2013-04 Sydney (1)

PUBLISHER

Pawan Luthra

EDITOR

Rajni Anand Luthra

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Lena Peacock

Sheryl Dixit

MELBOURNE

Preeti Jabbal

CONTRIBUTORS

Ramanujam Arvind, Saloni Kober,

Iyer,

Mohan Dhall, Shafeen Mustaq, Gaurav Surati, Petra O’Neill, Nancy Jade Althea, Abhineet Tangri

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Vivek Trivedi

02 9262 1766

ADVERTISING ASSISTANT

Nitika Sondhi 02 9279 2004

DESIGN

Danielle Cairis

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Indian Link

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Trusting your instincts

With a population of over a billion, there is intense competition for all things ordinary in India. Be it the ability to figure out how to go from one suburb to another, find trustworthy domestic help, or get your car serviced in a reliable manner, often it is one’s gut instincts which work better. When applying for a job or admitting children to school, the so-called ‘contacts’ may come in handy, but one’s intuition as to chances of success help assess the situation.

Intuition is described as ‘understanding or knowing, without conscious recourse to thought, observation or reason’. Some see this unmediated process as somehow mystical, while others regard it as a response to unconscious cues or implicitly, apprehended prior learning.

Intellect on the other hand is described as the faculty of the mind by which one knows or understands, as distinguished from that by which one feels or wills; and as capacity for thinking and acquiring knowledge.

There is a school of thought which argues that Eastern civilisations are more structured around the instinctive rather than the intellectual way of living. While that discussion will have its assenters and detractors, it is interesting to observe that one legend of our lifetime, the late Steve Jobs believed strongly in trusting his gut instinct. He said that a strong instinct about something, is but your unconscious signalling you to make a change. It was Jobs’ gut instincts that led him to change the world.

Psychologists are now finding we’re right to trust our first instincts, and that we should tap into our own innate wisdom more often. They are even telling us ways in which to “sharpen” our gut instincts to put them into use at work, in say, business or teaching, or even child-rearing.

Arriving at their new home here, migrant Indians start their life largely by instinct. While they may get information from family and friends and the everavailable web, a number of decisions are based on instinct, which has been finely honed in, having spent a large part of their life in the cut and thrust of the social and professional world of India. Often their instincts help them in surviving and prospering in their new home.

Over the years, as they get more comfortable with the structures around their lives, this can give way to decision making by knowledge and intellect. This in turn can lead to greater success; however the danger can at times be an abandonment of their gut instinct and using too much of that structured decision making.

What is needed is to find the right balance between gut instinct and rational thinking.

In fact, a visit back home to India can bring back the instincts of survival as one negotiates for better pricing from the street vendor, or tries to find a short cut to navigate the maze of bureaucracy in India (if, God forbid one has to do this for whatever reason). It is interesting to note how this ability to work through instinct comes back when one is thrust in this situation. As they say, you can take the man out of India, but never India out of the man.

It is always fun to try the instinctive options in life down under. One way to start would be to put away the GPS and try finding the way to a friend’s house just with the general directions. While it may take longer to get there, it could be a lot of fun.

And being late is no crime, is it?

PAWAN LUTHRA

Usha

Malli

Ritam Mitra, Shveata Singh Chandel, Talia Kaur, Chitra Sudarshan, Noel G deSouza,

SPIRITUAL

Chinmaya Mission Australia

activities

Rama Navami Celebrations

Sat 21 Apr 10am-1pm. Swami Swaroopanandaji will be blessing this occasion.

Details Dr Uma Jana 02 9659 2614 or Br Gopalji 0416 482 149. Hanuman Jayanti

Thur 25 Apr 8.30am-3.30pm. Program includes pooja and chanting of Hanuman Chalisa.

Details Jagadish Sury 0414 703 151.

Annual Garba Bhangra Night

Sat 27 Apr 6pm-11pm Hills Basketball Centre, Fred Caterson Reserve, Caterson Drive off Gilbert Rd, Castle Hill 2154.

Details Naman on 0468 465 102

Talks & Retreats

Ramayana: Sage of Success and Love

15 – 21 Apr 7.30pm-9pm

Free public talks by Swami Swaroopananda, based on the Tulsi Ramayana - Sundarakanda and Kishkinda Kanda, including short plays on the Ramayana each night at Sydney Bahai Centre, 107 Deby St, Silverwater, NSW.

Details Jagadish Sury 0414 703 151.

What’s on

Shree Ram Sharnam

Sunderkand Paath

23–28 April

Sri Mandir is organising a 108-time recital of the Sunderkand Paath, at its premises at 286 Cumberland Road, Auburn.

Details www.srimandir.org

Finding Your Place

Sat 17 May 6pm

Stage Musical by Director John D Williams at Chinmaya Sannidhi, 38 Carrington Road, Castle Hill.

Details Ashok 0439 620 414.

Dare to Face the Change

26 May–2 Jun 7.30pm-9pm

Details Jagadish Sury 0414 703 151.

Classes

Shishu Vihar Classes for children between the age of 2- 4.5 years, tailored to increase love and bonding between parent and child.

Vedanta Classes In Castle Hill & Epping on Wednesday nights.

Meditation Classes 10-week program at Castle Hill

Sanskrit Classes 10-week program for beginners (Course 1) and advanced students (Course 2) at Castle Hill.

Hindi Classes Beginners level starting in May at Crestwood Community Centre,

Baulkham Hills

Details Br Gopal Chaitanya 0416 482 149.

Devi Jagran

Sat 13 April 7pm-midnight Pooja, Devi bhajans, arti and prasad at Shri Shiva Mandir, 201 Eagleview Road, Minto.

Details priest Acharya Lal Bahadur Mishra 0432 584 804.

Sydney Jain Mandal’s Mahavir

Jayanti

Sun 21 Apr 9am-1pm Pooja, abhishek, then cultural program followed by lunch.

Details Abha Jain 0432 248 791 www.sydneyjainmandal.com.au

Hanuman Puja

Sat 27 April 6pm onwards

With the blessings of Parama Pujya Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji, Datta Yoga Centre (Sydney) welcomes you to participate in Sri Karya Siddhi Hanuman Puja at Reg Byrne Community Centre, Cnr of Fyall Ave and Darcy Road, Wentworthville. Mahaprasad will be served after the puja.

Details Vikas Mohta 0434 218 587 or Santosh Vanka 0412 677 670.

weekend retreat

May 4-5 Nourish the soul and cleanse the mind at a weekend retreat at the Shree Ram Sharnam

Spiritual Centre at 23 Sheba

Crescent, South Penrith. Activities include meditation (dhyaan), jaap, recital of the Shree Amritvani and Bhakit Prakash singing of bhajans and kirtans, prachaar (deliverance of holy sermons) two hours of complete silence (mouun).

Details Vimal Rao 0415 483 459.

Yoga Classes

May 4 7am-9am (Ryde), 5pm-7pm (Quakers Hill) Hath Yoya, 16 week course. West Ryde Community Hall, 3-5 Anthony Road, Ryde or Performance Space, Quakers Hill High School, 70 Laor Road, Quakers Hill. Yoga classes for children and seniors also available.

Details Raja 0402 789 109 www.spiritofindia.org

MISC

Blood Donation Camp

Sat 13 April 11.15am-noon

Australia Tamil Association conducts its 14th Blood Donation Camp at Red Cross Blood Donor

Centre in Rosehill.

Details Prathap Ramachandran 0432 016 639.

Sydney Chithirai Festival

Sun 21 April

Tamil Arts and Culture Association (TACA, Sydney) Inc. organises a day-long Tamil event at Lower Castle Hill Showground, Castle Hill, Sydney. Highlights include folk music performances by leading singers Paravai Muniyamma and Velmurugan from India.

Details Dr. M. Sundaravadivel 0425 231 501.

SendMoneyAsia launched in Australia

SendMoneyAsia is an Australian Government (AusAID) funded website you can use to compare costs when you send money from Australia to China, India, Philippines or Vietnam. Certified by the World Bank, it looks at the fees and foreign exchange charged for money transfer services. This information is published for free and is available across all platforms: desktop, smart phone and tablet computers. Details www.sendmoneyasia.org

New council to light up India-Oz links

Travel and tourism professionals form new association

The Australian India Travel and Tourism Council (AITTC) was launched recently with a ‘Lighting of the Flame’ ceremony at the Grace Hotel, Sydney. The AITTC announced itself as a voluntary association, which aims to represent individuals and organisations in the travel and tourism industry, as well as enhancing tourism between Australia and India.

“As India is one of the world’s fastest growing tourism markets, and the Australian government is committed to growing visitor numbers from India, organisations such as the AITTC, which aim to promote travel and tourism between Australia and India, will play an important role in increasing the number of visitors,” Martin Furguson, addressing the event as Minister for Tourism, said in a statement (he has since resigned as minister). “Through travel we can increase cultural exchange and understanding between Australia and India and the economic benefits that accompany tourism”. Ferguson also mentioned in an address that was read out during

the launch, that he had announced Tourism Australia’s India 2020 Strategic Plan last year, “which will see Tourism Australia double its marketing spend in India this year,” in an attempt to attract 300,000 Indian travellers to Australia by 2020. Tourism Australia wants to increase spending from Indian tourists to between $1.9 billion and $2.3 billion by 2020.

“Our next major task is to formulate a strategic plan for the council to outline our future

direction, and specifically identify initiatives to implement, to add value to both the industry and our members,” AITTC chairman Sandip Hor said on the night. AITTC will also host networking sessions to “share knowledge and identify issues” and sponsor round table discussions, he revealed. India’s High Commissioner to Australia, Biren Nanda told the audience that given the links between the two countries, the tourism flow between them was

currently “very small”.

AITTC’s founding members are based both in Australia and India. They include (from Australia)

Sandip Hor, Singapore Airlines Senior Marketing Manager Dale Woodhouse, Ian Cameroon, Shankar Dhar, Managing Director of Sydney-based ACR International Travel and Tours, Arnold de Souza, and (from India) Sanjeet and Asgar Ali.

AITTC membership is comprised of a range of travel industry stakeholders, including travel agents, airlines, tour operators, hotels, media professionals and tourism bodies.

MP Geoff Lee, co-chair of the Indian Ministerial Consultative Committee, spoke of the trade and tourism potential between Australia and India. He also mentioned that in his Parramatta electorate, Patel had become the most common surname.

“Commonwealth, curry, commerce, (we won’t mention the cricket),” form part of the strong relationship between India and Australia said David Elliot, Member for Baulkham Hills, representing Premier Barry

O’Farrell. However, it is not just limited to this, as we have also fought together side by side in wars, and share Anzac Day. Elliot spoke of his favour of 457 visas and the need to recruit more Indian workers to this country, in order to “grow the economy”.

Suren Pather, Chairman of the sponsor, Sumo Global also spoke on the night. Well known Bollywood director Madhur Bhandarkar who was visiting Sydney for the first time, also made a short speech at the end of the launch. “The country has everything that a Bollywood movie would need” Bhandarkar stated.

“The AITTC belongs to its members, and our gains will make the industry stronger,” Hor said. “We welcome the expert advice and input from our members, and I earnestly encourage industry professionals, stakeholders and interested parties to pick up a membership form and join”. The forum will provide a platform for “individuals and businesses to connect, communicate and collaborate on Australia-India tourism matters,” Hor concluded.

Lena Peacock

AITTC chairman Sandip Hor looks on as MP Geoff Lee lights the flame

A spotlight

with

BY USHA RAMANUJAM ARVIND

When is your birthday?

When is your son’s birthday?

When is your husband’s birthday?

Ranjan likes asking his class teacher every time he sees her.

A whizz with figures, the talkative seven year old has fantastic recall and can rattle off dates, phone numbers and car registration plates in a flash. When a visitor comes home, he instantly identifies them by the number plate of their car, claims mum Sandhya.

Ranjan’s giftedness with numbers is however, undermined by a relative lack of social cognitive skills. At the age of three, Ranjan spoke very little. “Delayed milestones are quite common for boys and I assumed it was just such a delay,” explains Ranjan’s mum. But her son’s inability and unwillingness to make eye contact alerted his dad Sanjay that something was amiss. A visit to the speech therapist led to a preliminary diagnosis of echolalia, the ‘immediate and involuntary repetition of ambient sounds’.

And so began Sandhya and Sanjay’s tenuous journey into the unknown. Multiple visits to occupational therapists and psychologists followed. Nearly a year later, Ranjan was identified as high functioning autistic (HFA) and they registered with Aspect NSW’s principal autism provider, for follow up support.

While it came out of the blue for Sandhya, the pieces of the jigsaw finally began to fall into place. Ranjan’s hitherto unexplained behaviour patterns like set interests, repetitive actions, fixations and clear lack of fear, now made sense to her.

