
3 minute read
Jai Bharat, Jai Australia…. Jai jawani?
from 2012-08 Sydney (2)
by Indian Link
individuals during the evening. For this, perhaps the organisers need to live up to their motto of transparency and clarity in all their actions and spend an adequate amount of time in getting this process right as many of the recipients of these awards do in serving the community.
With DJ Jogia taking centre stage for an evening of dancing and singing, it turned out to be a wonderful celebration of India’s 65th Independence Day. All credit to the CIA team of Subba Rao Varigonda, Balu Vijay, Praful Desai, Shail Wadwa, Jaspreet Chopra, Keyur Desai, Rakesh Puri and Tony Colaco.
Pawan Luthra
Fledgling organisation INDAUS celebrates Independence Day with an appeal to Indian youth to join their ranks
The Indian Australian Association of NSW (INDAUS) is the newest Indian association in NSW. For its inaugural function, it decided to celebrate India’s Independence Day on August 15, instead of on the preceding or following weekend as is common in Australia. On the night of August 15, the Parravilla Function Centre was host to over 300 people, an indication of the growth of the community and their desire to be a part of the celebrations. While the attendance was laudable, the organisation also allowed all attendees to participate for free, encouraging more people to join in.
INDAUS is headed by the irrepressible Yadu Singh, who initiated the organisation after a public parting from another Indian-Australian association, the Council of Indian Australians. Yadu, wearing his heart on his sleeve as usual, was publicly vocal in his comments of “branch stacking” and the proverbial “knives in the back” as his motivation to entice more youth into INDAUS, so that the politics of the older generation does not filter through the ranks.
Joining him on the management committee are Stanley D’Cruz and Gurdeep Singh as Vice Presidents, Anagan Babu and Gaurav Nirwal in the role of Secretaries, with Anil Sharma and Vinod Elte as Treasurers.
Attending the festivities at the Independence Day event were personalities from both side of politics in NSW, with the Liberals represented by Victor Dominello, Minister for Citizenship and Communities; Matt Kean; Geoff Lee; David Clarke and Kevin Connolly while the NSW Opposition leader John Robertson flew the Labor flag. Also present was Community Relation Commissions Chair, Stepan Kerkyasharian.
While the overall flow of the evening was patchy with some technical glitches, the audiences were more than enthralled by some good speeches from the main guests. Jai Bharat and Jai Australia were common themes in the addresses. Yadu Singh, while welcoming guests, stressed on the importance of the local Indian community, especially as their numbers are growing in NSW.
“Singh’ is the number one surname in Blacktown,” he reminded Mr Robertson, who represents that electorate. Singh also spoke about the average age of the Indian migrant being less than 35 years, emphasising that his “desire is for INDAUS to have members who are less than 40!”
Continuing the theme of Singhdominated surnames in Blacktown, Minister Dominello encouraged the Labor leader to have a name change to John ‘Robertsingh’, raising a laugh from the attendees. As he warmed to the theme of the evening, the minister spoke about his travels to India and how he was overawed by the beautiful, rich tapestry of culture present in the country. He also acknowledged the wonderful multiculturalism of Australia and India, and urged those present to celebrate events that bring us together.
Opposition leader John Robertson spoke about the contribution of Gandhi to India’s independence struggle and asked those present to remember the sacrifices made by many as they fought for India’s independence.
Stepan Kerkyasharian acknowledged the contribution of the local community in Australia to the mainstream, and complimented the community for the vigour they brought with them to this, their new country.
Visiting from Melbourne was Vasan Srinivasan, President of The Federation of Indian Association of Victoria (FIAV), who urged the local community to get more involved in local politics.
“Whatever your belief, Labor or Liberal, do join some group and we can then move forward as a community,” he thundered. It was an overall enjoyable evening organised by this new organisation whose motto is, ‘Service with Integrity’. It was good to hear patriotic Indian songs from films of the ‘60s and ‘70s like Upkar and Purab aur Paschim; however what was missing for the younger crowd was the Chak de genre of songs to which they connect. After all, isn’t this the demographic INDAUS claims it wants to attract?
Pawan Luthra