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Toi\et partners

I · re at 1 On MY schoo is g : 1 ', fust day, n1y fo enc rnJ to ilet M eisha was rny h cl co \~he n w e a Partne r. ulcl '\ t ,v e wo t o the tot e , I go r Afte r schoo ' g o cogecheth. school park l -nt to e we cl s iste r 'th roy rnum an Wl d 1 wasn t uce because l w ent h e ne xt day also T ark after school to the p f nd cl my a e and shO'\\•e 1 uke who rnv mum w a s I 1 t s l o t s of fon. schoo., 1 Marcus Miranda Epping Heights Public Schoo l W Carlinefo rd , NS

Toono

1 lik sey emy Ki and I'v nd;; it's fu 11 · e ll1ade foends B s o me or IVh [came to cl en first k• ie class rd no\v an , ic/n 't I )'One's called names 0 ne · · becaose L gir] 'Nosey ' I uer nos a \Vays ru e Wa s to.Id 01 nnJ.ng. When I )' !l:lt1m / tl1at gid b ' s 1e found ecaus e f nos e. No w O her the that I k.n names f D IV I don't h o m y friends ave to ~" , any thing else Bc"" them N o sel' o,· 1 · Ut the ti: ,,, r i s no 1end b tmy s ti} · 1 ecaus e he tuns r nose

M: aya Jha"A

P, " Cl arndise Ki J 111; .,1_ nuerunrt ,,c arsuen Pu6/;' .,. en,.c;ast Adelaide zc Schoo/

Made a friend

I'm 5 and a big girl because I'm going to s chool now. Oo m y fir st day of scho o l I learned rnan y dungs uke bow to drink from the bubbler. I also made a new friend, but T didn't know her name then. I know it now, and she is still my fri end On my firs t day, I m id m y mum what I wante d for lunch and s h e packed it. I wo r e m y uniform, had m y bag packed and we went to school. le was exciting and I liked it.

Sai Hasini Madukuri

Darcy Road Public School, Wentworthville, NSW

Fun, not Ase

f liked m y fi d h rs t ay t sc oo/, M , a d d ) mwn and a told me th learn ABC at l 'Wot1Jd and l 2 Schoo/ but l - -3 at and had ti Jtzst played ' un f to ld m y mum ti l 1at I didn't earn A BC d laug h ed Ma~ sbe just · Y ad k IVh a t [ had as ed Said learned and [ n o th1ng. But th srud that if 1 d. en h e 1dn't l an y thing, Tdo , e aro g o to s l n t need ro h . c Joo/. So I told Un IV/iar l did b want to ecau se [ g o to scho l H c;mbeso b o. e s· o ssy! '-

Jona Il-ive<fi

Redeemer Ba , North A '/Jt,st Schoo/ n rmmntta, NSW

Despite financial hardships a determined athlete doggedly pursues his sporting dream for glory

In the b,,ttle that goes on through life Task b11t a field that isfair, A ch,111ce that is equ11I }l)ith all in the strife, A co11mgc to strive and to dare.

This sportsma n's praye r rang like a litany in the m in d of Ravinder Singh Khaira as he prepared to compete for the V ic torian O pen and AWD Track and Field Champio n shi p recently. Th e event was the Me n's Javelin Throw and Ravinder had reached the finals The Lakeside Stadimn in Albert Park had nrrn ed into h is p e rso nal battl efield, and he was in i t to win

Hours of gruelling training sessions an d determin atio n c ame ro the fore and Ravinder wo n tl1e gold, coming fitst w ith a throw of 70 86m

"It was not my person al best," remarked R avinder as he descri b ed the event lacer. "I have th rown at 74.68m in official competitions, bu t my aim is to reach 77m and more".

If R avi nd er throws at 77m o r more, the V ic torian Institute of Sports will pay fo r his Aighrs and accommodation to attend competitions around Australia. At the moment he is mostly selffunded and has had ro forego certain competitions due to affo rdabili ty.