The devastated mother pulled herself together for Ranjan’s sake. “If I had to help my son, I had to re-educate myself to cope with the totally unexpected situation that life had thrown at me. Half the time, I was in tears. The sheer

information overload and hectic schedules, in the weeks following diagnosis, were traumatising,” she recalls.

Language skills were her top priority, for they were needed for his immediate survival. In addition to this, his muscle tone was weak, and his fine and gross motor skills were poor. For the first time, she also learnt about ‘sensory processing therapy’.

Luckily for Sandhya, her husband has been quite the pillar of strength, sustaining the fragile family equation.

Ranjan thrives on physical contact and movement. He enjoys singing and dancing. He loves being cuddled and unwittingly ‘grabs’ other children in his class, singing with gay abandon. His classmates would respond to this ‘attention seeking’ behaviour with laughter.

Quite unlike Ranjan, the shy and reclusive Saakshi prefers the company of her iPad and Kindle. Avoiding eye contact at any cost, she would rather curl up quietly, lost in her own world, rather than make conversation. She hates being touched and gets anxious when new people approach her.

Ranjan and Saakshi are among an increasing number of Indian Australian children being identified as autistic. Literally meaning, ‘into one’s own self,’ such children are, in many ways, nuclear and isolated. The preferred term these days, is autism spectrum disorders (ASD) because of the highly individual and unique nature of each case, and overlapping of symptoms. Because of this ASD sufferers range from extremely ‘gifted’ to severely ‘challenged’.

Unravelling autism

Triggered by a neurological disorder that sets in by the first three years of birth, ASD is a lifelong developmental disability, ‘characterised by marked difficulties in social interaction, impaired communication, restricted and repetitive interests, stereotypical behaviours and sensory sensitivities’.

Sometimes, a child’s development is delayed from birth whereas others develop normally, but start losing social skills after a few years.

issue while others present unusual behaviours like spending hours lining up objects or obsessing over one interest.

Broadly, researchers agree that ASDs could include Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder and Aspergers Syndrome. These conditions share some of the same symptoms, but differ in terms of when the symptoms set in, how severe they are, and the exact nature of the symptoms.

At the higher end of the ‘functioning’ spectrum is Aspergers Syndrome, marked by highly developed language skills, but poor social communication strategies. These children often have no trouble with fact-based comprehension, but may have incomprehensible trouble with understanding social situations and can’t make friends.

Global epidemic

A relatively rare phenomenon even four decades ago, autism has transformed into a global health challenge, prompting governments to increase research funding and put guidelines into place for better therapy.

On April 2 this year, in celebration of World Autism Awareness Day and in a

buildings around the world were lit up in blue. This included the Sydney Opera House, Charminar, Humayun’s Tomb, Ice Bubble, Empire State Building and Al Burj.

Statistics now indicate that ASD is more common than cerebral palsy, diabetes, deafness, blindness and leukaemia, with boys being five times more likely to be diagnosed than girls. One in 100 children in Australia are autistic. The figures are higher in the US (1:88) and UK (1:55), and even higher in South Korea (1:38).

For that matter, no ethnic group is immune to this neurological disorder. In India, there has been a staggering ‘six-fold increase’ in the new millennium, according to local media forecasts. From an estimated 20 lakh cases in 2003, there are reportedly 10 million autistics at present.

However, it is hard to be accurate given that intellectual disabilities are still virginal territory and many cases go unnoticed, either because of ignorance or lack of access to quality facilities. Social stigma is an insurmountable issue, with many families still in denial or opting to exclude the child from social situations.

A pioneer case was that

up, even when the best specialists in the US did. She continued loving and teaching him, until the young lad responded.

On April 2 this year, World Autism Day, Krishna’s fourth book, Why Me? An Inward Journey, was released by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India. His previous books Wasted Talent, How Krishna Broke Free of Autism and From a Mother’s Heart – A Journal of Challenge, Survival and Hope document the inward odyssey.

“Yes, it has been very much a lonely journey to this day,” responded Jalaja by email. “Without the help of relatives, friends, society, and above all, [the] Government.

Parents are very lonely in this ordeal, they are very much alone not only in India, but all over the world. Coping with autism is like coping with the unexpected. These children don’t have the skills to be mainstreamed and integrated. Can they play cricket or softball? So, we need to give them skills,” she stated.

Since 1971, Jalaja has lobbied extensively with government bodies to establish a hugely successful autism centre in Chennai and better access to therapy and education all over India.

At the first South Asian Autism Network (SAAN)

Photo: AP

Despite still being shrouded in mystery, this condition can be treated

early diagnosis, understanding, information, support and bucket loads of love

on autism

On April 2 this year, World Autism Day, Krishna’s fourth book, Why Me? An Inward Journey, was released by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India. His previous books Wasted Talent, How Krishna Broke Free of Autism and From a Mother’s Heart – A Journal of Challenge, Survival and Hope document the inward odyssey

Improving autism patients

27-year-old Payal Kapoor and 8-year-old Prasam celebrate World Autism Day in Ahmedabad on April 2, 2013, with a team of doctors and Autism Awareness Campaign volunteers under the guidance of renowned neuropsychiatrist

Vinod Kumar Goyal at his Parth Hospital

While it is expensive, early diagnosis and appropriate intervention can facilitate better management and eventually get the child to be a fully functioning member of society.

Dr Chitra Chandran is a Melbourne based paediatrician, who specialises in behavioural and developmental disorders.

“While developmental disorders have existed for many years, autism spectrum disorders are being increasingly recognised by maternal and child health nurses, teachers, caregivers and even family friends who know other families with children. This has led to [an] increasing number of families seeking assistance,” she says.

The core features of ASD, she explains, are delayed language, poor reciprocal social interaction and a poor repertoire of play skills. Other features include poor eye contact, obsessive behaviours, rituals, insistence on sameness, difficulties adapting to change, sensory issues with sounds, textures, flavours, smells and lack of empathy.

“Children who present such symptoms need to see a developmental/behavioural paediatrician as early as possible,” Dr Chandran urges.

“Early intervention definitely

birthday,” she added.

“Even though parents are usually the first to notice that something is wrong, the diagnosis of autism is often delayed. Sometimes this happens because relatives, parents or even doctors downplay the early worrying signs of autism,” notes Linlee Jordan, a natural medicine practitioner and homeopath.

Jordan believes that early detection also allows parents to become aware of available options and start accessing them. “However, it is also never too late to start intervening,” she is quick to assure.

So what causes autism?

A hotly debated issue, autism has been attributed to many things from immunisation to additives and pollution. While conclusive research still needs to be done, genetics clearly play a role. “It’s good to know one thing that it is no longer debated at all - that parenting styles do not cause autism,” Jordan gladly acknowledged.

Early intervention

Currently, mainstream medical methods combine speech therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, behavioural support, play therapy,

After intensive sessions tailored on the individual need, children are integrated into the preschool system, often under the supervision of special educators and trained aides.

These interventions can not only reduce behavioural issues but also help develop a child’s skills, and eventually, build up reasonable independence. Parents are also offered intensive counselling to help understand and support their children.

“However, there are many proven and unproven interventions. Parents do need to be careful when deciding what is best for their child and need to discuss this with their paediatrician or therapist before committing to therapies that can be very expensive,” warns Dr Chandran.

According to Dr Chandran, medication is only used if there are associated problems like anxiety, aggression and sleep issues. And even then as an adjunct with behavioural therapies, she adds.

“Ranjan used to be mortally afraid of dogs, which meant that we couldn’t take him to the park,” recalls Sandhya. Fear of the dark led to anxiety and tantrums. Through social stories and play therapy, all that has changed now.

setting

Once therapy structures are set in motion, most children are integrated into mainstream schooling, depending on their intellectual abilities. There are also some autism specific schools for the more severely challenged children. Additionally, the private sector caters to this growing demand by offering integrated resources. One such school is Macquarie University Special Education Centre (MUSEC), which offers a tailored curriculum at the primary school level.

When Ranjan first enrolled in his day care centre, Sandhya would often worry about him running away. “Back then, he had no concept of boundaries. But his preschool director was not only very supportive, but also well aware of autism issues. For the first time I felt a sense of relief,” she confesses.

Ranjan’s high functioning autism meant that he was also able to attend a mainstream public school on ‘inclusion support’. The family did consider a support class at their zone school, which offers an individual learning programme. Saakshi attends one such school and her parents hope to eventually relocate her to their local public school.

Adapting to autism

Many parents have to ‘unlearn’ their natural parenting instincts, and instead don a ‘special-parent’ avatar. Most autistic children have sensory integration issues (hyper or hypo-sensitivity to textures, sounds and motion). Some children are easily and uncontrollably excitable, so parents are taught to help them use ‘quiet hands and voice’ and get them to wear ‘weighted’ jackets to calm them down.

Aspect sells special products and toys to help teach these children coping strategies in a social setting. For Sandhya, Aspect merchandise has helped to regularise Ranjan’s behaviour patterns. Ranjan feels the need to suck on a pencil, as both a habit and for comfort. Regular pencils can be replaced with a child safe special pencil caps, to avoid sucking on poisonous lead.

Applied behavioural analysis (ABA) therapy has been the buttress therapy for most families, focusing on specific issues like eye contact, playing with peers or following classroom structures.

Clockwise: Krishna Narayanan

Santoshi Ramarathinam

A typical program consists of repeated instruction, modelling and rewards for each child, along with a huge dose of love and patience.

In his very first week at a mainstream school, Sandhya was asked to pick up Ranjan as he kept doing somersaults. More settled now, Ranjan is learning now to say ‘bye’ and ‘hello’ to his mum before and after school, and respond to her questions. “The tantrums, anxiety and hyperactivity used to break my heart. But for his own good I had to be firm,” she admits.

Ranjan still hates writing and often hides his home-school communication notebook. But Sandhya has her own rewards system to encourage positive behaviour patterns. “If he behaves well in class and meets most expectations, I get him a cheese naan after school,” she says. Ranjan has responded extremely well to the rewards scheme.

“Most parents have high aspirations for their children. For me, the fact that he makes conversation with me and responds to questions is very rewarding,” she admits. He now wants to play cricket. “Can he really? I wonder. But for the moment I think I have found my inner peace. I don’t worry too much about what others think of him,” Sandhya says courageously.

Creating a support structure

Coping with autism can be quite a rollercoaster, taking its toll on marital harmony and family structure. And it can be even harder on minorities. This is why more effort needs to be made by the community as a whole, and educators and health specialists in particular, to reach out to these vulnerable people.

Akila Ramarathinam has not only helped her daughter Santoshi through the difficult diagnosis of autism, but has now reached out to many in the community. Through the Hindu Social Service Foundation (HSSF), she has for the past four years, created a strong network of support for people with disabilities. She conducts free workshops and day camps, and organises picnics and day events for both the disabled and their carers.

“When my daughter Santoshi had severe speech and language disabilities as a two-year-old, I was totally devastated,” she candidly admits. Like most Indian mothers, “why me? What have I done wrong to deserve this” was her immediate reaction.

It was her teenaged son, who literally showed her the way. Embracing adversity, Krishna took his mother to the Sydney Paralympics in 2000. “It was there that I realised that people with disabilities can turn their life around with determination. Their stumbling blocks can become stepping-stones too. It was a real eye opener for me,” she admits.

With support from Westmead Children’s Hospital and the Department of Disabilities, Santoshi was able to access to quality healthcare. “Take your child to playgroup, go on holidays, enrol in physical activity programmes like swimming, tennis or even go to the park. Shower the child with love,” is her strong recommendation.

Relying heavily on her friends’ network, she has campaigned tirelessly for the disabled cause since then. “My friends, my husband and my family have been an incredible support,” she proudly acknowledges.

Social stigma

While it is not uncommon for developmental milestones to be ignored or overlooked, often cultural and social stigmas about mental health and a fear of talking openly, or seeking information and help for the child prevents migrant families from admitting such issues. Many often hope against hope that the child will just grow out of it.

“Being the parent of a disabled child is not something to be ashamed of, is it?” asks Juhi. The Brisbane-based mother of two finds there is still a huge amount of stigma that parents face in accepting autism. “I know several Indian parents who have autistic

kids, but deny it in the community with the hope that the kids will just grow out of it. Many even drop out of society because they are worried about comments. We have to learn to be more open and acknowledge reality,” she adds.

Disclosure

The issue of disclosure is a hurdle many parents prefer to avoid, and justifiably so. Already saddled by a weighty responsibility, most are uncomfortable disclosing the disability to an extended social group. “Given that support services and funding often hinge on the diagnosis, there is often a good reason to disclose a diagnosis to a school. However, in other settings it will depend on the individual and the depth of their problem,” says Jordan.

Fear of malicious gossip, tonguewagging and bullying are at the forefront of this. “Don’t feel shy or inhibited. Don’t hesitate to discuss with a friend. There is no point in being isolated and depressed, because you can’t really support your child then,” advises Akila.

