, the social networking site, as students posted hundreds of photographs shortly after the event, further spreading the news. “It really shows how things we access everyday like Facebook and Twitter can really be harnessed to spread a good cause, and Mia has really proved that,” added Lay.
Staff members from the school were also invited by the students to show their support for the cause, and one of the staff even dressed in a sari as a sign of cultural appreciation.
“I don’t think Melbourne is an inherently racist city and sadly our reputation is being tarnished by some bad people… I think Melbourne High School represents a perfect example of how a multi-cultural microcosm of the city exists harmoniously - and I adore curry,” said Peter Wood, one of the Year 12 Coordinators.
The media conference was a surprisingly positive platform for both students and the restaurant, as they indulged in photo and video opportunities and aired their strong views against racially motivated violence to a nationwide audience. “The lunch had a real nice atmosphere to it and with all those cameras we are bound to get our message across; that we should embrace our diverse cultures and not discriminate against them,” said Andrej Hohmann, one of the senior students at the school.
Prior to the lunch, Northrop delivered a personal message to the students, encouraging them to actively pursue goals that will help change society for the better.
“You’re all entering an age where you have more opportunity to express how you want to live your life, what you want your life to mean, and what you want it to be like,” she said.
Students and staff alike were treated to a delightful Indian meal including naan, pappadams, malai tikka, butter chicken, and naturally, lamb vindaloo. “You could see how culturally accepting the boys have become; everyone loved the food and I am sure a lot of them kept going for more, although they were full,” quipped the school’s Student Council Vice-President.
However, the meal was not a walk in the park for some.
“There was, of course, the one guy who visibly couldn’t handle the spice on the mild
lamb vindaloo, but we all cheered him on to finish it off! It was great fun, and for a good cause as well,” he added.
Hundreds of similar events were held all around the country with several corporate groups like the Maurice Blackburn Law Firm also organising a staff lunch at their local restaurant. Most Indian restaurants were booked out for the day, while members of the Queensland Parliament indulged in a special Indian style menu at the parliamentary canteen. “Dishes will include tandoori chicken, vegetable pakoras and of course, beef vindaloo,” said Disability Services Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk, prior to the event.
The festivities continued at Melbourne’s Federation Square, with the Merchants of Bollywood performing, along with a DJ playing the latest Indian tunes in front of a large crowd.
“It’s amazing how simply sitting down with friends and sharing a meal that’s so wonderfully unique and identifying with another culture can create an atmosphere of tolerance and understanding. We were so busy having a good time and enjoying the meal that we don’t even notice the cultural implications...”
Mathew Cho, Student, MHS
There was also a screening of Indian film King of Bollywood at the ACMI theatre.
Most Indian restaurants in major cities were booked out for Wednesday.
Brenda Pereira, co-owner of Indian Tukka on Victoria in Collingwood, said: “I think it will go really well. It’s just the awareness, everyone letting their friends know, it has a domino effect. Rajendra Pokhrel, owner of Northcote’s Downunder Curry, arrived at his restaurant four hours early to begin cooking.
“Whatever support they’re showing it’s great. If I let them down it’s not going to be good. It’s great, it’s definitely sending a message across.”
Melbourne’s Tiffins, which delivers Indian meals by bicycle, was having one of its busiest days.
Mikhil Kotak, who co-owns the business, said they had to close their website down because of the phenomenal response to the campaign.
“It is so busy we have four vans helping our fleet of five bikes to make 1,000 deliveries during lunch today (Wednesday). This is a huge amount and just goes to show how passionately locals feel about this message.”
Victorian Premier John Brumby also took
“Vindaloo against Violence was a great initiative that received the full support of the broader school community. In a sense, the dedication of MHS students to get behind this act of solidarity truly reflects the views of the majority of Australian society. I can gladly say that I was proud of the commitment of my peers and the greater Melbourne community’s desire to show that we are a friendly, accepting community that does not stand for violence.”
Todd Herskope, Student, MHS“I’m thrilled that Melbourne High School Year Elevens, Twelves and Teachers participated in Vindaloo Against Violence. It’s a positive start to the year and an important message to share with young men, especially since so many perpetrators and victims of violence seem to be juveniles”.
part in the event, and stated that the Victorian State Government will be taking practical steps to address the issue of violence and reaffirm the state’s multicultural image.
Premier Brumby had his lunch at popular Indian café Desi Dhaba in Melbourne’s CBD, and was joined by members of the Indian community including Indian students studying in Melbourne. Mr Brumby said the response from Victorians to the initiative demonstrated the community’s commitment to uniting in its solidarity with the Indian community and celebrating multiculturalism.
“The fact that we are all against any sort of racially motivated behaviour is a given, but the boys showed that they weren’t afraid of experiencing different cultures, and I think this is the case for the majority of young people.”
Lachlan Zammit, Student, MHS“The Vindaloo against Violence initiative is a unique opportunity for Victorians to unite and send a message that the actions of an ignorant few will not be allowed to undermine the reputation of Melbourne as a peaceful and friendly city,” he said.
“Victoria has been shaped by people from
“The lunch was amazing - it was a great atmosphere. We were a lot of mates who all believed in what it is to be a real Australian, and show how we truly support others and are concerned about them. It was a great day with great food and great people.”
Roshane Wickramathilake, Student, MHSacross the world. We come from over 200 countries, speak more than 230 languages and dialects and follow more than 120 faiths. Today, Victoria’s 150,000-strong Indian community is a vital part of modern-day multicultural Victoria,” said Brumby. “Victoria’s cultural diversity is one of our strengths and any attack on our community is an attack upon us all. Any attack motivated by race or prejudice is particularly disgraceful.”
“It is well-known that Victorians like to eat out and we have an international reputation for our world-class food scene. This great initiative combines that culinary reputation and uses it to send a message that we do not accept violence against any members of our community,” Mr Brumby said.
In New Delhi, Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese said, “This is a simple but telling gesture from the Australian community to India and the Indian members of Australia’s community.”
“Australians love the diversity of our multicultural society and have categorically rejected the events of the recent past - they have no place in a society as culturally plural as ours,” he added. “This initiative will help in building bridges and restoring the trust, respect and friendship that exists between the broad Australian community and its valued members of Indian origin”.
Said Mia Northrop, whose effort has met with such phenomenal success, “I think it’s been an important time for people to say we don’t want our country tarnished as a racist place. The majority of us really enjoy the cultural diversity and have nothing but respect for our migrant communities”.
With reports from IANS
PREETI JABBAL’s camera went into overdrive at the riot of colours, as Holi celebrations hit a new high in Sandown Racecourse. Report on page 10
Siddharth Dhavant Shanghvi wrote his first novel Last Song of Dusk when he was just 26, which won the Betty Trask Award in 2004 - one of UK’s prestigious awards for debut novels (previous winners include Meera Syal and Hari Kunzru whose books we have reviewed earlier in this column). The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay (Penguin, 2009) is his second work of fiction, and is based on the Jessica Lal case, a cause celebre, that had the whole of India talking. Jessica Lal was murdered point blank by the son of a prominent Haryana politician, and all witnesses turned hostile or refused to testify, as a result of which he was acquitted. The press outcry was such that he was presented before a High Court and subsequently committed to trial. In the novel, Zaira,
a popular film star is killed by a wellconnected stalker in a popular bar while mixing drinks. The murder, and the miscarriage of justice that follows it, affects the lives of Samar, the jaded young genius; Karan, the photographer with a mission; and Rhea, who gave up her career for marriage.
Shanghvi’s novel is filled with images, snapshots and descriptions of Mumbai and the issues that rage and engage Mumbaikars: annual monsoon and flooding of the city; the Shiv Sena’s moral policing, the dark side of economic liberalism and much more –not all negative. It brings to mind Suketu Mehta’s description of Mumbai as a “bootcamp of urban living”; an unforgiving city, and other novels of the city by authors Manil Suri, Rohinton Mistry, Susan Kurosawa, Vikas Swarup, Vikram Chandra, Greg Roberts’
Shantaram and Indra Sinha’s Death of Mr Love. Shanghvi, a Juhu boy from Mumbai, presents the reader with an insider’s view of the city as he describes Karan’s search for the Mumbai Fornicator, with its dark and murky alleyways and streets on the one hand, and the flamingos at Sewri on the other.
The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay was on the shortlist for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2008 – and is an immensely readable book.
* * * Delhi Noir is a collection of short stories of Delhi by a star studded cast of authors, edited by Hirsh Sawhney. There have been some wonderful books written on Delhi over the years, including those by William Dalrymple, Khushwant Singh, Vijay Goel and Jhabvala – to name a few; however, they tend to be preoccupied with Delhi’s past, its rulers, ruins, architecture and the like. Delhi Noir steers well clear of it – and instead we read about bent cops who steal and kill, and about the ‘dark side of the boom’: what the author describes as the “inequality and cruelty” that disfigure this massive, sprawling city. Through these stories we learn about the waves of migration –initially from the Punjab, and now Bihar –that make their way into the city’s hierarchy
Shanghvi’s novel is filled with images, snapshots and descriptions of Mumbai and the issues that rage and engage Mumbaikars… Dr.
of power and corruption.
Delhi has grown phenomenally especially in the last 20 years, and this is a collection of stories about the city’s underbelly unlike any before. From old areas such as Paharganj to the parvenu Green Park, to the ‘lungs’ of Delhi - the Ridge, the book is filled with tales of horror, deception, revenge and things ‘noir’. In Allan Sealy’s story, a crafty autorickshaw driver exacts his revenge; in Mohan Sikka’s Railway Aunty, a student gigolo lives on the knife’s edge; Meera Nair’s Small Fry compares the uprooted poor around the Bus Terminal with the rich who have made it through not exactly legal means; Khair’s story is a parable of misperceptions; Manjula Padmanabhan fast forwards to Delhi 2050; Ruchir Joshi spins a tale that springs from a conflict over parking in Nizamuddin; Siddharth Chowdhury’s tale encompasses Bihari students in Delhi University’s north campus, and finally, Uday Prakash’s The Walls of Delhi - the only story translated from the Hindi, is another gem. All in all, this is an engrossing anthology of tales from Delhi which is sure to bring hours of reading pleasure especially to those familiar with the topography of Delhi who will recognise the places described.
“Let’s be perfectly honest. If you have a profile, it helps to promote your cause. And that is the main reason why I chose to enter the Mrs. Australia pageant,” confessed Indian-born Australian citizen Ravneet Kaur, who has been shortlisted as a finalist out of hundreds of hopefuls. The ‘cause’ in focus is a charity called ‘Simply Equal’ that Ravneet is passionate about. She registered the charity in 2008 to support and fight for equality of women in society. Ravneet is hopeful that through her journey in the Mrs. Australia pageant, her charity may get more visibility and recognition.
