Love and longing in a foreign land

First ever Tamil movie filmed in Australia finds an appreciative and receptive audience

The message of the movie is that mingling with other cultures does not mean we have to give up our own, he adds been completed in Australia.

There are two songs, sung by famous Indian singers Sujatha and Unni Krishnan. The music is by Kavi Periyathambi, a Chennai based music director.

Eelan Elanko has waited a long time for this moment, four long years spent wondering if his baby would ever see the light of day. The wait was finally over when his film, Iniyavale Kaathirupen (Sweetheart, I will wait for you), the first Tamil film to be made in Australia, premiered at Reading Cinemas, Auburn on October 6.

The Sydney-based film-maker is a man of many avatars, as far as his film is concerned. He has written the screenplay, handled direction and camera, as well as editing and other technical aspects. He has also played an important character in the film, although he says he is happier behind the camera.

The story revolves around the cultural challenges faced by two Australian Tamil families after migrating to a new country. What seems at first like a simple love story between Thana (played by Dinesh Sivarajah) and Pavi (played by Niloja Loganathan), acquires a twist as the movie progresses and viewers realize that both characters have had a stormy past.

Talking about the film, Elanko says, “It is not a one hundred percent love story; it is a story of two separated families. This is something that is actually happening in Australia, there are many similar stories among people here. I don’t want to reveal too much of the story, you should watch the film.” The message of the movie is that mingling with other cultures does not mean we have to give up our own, he adds.

The film has been shot mostly around Sydney and features many Australian Tamil actors. Except for the re-recording which was done in Chennai, the rest of the film has

One of Elanko’s biggest challenges was the dearth of actors for his movie. “Finding artists had been a challenge for us as our community probably doesn’t look at the film industry from an artistic point of view,” he admits. Not many people readily came forward to act in the movie, but he finally managed to find his artists in the media industry.

Inspired by A Raghunathan who made the first cinemascope Tamil movie in Sri Lanka, Elanko started making the film in 2009.

Raghunathan plays a prominent role in the movie and travelled all the way from France for the shooting. Finally after many hurdles, shooting commenced, but after 3 months all work on the film was stalled when the war in Sri Lanka commenced.

Elanko was only able to resume shooting in 2011 and faced difficulties in rescheduling his actors, who were busy with their own lives. However, he managed to complete filming and editing and is now waiting for the audience’s reaction to the movie, a culmination of many years of effort.

The entire movie has been made on a budget of $100,000 and is produced by Amma Creations, Elanko’s own production company. He waited for a long time to find a producer, but finally decided to produce the film himself. “We are not going to blame anyone for not coming forward to produce as we didn’t have any samples of our creativity,” he says graciously.

Elanko is enthusiastic about the generous community support he has received for his film. With a very low budget for publicity, most of it has been through word- of mouth. All the Tamil radio channels in Sydney have come forward to interview him and the Tamil magazines have handsomely brought Iniyavale Kaathirupen to the attention of the public. As well, GTV, a local Tamil channel has been running the trailer for a while, and has interviewed Elanko. Social networking site Facebook has been a big help too, and Elanko says, “Almost all Tamilians in Australia know about this movie by now.”

This certainly seems to be true, as one of the premiering four shows was fully booked. The movie will screen in Melbourne too.

Born in Sri Lanka, Elanko spent 15 years in India before moving to New Zealand to complete a Degree in Multimedia. He moved with his family to Australia in 2004, and currently resides in Sydney. The father of two also owns another company that makes videos and TV commercials.

“It has been a lot of hard work: it was almost like having another baby, only this one took four years instead of nine months,” says his wife Subashini, who is also his marketing manager.

She is very appreciative of their children saying, “They do understand that we are doing something important and may not be able to spend time with them like other parents. They have been very cooperative and I am very thankful for that.” Elanko’s son

Elanko was only able to resume shooting in 2011 and faced difficulties in rescheduling his actors, who were busy with their own lives.

Sathyan also plays a small role in the film.

Elanko does not want to stop here; he already has plans for two movies in the pipeline. One will be a short film about the war in Sri Lanka and the other will be a film in English. He hopes more young people come forward and contact him for his next project.

“Many of us feel that making a film is something we can only imagine. But if you have the right skills and ability, you should not keep waiting for funds. There are so many different ways we can get funding, especially in Australia,” he says enthusiastically.

Good luck to Elanko and his new film: let’s hope it finds an appreciative audience in Australia

UniVA lUE Const RUC tion Engin EER ing Pty ltd dE sign A nd B U ild this is a sydney based company with branches in Brisbane and gold Coast with very competitive prices.