Melbourne-based author and campaigner Amanda Curtis strongly advocates disclosure. She believes revealing the medical condition to the immediate school setting can reduce the effects of bullying, normalise relations and help form positive friendships.

“Once my son’s classmates knew why he was different and why he was disruptive, they stopped being unkind to him. A lot of the mothers also came up to offer support. Initially though, I was worried what the reaction would be,” she reveals.

Frustrated by the lack of teaching resources on the subject, Curtis has recently written a children’s book My Friend Has Aspergers. She has actively campaigned about disclosure, visiting schools around Melbourne and conducting workshops for parents. Her long-term goal is to change attitudes so that children with autism are better understood, accepted and celebrated.

Alternative therapies

Many autistics also suffer from a variety of food allergies, including eggs, nuts, dairy and wheat. It is believed that certain foods triggers toxicity in their bodies, which in turn affects the neurobiology. This is where homeopathy and Ayurveda are increasingly adding value to their lives.

“Working in conjunction with mainstream treatment structures, homeopathy takes a holistic approach, by working on the physical as well as emotional problems,” claims Jordan. Her holistic practice in Sydney’s Northern Beaches has treated

sleeping, she explains As well, each autistic child is prescribed a different homeopathic medicine, according to their individual characteristics.

A restless, forgetful, complaining child with a craving for bacon will receive a completely different remedy to a child who is restless, forgetful, fearful of the dark and is very thirsty, but hates water.

Jordan believes in a combination approach for autism.

Initially the child may receive homeopathic treatment for inflammation, allergies, recurrent

of the well-known remedies may be used once a week such as Apis, Belladonna, Cina or Chamomilla. The next step is to deal with issues which arise from the hair analysis test, which is done to assess mineral balance and heavy metal levels. The child may need supplementation with zinc, for example, if this mineral is low.

“Children with autism present complex cases and changes are expected to take time. What homeopathy does is to make them more resilient,” states Jordan. Her

Through early diagnosis, better teacher training and autismfriendly teaching programmes, a seamless transition into higher education and workforce is achievable

Clockwise:

Dr Chitra Chandran (Behavioral paediatrician)

Writer Amanda Curtis at the launch of her book My Friend Has Asperger’s Linlee Jordan A homeopathic approach

book Challenging Children: Success with Homeopathy, is a collection of stories about autistic children.

Through early diagnosis, better teacher training and autism-friendly teaching programmes, a seamless transition into higher education and the workforce is achievable. While the future may look uncertain, it is heartening to note that many adults living with this disorder have carved out fulfilling lives.

Meanwhile an Australian

Autism resources

Helping Children with Autism (HCWA) info line: 1800 289 177 www.fahcsia.gov.au www.raisingchildren.net.au

Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) 1800 277 328 www.autismspectrum.org.au

Parenting Australia www.parentingaustralia.com.au

Early Childhood Intervention Australia info line: 1300 656 865

Autism Victoria (Amaze) www.amaze.org.au

Autism Awareness Australia www.autismawareness.com.au

Carers NSW info line: 9280 4744 www.carersnsw.org.au

Parent info line (NSW): 13 20 55 (24hr service, run by qualified counselors for parents of children between 0-18)

Sue Larkey www.suelarkey.com.au (resources, strategies and Ideas for teaching)

Amanda curtis’s websites: www.disclosingaspergers.com www.speciallittlepeopleseminars.com www.facebook.com/pages/DisclosingAspergers

World monuments were illuminated in blue on April 2 this year to raise arareness about autism, as per images above and below

cooperative research centre (CRC) for people living with autism disorders is in the offing, funded by publicprivate partnership. Harnessing the combined research of professionals in the area, the Autism CRC hopes to deliver comprehensive solutions to both government as well as service providers in the health and education sector.

Photo: Autism Awareness Australia

A labour

A sugary version of the iconic Taj Mahal is a winner at the Royal Easter Show

BY SALONI KOBeR

As an ode to love, you can’t find a fault with the Taj: the white of the marble is gleaming, the domes are impeccably shaped, the turrets flawless, the recesses of the windows perfect, and the flowery scrolls carved on the walls. It is simply beautiful.

It is no surprise that this monument to love took two months, yes, two whole months to create! And, hang on, it is edible to boot.

The Taj Mahal cake, crafted by Sydney’s Rashmi Uttarkar, won second place at the recently concluded Royal Easter Show.

“Just having my cake there on display amongst the finest, was an honour,” Rashmi told Indian Link. “When I found out I had won, I thought it was a mistake. I refreshed the web page over and over again just to make sure!”

She added, “I never considered winning as the goal. I was just too busy making the cake! It takes several years to find out what appeals to the judges. Overall impression, presentation, cover/ texture, creativity/originality, execution of design skills, degree of difficulty: each aspect of the art is closely marked. The cake that stood first was a ‘cottage’. The precision, the neatness, the attention to detail in it was impeccable”.

It was this love of cakes that inspired Rashmi Bedarkar to start her own cake business in Sydney, which she calls Cakes by Rashmi. Established in 2011, the business has been carving a name for itself with its beautiful, unique and delicious cakes, cupcakes, cake pops and pastries.

Baking is something that has always come naturally to Rashmi. “I loved baking since I was a kid,” she said. “Growing up, my cakes were so popular amongst my cousins that most birthday cakes were made by me!”

But the decision to go professional came much later.

“At my daughter’s first birthday, I ordered a cake that cost me a small fortune and yet failed to impress. It was then that my husband Shai suggested I take my hobby of baking to the next step, cake decorating”.

She hasn’t regretted it. Trained under Planet Cake, Australia’s top cake decorating school, Rashmi is a true artisan who loves her work.

The Taj Mahal cake took two weeks only in planning. Rashmi started by cutting out the body using polystyrene foam since a real cake cannot remain fresh for the two weeks of the Easter Show. But the real artistry was in the decoration. Once the body was cut out, the next step was to cover it with a layer of sugar just like a real cake. Talent, skill, creativity and experience were all required to knead and mould the sugar dough.

“For this project, I had to cut, shape and decorate 58 individual panels and shapes which were then pieced together,” Rashmi revealed. “The final step was managing the whole structure with utmost care. The pieces were so delicate that they could be easily damaged with one wrong move. The panels are prone to attracting moisture and ‘weeping’. And if they get too dry, they are prone to warping and become brittle”.

But Rashmi is no novice at this kind of thing. Last year, her first ever entry in a cake decorating competition, organised by the Cake Decorators Guild of NSW got her a Third Place win (as per image on far right). Her cake represented her Indian roots and was unlike any other cake in the Novice wedding cakes category.

The bottom tier of the cake showed different henna designs in royal icing, while the second tier was a painting of an Indian wedding procession complete with a bride in a doli and dancing baarati. The third tier represented Indian jewels and to top it all off was a hand crafted Indian bride, wearing a traditional lahenga nose ring, all completely edible.

For Rashmi, every cake is a “creation” with its own set of

of love

“For the Taj Mahal project, I had to cut, shape and decorate 58 individual panels and shapes which were then pieced together. Managing the whole structure required utmost care. The pieces were so delicate that they could be easily damaged with one wrong move. The panels are prone to attracting moisture and ‘weeping’. And if they get too dry, they are prone to warping and become brittle”

Rashmi Uttarkar

challenges. Her method of dealing with those challenges is to thoroughly understand the client, their needs, what appeals to them and what touches their heart. This in turn results in every cake being unique and exquisite.

From the colour, to the design to every intricate detail, Rashmi plans everything out even before cracking that first egg.

“I feel that the cake is an important part of any occasion and should represent the occasion as such. But at the same time, the cake should accomplish its primary purpose as being a delicious dessert and its taste should surpass its looks”.

And what stimulates her creativity?

“Everything around me, really! My two children, my friends and my heritage are all a source of inspiration. My biggest criticand my biggest support - are the same person, my husband Shai. He helps with the engineering aspect of the cakes and also keeps me motivated”.

Rashmi also talks to the other veteran cake makers for ideas, inspiration, tips and tricks and she feels that she would never have won if she hadn’t had

support from her cake decorators community.

What makes Cakes by Rashmi different from every other cake shop in town is the fact that the customer is dealing directly with the owner of the business.

This elimination of the middle man offers the customer a better service, at a better price. It also means that unlike other establishments, Rashmi can offer unparalleled flexibility, whether it’s making an egg-less cake or even

Rashmi Uttarkar

Last year’s third prize cake

a dairy free one.

“When you love what you do, you don’t work, you create,” says Rashmi. No doubt the emperor Shahjahan and the artisans who created that other Taj would approve!

Clockwise: The Royal Easter Show second prize cake

Dinosaurs meet Bollywood

The Australian Museum hosts a night of extravagant dancing, laughing and henna tattoos

BY LeNA PeACOCK

The word Bollywood is enough to make most people’s ears prick up, but combine it with dinosaur bones, a laughter workshop and a silent disco, and surely everyone’s attention has been captured. Every Tuesday night in summer, the Australian Museum hosts an event called Jurassic Lounge. On Tuesday 19th March, in partnership with Parramasala, they held a Bollywood-themed event. And what an interesting Tuesday night it was.

As guests walked through the door on Tuesday night they were greeted with a bindi and a program of events. To get into the spirit of the evening, guests made paper garlands in the craft section. It was a little bit like being back in kindy, but guests were allowed to do it with a glass of wine. After cutting out discs of bright pink and orange paper, they threaded a needle through them, and ta da, they had colourful garlands to wear for the night.

One of the best parts of the night by far, was the Bollywood dance lesson. Two dancers from Natraj Dance Studios: Prafulla Parida and Shauna Crick, broke down some Bollywood moves and showed us how it was done.

The infectious sounds of Halkat Jawani filled the Atrium, and soon a large crowd had gathered around, flailing their arms and legs in all directions, some with more coordination than others. You certainly couldn’t fault the level of enthusiasm of the crowd. The second dance lesson of the evening was Bollywood Hip Hop with the songs Dus Bahane mixed with I Hate Luv Stories

Indian Link chatted with Prafulla Parida, a performer, choreographer and the Bollywood dance teacher of the night. Originally from Mumbai, Prafulla moved to Sydney in 2011, and has enjoyed sharing his love of Bollywood dance down under ever since. “I started my career as a back up dancer,” Prafulla, a dancer on the successful show The Merchants of Bollywood, told us. “My first choreography experience was as an Assistant Choreographer to Rajiv Surti in 2005 on the film Baabul. However, I have been dancing since I was seven and started my career in the Bollywood film industry in 2004”.

Prafulla says that choreographing for Bollywood dance comes easily to him, as he “understands the meaning of the songs, and can interpret the moves accordingly”.

And his favourite Bollywood movie? “Salman Khan’s Khamoshi!”

We just had to ask Prafulla for his top tip to dance like a Bollywood pro.

“Have an understanding of the music,” he replied. “I especially enjoy teaching my students the

meaning behind the story on the songs and the different dance forms”.

Aside from the dancing, there was also a live band called Love Parade, a Laughter Workshop (which yes, had us all laughing), and DJ Ravi Kambhoj played us some Bollywood tunes. Ravi started off djing in clubs in Dheli and New Zealand. “Kishore Kumar, Mohmammed Rafi, Asha

The infectious sounds of Halkat Jawani filled the Atrium, and soon a large crowd had gathered around, flailing their arms and legs in all directions

Bhosle, and R.D. Burman” are his favourite singers. On the night Ravi played mainly Bollywood with a mix of Punjabi Bhangra, Indian house and new age music.

The Raj Tent was all about playing music videos of Bollywood songs, and creating henna tattoos, and was another popular part of the night. There were examples of henna designs printed out to follow, and tubes

of henna on tables. It was up to guests to create the artworks on each other’s bodies, and luckily a friend with a steady hand created a design of flowers and swirls on our hands. Next, it was time to head to the Bollywood photobooth for some happy snaps.

It was quite amusing to see Indian inspired garlands all over the museum, including around exhibits of dinosaur bones and taxidermy koalas. It was a strange blend of Australia meets Bollywood, but we’re sure the koalas didn’t mind.

We bumped into Indian Link’s Facebook competition winner of a double pass to the event, Niti Singh, who said that she had a fun night. And we did too.

Prafulla Parida and Shauna Crick

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Job-skills workshop for new migrants

Mentors from the community offer an overview of trends and expectations in the current market

BY USHA RAMANUJAM ARVIND

The past two decades have seen an exponential growth in the number of skilled Indian migrants calling Australia home. Well-equipped with academic qualifications, professional skills and quite often, a fair amount of experience, they arrive on these shores with great expectations, hoping to trailblaze in their respective career pathways. But optimism soon turns to frustration when the dream job they hope to land, never seems to materialise. Be resilient, as the first break is the hardest to get and then it’s smooth sailing – is the refrain well-entrenched counterparts offer. Economic need and family pressures often force many to take up jobs well outside their area of expertise, a humbling experience, no doubt.

organised a career planning, job search and mentoring workshop to help new migrants find their feet in Australia. The program, held at Parramatta Town Hall, was funded by a special grant from NSW Cultural Relations Commission (CRC).