Ravi.nder came ro Australia from Patiala, Pun1ab in 2009 as a srnd ent to do a n Autom otive Dip loma. He currently relies on his parents in India and his weekend taxi job in Melbourne to make end s m eet and to finance hi s own training

"lt i s no t easy for me to pay fo r coaching sessions, club mem b ership, expe ns ive equipment, dietician, phys io and massages on a regular basis, but I have som ehow managed thanks to gen erous friends a nd supportive p a.re nts, and m ost importantly, through the sh eer ,vill to continue and aim for a world championship," claims Ravi nder 'forice winner of the Victorian Javelin Throw championship, R avi nder's th row of 72.42m in tl1e javelin event got him to 3rd pl ace in the 2013 Hunter Track C lassic in Februa ry 2013.

Ravi nder has al so qualified to attend the Ausu·alian Athletics

Tour: Qanrns Melbourne World Challenge to be held on April 6 at Lakeside Stadium, i\lfelbourne; and t he 91 st Ausu-alian Athletics Cha m pi o n ships & Wo rld Champ ionship selectio n trial s to be h eld 011 April 11 at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics

Ce n u-e, Sydney This event is the culm ination of the Ausu-alia n do m estic season, and more tha n 600 athletes are expec ted to represent thefr state or territory at this champio n ship. In 2013, the meet will also se rve as th e offi cial Selection Trials for tl1e Australian Flame team to the 2013 IAAF Wo rld Champ ionships in Mosc ow, Russia

R avinder is also preparing for the As ian Track and Field cha m pionship robe held in India in July 20 13

Says R avinder's ex-coach Gus Puopolo, " Rm7 inder has talent and potential. He now n eeds to mm his talent ro distance."

His current coach Iain Simmons agrees. "1 have known R avind er for a few years now, bm I've o nly been coaching him for just over a year since I retired from ja velin throwing 1 believe Ra,Ti nd er has the potential ro at least be an O lympic finalist, as some of his phys ical resting is at a similar level to the world's best javelin throwers," he says.

He add s, "We have a go al of qualify ing for this year's world championships in Ru ssia. To be ab le co reach these goals, Ravinder has to train full ti m ethat involves 12 - 14 sessions per week. Th is makes it d ifficult co support himself with the high cost of being an elite athlete, witl1 co ntinuous coses inc luding medical, training, coaching, dietary and travel mat add up well into thousands of dol.lar s. He does mis while worki ng as a rnxi driver. I admire his dedication to his sport and his drive to compete for his country, though tl1is is not the best training environment for an e lite athlete"

L1 2007 -2008 prior to coming to Australia, R avinde r used to participate in javelin events for the National Institute Of Sports in Patiala. Between 2003- 2006 he also competed on state and national levels in volleyball. He rook up javelin throw around mat ti m e, after getting disgruntled with team sp orts and the associated politics. R avin der always enjoyed tin kering arou nd in his house and be decided to come to Australia. to complete h is diploma in Auto m o ti ve.

"Australia i s a country where peopl e with sports talent aim fo r t he b est. Jvfajority of the sportspeo ple here ai m to be pan of the world ch ampion ships, Olympics or Com rnonwealm

Games Th ey scare by aiming ve ry high and whe n they put in the effort they definitely get results I admire tl1is me n tal strength and l feel m otivated by it," says chis driven young man Ravinder's story is in spi ri ng as he strives to compete a nd win again st athletes who are far better supported rha.n him through sponsorship packages and mon etary bac king. He p u ts in n early 25 hours a week in training and p hysical fitness, which does n ot leave much time or energy to earn a living.

His p ar ents who are born teachers by pro fess ion, are very supportive and help him as much as possib le.

"However, it is not much when you con vert Indian m o n ey to Australian dollars," says Ravinder practically "1 unde r stand that financial stability is important. My friends keep chastising me for rel ying o n my parents and n ot taking up a full time job; however I am convinced that th is is the prime of my sporting career and I should focus o n my sport completely above all other things. I am willing to put in the hard yards and q ualif), fo r the world championships".