ACN: 131 425 968

Builders of Domestic Homes Multi Unit Dwellings

Commercial and Industrial Including Drs. Surgery

174 Enmore Road, Enmore 2042

A.Jamal 0410 326 261 jamala33@yahoo.com.au

Peter Bilowol 0413 414 710 (Contact time 4pm-8pm)

India-Pakistan border trade may see a boom

The Attari-Wagah international land border between India and Pakistan in Punjab has been witness to two wars and has troopers guarding it round the clock, but things could change for the better in 2013 as trade through the crossing is set to expand exponentially.

Pakistan has agreed to allow trading of up to 6,000 items from the current 137 via the land border route. This means that trade between both countries could go up by at least five times in the next three years.

“Export from the Attari-Wagah border currently stands at Rs.2 billion ($44.5 million). It will rise to Rs.10 billion ($222 million) in three years and Punjab has to be prepared to reap the benefits to the fullest,” Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said in Amritsar recently.

The modernised integrated check post (ICP) at Attari, on the Indian side, which has the feel of an international airport, is ready to tackle the higher volume of traffic as more items are traded through the land route. The state-of-the-art ICP, spread over nearly 120 acres and built at a cost of Rs.1.5 billion ($33 million), has dedicated terminals for cargo and passengers. It was inaugurated in April.

Modalities for allowing trade of more items will be worked out during Badal’s proposed trip to Pakistan in November with a delegation of industry captains.

Badal said Punjab Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh had recently visited Islamabad and “the Pakistan government had agreed to allow export of 6,000 items through the land border route”.

He said Pakistan had decided to also allow export of equivalent items through the Karachi port.

The check post is around 30 km from Amritsar in India and 20 km from Lahore in Pakistan. Both cities are major trading centres.

With enhanced trade, the cost of the items the neighbours import from each other is likely to fall considerably.

Most of the trade between India and Pakistan is currently done through the Mumbai and Karachi ports - pushing up costs and eating up time due to shipping.

“Till now, only 137 items are allowed for trade through the land border. Costs will go down and goods will be traded faster if more items are allowed,” said Gunbir Singh of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

In July, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had said that trade through the land border would soon be allowed through containers instead of sacks and gunny bags.

Both the countries had allowed restricted entry of trucks to carry goods in October 2007.

Pakistan also took out a number of items from the negative list in March and assured India of granting most favoured nation (MFN) status by the year-end.

India currently exports vegetables, fruit and livestock to Pakistan and imports cement, gypsum, dry fruits and other items from the neighbour.

The ICP is located about 300 metres from the zero line. Trucks from both sides do the loading and unloading there.

Officials of the Department of Border Management said the check post had a dedicated cargo area of 4,700 square metres. It also has an area of 55,000 square metres for the parking of trucks.

India’s first glass mosque - in Shillong

India now has its first glass mosque - in the country’s northeast.

Madina Masjid, an imposing and resplendent structure of glass dome and glass minarets, formally opened doors to devotees recently in Meghalaya’s capital.

“It is an architectural marvel,” Congress legislator Sayeedullah Nongrum, who helped in the mosque’s construction, said.

“It took us one and a half years to complete the only glass mosque in India and the largest one in the northeastern region,” said Nongrum, who is also general secretary of the Shillong Muslim Union (SMU).

The four-storey building - 120 feet high and 61 feet wide -- stands inside an Idgah Complex in the city’s Lahan area and is close to the garrison grounds along the Umshyrpi river. At night, the mosque’s glasswork glows and glitters.

The mosque houses a new orphanage named Meherba, a library and a ‘markaz’-- an Islamic theological institute.

Nongrum said the new theological institute would impart Islamic teachings and the library there would have books on comparative religious studies.

Madina Masjid has a capacity of around 2,000 people and has separate space for women to offer prayers.

“This place will be open for everyone, but one should maintain the mosque’s sanctity,” Nongrum said, adding that the mosque was set to become a tourist attraction.

Around Rs.2 crore was spent on the building, with funding from SMU and wellwishers, he said.

Nongrum said most of the people who built the mosque were Hindus.

The mosque was completed in July and SMU will maintain it.

Nongrum said 51 boys and girls are already in an orphanage in the complex and go to a primary school in the Idgah complex established in 1942. The complex also has a minority co-educational institution, Umshyrpi College, set up in 1994.

In 2008, the Idgah was the first in the region to open doors to women devotees.

“I have seen Muslim women offering prayers with great difficulty in the absence of space and privacy, especially while at work or out of home.