The day-long workshop, possibly the first of its kind for the ambitious scale and content, brought together HR specialists, industry professionals and jobseekers in the fields of IT, business, accounting and engineering, offering them an ideal launch pad.

Perhaps the biggest strength of the program was the wide network of experienced IndianAustralian mentors made available to participants. Besides offering a realistic overview of current trends and expectations in the job market, these mentors will also continue to provide meaningful insights and direction, as migrants explore the employment scenario.

and other senior members of the Telugu Association. A recipient of the School of Business Teaching Excellence award, Dr Seethamraju’s areas of expertise include management, accounting, enterprise and information systems.

“Settling into a new social environment is extremely challenging,” Seethamraju told Indian Link. “We have all faced difficulties in finding the break after migrating. Despite the best assistance provided by the government, there is still a significant gap. Our aim with this workshop is to provide as much practical support as possible”.

He added, “as a student recruiter I am often faced with the troublesome question, is there a job at the end of the study period? This has always bothered me”. To address this thorny issue in June 2012, the STA, which incidentally celebrates two decades of existence this year, applied for

a competitive grant to help new migrants in their job quest. Since then, STA committee members and the team of mentors have invested a lot of time and effort into the much needed careerplanning project.

“Based on the number of registrations as well as the response and feedback we have had so far, I believe the initiative is already a huge success,” Dr Seethamraju stated.

Inaugurating the proceedings, CRC chairman Stepan Kerkyasherian pondered nostalgically over his own early migrant experiences. Also speaking on the occasion was academic, businessman and Federal MP for Parramatta Geoff Lee. “Identify yourself as a marketable product and see how best to promote your brand,” he advised jobseekers.

Besides strategic presentations and breakout sessions by career development specialist Dr Diana Day and senior members from CPA Australia and Australian Computer Society (ACS), participants were given core job search skills, including resume preparation and interview management. Practical grooming and presentation tips, oral and written communication skills, insights into Australian job culture and milieu also figured prominently on the agenda. Panel discussions, Q&A sessions addressing specific issues, resume checks and mock interviews allowed participants to engage with prospective employers in real-time settings.

Of 140 migrants registered for the workshop, 60% were from an IT background. Accounting, business and engineering professionals made up 20% and 10% respectively, with the rest from fashion, aged care and medical industries. The

participants were provided with a comprehensive resource kit to introduce them to market expectations.

Particvipants were told to identify one’s goals, build a network of contacts and tap into these contacts to access jobs before they are advertised, join professional associations, gett accreditation, undertake volunteer/internship roles to gain local experience, update skills to suit current Australian requirements, and apply these skills to related industries of job environments.

Despite having a strong academic profile, many Indian candidates often fail to focus on little things like punctuality, eye contact and communicating slowly and clearly, Dr Seethamraju lamented. “Pay a lot of attention to detail, read up on local issues, research the industry trends and try to create a positive vibe,” he advised.

Fielding questions on the IT industry, Phil Lovell of ACS explained that despite current offshoring trends, acute skill shortages still exist. With the industry still growing at 11%, the new niche areas, according to him are data analysis, helpdesk, testing, SAP, IT security, business analysis and project management. “The market is quite cut-throat and my advice is to have multiple strategies to increase the pipeline of opportunity,” he stated.

Spurred on by the success, STA is not only planning follow-up sessions and events, but will also apply for similar grants for the coming years.

“We are also contemplating to introduce some co-payment by the participants to defray some of the costs given the limited funding available for such events,” Seethamraju indicated.

Organisers, guests and mentors

Mentor and participants

Panel discussion

Building relationships, one innings at a time

and

in a NSW Police vs Indian International Students 20/20 cricket game

“I have always been welcomed there with open arms and I want the Indian students who are living here to feel just as welcome, and to know that

By LENA PEACOCK

The Commissioner’s XI vs Indian High Commissioner’s International Students XI 20/20 was a one-off cricket game, held on Friday 22 March, which featured Australian Representative cricketers Brett and Shane Lee. The game aimed to help further strengthen relationships between police officers and international students living in Sydney.

“Cricket is a sport that is revered by both nations [Australia and India] so we thought what better way to develop relationships within the community than by hosting a friendly game of cricket,” said the organiser of the event, Detective Superintendent Gavin Dengate, Eastern Beaches Local Area Commander. “Because of different environments and situations people are faced with in other countries, we often find people who come to Australia are hesitant to trust police, as many have trouble doing so in their home countries”. The cricket match is part of a plan initiated by the NSW Police to increase the safety of international students.

Cricket fans came to watch NSW Police play against Indian International students at Sydney University Oval number 2, despite the high humidity and looming storm clouds. The match was free of charge and was open to the general public. Despite the weather putting a halt to the game which started at 3pm, the storm decided to let the game recommence, which led to the event wrapping

up at around 7pm.

Cricketing great Brett Lee and his brother Shane both showed support for the initiative, with Brett supposed to play on the side of the Indian students, and Shane to play on the police officers side. Unfortunately though Brett was unable to play due to an injury, and had to follow doctor’s orders to rest. But just having the two cricketers there was enough to show their support, and allowed fans to pose with the two and chat about all things cricket.

Although there were no Mexican waves, beach balls being thrown around, or beer cup snakes being created, there was a lot of enthusiastic clapping going on in the grandstand. Proud families watched on as their loved ones batted, bowled, or played other positions, with the World’s Greatest Shave going on in the background.

Brett Lee even shaved one of the University of Sydney student’s heads to raise money. As the pieces of hair hit the floor, a lot of wolf whistles and cheering ensued.

Brett Lee also spoke of his love for India. “I have spent a lot of time in India and it’s a culture I absolutely love,” he said. “I have always been welcomed there with open arms and I want the Indian

students who are living here to feel just as welcome, and to know that if they ever have a problem that the police are there to help them. This game will assist in developing these relationships at a grassroots level, and it can only grow from there”.

Brett was also looking forward to the chance to play against his cousin Luke, who is a senior constable attached to the Police Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit.

“I love the organised chaos of India,” Shane said on the occasion. “I’ve been there 40 times, but Brett has probably been there about 140 times”.

However, Brett later laughed about this, saying that the number was actually closer to 70 times.

“It is hard to hear that students have been having a hard time,” he revealed later. “Especially because I never felt intimidated in India”.

Shane spoke of the similarities between India and Australia, saying that one of the links between the two countries is a closeness to our parents.

Shane and Brett both recounted cricketing stories from the 18 years that they had played for the Australian cricket team together. Shane spoke of Mark Taylor, as the best captain that he has played

under, and Brett spoke of Steve Waugh as “a really good captain and a leader”.

“We’ve seen a great game of cricket... despite the rain delay... down to the last over of the game,” said Dave Hudson, Deputy Commisioner, a self-confessed “cricket tragic”. “The relationship with our Indian Students in this country is an important one [and] we have to acknowledge our commitment to the needs of the community. The students who come out to this country need to feel that they are a part of our culture”. He concluded, “there are strong bonds between [the] police force and the Indian community. Thank you all for your participation and congratulations to the winning team, the students!”

He also good humouredly joked that the rain “obviously affected the outcome,” which explains why “the Indian students are the winners”.

The Indian students team was awarded an Australian cricket team bat from 2009 after the game.

During the dinner Ankita Ghazan, Miss India Australia, sung both the Indian and Australian national anthems.

Indian Link spoke to Gurnam Singh during the match, who is

the creator and President of the Swamy Army, as well as one of the team members of the Indian international students team. He has been playing cricket in Australia since he moved here in 2007.

“I love Australia and Australians,” Gurnam said. Along with studying, he also works, does community volunteering with the McGrath Foundation, and plays cricket, including playing 20/20 cricket for St George and Parramatta. Gurnam plays as a middle order batsman and bowler. “Students who come to Australia, want to play cricket,” Gurnam noted, “which is why events like today are so worthwhile. Cricket helps them to feel proud and confident in this country”.

Sir Donald Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar are Gurnam’s favourite players.

As Indian Link spoke to him, the Indian student’s balls continually hit the boundary, which lead to their victory.

As Shane Lee said during the dinner, “that’s the good thing about cricket - it can stand above politics and everything”.

if they ever have a problem that the police are there to help them. This game will assist in developing these relationships at a grassroots level, and it can only grow from there”

Brett Lee

Brett

Shane Lee participate

Brett Lee and Gurnam Singh

Cricket for organ donation

Indian Welfare Association helps organise a cricket game to spread the word about organ donation

By MALLI IyER

The annual Jeevan Dhan Trophy for cricket was organised by Transplant Australia and the Indian Welfare Association recently. The Indian Community XI competed against the Australian Transplant CC for the Hookes Family Jeevan Dhan Trophy for 2013.

The IC XI scored 237 runs in their 30 overs allotted, captained by Prem Krithivasan. The ATCC team led by Paul Wulff made 168 runs, conceding the trophy to the Indian Community XI team by 69

runs. The trophy was presented by Robyn Hookes to the winning team. Robyn has done much to champion the cause of organ donation, ever since her husband David Hookes, one of Australia’s best-known test cricketers, donated his organs after his sudden and tragic death in 2004.

The game was umpired by Prof. Richard Allen, Head of Tranplant Australia and Malli Iyer, Manager of the Indian Community XI.

Dr. Harinath, former President of Cricket NSW, Stepan Kerkyasharian, Community Relations Commissioner, NSW, Greg Chappell, National Talent Manager, Cricket Australia, and Simon Taufel, ICC Umpires Elite Panel sent messages of support for the event.

An audience of approximately 100 visitors comprising of friends

and family enjoyed the match, including the tasty Indian meal served during the lunch break. In an attempt to create awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation to the wider community, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the General Practitioners Association (GPA) offer complete support to endeavours by social groups such as the Indian Welfare Association. The cricket match was played under the auspices of these organisations, and helped in the awareness campaign for organ donation.

Recent advances in medical science and surgical techniques, tissue typing and immunosuppressive drugs have made it possible to achieve a much higher success rate in organ transplantation.

On top of this, there is a wider knowledge of organs and tissue regrown from the patient’s own stem cells in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. This is why there is an urgent need to reemphasise the ethical issues to our communities, to help them make a decision about participating in voluntary organ and tissue donation. The World Medical Association has recently reviewed and provided fresh guidelines to medical associations, physicians and other health care providers.

Organs eligible for transplant are heart, kidney, liver, lungs, pancreas, intestines and thymus.

There is an urgent need to re-emphasise the ethical issues to our communities, to help them make a decision about participating in voluntary organ and tissue donation

Tissue donation includes bones, tendons, cornea, skin, heart valves and veins. Prospective donors can register online or email AODR@ medicareaustralia.gov.au for more information.

The Australian Government encourages all Australians to discover, decide and discuss organ and tissue donation within family groups, with a view to hasten the availability of donated organs and give a ‘gift of life’ to someone.

Robyn Hookes with the trophy, the 2 team managers and the 2 opposing captains Paul Wulff (ATCC Captain) and Prem Krithivasan (Indian Captain)

The victorious Indian Cricket Team

Robyn Hookes talking to the Indian Team Manager, Malli Iyer

The passing of the mantle

as she left behind her jewels for her husband to find, and in her steadfast refusal to give in as hounded her in

Amongst the other characters, Poornima won the most applause as the scheming hunch-back Manthara and later as the devout, self-admonishing Shabri. Her dad Raghavan Nair kept to his real-life ‘godfather’ role as King Dasharath; as expected, he depicted superbly the grandeur of his position, the despair of a humiliated husband, and the grief and pain of a father whose sons bravely took on the exile hurled

Krish Sharma as Ravana, Anuj Nair as Parshuram and Meghnath, and Suhasini Sumithra as Kaikeyi did justice to their roles too.

The costumes were fantastic, bringing alive the splendour of the royal court brilliantly. But perhaps more attention could have been paid to the costumes of the animal characters such as Jatayu and the golden deer that enamoured Sita. Ravana’s head gear looked like a primary school kid’s craft project from last week, but it’s ok, he’s just the baddie! And as for the vanar , they looked somewhat bizarre, definitely non-simian, with those odd mouth pieces. Luckily for them, they got that sideways monkey gait down pat, thanks no doubt to Raghavan and Poornima’s excellent skills in

By RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA

The Indian Dance Centre’s recent staging of the great Hindu epic Ramayana was interesting in many ways, but mostly because it showed the mantle passing on to the next generation.

