Namaste Julia, G'dayTony

The India Australia Friendship Fair packs in some wonderful surprises this year

L_ .. 1 RAJNI ANAND

,. ~ LUTHRA

Itwas a star- studded affair at India Fair t his year, with the Prime Jvlin.is ter Julia Gillard attending, along side Leader of the Opposition Ton)TAbbott, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell, state Opposition leader John Robertson, and a host of other dignitaries.

The India Australia Friendship Fair, organised by the Uni ted Indian Associations Inc (l JIA) commemorates India's Independence Day, and denotes the gathering of the 'clan' for a da y- long event of food and festivity. Community businesses reach our to the masses with special promotions even as kha1111pcena and /la(lth-gana go o n.

Ir was a beautifully warm winter day as the Sydney Olympic Park's Athletic Cenu·e opened its gates to the Indian community for the day.

This time round, travel agents, accountants, migration agents, educational institutions, entertainment channels, sp irin1al organisatio ns, all made their presence known.

Jvfadame Tussaud's wax museum brought out go rgeous Kareena Kapoor; candidates in the upcoming local council elections s hook as many hands as they could; portrait photographer Rajesh Kwii ar broke a world record by taking over 1000 portraits, and the hand -crafted wooden temples tugged at the spiritual side hidden in every heart.

The Australian Indian Medical Graduates Association (AIMGA) for the seventh successive year, conducted c o mplimentary b lood pressure, blood sugar, height and weight checks, detecting several cases of diabetes, unstable diabetes, h ypertension and related tlisorders, and sugges ting follow- up treamient.

But, no surprises, it was die food stalls that did the best business (and why not - the jalebis were fresh, die chaal was crunchy, the chhole bhat11re finger- licking good and the dosas divine ).

The most noise, however, was made by the travel companies, as d1ey brought along d1eir own entertainment. At one point during the formal proceedings, a UIA official was sent bmmding off the stage to a stall nearby to tell them to cone down those dhols.

\Xfere mm1bers down diis year from last year? Tr certainl y seemed so; in anodier o b se rvation, ir

UIA ropes in high -powered attendees for this year's India Fair appeared chat the large mass of attendees were die relatively newer arrivals, with older settlers preferring co stay away.

Still, the star chief g uests made up for it all. Julia Gillard and Ton y Abbott, Barry O'Farrell and John Robertson, all did the rornid of die stalls, checking om the ware as well as meeting and greeting peop le and happil y posing for picrures Ms Gillard's first srop was at the henna stall (mehendi artist Zeenat remained on cloud nh1e all day after doodling o n die prime ministerial palm as one of her earliest jobs of the day). The PM also checked om the Indian fashions on display.

In the formal proceedings, UIA President Amari.nder Bajwa introduced the community well to d1e dignitaries, listing the ways in which we bave grown in recent times. He mooted the idea of a ''Little India" prec inct io the Harri s Park area which would not only strengthen the communi ty but also increase tourism. He a lso urged the government to support the community w ith mo re grams, stating quite pointedly that the previous government had been more forthcoming in this regard.

He looked dapper in his bm1dh-grJI", and should perhaps have shown it off more by speaking centrestage rather dian disappearing behind the lectern on one corner of the stage.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, like other speakers after her, chose co keep no barriers between herself and the people. L ooking fetching in her embroidered silk scarf, she declared to much applause diat she was die first prime minister ro join the community on the occasion. Listing all the areas in which India and Australia have close connections, including now the sale of uraiuLmi, she also announced that she would be visiting Indi a before year-end.

Tony Abbott, perhaps slightly more chari s matic on dus occasion, fi.rsdy wished India on its anniversary of Independence (a tiny derail that seemed to have missed the PM's attention). Abbott found himself constaiid y applauded, such as when he remembered lus own visit co as a 23 -year-old: he travelled co Mw11bai, Rajasthaii, Delhi , Kashmir, he recalled, and in Bihar, he ~pent some six weeks widi the Australian Jesuit mission.

His message of support co Dilip Chopra, "a very old friend of mine" , and for whom he had secured citizenship in one of his first jobs as an MP, was clearly no ted by d1e community: no doubt it will provide a boos t co Dilip's campaign for reelection as a Hornsby councillor in die upconung local council elections.

To the communi ty, Abbott's words of encouragement were welcome: "Indian -born people are great citizens of Australia. No commrnury better exemplifies Bob l\1Ienzies' great phrase "lifters, not leaoers". The Indiaiis are Iifting Australia co the heights we all want to achieve".

He concluded, " Thi s is not just an Indian / Australian occasion Days like today typify modern Australia and as I look around me I see great Australian people".

S\Y/ Premier Barry O'Farrell began hi s address wid1 a polite and friendl y 'Namaste', and th en ler it slip that he knew his absence l ast year was duly noted by d1e community. He went o n to thank India.ii Australians for th eir contributions in various secrors of endeavour, and also annorn1ced an India trip in October

Biren Nanda, die new Indian High Comnussioner, sounded rather like the o ld school principal from back home when he remembered on diis occasion "the sacrifices of our freedom figh ters". In a speech that was clearly directed cowards the personalities seated behind him on stage, he rattled off some stats about India 's incred ible growth, and t he possibilities for India to learn fro m the best practices of other developed countries like Australia.

Saclly, he had no message for the Indian community here ln a wonderful new itutiative this year, a parade of member o rganisations ,vas held which wear off rather well. The smart Mararhi contingent clearly stole the thunder, even from di e hhangmpmv11de Ptmjabis! Organisers later revealed d1at they have bigger plans for the parade, perhaps co take it mainstream, much like New York's lndia Da)' Parade down Manhattan's Madison Avenue. The culnu:al program was predictable, although d1e attempts to m ove away from Bollywood fare were commendable. Io o ne such effort, yo w1g Mili D akshin, a ta lented artist, created a painting live on stage accompanied co music. Mili completed her painting of Karnataka's famed Jog Falls in 7 minutes Aar. She had hoped to present her work to the PM, but was disappointed nor to be able to.

Next tin1e, Mili!

Earlier in the day, in what was another first at die India Fair, a citizenship ceremony was o rganised at the venue with Greenway ]\,Jl) l'vfichelle Rowland offic iating.

\Y/ith fireworks co fini sh off, it turned out co be quite a day For next ye ar though, d,e organisers will need to work harder to attract larger numbers, especiall y the established co mmunity (who will probably return if new initiatives like the parade are advertised weU beforehand)

Bringing in mainstream audiences could be another challenge.

Coverpic: H enna artist Zeen a t ('w,V\\:zenacar t. com.au) applies a mehendi design Cor PM JLtli a Gillard (Ph om: J\P )