“When our women go to market, which is considered to be the worst place for a Muslim women under Sharia, we men do not object. So, why can’t women go to a ‘masjid’ and offer prayers? Why fanatics object to it?” he said.

“I don’t believe in the interpretation of fanatics. ‘Purdah’ means inner shyness of women. If the shyness is retained, she can go anywhere. There’s nothing forbidden in going to a place and offering prayer.

The Shillong Muslim Union was formed in 1905 in erstwhile East Bengal, which stretched from Siliguri to Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong to Dibrugarh. After India’s partition in 1947, SMU narrowed down its activities to Assam. Since Meghalaya’s formation in 1972, its activities have been limited to the state.

India has about 165 million Muslims, the third largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan.

IAF to bolster electronic warfare capacity

With cyber security emerging as a top national security challenge, the Indian Air Force recently began a three-day air commanders’ meet to focus on bolstering the country’s electronic warfare capabilities.

The commanders of the operational, training and maintenance commands of the IAF gathered in New Delhi at the Vayu Bhawan Air Headquarters to participate in the three-day bi-annual conference focussing on electronic warfare and support systems. Inaugurating the conference, the IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne, said the IAF was passing through “challenging” times and stressed that it will enhance its operational capabilities and security.

“The IAF is going through a very busy and a challenging period and our focus now, at all times must be on three priority areas - operational capability, infrastructure and security, especially in view of new inductions in the force’s inventory,” he said.

The meeting will conduct “a thorough review of the external and internal security situation, as also the ramifications in the next two years,” the defence ministry said.

India is looking at bolstering its cyber security capabilities in a major way with a new initiative being planned to train around 500,000 cyber warriors in the next five years.

During the conference the commanders discussed key issues relating to operations, maintenance, infrastructure development, cyber Security and most importantly, human resource development issues relating to the training of air warriors.

The worsening security situation in India’s neighbourhood has triggered anxieties in the country’s defence establishment.

“The present times are both interesting and challenging. The deteriorating security situation in the neighbourhood and its frequent violent manifestations are a matter of serious concern to us,” Browne had said in his Air Force Day speech Oct 8.

It’s Hindi abroad, EnglishVinglish at home

Foreigners are queuing up to learn Hindi and there was a global conference too, to celebrate the language. Nonetheless, as English spreads inexorably through what is still called the Hindi heartland, even its votaries are writing the epitaph for a language spoken by nearly 200 million people in the world.

In the English vs Hindi debate, the latter may be in the process of slowly being squeezed out - even in the swathe of north and central India known as the Hindi heartland. Thousands are queuing up to get their children admitted to English medium schools and English teaching shops are mushrooming across the country.

Even as Hindi - which is officially India’s national language - is promoted and conferences are held in various parts of the world, the ranks of those seeking to master English in India’s cities are swelling.

Agra, the city of the Taj is no exception.

As schools begin the admission process, anxious parents are making a beeline for English medium schools, seeking admission for their children in nursery.

“The elaborate admission process, beginning with the distribution of forms, started last week,” said Anjali, mother of three-year-old Bunty.

Firm in their belief that English is the best ticket to the India of today - and tomorrow - a large number of parents this year have joined grooming classes to brush up on their ‘English-Vinglish’ in a bid to bolster the chances of their children being admitted to English schools.

Referring to the recent Bollywood film of an Indian homemaker, Sridevi, struggling to master the language, senior school teacher

Seema Gupta of the prestigious 167-year-old St Peter’s College said “English-Vinglish” was an eloquent expression of the deep frustration born of inferiority caused by a poor knowledge of English among “aspiring middle classes”.

Tragically, in this rush for English, there are no takers for Hindi medium schools, added school teacher Hari Dutt Sharma.

“The only schools that attract a large number of applications in Agra and its neighbourhood are those imparting education in English... There are hardly any private schools offering Hindi-medium education and government schools and those run by local bodies attract no applicants at all. Children only go to the government schools for the sake of the midday meal,” said Sharma.

The World Hindi Conference held at Johannesburg in September this year was a triumph and Hindi was celebrated as a tongue spoken by nearly 200 million people in the world. The enthusiastic response to that event buoyed the spirits of those seeking to promote the language.

“English in India, Hindi abroad” seems to be the motto of Indians on foreign soil, said Chandra Kant Tripathi, registrar of the Agraheadquartered Central Hindi Institute, which was set up in 1960 and aims to teaching nonHindi speaking people the language.

“The World Hindi Conference in Johannesburg attracted literary luminaries from all parts of the world and proved a huge success,” Tripathi said. Among those seeking to promote Hindi were MNCs seeking to expand their markets.