Founded by Raghavan Nair in 1987, the Centre is one of Sydney’s oldest Indian dance schools. With productions in many genres including classical and folk, the Centre regaled the audiences through the years under the directorship of Raghavan Nair until he handed over to his talented daughter Poornima Sharma a few years ago. Poornima, who had played leading roles in all her father’s productions

along with her brother Anuj, soon established her own credentials not only as a dancer and choreographer but also as an able and innovative leader. Anuj continued the family tradition too, while simultaneously carving a successful career for himself as a singer in mainstream music.

This year, Poornima’s young sons Deepak and Ravi played the leads in this long-standing family show for the first time.

The mantle passes on, for sure.

(Even the MC at this year’s staging, Preeti Thadani, played the female lead in an early version of this show).

The Ramayana is essentially a set of guidelines for dharma, or ‘duty’ and ‘propriety’. It describes the nature of ideal relationships, such as between husbands and wives, parents and children, siblings, even rulers and the ruled, and as such, lays down human values as espoused by Hinduism. While the original was written

by Valmiki in Sanskrit, the more popular version is handed down to us in the Avadhi language. Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas has made the Ramayana more accessible to the general populace. The Indian Dance Centre’s version uses the original chaupai metre (four-line quatrains) that Tulsidas used for much of the work. Many devout Hindus in the audience sang along to the verses that they have chanted all their lives, and it did not seem to matter to them at all that the sound was somewhat wanting on the night.

Deepak Sharma as Rama was most impressive: no doubt he sent many hearts aflutter in the audience with his brilliant act – not to mention those toned biceps. You could say he was born to play Rama in this family production, but he more than lived up to his expectations. And who wasn’t impressed with that stylised slow-motion walk? This

young man is star material for sure.

To be fair, his brother Ravi Sharma played the role of Lakshmana to a T. Suitably reticent, he let the spotlight shine on his brother, just like the real Lakshmana would have. But in the fight scenes with Meghnath and the ones with the repugnant Swaroopnakha, he managed to stand his own.

Indeed, if there was any pressure on the two brothers as the family mantle is passed on to them, they showed no signs of it whatsoever.

Ashishna Sharma as Sita was your typical Bollywood heroine, whose main purpose is to stand around and look good. She did so brilliantly in her glamorous costumes, but thankfully, came good in the bits where her character mattered – in her anguish and terror as she was kidnapped; in her concern for the injured Jatayu; in her masterstroke

The back screen lighting during Rama’s crossing of the seas, and again while Hanuman set Lanka to fire, were wonderful to watch – if only more such innovations were included.

Among the stand-out scenes were the martial arts sequences as the young princes were trained by Vishvamitra, Sita’s svayamvara, Kaikeyi’s harsh demand and Dasharath’s subsequent suffering.

Rama and Sita’s jungle romancing, Lakshmana’s disgust at Swaroopnakha, Jatayu’s interception of Sita’s abduction, the duel between Lakshmana and Meghnath, and Sita’s harassment in prison were also well-played.

The final scene rajya abhishek was truly sumptuous.

At the end of the day, goodness will overcome evil. This overarching message from the great epic will continue to guide, even as generations go by and the mantle passes on.

Keep up the good work, Indian Dance Centre.

Photos: Abhineet Tangri

Cooking for the sake of harmony

Workplaces around the country celebrate A Taste of Harmony Day

A Taste of Harmony (18-24 March, 2013) is Australia’s biggest and most delicious celebration of cultural diversity. Work colleagues around Australia brought in dishes and shared stories about their different cultures, and many sampled dishes from other countries for the first time. With more than half of Australia’s population born overseas, or having at least one parent from another country, its workforce is the perfect place to celebrate diversity through food. The message from Harmony Day (21 March) was that ‘Everyone Belongs,’ and the theme from this year was ‘Many Stories - One Australia.’ Indian Link asks four workers what they did for A Taste of Harmony Day:

PRINCIPLE OF INCLUSIVENESS Sunny Kansara, Cricket Victoria, Melbourne

Harmony in Cricket is one of the important programs at Cricket Victoria. Celebrating it at Cricket Victoria has given me the opportunity to learn other staff’s cultural background and also gave me the opportunity to showcase my cultural background. I am proud to work for Cricket Victoria where such days are celebrated. Harmony in Cricket is based on the principle of inclusiveness, no matter of a person’s cultural background. I think this shows what the game of cricket has to offer all of the community. On Harmony Day, we had food from around the world and it was a good experience to see staff gathering in the kitchen with their traditional dishes. I was unfortunately unable to make any Indian food myself, which I now regret. I have two newborns at home and therefore majority of the time at home passes in taking care of them”.

dIVERSITY TASTES GOOd Falguni Madhavani, Performance Education, Sydney

I made a vegetable rice dish with a spicy masala twist to it. A Taste of Harmony is a positive way of bringing everyone together to celebrate cultural diversity at our workplace by way of sharing delicious food and interesting stories. Performance Education truly epitomises the essence of A Taste of Harmony where we want to celebrate the cultural diversity by learning more about each other and what a better way is there to learn this than sharing food! We primarily work with international talent coming from different parts of the world like India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam etc. A Taste of Harmony was widely enjoyed and generated interesting discussion and understanding of students coming from different cultural backgrounds. Life is about eating, travelling and meeting new people. It was an absolute super hit! Diversity surely tastes good!”

EXPLORING TRAdITIONS Lindy hyam, Singleton Council, New South Wales

It was great to see the diversity of our community reflected through our Harmony Day activities with a mix of newer and older cultural groups bringing a wealth of knowledge, traditions, food and ways of living to our town. We’re enriched as a society because of it and it’s an opportunity for children and our older groups to interact directly with other parts of our community. Harmony Day participants had the opportunity to learn about other cultures which is especially important in more rural communities where they don’t have the same exposure to other nationalities.” (Singleton had sixteen countries represented on the day, including India)”.

A MARAThI dISh FOR ThE OFFICE Svetlana Mahajan, Underwriters Laboratories, Sydney

We had Italian, Scottish, Bosnian, Chinese, Hong Kong, Bangladeshi, Australian, Mexican and Indian. The rest will last us the week for sure! Everyone loved the balloons and certificates. Will definitely do it again! I tried/made a Maharashtrian dish (I am from a state called Maharashtra in India), called Kolhapuri Rassa. Though the parent company is big, we are a fairly small office in Australia, with 15 staff members. So we are close-knit as a team, but A Taste of Harmony was a way to communicate with each other about our cultural backgrounds, and exchange stories about the food brought by everyone. Most are Australians, but were encouraged to bring a dish that represents a country of their heritage, so we had much variety. The overall response was awesome. We have a contractor who works four hours a week, she got pesto pasta and made pesto from scratch. Everybody did their best without any incentive, so it was pretty cool. The best dish to me was Queen Mary’s Pie from Scotland. I don’t usually like sweets, yet I had two pieces. Luckily, it was not very sweet, and had a subtle flavour of fruit mince. There were no leftovers.”

Bollywood moves for charity

Community youth get together to make a difference to the lives of underprivileged children in Indian

By RITAM MITRA

Hundreds of young Indians attended a night of song, dance and glamour for charity last month, helping raise $10,000 to start and run one-teacher schools in rural and tribal regions of India. Organised by Ekal Youth Australia, the youth wing of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation Australia, the night was aimed at university students and directly raised enough funds to start up and run six schools in India for a span of three years, providing education to 180 children.

Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation Australia is focused on raising awareness for underprivileged Indian children who cannot afford education due to various reasons, either through financial difficulties, geographical remoteness, or the burden of other responsibilities. Ekal Youth Australia also promotes the same cause, but focuses on involving younger Indians in social and cultural events across Sydney.

The success of the night was the fruit of six months of hard work on its preparation. Although the group met their goals of having 500 attendees and raising $10,000, Sunali Bhandula, President of Ekal Youth Australia, told Indian Link the biggest challenge for the group was simply marketing the event.

“Once everything was organised it was just a matter of spending the last four weeks with crazy running from one place to the other to market the event - lots of Facebook updates, visiting other big events, posters in Indian stores and restaurants, handing out flyers at the stations and constantly being at other universities to share information amongst cultural societies”.

The night was a tale of two halves.

In the first half, the

audience were entertained by a host of talented groups and individuals. A colourful fashion show by Shweta Kohli kicked off the proceedings, followed by several exciting and engaging dance performances, including the Mayur Indian Dance Academy, Shiamak Sydney, Pehchaan Mutiyaar Di, Ruchi Sanghi Dance Company, Elementary Dance and Bollywood Glamour.

The audience were given a moving presentation on Ekal Youth and the great work it does for disadvantaged children, and Akshay Raj presented the group with a donation on behalf of the Australian Labor Party. After a short dinner break, the second half of the night began with a great performance by Rooh Punjab Dee on the dance floor itself, after which DJ Dimple and his Desi Crew Australia (including two highly popular dholis) introduced the open dance floor to the large crowd. Ajay Balakrishnan, 21, admitted this was the part that everyone was looking forward to. “I loved the fact that the performances were of a high quality, but at the same time the organisers knew it was a young audience and they wouldn’t be able to sit still for the whole night, most of them just wanted

to get up and dance”.

And dance they did, the young crowd spent the rest of the night busting moves on the dance floor to a mix of Bollywood, Punjabi, English and dhol tracks. The use of social media, so important in the organisation of the night, was again felt as a special track of requests was played, given to DJ Dimple through Facebook.

The bigger picture was never lost on the dance floor, however. The event, mainly marketed through Facebook and University societies, highlighted the ability of today’s younger generation to make a positive impact on society. Social media has been a crucial tool in activism across the world for some time now, and this was just one example of how quickly individuals can combine for the greater good.

Attendee Karn Agrawal, 21,

The event directly raised enough funds to start up and run six schools, providing education for 180 children

said it was a small stepping stone towards a better future. “It’s really important that people recognise these issues at our age - and hopefully the generation after ours is even more equipped to tackle even bigger and more critical issues”.

“Education is essentially a human right which every child deserves, and I believe education is the key to success, if you can educate one child, that child can then go educate another ten,” said marketing coordinator Sheffy Goyal. “It’s the satisfaction gained from giving a child the gift of education they deserve that makes this cause so special”.

Attendee Vedant Tijoriwala summed up the night, “It was a wonderful night of socialising and dancing, made ever better by the fact our money was going to help educate kids in India!”

Left: Pechaan Mutiyaar Di dance group

Below: Ekal Youth group

A rainbow over

SHVEATA SINGH CHANDEL attends a celebration of Holi Mahotsav done Sydney-style

Tumbalong Park

OPPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE

Hindu Council of Australia invites expression of interests from anyone who wishes to expand their horizons and get involve with one of the biggest community events of Sydney. It will provide huge exposure and networking opportunity to the successful applicants.

We are looking for enthusiastic people who will have the opportunity to make a huge difference to the iconic fairs and the existing process. You will bring fresh ideas and show your skills at a grand stage.

If you are motivated, enthusiastic and wish to make a mark, we are looking for positions in the following areas:

• Event Manager

• Sponsorship co-ordinator

• Media co-ordinator

• Marketing co-ordinator

• Cultural co-ordinator

• Volunteering co-ordinator

Please note that these are voluntary positions.

Deepavali Fair is held in Sydney at iconic locations by Hindu Council. The fair is extremely popular among Indian Diaspora and a major event in Sydney’s events calendar. It is a means to bond with cultural roots and acquaint children to the rich Indian culture and heritage. This year we wish to expand the program to the wider sections of the Australian community.

Hindu Council of Australia Ltd is a leading community organisation which acts as a representative organisation of various Hindu associations.

Please feel free to contact Raman Bhalla (Program Director) on 0401 057 224 to discuss any of these positions in detail.

Please apply in strictest confidence at: info@deepavali.com.au AND or ring 1300 HINDUS

www.hinducouncil.com.au

A gesture that had touched the ‘Iron Lady’ in India

Margaret Thatcher did not approve of the state of emergency in force during her visit to India in 1976. But she was so touched by a gesture of her host and prime minister Indira Gandhi that she made it a point to mention it in her memoirs.

“I lunched with Indira Gandhi in her own modest home, where she insisted on seeing that her guests were all looked after, and clearing away the plates while discussing matters of high politics,” Thatcher, who died recently, wrote in The Path to Power.

“Both her sons, Sanjay and Rajiv, were present, although it was the former who had most to say for himself. He had, indeed, allegedly been responsible for many of the abuses such as forced sterilisation and compulsory re-housing which had provoked such bitter opposition,” she said.

“But in spite of everything I found myself liking Mrs Gandhi herself. Perhaps, I naturally sympathised with a woman politician faced with the huge strains and difficulties of governing a country as vast as India.”

Thatcher had visited India in September 1976 as an opposition leader, three years before she became prime minister, at the invitation of Indira Gandhi. The British press had criticised her for her comment

post-visit, “I came to learn and not to comment.”

Yet, in her memoirs, Thacker did say that she did not see eye-to-eye on Indira Gandhi’s emergency and the restrictions on the press.