"l will b e rep resen ting Australia as well as tl1e Indian and Sikh commuuities," he concludes with hope.

''Twice winner of the Victorian Javelin Throw championship, Ravinder's throw of 72.42m in the javelin event got him to 3rd place in the 2013 Hunter Track Classic in February 2013

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A child, dressed as Lord Shiva, plays with sand on the banks of the Sangam in Allahabad during the Maha Kumbh. The Kumbh Mela, which runs from January till March takes place every 12 years in Allahabad.

Didn't talk official issues with Pakistan PM: Khurshid

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid made it clear chat be held no official talks with Pakistan Prime l'vfinister Raja Pervez Ashraf at Ajmer.

Khurshid said he merely received him formally.

"If (anyone) chooses an Indian religious p lace like the Ajmer dm;gah for mental peace, we formallr receive him and allow him to do what he wants," Khurshicl said.

The minister was speaking co reporters on the sidelines of the 44th raising clay parade of the Central fodustrial Security Poree (CISF) in Uttar Pradesh.

"\~'e received Ashraf in a formal ,vay but there were no official talks because that was not a suitable occasion. If the Indian government talks to a government, it is done at the government level in a formal way," said Kbnrshid.

He was asked how far the Inclia- Pakisr,'ln peace talks have been successful.

"Success cannot be acquired in a dar For success, there is need to build a foundation on which a house can be constructed and people can live in peace. Bur it takes long long time."

Ashraf flew co Ajmer on a private visit to pray a t the dargah of Khwaja Moinudclin Chishti. He renirnecl to Pakistan also on the same day.

Allahabad Kumbh ends with last bathing on Maha

Shivratri

The curtain came down on the Kumbh 2013, the b iggest religious congregation on earth, with over 70 lakh peop le taking a holy clip at Sangam on Maha Shivratri

Lakhs of devotees f1ockecl to Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers

The Krn11bh began Jan 14 w ith Makar Sankranti with six ma jor bathing dates passing off peacefully. Over IO crore peop le visited the Kumbh mela premises in the 55 days.

On the last day, seers, sai n ts and pilgrims had begun clismantling their tents and proceeding back home. Several seers moved to Vara nas i for their further religious Journey.

While no major incident took place, a middle-aged man drowned in the Ganga near Sector 14 of the Kumb h mela, police said.

Acleqnate arrangements had been made aL the railway station where 37 people died in a stampede at Manni J\mavasya Feb 1 1 due to poor arrangements and overcrowding.

Addressing the meclia, Devesh Chaturvedi, clivisional commissioner of Allahabad and in charge of rbe Kumbh, said more than 10 crore people had bathed dur ing the Kumbh, ar an average of five lakh people each day.

On Mauni Amavasya, the number of people visiting the Kumbh crossed a mass ive three crore, Chaturvecli added.

Maha Shivratri was observed in other parts of the state with traditional gaiet)' aod fervour However, two people we re killed during a stampede a t the famous Loclheshwar Mahadev temple in Barabanki, 225 km from Allahabad.

President gives Stree Shakti awards on International Women's Day

Pres ident Pranab l'vfokherjee presented the Scree Shakti Puruskar for 20 12 on l.nternational Women's Day while thanking women for their contribution in the making of India.

''I take this opporrw1ity to e.xtend warm g reetings to women in all parts of our coLmtry. I thank them for the ir invalnable contribution in the making of our great nation," the president told the awarclees.

The mother of di e Dec 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape victim who succumbed to her injuries, was given the Rani Lakshmi Bai Award for "di e spi..tjc of Nirbhaya", nickname for the girl "Nirbhaya, as she is now known, was a brave and courageous girl who fought till the very last minute for her dignity and her life. She is a true hero and symbolises the best in Indian youth and women," Mukher jee said. He add ed : "Her sad demise should not be i..t1 vain. We must do everything possible to ensure that such an inc.idem never happens again."