“This year, we have more than 90 students, including 15 from China and one from Switzerland. There are also students from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, South Korea, Japan, and several other countries,” he said.

Paras Nath Choudhary, who has earlier been associated with the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University, stated: “Brand India is in demand all over the world... India offers solid cultural products to sell and this has indirectly helped the promotion of Hindi. In Delhi alone, more than 40,000 foreigners have shown interest in learning Hindi.”

Back home, however, the future is bleak.

“While there is this huge celebration of Hindi abroad, in the place of its birth, Hindi has been compromised,” said Mahesh Dhakar, who writes on culture.

“Students can hardly write correct Hindi, and their vocabulary is invaded by all kinds of foreign words and internet-supported short forms. Chaste Hindi or Urdu has disappeared,” Dhakar said.

Meanwhile, English teaching shops are mushrooming. While there are scores of English-teaching centres in Agra, Mathura has at least a dozen. Firozabad too has a similar number of such centres. Tundla has a convent school with an enrolment of more than a thousand. In smaller towns like Fatehabad, Khairagarh or Jalesar, teachers offering private tuitions in English, mint money.

As insurance agent Sudheir Gupta said, “English is not just another subject. It adds to your overall personality.”

Hindi in its various dialects is spoken in large parts of north and central India, including in its sweep Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

On the ongoing debate on environment versus development, the prime minister said: “In recent years, it has become increasingly more difficult to find common ground on environmental issues. This is, indeed, unfortunate given that there is today a much higher global awareness of environmental risks and concerns.”

“It is this consciousness that should provoke us to greater action even as we cope with the pressures of the current global economic downturn,” he said.

Asking countries to ratify the Nagoya Protocol, the prime minister said: “India has recently ratified the Nagoya Protocol and formalised our commitment to it. I would urge all the Parties to do likewise. I am, however, glad that negotiations regarding biodiversity have achieved remarkable success.” conservation and poverty eradication,” he said.

About 15,000 delegates from over 185 countries are attending the 11th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP11) to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) COP11, which began in Hyderabad on Oct 8 and concluded Oct 19.

Manmohan Singh also unveiled a pylon and laid the foundation stone for a biodiversity park and museum here to mark the ongoing global biodiversity meet.

Minister for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan urged the parties to agree to at least some measures for resource mobilization to achieve biodiversity targets by 2020.

India pledges

$50 million for biodiversity conservation

India recently pledged a sum of $50 million for strengthening institutional mechanisms on biodiversity conservation in the country during the next two years.

“I am pleased to launch the Hyderabad Pledge and announce that our government has decided to earmark a sum of $50 million during India’s presidency of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to strengthen the institutional mechanism for biodiversity conservation in India,” said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Speaking at the inauguration of the high level segment of the Eleventh Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, he said: “We will use these funds to enhance the technical and human capabilities of our national and state-level mechanisms to attain the Convention on Biological Diversity objectives.

“We have also earmarked funds to promote similar capacity building in developing countries.”

The Nagoya Protocol is an international legally binding treaty that works towards conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.

“Despite global efforts, the 2010 biodiversity target that we had set for ourselves under the Convention on Biological Diversity was not fully met. This situation needs to change. The critical issue really is how to mobilise the necessary financial, technical and human resources, particularly the incubation, sharing and transfer of technology,” he said.

Manmohan Singh said biodiversity-based livelihood options form the basis of rural survival in many parts of the world.

“Living at the periphery of subsistence, the poor are the most at risk from biodiversity loss. They should not also be the ones to bear the cost of biodiversity conservation while the benefits are enjoyed by society at large.

“India’s initiatives acknowledge this correlation between biodiversity

Reminding the delegates that the resources mobilisation was unfinished agenda of COP10 at Nagoya, she said if there was no agreement reached again, four years of the 2010-2020 strategic plan would be gone, making it difficult to achieve biodiversity targets, popularly known as Aichi targets.

“It will be a collective failure, which we should avoid at all cost. We once failed to achieve 2010 targets and future generations will not forgive us if we fail again in 2012,” she said.

Hailing the Indian prime minister’s announcement, Braulio Dias, executive secretary, CBD, appealed to all parties and partners to the CBD to become regional or global champions for biodiversity and the achievement of one or more of the Aichi targets.

He asked the nations not to see biodiversity as costs but as investments that will pay back with significant environmental, social and economic benefits for all societies.

UNEP executive director Achim Steiner, Japan’s Minister for Environment Hiroyuki Nagahama and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy also spoke on the occasion.