“The Mrs. Australia pageant comes across as more than a traditional beauty pageant,” she said. “Their focus is on improving self-esteem and self-empowerment of its participants. They are committed to working with their local communities and they encourage participants to be involved in these programs. This appealed to me and I decided to send in my application. I thought this would be a great way to bring more exposure to my cause and it will give me more experience in developing my charity further.”
When Ravneet got selected as a finalist, she was elated. As part of the pageant, all the national finalists are expected to organise fundraising events for the charity ‘Women In Need’ (WIN). WIN Australia supports women that have come from abusive backgrounds. The fundraisers will be held on March 27 and the contestants can score well based on how creative and successful they are in raising funds. Ravneet is in the process of finalizing details of her own fundraising event that will involve art (her other passion) and mothers and children.
Ravneet is currently also involved in organising an event in association with San Franciscobased charity Petals in the Dust. Walk for India’s Missing Girls is a peaceful march to protest
female feoticide and infanticide in India, and to remember victims of this crime. Walk for India’s Missing Girls will be held in Delhi, Mumbai, Pondicherry, Kuwait, Dublin, Melbourne, Ontario and San Francisco. As part of this global event Ravneet and her supporters will walk from Moreland Station to the Indian Consulate at Munro Street in Coburg.
“We will be carrying posters with us that will create more awareness on this issue. We will also carry flowers as a symbol of precious life of a girl child. The silent march will stress to the Indian Government the importance of addressing this key issue on an urgent basis,” disclosed Ravneet.
This feisty girl from a little village near Amritsar in Punjab will compete with 40 other contestants from across Australia for the crown of Mrs. Australia. The pageant will be held in Melbourne in July this year. In 2010, the Mrs. Australia prize pool is valued at over $30,000 and the winner will also have the opportunity to take part in a smile makeover valued at over $18,000 USD from Burbank labs. The winner will represent Australia at the Mrs. Globe pageant.
Ravneet smiled when asked how her preparation was going for the finals. “We
are selected on the basis of our community involvement so my main focus is my charity and the upcoming fundraiser at the moment. I am hoping to get more sponsors and support,” she said.
This feisty girl from a little village near Amritsar in Punjab will compete with 40 other contestants from across Australia for the crown of Mrs. Australia
Raising awareness for equality of women is a subject close to Ravneet’s heart based on her own past experience. She is currently in the process of getting a divorce from her husband who she claims ‘changed dramatically after getting a permanent residency in Australia’. She had an arranged marriage but things did not work out, and she had to go through a lot of hardships and pressures from her in-laws and husband. According to Ravneet, things reached a point where her husband left her with a large debt on her credit card at a time when she wasn’t earning much. As a result of the marriage breakdown she went through depression, but eventually regained her confidence with the support of her parents.
Life as a Mrs. has not been a bed of roses for Ravneet but let’s hope life as Mrs. Australia will bring more promise.
A vivacious India-born woman competes in the ‘Mrs. Australia’ pageant, for a noble cause
I’m sure many of my readers made healthrelated resolutions at the start of the new year. To Have a Healthy Lifestyle and Healthy Eating Habits – what a fantastic resolve!
Healthy eating does not necessarily mean missing out on tasty food, or depriving yourself of food, or having boring, bland and unappealing food. It is not that difficult to have healthy eating habits if we just keep a few tips in mind. Read on!
* Make simple changes to your diet that suit you and your lifestyle, as all individuals are different.
* Eat small and frequent meals throughout the day instead of having three large meals.
* Avoid skipping any meals whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner, as this leads to excess eating in the next meal and eventually putting on weight.
* Aim for achievable health goals - do not look for unrealistic goals.
* Start your day with a healthy breakfast to improve your concentration and memory.
* For healthy and balanced meals, start with a carbohydrate such as bread, rice or chapattis; add lots of vegetables; include a moderate serving of protein such as dal, fish, chicken or meat, and add a little fat and flavour with lemon, herbs and spices.
* Try to add fish with bones such as salmon and sardines for extra calcium.
* Include 3 serves of milk and milk products or calcium enriched soy products
everyday for enough calcium. A glass of milk or a small tub of yoghurt or a slice of cheese constitutes a serve of milk.
* Try to replace plain flour with whole meal or multi grain flour to make it more nutritious and healthy.
* Try to have different kinds of breads such as soy, linseed, pita, baguettes and wraps for variety and nutrition.
* Eat more foods with soluble fibre, such as dried beans, lentils, baked beans, fruit and vegetables to help lower your blood
cholesterol.
* Check the saturated fat on the label of ‘cholesterol free’ food as saturated fat will also increase your cholesterol levels more than cholesterol in food.
* Try to eat a variety of foods everyday as it kills boredom and also no food is perfect and has all the required nutrients in proper proportion.
* Try to add whole fruits preferably with skin where possible instead of fruit juices.
* Have small sized in-between snacks. Do not convert your snacks to large-sized meals. Try to have small packets of nuts, muesli bars and low fat fruit yoghurt as in-between snacks instead of namkeen bhujias, doughnuts and creamy biscuits.
* Have at least 2 serves of fruits and 5 serves of vegetables every day.
* Try to be active every day anyway. Take the stairs, walk to your colleague instead of emailing, work in the garden, chase your pets and play sport with your kids.
* Do not follow a weight loss plan that excludes any particular food nutrient.
* Eat fats in moderation. Try to include some polyunsaturated fats and mono unsaturated fats such as olive oil and canola oil in your everyday cooking. Also try to use oil sprays rather than pouring oil.
* Use low fat variety of foods such as fat reduced milk products, lean meats and skinless chicken.
* Try to include fish at least twice a week in your menu. Fish contains omega 3 oils, which helps keep your heart healthy. Oily fish like ocean trout, salmon, sardines and tuna contain the most omega 3 oils. Baked fish is better than fried.
* Replace full fat cream with low fat ricotta cheese, evaporated skim milk or yoghurt for cooking.
* Use less fat by using cooking methods such as boiling, steaming, grilling, baking, micro wave and pressure cooking.
* Read food labels to make healthier food choices. Foods labeled high fibre should have at least 3g of fibre per 100g and foods labeled low salt should have
a maximum of 120mg sodium per 100g or 50% or less sodium than the original food.
* Substitute coriander mint chutney or tomato chutney for tomato ketchup and creamy mayonnaise.
* Try to involve your kids in everyday grocery shopping, cooking and at meal times to teach them good healthy eating habits.
* Be creative with your child’s lunch box so that children enjoy their meals.
* Avoid unnecessary snacking in front of the television and computer.
* Be role models to your children and help them develop healthy eating habits.
* Keep celebration foods such as cakes, chocolates, samosas and jalebis for celebrations only.
* When going to restaurants, try not to order oversized meals, split desserts with friends, try to order salads without added cream as side dishes instead of French fries.
* Reach for a glass of water to quench your thirst instead of sodas, tea or fruit juices. You could reduce hundreds of empty calories in your diet by switching over from sodas and fizzy drinks to plain simple water and lemon juice. Make sure you have at least 10-12 glasses of water every day.
* If you are an emotional eater and eat when you are happy or sad, then do not stock high calorie foods such as potato chips, ice creams and candy in the house. Keep healthy snacks like fruits, crunchy vegetables with dips, or nuts handy. If you absolutely feel the need for a treat, then have a fun size dark chocolate.
* Keep to the safe limit and enjoy your drink. The safe limit for alcohol for males is 2 standard drinks and for females is one standard drink per day with 2 alcohol free days a week. A standard drink is for example-100ml of wine; 285ml full strength beer; 60ml port or sherry.
* When drinking alcohol drink lots of water along with it to prevent dehydration.
* Try to have low calorie snacks along with your drinks such as fresh salads, paneer, papad and crackers rather than having namkeen mixtures and fried snacks. Hope you all have a healthy 2010.
I’m sure many of my readers made healthrelated resolutions at the start of the new year. To Have a Healthy Lifestyle and Healthy Eating Habits – what a fantastic resolve!
Healthy eating does not necessarily mean missing out on tasty food, or depriving yourself of food, or having boring, bland and unappealing food. It is not that difficult to have healthy eating habits if we just keep a few tips in mind. Read on!
* Make simple changes to your diet that suit you and your lifestyle, as all individuals are different.
* Eat small and frequent meals throughout the day instead of having three large meals.
* Avoid skipping any meals whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner, as this leads to excess eating in the next meal and eventually putting on weight.
* Aim for achievable health goals - do not look for unrealistic goals.
* Start your day with a healthy breakfast to improve your concentration and memory.
* For healthy and balanced meals, start with a carbohydrate such as bread, rice or chapattis; add lots of vegetables; include a moderate serving of protein such as dal, fish, chicken or meat, and add a little fat and flavour with lemon, herbs and spices.
* Try to add fish with bones such as salmon and sardines for extra calcium.
* Include 3 serves of milk and milk products or calcium enriched soy products
everyday for enough calcium. A glass of milk or a small tub of yoghurt or a slice of cheese constitutes a serve of milk.
* Try to replace plain flour with whole meal or multi grain flour to make it more nutritious and healthy.
* Try to have different kinds of breads such as soy, linseed, pita, baguettes and wraps for variety and nutrition.
* Eat more foods with soluble fibre, such as dried beans, lentils, baked beans, fruit and vegetables to help lower your blood
cholesterol.
* Check the saturated fat on the label of ‘cholesterol free’ food as saturated fat will also increase your cholesterol levels more than cholesterol in food.
* Try to eat a variety of foods everyday as it kills boredom and also no food is perfect and has all the required nutrients in proper proportion.
* Try to add whole fruits preferably with skin where possible instead of fruit juices.
* Have small sized in-between snacks. Do not convert your snacks to large-sized meals. Try to have small packets of nuts, muesli bars and low fat fruit yoghurt as in-between snacks instead of namkeen bhujias, doughnuts and creamy biscuits.
* Have at least 2 serves of fruits and 5 serves of vegetables every day.
* Try to be active every day anyway. Take the stairs, walk to your colleague instead of emailing, work in the garden, chase your pets and play sport with your kids.
* Do not follow a weight loss plan that excludes any particular food nutrient.
* Eat fats in moderation. Try to include some polyunsaturated fats and mono unsaturated fats such as olive oil and canola oil in your everyday cooking. Also try to use oil sprays rather than pouring oil.
* Use low fat variety of foods such as fat reduced milk products, lean meats and skinless chicken.
* Try to include fish at least twice a week in your menu. Fish contains omega 3 oils, which helps keep your heart healthy. Oily fish like ocean trout, salmon, sardines and tuna contain the most omega 3 oils. Baked fish is better than fried.
* Replace full fat cream with low fat ricotta cheese, evaporated skim milk or yoghurt for cooking.
* Use less fat by using cooking methods such as boiling, steaming, grilling, baking, micro wave and pressure cooking.
* Read food labels to make healthier food choices. Foods labeled high fibre should have at least 3g of fibre per 100g and foods labeled low salt should have
a maximum of 120mg sodium per 100g or 50% or less sodium than the original food.
* Substitute coriander mint chutney or tomato chutney for tomato ketchup and creamy mayonnaise.