Ochers who received the award were Pranira Talukdar of Assam, Sonika Agarwal of Delhi, Guramma H. Sankina of Karnataka, Omana T.K. of Kerala and Olga D'Mello of Maharashtra

The president said: "We muse strive to en sure that women feel safe and secure at all times in our country."

''The figure for female Lite racy is 16.7 pe rcent be low male literacy. Surveys have indicated diat female hourly wage rates in agricul ture vary from 50 ro 75 percent of rhe male wage rates. More disturbing is the increase in t h e incidence of violence against women," he said.

US honours "Nirbhaya - brave heart, fearlessn

Nirbhaya, the "Fearl ess" De lhi gang rape victim, has been honoured with a US "woman of courage" awa rd posthumously fo r "inspiring peop le to work roged1er ro end violence against women i n India and ar0tmd die world."

US first lacl}1 Michelle Obama joined Secretary of State John Kerry as he praised the determination and courage of "a woman known simp ly as Nirbbaya - brave heart, fearless" at the State Deparm1enr presentation ceremony on International Women's Day.

"Her bravery inspired millions of women a nd men to come together with a simple message: No more. No more looking the oche r way when gender- based violence happens. o more stigma against v ictims or survivors," said Kerry.

"Nitbhaya's fight survives her," be said an nouncing the award "for inspiri ng people co work together co end violence against women in lnclia and around the world by clispl aying immense courage in demanding justice "

The audience stood up and observed a moment of silence after he read om the c itation.

Kerry also read part of a statement from Nirb haya's mother and father saying, "W/e never imagined that t he g ir l we thought was our daughter would one clay be the daughter of the entire world. She was meant to be the daughter of the world. This is a huge achievement in itself."

"Today, out message to the world i s: do not to lerate any attack oo your dignity aod honour; d o not silendy bea.r ill tream1enr," they wrote.

"Earlier, women would keep silent and hide away when they were Sllbjected co sexllal misconduct," irbbaya's parents said , ow ''\'v'omen, both in Inclia a nd in the rest of the world, refuse to be stigmatised and will nor keep silent anymore," they said. "Th is incident has opened their minds and empowered chem . T hey are no longer scared of what anyone will say."

Besi des Nirbhaya, eight other women were give rhe annual award recognising women around the globe who h ave shown exception al courage and leadership in ad vocating for women's rights and empowerment, often ar great personal ri sk.

They are Malalai Bahacluri, first sergeant, Afghan National lntercliction Unit (Afghanistan); J ulieta Castellanos, rector, National Autonomous University of Honduras (Honduras); Josephine Obiaju lu Odumak.in, president, Campaign for Democracy (Nigeria); Elena Jl.1ilashina, journalist, human r ights activist (Russ ia); F'artuun Adan, executive director , El m an Peace and Human Rights Centre (Somalia); Tseri..t1g Woeser (Wei Se), Tibetan author, poet, b logger (China); Razao Zeimnah, human r ights lawyer and founde r , Local Coordination Committees (Syria) and Ta Phong Tao, blogger (Vietnam).

Tihar Jail's fema le inmates turn designers

Staff members of T ihar Jail walked the ramp as d1ey showcased dress and jewellery des igned by female inmates of die jail.

As pare o f rbe Enttepreneurship

Development P r ogramme, the inmates were enrolled in a one-year certificate course in fashion designing under designer Monica Dalal.

"\'v'e have taken the initiative to train our female inmates dress designing and jewellery designing so chat when they leave prison, they will h ave an opportunity to sustain themselves," said VirnJa Mehra, director general (prisons).

The jail is also coord inating with companies who can provide employment ro the trained in m ates.

US NGO joins Vedanta for free cleft lip surgery

A US -based l GO has partnered with Vedanta Hospir,'lls, a multi - specialty heal thcare facility set up in Odisha by Vedanta Al umi n ium Ltd. (YAL), to carry out cl eft lip and palate sur geries, the company said.

Vedama Hospitals at Lanjigarh in d1e state's Kalahandi clistrict star ted these surgeries free of cost a year ago, VAL p resident Mukesh Kumar role! reporters.