“In spite of a long self justificatory account she gave me of why the state of emergency had been necessary, I could not approve of her government’s methods,” said Thatcher, who was called the Iron Lady for the way she handled some pressing labour issues.

“She had taken a wrong turning and was to discover the fact at her Party’s devastating election defeat in 1977,” Thatcher added.

The fact that Indira Gandhi’s gesture of clearing the plates herself had touched Thatcher is also mentioned in the declassified documents from British archives that were released in December 2006.

Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Britain died on April 7, after suffering a stroke. She was 87.

delhi Police turn to yoga as stress buster

Battling crime day in and day out, Delhi’s policemen are a totally stressed out lot. So now the men in khaki are turning to yoga as a stress buster.

After yoga classes showed positive results

at one police station, Delhi Police are planning to take them to more men in the capital.

“Our men daily deal with crime, criminals and work for abnormal hours on occasion. All this is bound to lead to stress,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest Delhi) P Karunakaran.

It was his initiative to conduct a yoga camp at the Jahangirpuri police station.

At the camp March 18-April 2, around 35 police personnel participated. The session was held between 4.30 pm-5.30 pm every day. The exercise will continue in the district’s 17 police stations.

“We got a very good response, and now similar yoga camps can be organised in other police stations across the city,” Karunakaran added. Delhi has 180 police stations.

“The classes were successful and satisfying. I am getting feedback from participants that they feel a change in themselves after attending the yoga classes,” Assistant Sub-Inspector Pushpendra Kumar, who conducted the class, said.

He said the policemen found it “very helpful”.

“We could notice the slight changes in them due to yoga. They look more tensionfree, relaxed and have more energy for work. We also noticed an improvement in their day-to-day health problems, including depression,” Kumar said.

Kumar, 30, who has been practising yoga for the last five years, said he used to instruct policemen on yoga wherever he was posted.

Another senior police officer said, “such classes also help in increasing the working capacity of the policemen”.

The idea of yoga was explored when it was noticed that policemen were feeling stressed due to being overworked.

There were complaints of sleep-related problems, headaches and indigestion.

“A policemen has to be on duty for more than 10 hours a day, specially those on the law and order duties or posted at a police station. Yoga is very helpful in relaxing and rejuvenating the person,” stated Constable Satender Singh, who attended the classes.

Australian know-how for Jaipur’s Man Singh museum makeover

A five-member heritage delegation from Australia has arrived in Jaipur to collaborate with the Maharaj Sawai Man Singh II Museum Trust on heritage conservation and cultural tourism. The delegation will tour the Pink City and “assess the condition of the museum and the artifacts”.

The Australian and Indian teams will take part in a joint forum on museum collections and conservation, heritage architecture and conservation, and cultural tourism, the embassy of Australia said.

AusHeritage chairman and Australian cultural heritage expert, Vinod Daniel, set the tone for the forum with an address on “the Museum of the 21st Century”. He said museums had to move out of the conventional spaces and reach out to people and conservation technology had to be upgraded to control depreciation of heritage and cultural artifacts with time and extreme Indian weather.

The participants visited the Jaipur City Palace and the Jaigarh Fort.

Australian Deputy High Commissioner

Bernard Philip, said in New Delhi, that he was delighted to be at the City Palace for the forum.

“Initiatives such as this one, funded by the Australia-India Council, are an important part of the ongoing conversation between our two countries,” he said.

Aditi Mehta, Rajasthan’s additional chief secretary, will inaugurate the forum, hosted by the secretary of the Museum Trust, Diya Kumari. “This forum is yet another effort on the part of the trust to learn the scientific and modern methods to conserve our heritage architecture as well as promoting cultural tourism,” she said.

“We are happy to join hands with AusHeritage in this endeavour,” Divya Kumari added.

Vinod Daniel said the five-member AusHeritage team had a wide range of expertise and he was delighted to collaborate on a project involving the City Palace, a site on every Indian visitor’s wishlist.

In addition to Daniel, Australian experts visiting Jaipur for the forum are collections specialist Charlotte Galloway, heritage architecture specialist Roger Beeston, materials scientist Jim Mann and cultural tourism academic, Keir Reeves.

The Australia-India Council (AIC) established in 1992 to encourage peoplepeople links between the two countries, has been supporting AusHeritage members to work on many projects in India, including providing assistance for designing an international exhibition gallery for the Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai, developing a charter for conservation of buildings for the Indian National Trust for Art and Culture, providing capacity building for museums in Assam, Kerala and West Bengal, besides Mumbai and Delhi, and developing a function brief for a Tagore museum in Shanthinketan.

AusHeritage has memoranda of understanding with INTACH and the Madras Christian College.

Indian Jane Austen’s death ends rich era of crossover literature

Described by English writer-editor Ian Jack as the Jane Austen of India, award-winning novelist and screenplay writer Ruth Prawar Jhabvala was renowned for her evocative novels of the rainbow societies of 1920th century India, two of which became successful films.

Jhabvala, 85, died on April 3 in her Manhattan home of a pulmonary disorder, long-time friend and associate James Ivory told the media. She lived in a modest apartment in Manhattan decked up with books and the trophies she brought home for her writing.

Her novels were full of rich colour and details of India that she had adopted as her homeland, and the people inhabiting her books were like her, global citizens juxtaposed against Indian society and drawing on the commonalities and the clash of cultures.

Jhabvala moved to India in the early 1950s following her remarriage to Parsi architect Cyrus Jhabvala. The era with its vestiges of the British Raj, the decadence of the native royalty, the economic gulf between the elite and the masses, cultures,

Michael Clarke and his wife Kyly are all smiles at the Taj Mahal last month

relationships across multi-ethnic lines and lifestyles that allowed the tradition and western modernism to co-exist, captured the literary imagination of the young English literature post-graduate from the University of London.

Two of her iconic classics were The Householder (1960), and Heat and Dust (1975), that won the Booker Prize in 1975. Both of them were adapted into movies by Merchant-Ivory Productions, with whom she collaborated for nearly 50 years for nearly two-dozen scripts.

The Householder is built around its lead character Prem, who graduates from a student to a householder. It chronicles his experiences, his crisis of spiritual identity and matured independence through a cast of characters like Prem’s mother, wife, his high school friends, the white folks in India and their servant, who is Prem’s landlord.

In Heat and Dust, Jhabvala looks at two generations of impetuous Indo-British women in the country who become pregnant outside wedlock and move to live in seclusion. The story is told through a narrator, whose life takes off on her English step-grandmother Olivia who is charmed by a nawab and flees his principality over a pregnancy scandal.

The fair petite writer, born to a German Jewish family in Cologne, was influenced by the cultural millieu of central Europe before the world wars.

“I am a central European with an English education and a deplorable tendency to constant self-analysis. I am irritable and have weak nerves,” she wrote in one of her short story anthologies, How I Became the Holy Mother

But her passion for central Europe changed one evening as the family sat on the terrace of their home watching a Nazi parade. Her parents, Marcus and Eleanora, were later arrested but let off. They fled to Britain with Ruth and son Siegbert in 1939.

According to Jhabvala’s biographers, Marcus committed suicide in 1948 after he came to know how his clan had died during the Holocaust. Her chequered childhood was a source of deep torment for the sensitive writer.

Says writer Janet Watts in The Guardian, “Jhabvala never wrote of her early life. She never spoke of it in public, until 1979, when she received the Nell Gunn International fellowship and gave a public lecture in Edinburgh. Her chosen subject was disinheritance”.

“I stand before you as a writer without any ground of being out of which to write: really blown about from country to country, culture to culture till I feel - till I amnothing,” Watts quoted Jhabvala, “who liked it that way” as saying.

Literature became Jhabvala’s shelter, her world of creative expression to pour our her angst and script a new identity. She wrote eight anthologies of short stories and more than a dozen novels which also included Out of India, Three Continents and My Nine Lives

Jhabvala was honoured with several awards including two Academy Awards for the screenplays of the The Room With A View and Howards’ End, the Bafta award for Heat and Dust, the O’Henry for Refuge in London and the Writers’ Guild of America award.

India successfully test fires nuclear-capable Agni-II missile

India successfully test-fired its nuclearcapable Agni-II strategic ballistic missile from a military base in Odisha on April 6, a defence official said.

The test was conducted from Wheeler’s Island in Bhadrak district, around 200 km from Bhubaneshwar, at about 10.20 am by army personnel as part of routine usertrials, said M.V.K.V. Prasad, director of the Integrated Test Range.

“The missile successfully hit the target. It was a perfect launch,” he said.

The medium-range missile with a range of over 2,000 km has already been inducted into the army, and is part of the Strategic Forces arsenal for nuclear deterrence. The Agni-II is part of India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.

The two-stage surface-to-surface missile, equipped with an advanced high-accuracy navigation system and guided by a novel state-of-the-art command and control system, is powered by a solid rocket propellant system.

The missile weighs 17 tonnes and its range can be increased to 3,000 km by reducing the payload. It can be fired from both rail and road mobile launchers. It takes only 15 minutes for the missile to be readied for firing.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation first tested Agni-II in 1999.

However, the Indian Army’s Strategic Forces Command, which operates the missile, could test it only May 17, 2010 after two successive failures in 2009.

The failed tests did not meet the mission’s desired objectives as, on both occasions, the missile lost speed and deviated from its flight path.

Since then, it has been successfully tested several times. The latest successful test once again proved the reliability of the missile, the official said.

Water management must for India: President

President Pranab Mukherjee recently said efficient water management is crucial to keep pace with population growth and economic development.

“Available water must be managed judiciously to meet the twin burden of population growth and economic development. Conservation, balanced distribution and reclamation of used water are essential cogs in the wheel of water management,” Mukherjee said while inaugurating the India Water Week 2013 with the theme ‘Efficient Water Management: Challenges and Opportunities’ organised in New Delhi by the Ministry of Water Resources.

He added that India is home to 17 per cent of the world’s population but has only four per cent of its renewable water resource.

He said “severe drought in some parts of the country, particularly in Maharashtra, was a matter of grave concern.”

“The increasing occurrence of droughts and floods in India has underlined the need to find solutions to improve the management of water resources,” said the president.

The president said adverse impact of climate change on the hydrologic cycle was leading to variations in rain cycles.

“This has often resulted in occurrence of floods in some areas and drought in others. Climate change also has the potential to affect ground water by reducing its table and quality,” he said.

Mukherjee said the “government must contain decreasing ground water levels through improved technology and better management and rain water harvesting should be popularised. Water supply, especially in urban areas, should be metered to boost conservation and ensure recovery of user charge,” he said.

He said the agriculture sector was a big user of water and the total irrigation potential is close to 94 million hectare.

“The strategy of ‘reduce, recycle and reuse’ must find application in our farmlands. Our irrigation system should encourage judicious use of water. Microirrigation techniques like drip and sprinkler, and adoption of cropping pattern suited to natural resource endowments should mark our approach to water-saving in agriculture,” he said.

Stressing that citizens should have access to safe drinking water, he said investment in water and sanitation infrastructure can reduce child mortality across countries by an average of 25 deaths per 1,000 child births.

“From 76 per cent in 1990, the proportion of global population with safe drinking water source has increased to 89 per cent in 2010. The number of people benefited by this has increased over this period by two billion, of which our country accounts for more than one-fourth. But there is still a significant portion of humanity which remains denied of access to this basic necessity,” he said.

“Many of our rural areas are bereft of basic water infrastructure, requiring women to spend a considerable amount of time and energy in collection of water, thereby depriving them from pursuing income generating activities,” he said.

IANs

Abhilasha Kopparapu, 27, of Piscataway NJ, USA, wishes Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy a happy Holi during a Holi celebration in late March

Because I’m worth it!

A budding fashion writer wins front row seats at L’Oréal fashion event

travelling together, and the last

By TALIA K AUR

A“money can’t buy” VIP trip for two to Melbourne for the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) sounded like the perfect way to spend a weekend. So when I heard about Sydney Westfield holding a competition to win this exact prize, I just knew I had to enter. Not in a million years did I think I would ever win such an amazing trip, but it didn’t hurt to enter in a few details and explain what I loved most about LMFF.

A week passed by and I had completely forgotten all about the competition. That was until I received a phone call from Sydney Westfield congratulating me on being chosen for the VIP trip for two to LMFF. I was completely shocked, and didn’t know whether it was real or not. I had never won anything before this from entering competitions, let alone a prize of this scale. I was over the moon. As someone who has such a strong interest in fashion, LMFF is definitely one fashion festival I had always wanted to attend. And to top it all off, I received the news on my birthday.

For any of you who might be unfamiliar with LMFF, it’s one of Australia’s largest and most popular fashion events of the year. It runs for a week and has everything from runways showcasing the latest Australian designers, to workshops and seminars on beauty, fashion and even tips for helping you build your own fashion business.