* Try to involve your kids in everyday grocery shopping, cooking and at meal times to teach them good healthy eating habits.
* Be creative with your child’s lunch box so that children enjoy their meals.
* Avoid unnecessary snacking in front of the television and computer.
* Be role models to your children and help them develop healthy eating habits.
* Keep celebration foods such as cakes, chocolates, samosas and jalebis for celebrations only.
* When going to restaurants, try not to order oversized meals, split desserts with friends, try to order salads without added cream as side dishes instead of French fries.
* Reach for a glass of water to quench your thirst instead of sodas, tea or fruit juices. You could reduce hundreds of empty calories in your diet by switching over from sodas and fizzy drinks to plain simple water and lemon juice. Make sure you have at least 10-12 glasses of water every day.
* If you are an emotional eater and eat when you are happy or sad, then do not stock high calorie foods such as potato chips, ice creams and candy in the house. Keep healthy snacks like fruits, crunchy vegetables with dips, or nuts handy. If you absolutely feel the need for a treat, then have a fun size dark chocolate.
* Keep to the safe limit and enjoy your drink. The safe limit for alcohol for males is 2 standard drinks and for females is one standard drink per day with 2 alcohol free days a week. A standard drink is for example-100ml of wine; 285ml full strength beer; 60ml port or sherry.
* When drinking alcohol drink lots of water along with it to prevent dehydration.
* Try to have low calorie snacks along with your drinks such as fresh salads, paneer, papad and crackers rather than having namkeen mixtures and fried snacks. Hope you all have a healthy 2010.
It is time to pick up the pieces of Indian hockey even as coach Jose Brasa is humming John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane melody. One suspects that the Spaniard believes that he could be the first before the firing squad, post the Hockey World Cup.
His reported statement “my bags are always packed” is not without significance.
The 2-3 defeat to England was probably the last straw for salvation, but India could yet derive some consolation from their ill-fated campaign by finishing fifth like they last did in 1994 at Sydney and qualify for this year’s Champions Trophy in Germany.
However, to attain that position, India still need to beat South Africa, flying high after a shock 4-3 defeat of Pakistan, in their concluding league fixture on Monday, and thereafter win both their classification matches. Should India fail again, then for sure, the knives would be out and the worms will crawl out of the can. Such consequences, though all too familiar, will send Indian hockey back to the Dark Ages.
It is pointless to blame the players or the coaching staff. After all, a team is only as good as the system it functions in and the system is only as good as the persons who govern it. Salvation for Indian hockey lies in a top-to-bottom overhaul and not the other way around. Change always begins at the top and development from the grassroots, but it is a moot point whether the current or future Hockey India officials would take cognizance of this home truth.
Forget talent and potential. The performance yardsticks that matter are the World Cup and the Olympics, and, to a lesser extent, the Champions Trophy.
Brasa’s assertion that the players “lacked in experience and exposure” following the loss to England is debatable since a majority of the team has been playing at the international level, be it junior or senior level, for five years and more.
Had Brasa witnessed in person the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, then he would concede that the current India team is hopelessly out of its depth at the highest level, something that is obvious even to the uninitiated. In contrast, Germany, despite fielding only a few players from their successful 2006 World Cup campaign and a bunch of inexperienced youngsters, have performed exceedingly well. Mark it down to their professionally-run set up at home.
The win against Pakistan on the opening night covered up a lot of deficiencies in the Indian team, but was cruelly exposed by better-organised and more disciplined opponents. Against England, it boiled down to motivation and intensity that the Indian team sadly lacked until the players woke up in the latter part of the contest. It was all too little too late.
The harsh reality is that Brasa is saddled with a bunch of players about whom he knows little -- about their playing background, or their personal attributes. Nor has he a support system at his disposal. Worse still, as in Vasudevan Baskaran’s 1998 World Cup squad, there are semi-fit players who remained unexposed due to the closed training sessions.
These observations might sound like nitpicking, or growing wiser after the event, but it does not alter the results or performance of the team whose preparations for the World Cup were flawed from the start, and
marred by controversy that unfortunately is a by-word in Indian hockey.
Looking ahead to India’s three remaining games in the World Cup, one fears the worst. The memories of the 1986 World Cup where India and Pakistan fought for 11th and 12th positions are still vivid, but one hopes history will not repeat itself
Hockey structure in India is stricken by cancer: Horst Wein
Horst Wein is known in the world of hockey as much as he is in football, a rare multifaceted character. The legendary coach has a piece of advice for Indian players: Focus more on the mental aspects of the game.
“No doubt, Indian players are extremely talented, but they lack hockey intelligence. Hockey has become a thinking game. Take a look at Saturday’s game between Australia and Spain. Australia were up 1-0 in the first half and Spain, though they lost, played cleverly to reduce the pace of the game. That is what you call intelligent hockey,” said the 61-year-old German, a master coach of International Hockey Federation (FIH).
A professor of physical education at Technical University of Munich and the National Institute of Physical Education in Barcelona, Wein feels the decline of eighttime Olympic champions in international hockey is due to the lack of vision of those “who are running the game in the country”.
“I am sorry to say, but it is a fact that people who are running the game in India don’t have a vision. There is no hockey structure.
“Here right from young age they are playing 11 against 11, which is a cancer in Indian hockey. If you are playing eight-yearolds in a match of 11 against 11, then half the boys in the side don’t even get a chance to touch the ball with the stick,” says Wein, who guided the Spanish men’s team to an Olympic silver medal.
Wein, an author of 34 sports-related books, mainly on hockey and football, says a sound youth development programme is needed for India.
“Eight-year-olds should play three-a-side game while 10-year-olds should be engaged in five-a-side and the 11 year- olds should play six-a-side. When you reduce the number of players, the kids automatically get the
chance to play more and that helps them in understanding the game better. This is the best way to develop them mentally,” says the foremost mentor of coaches and trainers. Wein, whose revolutionary football principles are taught to youth football coaches of FC Barcelona, says India badly needs good coaches.
“India have a great coach in Jose Brasa. Hockey India should organise more camps
India’s Tushar Khandker fights for the ball with England’s Richard Alexander during their group B match of the Field Hockey World Championship in New Delhi, India, 06 March 2010. England won 3-2.
for the coaches, where he can teach the modern techniques in international hockey,” says the Guru, whose footprints can be seen in over 50 countries.
Wein is willing to work with both Indian hockey and football federations, and insists that a professional approach is needed to change the sports structure in the country.
Indian migrants who came to Australia between the 1970s and 1990s were typically middle-class, well educated and with young children. They migrated to give themselves and their children a better life. Australia’s attractiveness lay in its prosperity, democracy, rule-of-law, religious freedom and cultural tolerance.
A good number of those migrants are now either retirees or nearing retirement. Many of them have fulfilled their material needs like having good homes and well educated children who have good jobs. The spectre of retirement has shifted their focus to obtaining a sustaining retirement income, good healthcare and maintaining cultural continuity. The Indian retiree has several cultural dilemmas to sort out.
The Australian government provides several benefits to those above 65 years of age. However, the percentage of those above 65 is growing and this implies that in the coming years, there is going to be a heavy financial burden on the public purse for pensions and healthcare for seniors. Whilst the over-65 group is only 4.9% in India, it is 13.9% in Australia and a burdensome 22.6% in Japan. By 2030, the figures are estimated to escalate to 8.4% for
India, 20.7% for Australia and a staggering 30.8% for Japan.
There are strong cultural contrasts with caring for the old in European and Asian societies. Europeans and Australians have grown with the belief that it is the state’s responsibility to care for the aged; thus seniors who do not have sufficient income are given welfare pensions.
The Asian way is radically opposite. In typical Confucian style, China in 1996 passed the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly Act, which made families responsible for looking after the elderly. Singapore ensures that adult children have the moral and legal responsibility to look after their parents. However, most elderly Singaporeans live with an adult child and the government encourages this through tax incentives and offering housing priorities.
In India, the central government passed the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act in 2007, leaving its implementation to the states. Adult children are made financially responsible for the maintenance of parents and where there are no children, the relative who is slated to inherit the person’s property, can be made responsible. This Asian way reduces the government’s burden on aged care unlike in Western societies. In Australia, children bear no such responsibility.
Indian migrants have strong cultural “duties”. They have two major preoccupations which are ensuring that
their children learn their parents’ language and follow their parents’ religion. Like many other migrants, Indians discover that teaching children one’s native tongue is no easy matter. As children grow up, ensuring the continuation of their parents’ original faith and beliefs is likewise difficult. Many Indian parents might also wish their children to marry within their own language group and religion and even caste or sect. University-trained children, however, tend to fall in line with their mainstream contemporaries with regard to food, music, films and lifestyles. They also develop broader views with regard to cultural interactions. This could become disillusioning for parents.
Australia, like India, is secular. But Indian secularism implies the freedom to practice one’s religion and the majority of Indians practice their faiths quite strongly. In Australia, secularism has a European meaning which involves a shift from old religious practices to a rational view of life. Whilst many mainstream Australians have religious beliefs, only a minority regularly follow religious practices.
parents’ responsibility. That is why parents factor in expenses for higher education and marriage celebrations. If these events can be achieved before retirement, the Indian retiree feels that their major responsibilities have been completed. However, if these events have to be completed after retirement, these can become additional demands on the finances of the retiree.
The current trend in Australia is for simple marriage celebrations. However, some ethnic groups like Italians, Greeks and Lebanese have elaborate celebrations and Indians do like likewise. This means that Indians close to retirement or already retired need to have adequately saved for this purpose.
Another contrasting cultural factor is that Indians consider that their children’s higher education and marriage is very much the parents’ responsibility
Another contrasting cultural factor is that Indians consider that their children’s higher education and marriage is very much the
Dear Readers
On 8th February 2010, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans announced such major changes to Skilled Migration that it will change the entire landscape of the education and immigration industry. These changes are intended to remove the current rot that existed in the Skilled Migration program for a while, where people were virtually buying their way into Permanent Residence without having any of the skills they have nominated to get their Australian Residency. Whether the policies they are planning to implement will work or not in the long run, only time will say. But in the short run, it has created a lot of confusion, dissatisfaction and hopelessness among many students and prospective migrants.
I will endeavour to clear out some of these confusions and describe what options still are available or not available.