"The partnership with Smile Train, a US - based imernacional charity, will leave no sto n e unrurn ed to treat sucli cases in the state's Kalahan cli -Bolangir, Rayagacla an d Koraput region," he said.

Cleft lip and cleft palate are bir th defects that occur when a baby's Lip or moud1 do nor form properly.

In India, over 35,000 children are born every year wid1 clefts and over 50 per cem of them remain 1mtteatecl for lack of awareness.

Smil e Train con ducts free cleft lip and palate smgeties worldwide and has compl eted more than 80,000 such surgeries. Vedanta Hosp it.'ll is the on ly Smile Train Centre in western Odisha, Kumar said

SAARC literature festiva l starts in Agra

A three -da)' SAARC festival of lirerauire beg,111 with a call for concerted efforts to raise eco -consciousness and resist predatory policies that devour nature and its components.

The theme of this year's festival is "E nvironment and Literature"

"As the 1--limahyan g laciers shrink, sea levels r ise and green patches are replaced by ugly bald terrain. It is o nly befitting that the pen- wielders of the SAARC region put up a united front against polluters and p redators," said Ajeet Caur, president of the foundation of SA.ARC writers and literamre.

The festival is being attended by delegates from Paki stan , Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sci Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and India.

More than 15 de legates from Pakistan attending the festival stressed on commonal.ities and desired peace and goodneighbourly relations.

The SAARC literary awards went to writers from Pakistan, Nepal, Sti Lanka and Afghan.istan.

"This annual meet of writers acquires special import.'lnce in the context of the continu.ing c o nflicts in the SA.ARC region based on lang uage, ethnicity, religion and culmre. W/e believe char literature cannot exist in total isolation from lived c ulture. Dreams o f our future shall emerge frorn this shared identi1y, conttibutory history and participatory destiny," Caur stated.

Sri Lan.l<an writer Daya Dissanayake said: " \ '.qoman is co nature what man is co culture. This idea has been hi jacked, distorted and misinterpreted by the male dominated society."

Jharna Rehman, a writer from Bangladesh, said women and natu re were closely related.

Pak.istan's Farheen Choudhary said: "Natural disasters are the worst part of environmema l issues, creating mass g raves, dislocations of people, food scarci ty, health problems and even p sychological issues. Surprisingly, wrjters didn't pay much attention to the sub ject particularly in south Asia "

Harvard meet g rapples with India's complex growth story

How to involve India's massive midd le class and it s rich and hefty d iaspora in lndia's growth story? W/here co find a p lace for thus far marginal.ised rural India in its growth narrative? How to drive sys temic change in education and why is the Indian political .scene so unattractive to its yomig peopl e?

These were some of the questions that panellists grappled with on the first da y of the India Conference, the largest studentrun India- focussed conference in the US, organ.ised by the s tudents of Harvard U niversiry March 9 - LO.

Now in its temh year, the conference w ith the theme of " India vs. India - Local Strength or G lobal Growth?" was attended on die first day by 22 speakers mingling widi over 300 attendees representing voices from across di e professional and ideolog ical specmm1.

The theme refers co the decision co embrace Ind ia's daunting complexity and seern.ing incoherence rather than 0\7ers impli fying the hackneyed "growth story'', according to the organisers.

Focusing on government and development issues at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, panellists alluded again and again to the real.icy of the many stories of India.

There was the economist's sto r y of India, the p o litician's, the student's, and, bit by b it, a more multilayered narrative Indian story than any of diese, which could nor be encapsulated in an y one way.

The daunting of India's complex problems and systemic and infrastructural challenges were described in great detail b y each of the conference's four keynotes.

Ashok Alexander, formerly country tlirector of the Bill and l\1lelinda Gates Foundation, spoke about the need to rise above tbe standard reaction of paralysis in the face of this complexity.

Arnn Singh, deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Washington , mentioned the man y co lours of India and the di.fficul ty they p ose when viewed through d1e lens of US cooperation, but cl osed on a hopeful note, touching briefl y on the p o rtfolio of internationall y cooperative research achieved nonetheless.