The prize included a trip for two to Melbourne on Qantas airlines, a nights accommodation at Crown Promenade (such a gorgeous hotel), car transfers for the entire weekend, as well as two front row VIP tickets to the Red Carpet Runway show presented by Harper’s Bazaar (where we even had our own private bar). I took my mum with me because we always have great fun when

it. I’m truly grateful for having won this trip and being able to take my mum for a weekend away. A huge thank you to

Sydney Westfield for making this

Collette Dinnigan

RachelGilbert

AurelioCostarella

The bridal runway was such an amazing show to watch. The designs were so delicate, beautiful and unique

Talia with her mum Harjit

Maticevski

Hey diddle diddle

The migrant South Asian ethos forms the backdrop of an Australian writer’s debut novel

Jorgensen

By CHITRA SUDARSHAN

Cat and Fiddle, published in February this year

by Scribe Australia, is a debut novel by Australian Lesley Jorgensen. It is about a more-prosperous-thanyour-average Sylheti immigrant family in the UK, which does not live in London’s Brick Lane, although they do have links to it, as they live in rural Wiltshire. Those who have read and enjoyed Monica Ali’s novel Brick Lane, set in that predominantly Bangladeshi neighbourhood, will welcome this new novel, although Jorgensen’s is a more feel-good kind of a story without that edgy narrative that was characteristic of Ali.

Jorgensen’s cast of unforgettable characters has a genuine ring: her observations are astute, full of insight, and they have more than just a passing knowledge of the social nuances of Bangladeshi families in the UK. As well as their lives and relatives back home in Bangladesh. Her antenna is quite finely tuned to the British-Asian social scene, which the reader can glean even from throwaway references like Kareem’s disdainful remark about ‘Mirpur migrants’ from Pakistan.

The Choudhury family’s two daughters, Rohimun and Shunduri. They have their own desires and ambitions which they pursue, often to the

Jorgensen’s observations are astute, full of insight, and they have more than just a passing knowledge of the social nuances of Bangladeshi families in the UK

consternation of their parents and their Muslim expectations. Their son, Tariq suffers the most anguish as he struggles with his sexuality, experiments with Islamic fundamentalism and joins the mujahideen in Africa, all in the process of trying to work out

who he is and where he belongs. Professor Choudhury tries his best to seem aggrieved at his daughter’s behavior. His wife Begum is by far the most endearing, and we feel for her as she tries valiantly to hold her family together and get her children married despite her

husband and the three children pulling her in four different directions. One cannot blame her for trying. Ultimately, the story is about her coming to terms with the fact that her children each have their own passions, and that she, as a mother has to accept this and make the most of the situation.

In between all of this, the family’s life becomes entwined with the country estate of Bourne Abbey and the Bourne family, whose history reveals an old mystery that draws the Choudhurys’ world into theirs.

Henry Bourne’s wife Thea is feeling lost, now that she’s got the lifestyle she has always longed for. His elder brother, Richard, a successful London barrister, finds himself increasingly drawn to the family home, and the inheritance that he had given up.

Jorgensen skillfully reconstructs the minutiae of family life in a Bangladeshi household, including the food, the rituals of daily

life and the saris. Jorgensen was married to an Anglo-Bangladeshi man for ten years in England, which may explain the deep understanding and empathy with which she describes the Choudhury family.

The ‘Cat and Fiddle’ of the Middle Ages was actually a reference to Catholics and Infidels. Jane Austen fans will love this novel. It is not a re-hash of Pride and Prejudice by any means, but it is very much of that tradition. It is a delightful and irresistible family saga written in a style that is engaging, and imbued with a gentle humour that sort of harks back to the Jane Austen era. The characters in the novel are very much flawed, but we can’t help liking them. The novel is also an East-meets-West kind of a story, but very much in a 21st milieu.

Winner of the 2011 Cal Scribe Fiction prize for an unpublished manuscript, Lesley Jorgensen is a lawyer who now lives in Adelaide with her two children.

The ‘Cat and Fiddle’ of the Middle Ages was actually a reference to Catholics and Infidels

Lesley

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• Ramneek, handled our matter in a very professional way…was precise with what he wanted…his knowledge is deep and accurate. I felt very comfortable.

– Shree Ram Pty Ltd, Lidcombe, NSW

• Many thanks for acting promptly when needed. – K. Patel, 457 Sponsor, Sydney

• Very satisfactory service provided by Mr. Ramneek Madahar regarding my visa complications. – P. Singh, Ellenbrook, WA.

• I am really very thankful & overjoyed... lead me through the toughest situation to final success. – N. Singh, Mohali, India.

• After 8503 (no further stay), condition waiver, my student visa was refused. Thank you Mr. Ramneek for a successful appeal at the Migration Review Tribunal without a hearing. – P.D. Glenmore park, NSW

• I was finally able to receive confident & correct advice in relation to my situation from Mr. Ramneek Madahar. – G. Bastola, 457 Visa, Homebush, NSW

• Thank you for your timely assistance with our restaurant sponsorship and 457 visa grant. – CH Patel & DC Patel, Restaurant Owners, Camberwell, Victoria

• Ramneek Sir has made our 457 visa 100% successful. Thank you forever.

– Shruti Shah, Merrylands, NSW

• I was a student in Australia. Mr. Ramneek helped me for a 457 visa.

– Chaudhari Prakash, Ashfield, NSW

• I was on a Bridging visa for my SC885 visa application on 110 points. Mr. Ramneek made my 457 visa possible. – C. Patel, Merrylands, NSW

• For any complex cases, to anyone who needs help in immigration... don’t worry you are in safe hands. – A.H., 457 Work Visa, Cronulla, NSW

• I sincerely recommend Mr. Ramneek’s services for immigration.

– K.K. (457 to PR), Central Coast, NSW

• Thank you Ramneek, I wish you all the best. – S. N., GSM Visa, Egypt

• Mr Ramneek Madahar, thank you very much for our PR. Your efforts are appreciated & thanks for looking after my case.

– D. Patel, Business Skills, Melbourne, Victoria

• I am thankful to Ramneek for my permanent settlement in Australia.

– Vikas, GSM, Parramatta, NSW

• I applied for Regional - SC119 visa under the DRC… Mr. Madahar has handled my application very well. – Vijaya, Bourke, NSW

• Thank you Mr. Ramneek for my ENS PR under exceptional circumstances.

– S. Kumar, Croydon (457 to PR), NSW

• Thank you for your support & help towards my ENS PR. – S. N. (457 to PR), Ingleburn, NSW.

• Thanks Very – very much for your help for extending my student visa and 457 and RSMS advice. – A.Rani, Smithfield, NSW

• I am very thankful to Ramneek Sir for his help & support for my ENS residency. I had no hopes left & was planning to go back to India with my family.

– K. Shah (457 to PR), South Strathfield, NSW

The Great Learning Tree Pty Ltd

(Ramneek Madahar, RMA# 0428459)

A ‘New World’ Pope!

Day is scheduled in 2014.

By Noel g De SoUZA

The world was astounded when the Cardinals Conclave in Rome selected an Argentinian, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires as the next Pope. As Archbishop, Bergoglio was entrusted to look after the Eastern Catholics in Argentina, who include adherents of the Syro-Malabar Malankara rite Catholics. Bergoglio, who took the name of Pope Francis, is the first Pope from a non-European country in a thousand years, but he has strong ties to Italy from where his father migrated to Argentina.

During those thousand years, the Catholic Church became increasingly European in its management and direction. That period covered the colonial era when European influence permeated the subjugated colonies in a major part of the world. European languages became an important medium of communication within the colonies and with other countries. English and French are the best examples, along with Portuguese and Spanish, which were the languages of the two first colonising countries.

Pope Francis is a Jesuit. The Catholic Church has broken with tradition by selecting a Jesuit. The Jesuits (Society of Jesus) are missionaries. They live simple lives and adhere to a vow of poverty. Pope Paul has lived a simple life by not occupying the archbishop’s palace in Buenos Aires, by using public transport and not a chauffer-driven limousine, and even by cooking his own meals.

Pope Francis is the first Pope from the Americas. Latin America has the world’s biggest number of Catholics. Brazil, its largest country, is an emerging giant with a large land area (eight and half million square kilometres), a large Catholic population (nearly 194 million), and a strong industrial base. Several Latin American countries are tolerant in their Catholicism. Some of these countries have slaves who had been brought from Africa. Some Afro-Brazilian sects practice a syncretic form of worship which incorporates voodootype rituals.

There has been concern that during the reign of former Pope Benedict XVI, Catholicism has declined in Latin America particularly in Brazil, whilst Protestants have increased in number. It is estimated that Catholics, once ninety percent of Brazilians in 1970, are now less than sixty percent. Benedict failed to draw large crowds in Brazil where the Catholic-sponsored World Youth

There are signs that Pope Francis will give up at least part of the pomp and glory that has characterised the Catholic Church for centuries. Soon after his appointment, he appeared at the traditional window which overlooks St Peter’s Square in Rome in a plain white cassock, and not in the scarlet coloured cardinals regalia.

It is very surprising that St Francis Xavier, one of the founders of the Jesuit Order and its best-known saint, has not been mentioned by Pope Francis. The Jesuit zeal for missionary work was started by the Saint who conducted the major part of his mission in India. Jesuits make vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The focus of the Order is missionary work. Pope Francis is well moulded in the Jesuit way-of-life. He has the missionary zeal of the founders of the Jesuit order. Like them, he is able to communicate with the so-called ‘Third World’ without losing sight of the European world.

The incorrupt body of Saint Francis Xavier lies in a casket in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in the Old City of Goa. Large numbers of people of all faiths visit the church in December every year. The next Exposition of the incorrupt body is scheduled in 2014. St Francis Xavier was sent to India by the Portuguese King John III because the King was concerned that Catholics in India were losing the principles of the Church. Arriving in Goa in 1542, Francis Xavier began training priests by founding the Seminary of Saint Paul where the University of Goa was established on the lines of the universities of France. The first printing press in India was set up there.

Francis Xavier was able to learn foreign languages and communicate with alien peoples. He established communion with the Eastern rites Catholics in what is now Kerala. St Francis learnt the Konkani language of Goa and translated prayers in it, as well as writing hymns.

Bergoglio, who took the name of Pope Francis, is the first Pope from a nonEuropean country in a thousand years, but he has strong ties to Italy from where his father migrated to Argentina

It is difficult to say whether Pope Francis will be successful. It will depend on how long his ministry lasts and the co-operation which he gets. Many of the issues facing the Church, such as abuse, are being investigated in different jurisdictions like Australia, Canada and the USA. However, Pope Francis has made some decisions which the Church should have made some time ago. He has swiftly spoken about the permissibility of using condoms in preventing the spread of disease. This is particularly important for Africa where HIV has spread rampantly.

The one important issue which Pope Francis will have to deal with is the relationship with the Islamic world. Benedict XVI criticised Muslims. His overtures to Turkey were not fruitful.

The newly elected Pontiff has a large and challenging agenda as he defends the Church from various detractors

seniors Seniors Week celebrations went beyond music and dance for RAIN members

Heritage Circle chronicles memories

It was a special event for seniors of the Resourceful Australian Indian Network (RAIN) as the Seniors Week celebrations took off around noon on March 21 at Hurstville. Over 85 seniors attended, including about 20 of Spanish origin, and all enjoyed a fun-filled afternoon of music and entertainment. The highlights of the event were the Nritya Yoga presentation by Jayanthi Balachandran and Suchi Vijayakumar, which were enjoyed by all, and particularly the Spanish seniors present. Sanskrit tutor Dr Meenakshi Karthikeyan led the assembled group in singing Sanskrit verses, which was followed by a light-hearted section as RAIN seniors joined together to sing Aussie classics like Waltzing Matilda and I am Australian, adding a touch of harmony to the celebrations.

The event ended on a high note with a sumptuous Indian vegetarian lunch that was thoroughly enjoyed by the multicultural seniors.

The seniors also enjoyed a cruise on March 24, which was a culmination of the week-long festivities. RAIN is thankful to the Seniors Week grant from the NSW State Government and local Oatley MP Mark Coure for their support in funding the Seniors Week activities.

The RAIN Heritage Circle

As a part of the Seniors Week celebrations, an innovative concept called the Heritage Circle was inaugurated on March 21 at the Senior Citizens Centre at 91 Queens Road, Hurstville. This exhibition contains memorabilia from Indian-origin seniors, and detailed specific experiences in which they encountered special people during the course of their illustrious lives. Seniors shared these moments of their past, including proud and happy times in their ancestry, through special stories that have perhaps been told many times within the family, but have yet to be told to the world.

Some of these seniors have encountered dignitaries as diverse as meeting the great Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa and even British royalty. When recounting their experiences, the seniors also described their experiences in Australia, which is now their home, where they established themselves in a suitable career and learned the warmth of living together with other cultures in peace and harmony.