ENS (Employer Nomination Scheme)
A lot of students are choosing this option for Permanent Residence without even realising they may not be eligible for it. They may be working in their nominated occupation and the employer may also be happy enough with them, to sponsor them. But unfortunately with the removal of the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) list, most of these employees will not be able to meet the three years full time work experience requirement, unless their nominated occupation is in the Critical Skills List (CSL). Depending on what’s in the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) to be announced in April 2010, and how the ENS section of DIAC implements the new SOL for waiver options, the employer sponsored pathway for students working part-time in their nominated occupation will virtually be non-existent, unless the government comes up with a more sensible way of waiving the three years full time work experience requirement for students already employed in their nominated occupation. TRA Assessments
Old TRA (Trades Recognition Australia)
Assessments done or applied for, before 1st January 2010 are still valid for applying for the Subclass 485 Skilled Graduate Visa. These TRA Assessments will also be valid to apply for your Permanent Residence (PR), when the legislation is updated by March 2010 (i.e., first quarter of 2010). In other words, anyone who has a TRA Assessment done or applied for, before 1st January 2010, will not need to go through the TRA Job Ready Program (JRP). This will allow thousands of students to apply for Permanent Residence by 31st December 2012 even if their nominated occupation is not in the new SOL, as long as they held or applied for a Subclass 485 Skilled Graduate Visa and had not applied for a Provisional or Permanent GSM Visa, on or before 7th February 2010.
Cancellation of 20,000 Offshore Pre 1 September 2007 Visas
Around 20,000 Offshore Skilled Migration Applications filed before 1st September 2007 will “cease” and application fees will be refunded after the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship “caps” the number of visas that may be granted for that financial year. This seems very unfair to these applicants and also gives the Minister power to apply policy retrospectively. I believe it also damages Australia’s reputation in the long run. It is much better not to accept applications above a certain number in any financial year, rather than accepting them, making the applicants pay fees and other related expenses, have them wait for years, then suddenly cancel their applications as well as their dreams and hopes. It is not clear when this “capping” and “ceasing” of pre 1st September 2007 applications will occur, but an announcement is supposed to come in the near future.
Although the MODL list has been revoked on 8th February 2010, and the current SOL will cease to exist when the new SOL becomes effective from mid-2010, both the MODL and the current SOL will continue to exist for some
When children set up their own homes, parents are often left by themselves in a large dwelling. The trend in Australia is to sell one’s family home and to move into retirement villages as a couple or alone. Lots of Australians live alone and this increases with age as 75% of those above 65 years are currently living alone. The original migrant dream might well have been to be living in the vicinity of one’s children or even with them as one did in Indian towns. But this might prove impractical. Mainstream retirement villages might not be culturally suitable for Indian retirees.
ADVERTORIAL By Syed M Kabirapplicants and students until 31st December 2012. The MODL list and the current SOL list will still apply to anyone who on 8th February 2010 (the day of the Minister’s announcement) held a Skilled—Graduate (subclass 485) visa, or have applied for a subclass 485 visa before 8th February 2010, and are yet to apply for a permanent or provisional General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa. The MODL list and the current SOL list will also continue to apply to anyone who have applied for a provisional or permanent GSM visa application before 8th February 2010.
Also, students who held any of the below mentioned visa subclasses on 8th February 2010, can still use the current SOL to apply for a for a Skilled—Graduate (subclass 485) visa, however these student visa holders will be required to have an occupation on the new SOL to apply for a permanent GSM visa.
• Vocational Education and Training Sector (subclass 572) visa
• Higher Education Sector (subclass 573) visa
• Postgraduate Research Sector (subclass 574) visa.
The government wants to totally clean up Skilled Migration and has so far taken a very bold conservative approach. Hopefully, we’ll end up somewhere in the middle.
Syed M. KabirPrincipal Migration Consultant
Kangaroo Immigration & Education Consultancy (MARN 0636144, MIA # 2446).
Suite 3, Level 1
167-169 Queen Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Mobile: 0403 972 366 (Optus), 0433 644 728 (3 Mobile) Office: (03) 9078 5212 / 5213 / 5214 / 5215
Fax: (03) 9078 4908
Email: info@migratedownunder.com
Website: www.migratedownunder.com
Even as the world tuned in to Sydney’s biggest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Mardi Gras on the last week of February, a South Asian float with Bollywood numbers and dandiya beats left quite a mark at the parade.
A modest group of 75 South Asian gays and lesbians called Trikone Australasia, took to the streets to celebrate their homosexuality and send the message –it’s okay to be gay – to their home countries.
Trikone Australasia, the sister organisation of Trikone San Fransico, took part for the first time in the Mardi Gras, in an attempt to support South Asian gays and lesbians and encourage more people to come out of their closets, instead of living in fear.
“We want to create visibility and support South Asian homosexuals who do not want to come out in the open because they have family issues or are being forced to marry. The idea behind us taking part in Mardi Gras is to tell the world that a South Asian gay and lesbian community exists and we want to send a message back to India and other South Asian countries that it time to accept this reality,” Roopali Pandey, one of the directors of Trikone Australasia and a participant at the parade, told Indian Link
“They think we are evil or not normal. Most often, people believe that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice. However, it is not so. We are born gay and it is okay to be gay. We are not abnormal or evil,” she asserted.
Pandey, who immigrated to Australia over a decade ago, recounted the recent incident of an Indian from
Delhi who fled to Australia after he was threatened and beaten up by his family for being gay. “People in India are in denial. We are being hypocritical when we go ahead and marry the opposite sex despite realisation of our sexuality. Even Nepal has legalised gay and lesbian marriage. It is time India follows suit,” she observed.
According to the 26-year-old architect, historically the sub-continent has been tolerant to homosexuality and being gay is not been forbidden by Hinduism. She says that even the Kamasutra has dedicated a chapter on homosexuality.
Speaking on New Delhi’s recent decision to decriminalise gay sex and reverse its stand on the draconian Indian Penal Code 377, she said it was important for the entire country to follow in the capital’s footsteps.
“Last year’s decision was a massive victory and we believe in taking one step at a time. Now, activists and organisations are now taking the issue to the Supreme Court to decriminalise 377,” she said.
Trikone Australasia currently comprises of mainly Indians and the board’s five founding members are also Indians. However, the group is keen to reach out to the wider South Asian community and is hoping that more people would hear about them and join the 200-strong organisation.
When asked if their participation at the Mardi Gras may anger South Asians in Australia and back home, Pandey said, “We do not mind stirring up an issue as we want people to engage in a dialogue instead of refusing to accept us.”
The float, which had people dressed in Indian attire, had people also dancing to bhangra and other Indian songs during the 2.4 km parade on Oxford Street, lasting for over two hours. The group had practised its choreographed routine for over a few days before the parade. Trikone Australasia is hoping to take part in the
parade every year and is determined to make the event better and bigger by the year.
Trikone Australasia is a registered non-profit organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people of South Asian descent. Founded in 1986 in the San Francisco Bay Area, Trikone is the oldest group of its kind in the world. South Asians affiliated with Trikone trace their ethnicities to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, India, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet.
Through social and political activities, Trikone offers a supportive, empowering, and non-judgmental environment, where queer South Asians can meet, make connections, and promote awareness and acceptance of their sexuality in the society. Trikone actively works against all forms of oppression based on sexuality, race, gender, class, and other identities. The organisation hopes to make a difference for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people of South Asian descent living within Australia and work to remove all forms of discrimination through working with other social and political action organisations within Australia and in South Asian countries.
Preeti KannanWe want to create visibility and support South Asian homosexuals who do not want to come out in the open because they have family issues or are being forced to marry
Aum Bhur Bhuvah Suvah
Tat Savitur Vareynyam
Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi
Dhiyo Yo Naha Prachodayath
Oh God, Thou art the giver of Life, Remover of pain and sorrow, Bestower of happiness, Oh! Creator of the Universe, May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light, May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.
Referred to as the mother of all the Vedas, this simple but powerful mantra is considered as the foremost in Hindu Scripture. Quite simply it is a prayer to Savitrthe giver of light and life, to illuminate our intellect and thereby lead us along the righteous path.
It is dedicated to Gayatri, the Veda Mata or the fivefaced Goddess. As the personification of the Brahman, she is said to have domain over the five senses or pranas, and protects these five life-forces of those who chant the mantra. In her role as the protector, Gayatri is referred to as Savitri (feminine form of Savitr). Chanting the mantra removes any obstacles in our journey to knowledge and spiritual growth.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
This is one of the most popular of Psalms in the Bible and is a definition of the very faith and tenets of Christianity. It likens Christ as the shepherd, caring for His flock and leading them to the path of righteousness. His presence gives them strength and comfort, and His influence helps them lead good lives. It is a powerful passage, one that is reassuring, and yet compelling in its very simplicity.
Jis simrat sabh kilvikh naaseh pitree ho-ay uDhaaro. So har har tumH sad hee jaapahu jaa kaa ant na paaro. Pootaa maataa kee aasees. Nimakh na bisara-o tumH ka-o har har sadaa bhajahu jagdees. (rahaa-o).
Satgur tumH ka-o ho-ay da-i-aalaa satsang tayree pareet.
Kaaparh pat parmaysar raakhee bhojan keertan neet Bhavar tumHaaraa ih man hova-o har charnaa hohu ka-ulaa.
Amrit peevhu sadaa chir jeevhu har simrat anad anantaa. Naanak daas un sang laptaa-i-o ji-o booNdeh chaatrik ma-ulaa.
Remembering Him, all sins are erased, and one’s generations are saved.
So meditate continually on the Lord, Har, Har; He has no end or limitation.
O son, this is your mother’s hope and prayer, that you may never forget the Lord, Har, Har, even for an instant. May you ever remember the Lord of the Universe.
Allahumma sal’lee ‘ala muhammadune wa ‘ala alee muhammadin kama
Sal’lay’ta ‘ala ibrahima wa ‘ala alee ibrahima, innaka hammidum majeed.
Allahumma Ba’rik ‘ala muhammadune wa ‘ala alee muhammadin kama
Ba’rak’ta ‘ala ibrahima wa ‘ala alee ibrahima, innaka hammidum majeed
Om Mani Pad Me Hum
Follow the path of wisdom and you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted one of a Buddha
Summing up the entire teachings of Buddha, this prayer invokes the blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. Each of its six syllables represents the ultimate paramitas (virtues of perfection) – generosity, ethics, patience, diligence, renunciation and wisdom. The entire truth about the nature of suffering and the many ways of removing its causes (Mahayana), is said to be contained in these six syllables.
Also known as the mantra of Avalokiteshwara, it originated in India before moving to Tibet. The prayer is particularly revered by devotees of the Dalai Lama, who is believed to be a reincarnation of Chenrizeg. It is believed that chanting this sacred mantra, viewing it in written form or spinning it through the prayer wheel (mani) is very auspicious.
Hamazor
Hamāzōr bim
Hamāzōr ashō bim
Hamāzōr vesh kerfē bim Ham kerfē kārān bim, Dūr az vanāh kārān bim, Sarē sarāt va chinvat pūl buzrag shād va āsān mān, Bēvadirad bēhēst garōthmān va fashum akhān raushan garōthmān, Hamā khur-rami avar rasād.
May the True Guru be kind to you, and may you love the Society of the Saints.
(Pause)
May the preservation of your honour by the Transcendent Lord be your clothes, and may the singing of His Praises be your food. So drink in forever the Ambrosial Nectar; may you live long, and may the meditative remembrance of the Lord give you infinite delight.