Ajay Maken, Indian minister of housing and urban poverty alleviation, talked about how India and its policy- makers rook a decade to accept that urbanisation is inevitable, but today ever ybody understands that urbanisation is actually desirable.

Sam Pitroda, advisor to the prime minister on pub lic information in frastrucrure, spoke about radicalising democracy duoug h making information more radically available to a new generation o f Indians.

The events at tbe Harvard Business School campus in Boston, across die Charles R.iver, promise to continue this dialogue.

Tou rism ministry's new film awarded in Berlin

The tourism micistry's new film Find What

You Suk received the fust prize at the 11th

Golden C ity Gate Tou.rism Media Awards

Ceremony held in Berlin co coinc ide with Indian Tourism Bourse (ITB) Berlin 2013.

The Golden City Gate is an international film, print and media contest for the tourism industry. The awards ceremon y is held every yea r at ITB Berlin, the world's leading crave.I trade show. The competition provides tOLirism advertisers an oppor tunity ro participate in the comest for presenting their new creatives

All entries are as sessed by 45 independent international expert jurors with stro ng industr)' background. T ourism M in.ister K. Ch.iranjeevi had launched di e new campaign, Find What Yo11 Seek, as the second phase of Incredible India Ca m paign at W/TM 2012 last ovember, along with the new domestic campaign Go Bryo11d.

By launching th is new campaign, the tourism ministry has made a paradigm shift by shifting the focus from destinations and products ro consumers (travellers)

The new campaig n empba.sizes diat there is something for every ttaveller in India and every traveller can find what he or she is seek.i ng wh il e travelli ng in our inc redible country.

Go Bryond urges travellers ro ttavel beyond the obvious, the known destinations to the lesser known destinations.

Shakespeare now comes in Punjabi; Darwin to follow

It rook a retir ed h istory professor two decades of meticulous effort co bring \':{l ilJiam Shakespeare closer to Pwijab. Eighty- t\vo- year Surjit Hans has finall y translated all the works, including 38 plays, of the 1 6th century Bard of Avon inro Punjabi.

Hans, who taught h istory at Amritsa r 's Guru Nanak Dev Un.iversity and chose to translate Shakespeare imo Punjabi full- time only after his retirement .in 1993, recently finished die translation of T-lemy VTTI the last of the plays of d1e Bard (1564- 1616). He was assig n ed die translation work by the Patiala -base d Punjabi University

And d1ere is no stopping him.

Hans says he is read y to start trans lating Charles Darwin's The 01igi11 of Species.

"This is worth doing. Da.nvin is the founder of die m odern rimes. His work has modernity of thought," he said

"Now, l want Punjab i readers co know abollt The Origin of Species coo," Hans sai d.

Hans' relationship with Shakespeare goes back co his college days when he played the part of di e wounded soldier in Macbeth and acted in Hamlet.

"The inspiration to ttanslate the work of Shakespeare into P u njab i came at tha t time. 1 wanted that the average reader in Punjab should be able to read Shakespeare even if he did not know English," Han s said in an interview at his residence in Punjab's Mohal.i rown, 10 km from Chandigarh.

"I ttanslated l'vlacbeth into Punjabi when I was in college in the mid - 1950s. I started foll - ti.me translation of Shakespeare's works only in 1993 after m y retirement," he said

Hans says his mltlad (mentor) Raj Kumar Kaul in Hoshiarpur told him in the early 1950s that "a good reader should also write".

"An Anglo -Iri sh teacher o f mine also helped," h e said

H.is love fo r t he Bard's wor ks got sttonger when Hans lived in London for seven years in the 1960s an d saw plays at the Royal Shakespeare Club.

Asked about the difficulties he faced in trans lating die Bard 's works inro Punjabi, Hans said: ''Translating Shal,espeare con structionally and in verse form was not d.i.fficult. In Punjabi diough, there are no words to ttanslate English words like he, she, h im or he r You have to use a verb to tell di e gender. In his poem, Ve111rs and Adonis, die reference to the se words comes in every line Bllt di e beauty of d1e verse gets lost in doing ttans lation. The weakness of (Punjab i) language is there."

