Parramasala India in the air at Parramatta

Block Party Rocks Parramatta

The Parramasala festival kicked off with a magnificent multicultural musical mix

Powerful beats, heart pumping music and a sea of vibrant colours. What better way to kickstart a festival from the subcontinent!

The third annual Parramasala Festival began on November 8 with a high energy Bollywood Block Party at the Parramatta Town Hall Square. It was a musical extravaganza that looked even more grandiose than anything out of a Karan Johar movie!

With two stages - a main central stage and a smaller stage to the side - the performances came non-stop. As one act ended, another would begin on the second stage, without the performers missing a beat. The performances ranged from classic Kathak, Australian contemporary and Sri Lankan traditional dance, to the full matkas and jhatkas of Bollywood. And then there was the legendary Kamahl, embodying India as well as Australia, truly a perfect choice for host!

Early in the evening, the musical gala began with the beautiful didgeridoo, the traditional aboriginal musical instrument. Its gentle, grounded, droning vibrations touched the audience just as much as the next act - the heart pumping beats from the traditional Indian dhol. What a study in contrast…. even as both achieved the same effect of vibrating into the very beings of those listening.

The excitement and elation kept moving to new heights as the illustrious Kamahl took centre-stage. His cleverly picked numbers, about the importance of love and togetherness, showed off the underlying theme of the festival at large. A Malaysian born, Tamil-Hindu not only from films (Luck By Chance, Wanted), but also stage productions (The Merchants of Bollywood and Miss Bollywood)

The non-stop dance performances ended in great exuberance with a grand finale where performers danced on both stages to one harmonious beat, waving vibrant scarves.

The younger members of the audience joined in at this stage, waving colourful scarves that had been distributed before the event began.

This smashing array of dances was followed by DJ Rav who had the audience dancing and cheering to popular Bollywood tunes.

In between, the audience was treated to a visual work of art in the form of stunning digital projections which completely changed the facade of the Town Hall precinct. (Made possible by Electric Canvas, the Australian masters of Digital Projections, these evergreen songs. They ended with that ever popular number Dum Maro Dum which swept the audience off their feet and left them asking for more.

The exhilarating precision of Sri Lankan group Naadro, wowed the audience just as much. A percussion band, they performed on four different sets of drums, from large plastic barrels to Spanish and Peruvian drums to the classic dhol, taking drumming to a whole new level. Their breathtaking accuracy and ability to play on more than one drum at a time, made this group one of the highlights of the evening.

DJ Rav came back to bring the Block Party to a close with some high energy tracks and a promise to return the next night. The night was a true testament of Australia’s multicultural diversity, brought together by the universal language of music.

Saloni Kober

not enough....

The show Maru Tarang (Desert Ripples) heralded the coming together of Australian based artists Jeff Lang and Bobby Singh, with Rajasthani musicians Asin Khan and Bhugra Khan.

The show began with Jeff Banks presenting one of his compositions titled Two Worlds It was a fitting title as the audience was transported from the Australian outback to the deserts of Rajasthan. An ARIA award winning Australian singer/songwriter, Banks has been a leading performer in the Australia blues roots music scene. He is also an equally gifted slide guitarist, and his mastery over the instrument was there to be seen by all.

As the piece progressed, Asin Khan came in with his aalaps (vocal variations), and the scene immediately changed from the red centre of

Australia to the Jaisalmer desert. This seamless transition was undoubtedly a highlight for the 250-strong audience.

Asin Khan came on with an endearing piece about the movements of a woman who goes to the well for water, but has to hurry back as her husband is waiting for her. A priceless commodity in the desert, many songs in Rajasthani music depict stories about water. Khan followed up this with a piece about the mountains. In fact, a lot of Rajasthani songs are written about nature and it was this simplicity in the lyrics which made for beautiful listening, above everything else.

Having said that, a special mention must go to the percussion accompaniment on display all through the show.

Bobby Singh, a disciple of maestro Aneesh Pradhan, had the audience nodding their heads in rhythm with his tabla. Alongside him was Bhugra Khan on the khartal – a castanet-like percussive instrument that produces a staccato rhythm by clicking two flat hardwood blocks together by hand. The expressive nature of Khan and Singh would definitely have to be one of the highlights of the evening. Often we see an artist’s emotion being absorbed in playing the instrument, and it was refreshing to see these masterful artists enjoying themselves on stage, smiling and appreciating each other’s ability. The next composition presented was titled I got to keep on moving and unfortunately that was exactly what the audience had to do following its completion, as it was the final piece for the night. The composition which began with a metallic riff, culminated with a piercing Rajasthani melody. Whilst we had witnessed some wonderful music through the course of the night, real fusion between the two vastly different styles of music had not occurred until Asin Khan came in with his roaring melody over the top of Banks’ electric banjo during this piece. It was a stunning (albeit abrupt) conclusion to a night which had promised so much.