May joy and pleasure be yours; may your hopes be fulfilled, and may you never be troubled by worries.
Let this mind of yours be the bumble bee, and let the Lord’s feet be the lotus flower.
Says servant Nanak, attach your mind to them, and blossom forth like the song-bird, upon finding the rain-drop.
Guru Arjun Dev Ji, the 5th guru of the Sikhs, composed this prayer for the Holy Book Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji which expresses a mother’s love for her child and hope for his/her well being. This Shabad (hymn) is recited as a blessing on various occasions like when a woman is expecting her child, when celebrating a birth or a birthday.
Oh God, bless Muhammed and the family of Muhammed as you blessed the family of Ibrahim, and give baraka to Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You gave baraka to the family of Ibrahim, in all the worlds. You are worthy of Praise and Glorious
Durood is an invocation which Muslims make by saying specific phrases to compliment the Prophet Muhammed pbuh. Durood is a kind of dua and is mentioned in hadith as well as in the Quran sharif. Divine blessings on Muhammad is the highest and the most meritorious act in Islam. The Prophet pbuh recommended durood as a way of sending blessings him. Durood-e-Ibrahimi is also recited as part of the salaat
The benefits of this dua are that sins are wiped out, good deeds are written, and self elevation is achieved as is enhancement in income and substance. It also releases tension.
May we remain united in strength, May we remain united in righteousness, May we remain united in many good deeds, May we remain the doers of all meritorious deeds, too. May we remain afar from the guile of evil-doers, May we be able to cross the Chinwad Bridge with rejoicing and ease, from over the summit, May we, then, attain eternal bliss in the Heavenly Celestial Light of Garothman, May such pious yearnings be granted unto us.
This short Hamazor prayer in the Book of Daily Prayers - the Khordae Avesta was composed after Iran was lost to the Arab invasion in the Battle of Nihavand 641 CE (also called AD). It is still recited by every Iranian follower of the Religion of Zarathushtra at the end of his daily ‘Namaaz’ (of untying and tying the Sacred Thread - the Kusti) as a sign of solidarity, but mainly to obtain personal solace and to maintain their courage and dignity in the face of unjust laws against them there. It is also still prayed by their later migrant counterparts (the Qaddimis) in India, although there are no such unjust Indian laws.
“Diya, I am sorry.”
A SHORT STORY BY RANI JHALA“Amar, you can’t do this!” Peter heard himself shouting
“Yes, I can. I am sorry, but I am out of here,” Amar snapped his baggage shut and grabbing it, turned towards the door.
Peter found himself blocking the exit. “For heaven’s sake Amar, the wedding is tonight. You should have said something earlier.”
Amar had the grace to look ashamed, but returning to his determined self, he said. “I never agreed to this”.
“You never disagreed either,” Peter cut in.
“Peter, you are my friend, stay out of it. You of all people know how I feel about Kaitlin, I can’t do this to her, to us”.
“And your bride? What about her?”
“My mother created the problem, she can sort it out,” Amar continued in a frustrated tone.
“Amar, it is too late. You have to go through with it. The ceremonies have already started, the marriage cannot stop now”.
Combing his hair through with his fingers, he replied, “I am sorry, I can’t do it”.
“Then go tell Diya yourself, you owe her that”.
But Amar was not going to risk any chance of being manipulated into the marriage. He knew he should have spoken up earlier, but it was better to end things now than later. He could not give Kaitlin up, nor was he going to face his mother and risk being forced again.
“I am sorry, mate. I have to do what I have to do. Do you want to fly back with me?
“No, this is my first trip to India. I’ll continue as planned. I came to find myself and I will continue on my search. I’ll see you back in Sydney”.
“Will you explain it to Diya for me?”
“I don’t know if I can. What do I say - I am sorry but my friend did not want to marry you?”
“No, just tell her I wanted to marry somebody else”.
“How does that make it any better?”
“It doesn’t. It just makes it less worse…” Amar returned.
Peter knew that the situation has become hopeless. Quietly he followed his friend to the car and waved him off. As he turned to walk back into the building, he saw her.
She stood at the top of the steps in a plain pink chiffon sari, a thin strand of pearls gracing her neck and her long black hair falling as a shimmering waterfall, past her waist. But she was not looking at the car speeding away down the driveway. She was looking at him. And her eyes told him everything. She had heard it all.
Diya looked at him and his heart bled a million drops. He saw pain, he saw hurt, he saw disgrace.
Slowly she moved a step back. “I better let them know that there is going to be no wedding”.
And then she smiled. A faint smile that did not wipe away the hurt in her eyes but it sure made it difficult for him to breathe. A second later she turned to walk back in.
“Will you marry me, Diya?” The words were out before he realised it himself.
She froze, with her back to him, she stood still. He stood still.
“Marry me,” he said again, softer this time, now convinced that he had indeed uttered them before.
“What?” she managed to whisper.
“I know enough about your culture to know the consequences of a groom leaving on the wedding day. I know what your family will face and what you will too. A marriage could stop all that”.
“You obviously don’t know enough about our culture to know, they would rather a daughter sat at home living the life of a spinster, than marry like this. They will say Amar left because of us. No one will approve of our marriage”.
“Do you approve?”
“I did not have a say about my marriage with Amar, I will not have a say about a marriage with you”.
“So you did not love Amar?”
“I did not know him,” was Diya’s simple reply.
“Yet you were going to risk a lifetime with a man you barely knew…”
“I thought Amar and I were taking the same risk. I was obviously wrong”. Again her reply was said in whisper.
“Amar is not a bad chap. It’s just that…”
“I know. I heard everything. I have
always known that something was not right. He avoided our phone calls. He never wrote. He never came after the engagement ceremony. But his mother assured everyone that her son was marrying of his own free will. That he was not in love with another woman…”
And then she let out half a laugh. “Do you know that I thought he was gay. That is why I came here to ask him that. I could have fought for my marriage against another woman, but how would I have fought against a man?”
Peter noticed that the humour had not reached her eyes. The worry in them had not ceased either.
“I can face everyone, but my parents have invested their entire saving into this marriage. They have told the world, their daughter is moving to Australia, that she is marrying a perfect partner. How do they now tell the world, that the perfect partner, was never that? That nothing was perfect. Your friend should have spoken up earlier. He played Russian Roulette with all our lives”.
“Then marry me and stop the roll of the
dice with us,” Peter stated again.
“I will find an escape, but what will you get out of this marriage? I thought you westerners married for love”.
“Most do, but like your arranged marriages some of us find our partners through dating services and matchmaking agencies. It is not that different to an arranged marriage”.
“Yes true, I have seen the television show where a man picks his partner from a group of girls in a matter of days. I guess you are right. We all have our destinies arranged in some way.”
“Then take that chance with me”.
“I should be grateful, but I can’t help feeling, it would not be fair to you. No! It would not be fair. Goodbye, Peter”.
This time Diya walked down the steps and towards the car park.
Peter stood until her car had driven off, and then turned to go and find Amar’s mother. And the moment he did, all hell broke loose. Anger, frustration, despair, shame and disappointment coloured the atmosphere. Peter could only think of Diya and her position. Her position would be much worse. And he just knew he had to be with her. Taking Amar’s brother with him he left for the bridal home.
As he had guessed the bridal home was in chaos too. Half were screaming, the other half, crying. Half blamed Amar, the other half, Diya. They said she was unlucky. That her stars must have been malevolently placed. He hoped that Diya was not hearing the hurtful words. He looked around but Diya was not amidst the crowd. He searched the crowd again and then impulsively looked up. There on the landing she stood, looking at him, her deep brown eyes shimmering with unshed tears. She was listening to everything. Detaching himself from Amar’s brother, he walked up the staircase and to her side.
“Let me help you…” he pleaded.
“I can’t. Can you not see them? They have had one shock already. If I tell them I am marrying you, it will come as a bigger blow”.
Peter could not understand the pain he felt. For heaven’s sake, he had only just met Diya. Then why was he hurting for her?
“If that is what you want, then so be it. I will be here for six months. I know this will sound an empty promise after what Amar has done, but I will be here for you, if you need me, ever, I will be here.”
Once again she gave him her magical smile. And he knew that for the moment that had to be enough.
“I was envying Amar his Valentine’s Day wedding. What a Valentine’s Day it’s turned out to be!” Peter let out.
As he turned to look at the crowd below, a hand touched his gently. A voice whispered, “I can’t marry you just yet, but will you be my Valentine?”
And Peter knew that time no longer mattered. He had found what he came for. He had found himself.
Amar knew he should have spoken up earlier, but it was better to end things now than later. He could not give Kaitlyn up, nor was he going to face his mother and risk being forced again
Dear Auntyji
Namaste Auntyji, how are you? I have a problem I was hoping you could help me with. I am a 24-year-old lawyer. I am in love with a 36-year-old man who has been divorced for three years. He has a five-year-old son who lives with his mother. I want to marry this man, but I think my parents will be horrified if they knew I wanted to marry this guy. My mother is already looking for prospective grooms from good families for me. I have loved Udit for 2 years now, and he loves me as much, but I don’t know how to tell my parents. Should I forget about Udit and do what my parents say? I really love Udit, however, I don’t want to upset my parents, and I know they will find a good boy for me. What should I do?
Auntyji says
Namaste, my dear confused girl. Yes, I can see that you are in a predicament here. On the one hand you have love, on the other, duty. Well, I don’t need to tell you that you have to decide whether to go with Udit or not. Marriages can fail, but parents and families are always there. Hmm, this is a challenging situation. Okay, here is the best solution for this scenario. Ask Udit to visit your parents and request them for your rishta. This way, the pressure is off you completely, and if Udit is a real mard, he should be able to do this. Once he meets your parents and lets them know of his intentions, your parents can then decide whether or not to give their blessings for your shaadi. They can then give their blessings, based on what they feel about Udit, or command you never to
see him again, in which case you can go on to marry whomever they choose and you can live your life like in Kabhi. Incidentally, have you thought about what living with Udit will be like, with a ready-made child coming over on weekends, a potentially bitter and twisted churail of an ex wife and the age difference? Of course, none of these things should matter, but don’t discount them. This is your life we’re talking about, after all. Tell me how it all goes and don’t forget to invite me to your shaadi, I will be there singing and dancing with the baraatis like it’s no one’s business.
Dear Auntyji
I have recently started a new job where they serve us biscuits and tea and the kitchen is full of biscuits to eat at any time. The biscuits are lovely, like Tim Tams, Montes, Monte Carlos, Vo-vos and raspberry shortcakes. My problem is that I can’t seem to stop eating them. I eat two in the morning as soon as I get in to work, four at 10am, 2 at lunch, another three at 3pm and another one just before I go home. I have put on one kilo in one month
Seeking match for my brother, Senior Manager in Reliance Bangalore, India. 37 years/5’11”, issueless divorcee, clean shaven Sikh, extra ordinary personality, responsible, caring. Parents settled in Baroda, sister married to Army doctor, happy to migrate, caste no bar. Contact Manisha 0401 542 550
Saraswat Brahmin (Punjabi) boy, 29 years, 5’9” M.Sc Maths, B.Ed, good property in India, pure vegetarian. Looking for Australian PR / citizen girl. Caste no bar. Contact 0433 778 222 or email naresh2981@gmail.com
Palghat Brahmin Iyer, 32/5’9”, MBA, MS, pure veg, dual citizen, working as IT Operations Specialist at large Telecom at Melbourne CBD, pleasant looks, seeks bride under 30 with similar cultural background. Horoscope available. Please email kkrangan@yahoo.com or contact 0418 720 781 for more information.