Among all die works of Shakespeare translated by him in Punjabi , Hans rook the maximum time over Tivo Noble Kit1s1J1en and T-lemy Vlll. "These have a lot of rhetoric," he pointed out.

Hans says some characters and situations in Shal,espeare's plays have a commonal.ity w ith Pun jab.

A fter finishing The O,igin ef Species, Hans wants to ttansbte Adam Smith's The lf7ealth qf Nc!lio11s as well.

" This is basic book of economics. People should know about it," he says with a smile.

Snapshots from the homeland lead to HSC success for visual arts student Tanaya Deshpande

India, it is said, is an amazing place for photography.

For budding Sydne y photographer Tanaya Deshpande, her native India turned out to be a weaJ th of opportuni ry - and a cause for HSC success.

Tbe Turrarnurra )'Otmgster picked photography as her medium fo r her Year 12 visual arr course last year. Taoaya's major work, entitled !\,fade in India, is based on a series of smnning images from her homeland It won h er a Band 6 resul t.

"I was looking for the real lndia, stri pped back from the commerci al," who fini5bed her HSC at Pymb le Ladies College (PLC) in 2012, told India11 I.ink.

Getting down co t he bare basics, the young photographer found beauty in shots of nature, just as much as in those of people.

Poignant photographs of s treet ki ds, the colours of life on streetsid es, even mome nts from the dail y ro u tine of life, captu red ber interest. For sure, you wiU find hints of the western stereotypes about India - the Taj, e lephan ts, ht1111t1 tattoos. But this, ultimately, is the beauty of the wo r k: it shows the artist looking at lndia from the vantage point of a native, as weU,is that of an outsider.

The stri king feamre of tl1e composite image is that the individual shots are projected on to the bare ba cks of human figures

''M y statement is that travel changes you: it leaves a mark on you that stays forever," Tanaya revealed.

She might as \vell have b een saying that India leaves a stamp on you forever.

The work was presented on 9mm- tl1-ick wood, with otl1et phocos o n the rmacol.

It comes as a surpri se co learn that Tanaya only cook up photography three years ago

"M y uncle is a keen photographer and inspired by him I began co play around with the camera," said Tanaya.

Her first pieces wer e based oo Aowers.

''l wasn't even going to d o visual art as a subject in Year 12," Tanaya admitted. " It just occurred to me while thin king about m y possi b le subjects that pechaps T should do sometl1ing creative to get a break from the rigour of o cher sub jects, so I picked it. And then I couldn't decid e between photograp hy and ceramic s, both ve r y popular options at my school, and both of which scale weU" fa tl1e en d of course, it aU worked well for rhe spunky young girl.

"Nor only did I finish with a Band 6 in visual art, it also turned our to be my best subject!" she said.

Today much of Tanaya's Year 11 and Year 12 work is shown as samples for the benefit of younger students at PLC who are starting off in the subject.

Speaking about her school course in photography, Tanaya said, "ln my first year in photography in Year 11, 1 learned all about the camera and bow to use it. A lot of it was new ro me, such as ISO exposure and all the jargon! We also learned how to organise phoroshoots and did various experiments such as underwater photography, and then went on to Phocoshop as well."

She continued, "By die end of Year 11, I was hooked. I couldn't wait to get on to my major ,vork for rhe HSC. Various projecr ideas came Lnto my head, especially as my reacher said, 'think b ig, die world is your oyster' "

That year Tanaya travelled ro India widi her family and came back with abouc a di ousand shots on her camera. She knew then chat those photos would form her final work for the HSC.

"Of course, to pick 6 out of the lot was a challenge," she said wid1 a laugh. "But my reacher hel ped me as I sorted through diem As I looked at the work of odier artists to get a better perspective, the idea came to be that I could project each of my chosen images on to the bare back of a human figure "

The encl result was nothing short of striking.

The work is certainl y a pat on the back for th.is talented photographer.