Parramasala has been a wonderful initiative to promote South Asian arts and the public of Sydney is indeed very fortunate to have an opportunity to witness rare internationally-acclaimed artists. However, I couldn’t help but feel a bit empty walking out of the theatre, wondering what the artists could have done, had they been given more than the allocated 70 minutes. Unfortunately I had a similar feeling leaving the Chaar Yaar music concert from Parramasala 2011. Perhaps scheduling needs to be given more consideration in the future. Regardless, I for one can’t wait till Parramasala 2013!

Dinesh Ramanan

The Trouble With Indian Men

NRI blokes come clean on what’s ailing them

What would you say is the trouble with Indian men? The answer depends on whether you’re a younger Indian woman or an older Indian woman. If you’re the former, you’d say he is tied to his mother’s apron strings. If you’re the latter, you’d say he is completely dominated by his wife.

But what do the men think –about what’s troubling them?

In The Trouble With Asian Men, a show at this year’s Parramasala, a look is cast at the particular problems faced by South Asian men living outside of India.

What makes this a unique production is that it is based on actual interviews conducted all over the UK (and for this staging, Australia). The cast members simply regurgitate what the interviewees revealed, taking on their accents and mannerisms.

The show is produced by the award-winning UK theatre company Tamasha, which is known just as much for encouraging new talent as it is for tackling issues of cultural differences. Created by Kristine Landon-Smith, Sudha Bhuchar and Louise Wallinger, and directed by Kristine Landon-Smith, the play was first staged in 2005 and has been doing the rounds at international festivals ever since.

It turns out our boys and men do have their own trials and tribulations.

They struggle with issues of identity, feeling drawn towards aspects of their own culture such as food while not wanting to seem ‘alien’ to their mainstream mates. “We went on this picnic, right, and when we got there, our dads took out their big dishes and started cooking in the carpark! We hoped no one would see us, but when the food was ready we all lined up…”

They wrestle with religion and with sticking to tradition. “When I got back home my dad said, are you happy now? You’ve got rid of your cut off your hair. Like the way you look?”

They tussle with the whole dating thing. “I couldn’t go out with Indian girls; they’re so dull and boring and shallow. I prefer , they’re independent and know what they want”.

(And if they do get a nonIndian girlfriend, they’ll show off how ‘Indian’ she can be. “Go on, say something in Punjabi”).

A natural by-product of these ‘problems’ is a lack of confidence. “So they make up for this low self esteem by looking for it in other things, like a big car. With a big boom box, so they can’t hear other people criticise them”.

Occasionally they give in to the arranged marriage scenario, and when mates ask them if they don’t want to meet the girl to learn about her personality, it’s “Of course I’ll see her, but just to check out her looks and body – no personality required”.

They find themselves sandwiched between wife and mother, both dear to them, who squabble over meaningless issues.

“The biggest war these days is based on the roti vs naan issue: does she cook fresh rotis, or does she tear open a packet of naans and pop one in the toaster? At the moment the naans are edging ahead….” him so many nice girls….”

At work, they sometimes find co-workers get ahead of them for reasons other than talent or capability.

Director Kristine Landon-Smith reveals that even though the show is in its seventh year now, new material is constantly being added, such as the Australian and NZ input in the latest version.

Core cast members Amit Sharma and Niall Ray took to the Parramasala stage with a different local guest performer each night (Drew Fairley, Craig Meneaud, John Shrimpton and Vico Thai), and impressed with their different accents.

While it was nice to see an attempt to add in local flavour, perhaps it could have been tighter, although they did get the accents down pat!

And while there were many laughs in the one-hour show, the non-Indians in the audience couldn’t help asking, is it really that bad for Indian men? The Indian audience members on the other hand, thought they’d heard it all before.

Yet what both sections of the audience took away from it all, was that perhaps it’s time to pay some attention to men’s issues. We’ve spent years discussing Indian women for example: raising awareness about their particular problems and finding solutions and creating programs to raise their lot. It’s time to take a peek inside the man’s world now – and look at what might be troubling him.

Rajni Anand Luthra