Brahmin family from north India seek suitable bride for their son, handsome, fair colour, slim, never married, nonsmoker, non-drinker, broadminded, 29 years, 5’ 5”. He lives in Sydney while
Dear Auntyji
and desperately want to stop. What do you recommend I do? Shall I tell my bosses not to have these biscuits available?
Auntyji says
Well, control your feedings habits, you petu. If you remain really busy throughout the day, you won’t have an opportunity to go around thinking about food. So keep busy and avoid going into the kitchen. And remember, you’re still new to the place so don’t act as if it’s your kitchen. By the way, how do you know no one has noticed how many biscuits your shovelling down your throat? If you continue on this road, you will be seen to be the pig that you are, so stop eating those damn biscuits and learn to be more productive. You’re getting paid to work, and not to raise the share price of the biscuit company.
Dear Auntyji
My best friend Renu and I argue all the time whether Shah Rukh Khan is the better bloke or Salman Khan. What do you think?
Auntyji says Shah Rukh Khan.
My husband is the kindest and sweetest man I know. He buys me flowers and takes me to restaurants and spoils me all the time. However, when I tell my sisters how sweet he is, they tell me that he is doing that because he is feeling guilty and that he is seeing someone behind my back. I hate it when my sisters tell me this, and I don’t like it that they badmouth my husband, but they are my sisters and I can’t just ignore them. What should I do? I know my husband well enough to know that he would never do something like that. He is not false or conniving, like my sisters say. Do you have any suggestions?
Auntyji says
Hmmm, you have absolute churails for sisters, don’t you? If you believe your husband, and I would because he sounds like a good, honest man who is in love with his wife, and I would know because Uncleji is pretty much like that (hey, they might be related!), then you shouldn’t listen to those dayans. It sounds like they are simply very jealous of what your husband does for you. Are you by any chance adopted, because your sisters sound like they could be your step sisters. Either don’t talk about your husband to your sisters, or learn to ignore what they say. It’s obvious that they are simply jealous and don’t like the relationship that you have with him. Here is a pearl of wisdom for you. Don’t ever listen to what anyone else has to say if you already know what the truth is. Give your husband my regards and tell him that he is the poster boy for loving romantics everywhere.
his parents are in India, and earns well. The girl should be good looking, well educated, family oriented, and from Brahmin background. Initial contact, with profile, can be made at raj2010syd@ gmail.com
Parents of Gujarati Patel boy seek bride for their son, age 29 years, Australian citizen, IT professional, permanent job. Visit www.Bharatmatrimony.com and search for his ID G584083 to find more details or call Kesh Patel on 02 8205 8409 / 0401 548 194 to discuss further.
Australian citizen, 36 years, settled and working in Sydney as a professional employer. Seeking girl between 27 and 36, no caste bar. Please contact 0416 398 869 or for other details and photo mail me at satishsingh_2009@ yahoo.com.au
Seeking alliance for our 23-year old, 5’3” beautiful Sarswat Brahmin daughter. She is an engineering professional with strong family values. We have been settled in Sydney for 18 years. Please send your details and latest photo and horoscope at as76176@gmail.com
Seeking alliance for Sunni Muslim girl from India, 36 years, 5’3”, fair, software consultant working in USA, strong family values. Looking for Sunni Muslim boy, non-smoker, non-alcoholic and follower of Halal food. Please contact on marrylink@ymail.com with photograph and details.
Seeking suitable groom for a Tamil Brahmin girl (Kodanya/58/23 years) professionally qualified and working in Bangalore. Family well settled in India. Seeking 26-29 year old groom, qualified and match with strong cultural and family background. Please email kallvidhya@ yahoo.com with your biodata.
Seeking a professional and caring boy for a smart, MBA, professional and homely 26-year-old girl working in management in a leading private bank in India. Grandparents currently visiting Sydney. Please send details on mainirahul@gmail.com
Seeking suitable professionally qualified, Hindu, well-settled match for Indian-based Hindu girl, never married, 30 years, 160cm, practicing as an architect and interior designer in India. Please contact Shivani Baheti (elder sister) on
0421530 876 or bahetived@yahoo.com.
Sister and brother-in-law seek suitable groom for Gujarati Brahmin girl, professionally qualified. Family well settled in India. Seeking 26-29 year old, qualified match with strong cultural and family background. Please email biodata and recent pictures to Meghna.joshi@ato. gov.au or contact 0433 613 676.
Parents seek educated and wellsettled boy for Hindu Punjabi girl, IT professional, Australian citizen, born 1977, 5’ 6” slim, never married. Please send details and recent, clear photo to vnsb2009@gmail.com
Seeking alliance for our 24-year old, 5’4” beautiful Sikh daughter. She is a finance professional with strong family values. We are settled in Sydney for many years. Please send your details and photo at kuldeeponly@gmail.com
Brother seeks suitable groom for Hindu Gupta girl, professionally qualified. Family well settled in India. Seeking a 28-30 year old, professionally qualified match, with strong family values. Please send biodata and recent picture to vikjas@ gmail.com or contact 0401 318 439.
ARIES March 21–April 20
Your dreams are trying to convey a message to you. You will be able to find answers to the questions in your mind if you pay heed to your intuition. You need to be careful towards deceit in any form. You should not accept things at their face value as certain things involve deeper issues that might be hidden from your view. In such cases, you should pay attention to the voice of your subconscious mind. In a relationship reading, Tarot sees the need to resolve certain issues.
TAURUS April 21–May 21
You may feel restricted as you are not able to see anything in a clear perspective. You seem to have submitted your personal power to the challenges posed in front of you, leaving you feeling trapped in a specific situation. You are undergoing a mental conflict due to an inner crisis and therefore, you are under stress. Do not lose hope as things and situations would get sorted out in due course.
GEMINI May 22–June 23
Tarot indicates the simple union of two people in love. A good partnership or bond is suggested here. It is a time for harmony and unity. Tarot suggests that matters can be healed and peace can be restored. This month represents love, passion, friendship, affinity, union, sympathy and harmony. There is a spiritual connection where there is an equal partnership which benefits both the parties. In a relationship reading, Tarot foresees marriage, or a deeper commitment.
CANCER June 23–July 22
Tarot indicates a time when your actions revolve around emotions and a sense of fulfilment and peace. This month your focus is likely to be on the awakening of new thoughts concerning your inner desires. You may undergo psychic development leading to heightened intuition. Let yourself be spiritually free. Things look promising for a new relationship. You will benefit by connecting to life through feelings.
LEO July 23–August 23
Your focus is likely to be on family matters and relationships. You will encounter a friendly and loving person who is not only popular in company, but also clever in business and works with drive and enthusiasm. This person may bring you success in business. You are advised to adopt such qualities yourself. You are likely to achieve success through inner strength. Tarot suggests a good business proposal. Anything to do with property or security is well favoured.
You are likely to find yourself emotionally satisfied as far as relationships are concerned. The card for you represents friendship, happiness, contentment of the heart and love. Your family situation is likely to be congenial, where the entire family is committed towards deep rooted values, leading to inner contentment. You are in a work environment where team work is very important for achieving common goals. Collaboration is the key to your success.
LIBRA September 23 – October 23
Your focus is likely to be on circumstances concerning legalities and partnerships. You are likely to receive positive advice at this point of time. You need to be decisive and take responsibility for your actions. You need a balanced approach to resolve any problems that confront you. You are likely to reap what you have sown. The future is yours to make, based on your present decisions. Honesty with self and the partner is the keyword.
SCORPIO October 24–November 22
This month your focus is likely to be on your ambitions. Tarot indicates that you will have a favourable encounter with an assertive person who will support you during a difficult time. He/ she will be good looking, well built, honest and kind. He/she will be a mature person who is good with people. He/she will be a helpful sort of a person, though he/she may not be emotionally involved in the situation. Tarot suggests that it will be beneficial for you to you adopt the above-mentioned qualities. You will do well in a career in sales or in any goal-oriented position.
SAGITTARIUS November 23–December 21
There is a focus on strength in opposition. Suspension of events is indicated. This period of delay should be used productively to reassess the line of action for the future. It is a card that tells you to complete a few of the incomplete projects in your life. In a relationship reading, it describes a cautious attitude towards the partner or relationships in general. You have perhaps been hurt by your partner or are yet to come to terms with your past relationships, and in turn are not able to commit yourself fully to the present one
CAPRICORN December 22–January 19
You realise that you can no longer stay away from issues and are required to face your problems and responsibilities. There is a conflict in the air that may have brought about the worst side of everyone involved. You need to be careful of someone who can create trouble. You have to avoid arguments, for your reputation may be at stake. The end result is not likely to give anyone much happiness. You should be careful, taking up only as much responsibility as you can cope with
AQUARIUS January 20–February 18
Your focus this month is on aspirations and ambitions. You may come across a sensitive person who would be able to give sound business advice as he/she would be intuitive about people. He/she will be trustworthy and would sincerely work towards the general good. His/her practicality and communicativeness would get him/her through situations and people. Tarot signifies security in money and status. You are likely to be helped by such a person. You need to trust his/her abilities. You can be successful through practical application of your ideas.
You need to focus on making important decisions. Tarot indicates changes of some kind, which may be to do with residence or job and could either be temporary or permanent. You could be bored with life and might feel the need for a change. The card for you represents flight, emigration or a new relationship. It is good to be fearless, but be careful and avoid being rash and impulsive. You are likely to find yourself being forthright, positive and eager for action
“Never again!” Neil Nitin Mukesh shudders at the very thought of the way he was forced to misbehave on stage with Shah Rukh Khan, by King Khan himself. Trust Shah Rukh to espouse irreverence. But Neil hasn’t been able to get over it, the good little boy! It all happened at the Filmfare awards, when
co-hosts Shah Rukh and Saif Ali Khan decided to take on Neil on stage, riling him endlessly. The final straw was the digs that Shah Rukh took at Neil’s name.
“Neil,” said Shah Rukh, “Why do you have three first names and no surname? My name is Khan. Saif too is a Khan. How come you have no last name?”
Apparently, Neil couldn’t take the slight to his family name. He not-so-gently reminded SRK that he ought to restrain himself because his, Neil’s, father was sitting in the audience. And then, horror of horrors, he told Shah Rukh to just shut up. The auditorium fell into a state of uncomfortable silence….
Recalling the incident with an uncomfortable laugh, Neil said: “I’m still shaking. Imagine me telling Shah Rukh Khan to shut up! But I did. That isn’t all. At the end of the show I walked up to Shah Rukh and Saif and broke eggs on their heads.”
But being Bollywood, it was all part of an act.
“It was all planned by Shah Rukh sir. I was told by the organisers, the Moranis, from
beforehand that I was supposed to be part of Shah Rukh’s act. I was supposed to reach early and rehearse for it. But as luck would have it, I got to the venue only in time for a quick briefing on what I had to do,” revealed the still-nervous Neil.
Shah Rukh walked up to Neil and quickly told him the plan on stage.
Neil was aghast. “How could I say shut up to Shah Rukh Khan? I’ve never been rude even to my driver. But he insisted. He also
told me to throw eggs at him and Saif at the end of the show. I begged and pleaded to spare me. But Shah Rukh didn’t listen.”
Neil did his own on-the-spot improvisation on stage to spare himself the aggravated agony. “Instead of throwing the eggs I walked up to Saif and Shah Rukh and broke the eggs on their heads. How could I throw eggs at them? Their fans would never forgive me!”
After the act Neil’s shocked father has still
(Find the answer under Caption Contest)
not forgiven his son, although he has been told it was all in jest. Actresses Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif were also outraged by the act. Said Neil, “Bipasha rushed to me and said if it was an act then it was really scary. Katrina stormed up to me after the show and told me to apologize to Shah Rukh, at once.” Guess the well-behaved Neil showed Bollywood his mischievous side for once, but the trauma will take a while to go away. Poor Neil!
Juhi Chawla, the still-vivacious diva of yesteryears is hoping that Lady Luck smiles on her team, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the third edition of the Indian Premier League.
“The team management is working very hard both on and off the field and we are confident of doing well. We just need luck,” said Juhi, who co-owns the team. She regretted not being present during the last IPL matches, but admitted, “I could not hold my tears when I saw my team losing even after playing well. With a bit of luck we could have won those matches last season.”
She now intends to attend every KKK match and with Sourav Ganguly back as the skipper, Juhi hopes the local favourite would add zing to the side.
“We are proud of Dada. He has the captain’s luck and he is a fighting cricketer and hope he brings that dash to the team,” Juhi said.
KKR boys will now be seen sporting new purple jerseys. “Going with the luck factor we have changed the black colour of our jerseys to purple and hope that gives us a purple patch,” she said.
So will the colour purple make a difference? Let’s wait and see….
Bipasha Basu and Rocky S have known each other for over a decade and the designer says she looks perfect in a sari, contrary to the popular view that only western outfits suit her. And he went all the way to Kolkata to buy saris for the actress to wear in a forthcoming film.
“People feel that she looks good only in western outfits. That’s not true. She is a very simple girl who looks good in everything. Personally, I feel she looks perfect in a sari because she is a very traditional girl and a sari reflects that trait,” said Rocky in an interview. The actress walked the ramp for him recently in a stunning yellow and beige sari. Rocky is also working with Bipasha in director Priyadarshan’s untitled movie in which the actress plays a middle-class Bengali woman.
“You will see Bipasha in big bindis and beautiful saris. I had to go all the way to Kolkata to purchase saris for her,” he said. “Bipasha is a Bengali girl and she has sharp Bengali features...So my task wasn’t difficult and I didn’t have to do much. But I can tell you one thing that the audience will love her in the movie and this look. She is looking simply beautiful,” Rocky said. He has also designed for the actress in upcoming movie Lamhaa in which she plays a Kashmiri girl. Well, when it comes to beautiful Bips, we have to agree with Rocky…she looks gorgeous in everything!
Acclaimed Bollywood actress Kajol who is married to actor Ajay Devgan for 11 years now, was voted the favourite ‘ (daughter-in law) in a poll conducted by matrimonial site shaadi.com. As part of the International Women’s Day celebrations, shaadi.com conducted a poll in which 250,000 women participated.
In the poll, 43.08 percent women said
Kajol was their favourite Bollywood daughter-in-law. Besides Kajol, others vying for the position were Aishwarya Rai, Gauri Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Malaika Arora, Twinkle Khanna and Kiran Rao.
“The women’s day poll is part of the constant research that shaadi.com conducts in its attempt to gauge the preferences of its members. The results show that today the women are looking to be more independent and are willing to adopt stronger roles in their life. They believe in themselves and aspire to emulate top achievers in their field,” said Gourav Rakshit, business head, shaadi. com.
A good description of Kajol, don’t you think? Wonder if her mum-in-law agrees….
The young protagonist of his film Thanks Maa is a Salman Khan fan and the movie has several posters of the actor as well. Now director Irfan Kamal is very keen that Salman watch his film as he is so important to the theme. “In fact Salman plays a very important role in the film... Shams Patel’s character is a big fan and we see posters of Salman’s films like Tere Naam and Saawariya throughout the film. Considering how important Salman is to the theme, I badly wanted to show my film to him. But he is too busy,” said Irfan ruefully.
The director struggled for more than three years to put together his story of a street kid’s search for an infant’s mother. And his young lead actor won the best child artist National Award for his performance in Thanks Maa
“When I wrote Thanks Maa, the first person I narrated it to was Salman. He was very excited about the film then. I don’t know what happened after that. Salman’s father Salim Khan Saab has seen the film. But not Salman,” the director said. Shams, the lead actor, is a fan of the star in real life and he too wants Salman to watch his film.
“I play Salman’s fan in the film and I’m his biggest fan in real life. I really want him to watch the film,” said Shams. Considering Irfan is the son of legendary choreographer
the 1960s and ‘70s dance to his tunes, the least he expected was the bigwigs of the industry to take note of the film. Trying not to sound bitter Irfan said, “I’ve knocked on every A-lister’s door in our industry. Let alone help my small film in reaching out to the audience no-one has even agreed to see my film except Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar and David Dhawan. But it’s ok. I’m not bitter. Of course my father was a very important part of this film industry. But why should I be granted any favours because of my father? I want my film to be judged on its own merits. But for that to happen people have to watch the film,” he added. So get off your high horse, Sallu, and give the flick a break. After all, you’re still the star by proxy.
Akshay Kumar surely knows how to balance his personal and professional life - he used his free time while shooting for new movie Patiala House playing cricket with son Aarav.
“Whenever he had any free time during his shoots he would play cricket and often Aarav would participate in the game. And Aarav would always beat Akshay,” said a source. An expert at martial arts and French sport Parkour, Akshay has also started training Aarav in these.
“Aarav can even climb walls like a pro and can do the somersaults even though he’s just nine years old... In fact, he’s getting better by the day even in martial arts,” added the source.
Directed by Nikhil Advani, Patiala House also stars Anushka Sharma and Rishi Kapoor. Sounds like Aarav’s a real chip off the old Akshay!
Actress-anchor Mandira Bedi’s waist is shrinking by the day and she is looking her fittest ever, but she says she is now ready to “experience the joys of motherhood”.
“Koshish jaari hai (attempts are on),” Mandira, who tied the knot with filmmaker Raj Kaushal in 1999, quipped on being asked about when she is planning to go the family way. “I am totally ready to experience the joys of motherhood and I am mentally geared up for it. In my head, I am ready for it. The sooner it happens, the better,” added the 37-year-old. However, the actress admits that handling a child and managing her professional life simultaneously would not be easy for her as she doesn’t have her family in Mumbai. “It (managing a child) will become a little difficult for me as I don’t have a lot of family support in Mumbai. My parents live in Delhi and my in-laws stay in the US,” she said.
These days, Mandira’s busy with a lot of different projects. “I am doing a lot of theatre. I am involved with two plays - one of them will be staged for the 151st time soon and the other has had three shows,” she said. “Also the cricket season is here, so I am doing corporate shows and I will be associated with the IPL (Indian Premier League) in a way I haven’t been before. I can’t reveal much about it. But yes, IPL will be taking up the next month and a half of my life,” said Mandira.
As for her absence from the Bollywood scene, she said, “Filmmakers don’t know what to do with me. With my short hair, they don’t know whether to cast me as a man or woman. No, jokes apart, they either offer me item numbers or sister’s roles or a lead with some inconspicuous banner - none of which is what I want to do. So I am just waiting and keeping myself busy.”
Well, good luck with your baby making, Mandira, and you can bet a baby will keep you busy, indeed!
Kangana Ranaut and Karan Johar?
Last issue Caption Contest winning entry
What is the chitchat between Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra?
Salman: Hmm nice legs… Priyanka (through clenched teeth and fake smile): Shut up and finish this act so I can go home.
Supriya Menon Supriya wins one free ticket to new Hindi film Teen Patti.
Some other good ones
Salman: Kya mujhse shaadi karogi ?
Priyanka: Better start a hunt for my Duplicate !
Nitin Dang
Salman: Hey Priyanka, this is only professional. Because Katrina is shooting overseas and I have been invited to a strictly couples only party, I am taking you along. After the party, we go our separate ways.
Raj SanejaFilm: KarthikCallingKarthik
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Deepika Padukone
Director: Vijay Lalvani
Desolation is a distant cousin to suburban seclusion. And Karthik Calling Karthik is an interesting if flawed fable of the damned.
The protagonist is Karthik (Farhan Akhtar), so timid he could merge into the woodwork of his office if only the decor was not so much glass.
Karthik is bullied by his boss (Ram Kumar), sniggered at by his smarter colleagues and absentmindedly ignored by the beauty in the workplace whom Karthik gazes at sideways and writes scores of unsent e-mails to. She’s the unattainable beauty.
This is the world of ‘Rocket Singh’ without the turban and the placidity. While Shimit Amin’s Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year was about an office-goer who craved for acceptance, Karthik just wants to be less unhappy in his space. It’s not too much to ask for. But who’s listening? Except a voice on the phone that sounds suspiciously like Karthik’s to his own ear.
The build-up of Karthik’s dreary world captures the claustrophobia of suburban existence without forgetting to add humour to the proceedings. The moments between Karthik and the gregarious Shonali (Deepika) have that touch of lively realism taken from lives we’ve known, lived and somewhere tried to reject. However, the dialogues between the couple try too hard to be ‘cool’.
The relationship that Karthik develops with Shonali is far outdistanced in intensity by the one that he develops with the Chinese phone set. And after a while the ‘extended monologues’ begin to lose their credibility.
But hold on. Debutant director Vijay Lalwani, selfassured and apparently fully conscious of where he’s taking his story, gives us a second-half that is gut-wrenching in its portrayal of the individual as an island.
To escape the dictatorial and tyrannical voice on
Film: HelloZindagi
Cast: Mrunmayee Lagoo, Milind Gunajee, Kitu Gidwani, Neena Gupta, Kanwaljeet
Singh; Director: Raja Unnithan
A rebellious teenage daughter Kavita (Mrunmayee Lagoo) of a traumatised couple doesn’t know what to do with her life. So she takes off on a journey away from home with a lonely, neglected but brave
the phone, Karthik buys a ticket to an unknown city which to our visual delight, turns out to be Kochi. Karthik rents a modest near-dingy room and begins life anew as a battered man seeking supreme anonymity with no telephone lines to break his selfimposed deathly stillness of existence.
The second movement of the quietly simmering plot comes to a poignant if faltering halt in a city whose tranquility the cinematographer Sanu Verghese embraces by a rejection of the urban chaos. However, the revelation on Karthik’s psychological condition surprises no one except Karthik himself, and least of all his shrink Shefali Shah.
Karthik Calling Karthik is a gripping jigsaw, piecing together a mind that plays games with itself.
The winner is destiny. The pace is consciously sluggish suggesting the deep-rooted association of a vigour-less existence with the quality of life that cities offer you in exchange for a comfortable flat in a techno-suffused surrounding.
Farhan, the life and breath of the proceedings, epitomizes urban anonymity in his body language, speech and hesitant attempts to reach out to a world that has no patience with the over-sensitive.
Farhan’s is indeed a super-confident performance as a man lacking self-confidence. The film itself doesn’t lack self-assurance. But the absence of what one may call an energetic exterior could well be mistaken by some viewers as ingrained inertia, a malaise that the film’s protagonist suffers from. Do not mistake the man for the plot.
middle-aged woman to Goa where she saves turtles... and herself.
Kavita goes home redeemed. We are not so sure about ourselves. We remain partly involved but largely distanced from this ambitious but flawed look at life through the eyes of teen rebellion.
Director Raja Unninathan has his heart in the right place. He creates a world of gossipy, sweaty parties, tacky repartees and one-night stands for Kavita. But the words sound more like replications of the emotional outbursts associated with the generation gap rather than actual situations created in a specific crisis.
A more authentic parent-child crisis would be the one in Wake Up Sid or better still the television soap Ladies Special where two very talented actors Shilpa Tulaskar and Sandeep Kulkarni played harassed parents grappling with a rebellious teenage daughter. We empathised with their helplessness.
In Hello Zindagi Neena Gupta and Kanwaljeet Singh, specially the latter, are in fine form as Kavita’s parents. But the writing constantly lets all the actors down. The one performer who manages to hold her head above the material provided is Kitu Gidwani. playing the dignified unloved but outwardly well-to-do wife, Gidwani epitomizes grace under pressure.
Her section of the film with her indifferent though not cruel husband (Amit Behl) has some interesting moments – such as when Gidwani goes into the kitchen to get coffee made by her husband and then pours it quietly down the sink.
Gidwani’s journey to Goa with the rebellious Kavita is charted with affection. Very rarely do we get to see a movie so gentle and warm about female bonding over differing generations. What Gidwani shares with the debutante Mrunmayee Lagoo echoes Jessica Tandy’s bonding with Bridget
Fonda
Except that Gidwani and the girl don’t go skinny-dipping. The blackest spot in the film is its lack of sexual energy. The characters are almost invariably frigid in their thoughts and desires. A thwarted indecisiveness runs across the narrative profile rendering the characters weak and unconvincing.
The save-the-turtles message at the end seems forced.
Nonetheless there’s enough tenderness and warmth in the relationships shared by Mrunmayee with her screen-dad Kanwaljeet and Kitu Gidwani to make the film worth a watch.
Hello Zindagi doesn’t bowl you over. But it makes you smile even when the debutant director displays that trite and selfconscious social purpose that makes the film look like a documentary on how to save teenagers and turtles when they don’t want to be saved without drowning in the attempt.
Film: Thanks Maa
Cast: Shams Patel, Amit Saxena, Ranjit Barot, Alok Nath, Raghuvir Yadav, Yateen Karyekar and Sanjay Mishra
Director: Irfan Kamal
He’s 12, homeless and he refuses to adopt the swaggering amorality of his friends on the street. They call him Municipal Ghatkopar because that’s the address where he was dumped as a child. But he prefers to be known as Salman Khan.
Strongly reminiscent of Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay and far more resonantly representative of Mumbai’s slum kids than Slumdog Millionaire, Thanks Maa is a journey into lives that were born into despair.
Without the crutches of self-pity, debutant director
Irfan Kamal enters the world of the orphaned protagonist
Municipality who on one of those routine days of scavenging, stealing and hanging around with his friends waiting for the next meal, comes across an abandoned little infant.
Before we can say ‘Hey Baby’, the narration quickly swerves away from the cute and schmaltzy aspect of findbaby-will-coochie-coo kind of feel-good cinema to show the gritty harsh reality of life on the relentless streets of Mumbai and how it toughens the tender ones. Real fast.
Irfan Kamal makes one helluva departure from convention. He cruises the crowded areas of Mumbai with an eye for stinging details. The film hints hectically at the savagely insensitive quality of life lived on the streets.
Our young hero refuses to be like the routine scum. “Main tere jaisa nahin hoon,” he tells his more street-wise pals, and sets off on a determined path to find the lost baby’s mother. It’s a heartbreaking enlightening journey undertaken by the director in a spirit of adventure, discovery and tranquility. Teeming with characters, Thanks Maa still preserves a core of stirring stillness at its centre.
Often you feel Thanks Maa is a romantic homage to the unbreakable spirit of Mumbai. But then you see the bitter and brutal truth about life on the fringes, as the young brave little hero is almost molested by the warden of the reformatory played by Alok Nath.
Thanks Maa is a tender yet ruthless look at a city that claims to have a place for everyone but somehow neglects looking after children who are vulnerable to every form of
attack on the streets.
Quite frequently we look at Mumbai through the eyes of the little boy and his companions as they encounter a gallery of weirdos and wackos...an alcoholic hospital attendant (Raghuvir Yadav), a doped-out cabbie (Sanjay Mishra), a paedophilic reformatory warden (Alok Nath), a cheesy incestuous upper class father (Yateen Karyekar), an imposing eunuch (Jalees Shrawani) who offers to take the baby out of Municipality’s shoulder... an offer the boy firmly refuses.
The young hero’s shock and dismay when he finally finds the baby’s mother are so palpable they reverberate in our hearts long after the film is over.
The film has its flaws, the most glaring being the constant struggle to keep the homeless children’s story credibly contoured on the bustling streets. In many sequences, the young actor Shams can be seen carrying a doll instead of a baby. Also, because of the inherently dramatic nature of the theme some of the characters and situations lose selfcontrol.
The jagged edges do not undermine the film’s unique and thoroughly unorthodox blend of realism and social message. While the veterans pitch in brave cameos that take the narrative forward to its heartbreaking conclusion, it’s the child actors who proudly occupy centrestage. All of them are so in-character, you wonder which came first, the slums or the camera!
Some of the editing (Amit Saxena) is uneven. But the camerawork (Ajayan Vincent) and background score (Ranjit Barot) add an extra dimension to this heartwarming tale of an orphan who won’t let another newly-born suffer his fate.
Film: Teen Patti
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ben Kingsley, R. Madhavan, Raima Sen, Sarah Mohan, Mita Vashist Director: Leena Yadav
If you can get over the ludicrousness of a distinguished mathematician, whose god is Albert Einstein and who at the end of the film gets the ‘Isaac Newton Award’ for excellence in his field, masquerading as a seedy gambler, then Teen Patti is a surprisingly skilful and audaciously complex piece of drama.
It is a tautly-scripted and brilliantly executed film on the deep-rooted link between financial ambitions and moral compromises.
Writer-director Leena Yadav gives the theme of monetary indulgence a dizzying but pinned-down spin. She speeds confidently across out-of-control lives on a college campus with the confident vision of raconteur who spins a seemingly indecipherable web of deceit, intrigue and crime.
Miraculously, Yadav’s yarn preserves its pencil-sharp edge of intrigue and wit right to the end. The story of the eccentric math-magician’s adventures takes the narrative from underground addas to highclass casinos where Professor
Venkat Subramaniam, his junior colleague Madhavan and four students convert the professor’s newly-discovered mathematical theory into hard cash on gambling tables. The plot reveals layer after layer of conspiracy until we come to the core idea.
The story unravels through an extended dialogue in Cambridge between Subramaniam and a British maths professor Perci Trachtenberg played by Bachchan and Sir Ben. Just watching the two distinguished baritones exchange notes on academia, life and their overlapping quirks is a pleasure that makes for full paisa-vasool viewing.
Alas, one of the baritones belonging to Ben Kingsley speaks in Boman Irani’s voice. And that too in Hindi! Why are the two professors huddled together in Cambridge speaking to each other in a language that suggests no tenability except a practical desire to make itself intelligible to Hind-speaking Indian?
Teen Patti targets its cerebral entertainment quotient at an audience that is willing to expand, and not suspend its disbelief. The proceedings charted by the intricate plot take the characters belonging to three generations through a smoky, compromised kingdom of the devil and the damned.
There’s a touch of Faustian wickedness in the way the old professor, his subordinate colleague and their four brightest students embrace hedonism. The parameters of what ‘is’ and what ‘should be’ are almost blurred beyond redemption.
The film gets its moral colour and texture from the technicians who seem to know the exact shades needed.
The death of one of the students (debutant Siddharth Kher) signals the redemptive overture in the plot.
Siddharth’s ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ act with his girlfriend (Shradha Kapoor) is indicative of the places that youngsters want to visit in their fantasies. The nightmare is just a hop away from the dream.
From the mathematical and magical to the murky and immoral, Leena Yadav exercises supreme control over the goings-on. At any given moment the narrative is susceptible to collapse like a house of cards. But Yadav shows a grip over her characters’ dithering conscience.
Aseem Bajaj’s camera work is exquisite in delicate shades.
The camera knows where it has to go and slips in quietly to capture a world that has lost its plot.
The songs and dances are edited with an eye for elegant economy. This director means business. Many sequences such as the one where Madhavan says goodbye to his screen girlfriend Raima Sen are shot to suggest the edginess of a world that could topple over anytime.
Presiding over this world of infinite infamy is Bachchan. He portrays the ill-understood proclivities of the academic genius with a profound absence of brouhaha. Even as the world outside falls apart, Bachchan creates an unspoilt inner world for his character.
As for Sir Ben, the British actor’s clipped tone is gone. What remains is half a performance... Good enough.
Madhavan pitches in a bravura act with lots of furtive, nervous close-ups indicating a moral breach that could destroy the character any moment. The four newcomers are pleasant enough in the spaces provided for them. But given how well each of their character is written, none of them goes beyond the script’s requirements.
A pity. Because the film quite often transcends the written word to go into the realm of the abstract where the existential joys of mathematics meet more earthly pleasures. Surprisingly ingenious, Teen Patti is not so much about the cards that are dealt on the table as the ones that destiny doles
Subhash K Jha, IANS
SYDNEY OPENING NIGHT
Date: 12 March 2010
Time: 6:30 pm
Venue: Hoyts Cinema Paris, Entertainment Quarter
TICKET PRICE: $30 only
Indian finger food included in ticket price!