Veda Srinivasan talked about her participation in the Sydney Olympic Games 2000 with a sense of pride and an endearing enthusiasm. She

is an established volunteer working at the St George Hospital, besides several other projects with the RAIN group, of which she is also a founder. Veda comes from a family that included the globally renowned mathematical genius Sir Ramanujam.

Gordhandas Koovarjee, 91, still retains an amazing memory of events in his younger days in South Africa. He relates with clarity the occasion when he witnessed the visit of British Royalty at Estcourt. At that time, Indians were allowed to stand at a distance outside the railway station to watch the great event. He recounts how he will never forget that day when he saw a young Queen Elizabeth, accompanying her father, the King.

Former art teacher Gargi Shah shared her experience of showing

off her artistic talents to Mother Theresa, who visited the school at which she taught art. Gargi and her students had decorated the hall, and Mother Theresa commented on the beauty of their handwork. Gargiji was so taken by the benevolent nature and sacrifices that the great lady was making for the benefit of the suffering, that she took off the gold bangles she was wearing to donate for the cause. Talking of this experience was so poignant in her memory, Gargiji had tears in her eyes. The audience spent a moment of silence paying tribute to Mother Theresa.

Damodar Sodha’s grandmother was represented by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa, as her lawyer. Can one even imagine such a scenario? The great Mahatma himself, fighting the

by his friends and the community.

Damodar says that his grandfather was always there to help the community, offering assistance to those who suffered from illness. He left his printing business in India at Gandhiji’s request to open a printing press in South Africa which published the Indian Opinion, a publication that voiced issues faced by the community.

Sudha Natarajan with her mother Radhamani beside her, revived memories of an episode related by her late father, Dr T K Natarajan. Sudha’s grandfather T R Krishnaswami Iyer gave up his practice as a lawyer to fight for freedom from the British Rule. He also started an ashram (hostel) for harijans in Kerala where the eradication of caste differences was practised with real earnestness. It is also recounted that T R Krishnaswami once saved the life of Mahatma Gandhiji from riots by stopping a train in Kerala, and taking Gandhiji to a safe place before the train reached the station.

The Heritage Circle project originated with support and funding from the Hurstville City Council and Kogarah City Council. The year-long project will display the exhibition for visitors, and add to it as seniors share their experiences and memories. RAIN also thanks Hurstville City Council officers David Linden, Anne Marie Wiles, Brenda Eggleton and Jamal Bassam for their support. Sheryl Dixit with Sudha Natarajan

Damodar Sodha, 86

Sudha Natarajan’s grandfather Triprayar Krishnaswami with Gandhiji and his wife Kasturba

PS Radhamani, 82

Mrs Ramabehn Sodha, grandmother of Damodar Sodha, with her child when she was imprisoned in South Africa and Gandhiji fought her case

Gordandas Koovarjee, 91

Contact Details:

Amrit P Jagota (MARN 0532014)

Mobile Contact Number 0414 338 423

Manvinder K Josan (MARN 0962796)

Mobile Contact Number 0410 719 375 Suite 4, Level 1, Murray Arcade 127-133

Ihappened to visit the first Indian curtain display in Australia at Curtains’N’Rods the other day. As the name says, they are all about exclusive, unique and designer custom curtains and rods. I was impressed by the variety, quality and collection of material they have there. I just couldn’t believe when they said that they do custom made curtains at the cost of blinds. Curtains’N’Rods is growing in leaps and bounds, day by day, and has achieved new heights after having highly satisfied clients in Sydney and its surrounds. The main reasons for their success is not only the exclusive selection they have, but also their unbelievable prices and remarkable customer service. So if you are looking to give that wow factor and a sophisticated look to your apartment, townhouse, villa, office, motel, restaurant, or any other window that requires dressing, you should visit

Draping in style

Curtains’N’Rods display. Just like me, you are sure to get carried away with their quality, designs, prices and their phenomenal customer service.

I got to meet the director of the business, Arvil Jain, who came up with this brilliant concept of Curtains’N’Rods.

“We are very confident of what are selling, our prices and our fantastic service to our clients,” said Arvil.

For our readers, I asked Arvil some questions.

Q. What led to the creation of Curtains’N’Rods?

A. I was always interested in giving different looks to house interiors, and also wanted to offer something exclusive and different to our Indian community, which led to this concept.

Q. What products do you have to offer our Indian community?

A. At Curtains’N’Rods we deal with custom made curtains, readymade curtains, swags and

tails, pelmet covers, inbuilt frills in curtains, sheers, diamanté designs, stainless steel rods with various designs of finials. We do eyelet curtains, different types of pleats like box pleats, pencil and pinch pleats.

Q. At Curtains’N’Rods, what services do you provide to your clients?

A. We offer a free measuring and quote service, and even go to client’s houses. We also guide our clients with respect to colour schemes and patterns that will go well with their existing decor. We make custom curtains, readymade curtains, install rods and can also install curtains.

Q. You say that your prices are less than installing blinds?

A. Yes, you are right in saying this. We can do single storey homes from $3,000 and double storey homes from $4,500. Our fabric ranges from $14/metre to $50/ metre and we have numerous designs and colours to choose from.

Q. Can you tell us about the process of getting curtains from you?

A. Our website has our contact details: www.curtainsnrods. com.au. Clients can either send us an email: enquiries@ curtainsnrods.com.au or can call us on 0403custom to arrange an appointment to visit our display. At our display, clients will be able to see all of our designs. They will also be taken through our entire range of fabrics and are given a rough quote. Once clients plan to go ahead then our consultants will visit their homes for the final measurements, and the final quote. If the client is ok with that then we ask them to put down a deposit for the curtains, and we will place the order. Clients are given 4-5 weeks time frame for the delivery of the curtains.

Q. How can you say that you at Curtains’N’Rods are different from other curtain places?

A. We have pride in our products that we offer to our clients. We get our fabric from the world’s third

largest manufacturer, so we are very confident about the quality. There are multiple reasons why we are very different from other curtain places, including our prices are very reasonable and can suit every budget, the quality of our fabric is amazing, and we have copyrighted designs which can’t be seen anywhere in Australia. When dealing with us, clients will have fantastic customer service experience all through. We are also very flexible and work as per our client’s requirements, and their demands are our main priority. That’s the reason we always have satisfied and happy clients.

Q. Do you take domestic orders only, or do you do corporate orders as well?

A. We do both. We are happy to take bulk orders from hotels, motels, restaurants, nursing homes, offices and more. We are also happy to supply just the material like fabric, or rods with finials.

Abhilasha Sengupta

Computer worms: A new style of warfare

What Stuxnet means to Iran’s nuclear ambitions in this modern digital era

AURAV SURATI

any readers, especially those who work in IT, may remember a little thing called Stuxnet. This word has had the ability since June 2010 to strike fear into the heart of any IT professional, and it doesn’t show any signs of going away any time soon. This is one computer worm that just refuses to die.

There are many theories about this little worm that has taken the cyber world by storm (and not in a good way). Who discovered the worm, the real intention for its creation, and most importantly, who created it, are all questions waiting to be answered.

For those who are not up-todate with the latest in technology, Stuxnet can be thought of as a piece of coding that has been created for malicious intent to damage or corrupt another computer (also called malware). This virus spreads from one computer to another (mainly through the internet), carrying the infection. Although viruses are created on a day-to-day basis, this one is in a league of its own, having changed the whole meaning of malware and its goals.

However, Stuxnet is not targeted to disrupting home or office computers, so there’s no need to panic just yet. The most common belief is that Stuxnet is intended for something far nastier. There’s speculation that the creation of Stuxnet was funded by the US and Israel, in order to disrupt Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Both countries have motivations to stop Iran going nuclear, to maintain regional balance and so on.

Stuxnet spreads via Microsoft Windows targetting Siemens industrial software and equipment. It is sophisticated as it can spread without the use of the internet. As network shares or USB sticks being enough to help it proliferate.

What is even more alarming however, is Stuxnet’s stealth and how well it has been created. At first the worm targets Microsoft Windows, before seeking out Siemens Step7 software, which is used to program industrial control systems that operate equipment like centrifuges. To explain briefly, centrifuges are equipment that are used in nuclear plants for uranium enrichment processes, along with other industries (including medical laboratories). Once Stuxnet is inside the system, it compromises the controllers in nuclear facilities, causing them to spin to failure. This causes disruptions, leading to delays in the uranium enrichment process, ultimately stalling nuclear processes.

Although it is not clear who is behind the creation of the worm,

what is clear is that around 60% of infections occur in Iran, according to Symantec. German researcher Ralph Langner speculates that the Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran could be the target because it is believed to run the Siemens software. Also targeted is the uranium centrifuges in Natanz, which is a primary location of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.

Iran previously refuted that there was damage caused by this virus, however Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a press conference that Stuxnet “managed to create problems for a limited number of our centrifuges but then problems were resolved”. Whether Iran admits to the damage, and delays that have been caused by Stuxnet or not, Siemens says it has infected at least 14 plants. Company spokesman Simon Wieland says, “we detected the virus in control systems at 14 plants in operation but without any malfunction of process and production and without any damage”. Although

the work that went into creating Stuxnet was monumental, the report by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) ultimately concludes that its effect on Iran’s nuclear program was moderate.

These days more and more industrial plants, including nuclear power plants, water dams, power grids, railway networks, air traffic, and defence systems, are controlled by software and hardware controllers, which can be subject to failure at any point. Whether the reason behind the failure of any such system is man-made or not, the results can be dire and catastrophic. Stuxnet is a classic case of cyber warfare of modern digital era, that requires further analysis. Experts further believe that Stuxnet required the largest and costliest development effort in malware history.

Symantec statistics also say that India hasn’t been immune to the infection from this virus, as 10% of infections are located there.

There’s speculation that the creation of Stuxnet was funded by the United States and Israel, in order to disrupt Iran’s nuclear ambitions

This goes to show that malwares taking control of critical facilities and equipment anywhere in the world is not sci-fi fiction like Star Wars anymore, but a reality. Countries like India need to prepare themselves for this new front, as future battles with hostile enemies are not going to be limited to the desserts of Rajasthan, or the mountain ranges of the Himalayas. Nations can now be crippled by highly sophisticated viruses like Stuxnet, without firing a single bullet, or dispatching a single missile.

Do boys and girls learn differently?

By MoHAN DHAll

of great interest to educators and parents is the issue of whether boys and girls learn differently. This is an important question to ask because if there are differences, this can affect how students are supported at home as well as in their schooling choices.

It is common for parents to believe that boys and girls learn differently, simply on account of their being different. There are also a huge number of myths that emphasise these differences. For example, one of the most prevalent myths is that of ‘holding boys back.’ Another commonly asserted gender-based difference is that ‘boys mature slower than girls.’ In addition to this, we hear that girls like essay writing and boys like activity-based learning. Parents are also told to have different expectations of their sons and daughters.

While some of these ‘myths’ may be true, each needs to be challenged.

Should boys be held back?

Early in the educational process a myth was created about holding boys back. This myth is so prevalent that if you ask most parents about when their child will go to school many will say, “I know boys should be held back”. The effect of this is that many classrooms now have boys a year older than the girls in the same year. Unfortunately, there is no educational validity to this myth.

This myth is based on a belief that girls mature faster than boys and by holding them back, boys will be better behaved and more settled in class. Issues about maturity and being socially settled imply that classrooms cannot cope with restlessness or movement. Compliance to a certain degree is to be encouraged. All students learn to adapt to the expectations within a classroom, but for boys to begin formal education being defined as ‘immature’ and ‘restless’ does not bode well for their education. After all, teacher expectations are shown to have a large impact on the class.

Girls are teacher pleasers

It is common for girls to be

socialised to look out for others, nurture and manage the feelings of others. In the context of the classroom this can manifest as girls being ‘teacher pleasers.’

This can take the form of them being more interested in presenting work perfectly and being ‘right.’ However, the cost of such behaviour can be that girls become conservative in their learning and find it hard to do work when there are open-ended responses required.

It is common for parental and educational expectations to be different for boys and girls. Boys are often encouraged to be cheeky and defiant and are given more latitude in their behaviour. Girls are often in trouble if they behave like their brothers.

The question educators and parents must ask is: do we want girls to be passive and lose their capacity for feisty debates, innovative thinking, or questioning? Sometimes a bit of cheekiness, a little defiance and a little academic risk-taking are necessary for girls to learn to set their own limits, and learn to speak up when they need to do so.

Boys procrastinate and are minimisers

Procrastination is said to be commonly observed amongst boys. This can be seen to be the ‘flip side’ to teacher pleasing, that is, rather than overdoing things, they underdo them. The strength of procrastination is that academic work is not overwrought. The weakness is that those who procrastinate (boys and girls) tend to make a minimal effort on their academic work. The effect of this could lead to underachievement.

All students should be

encouraged to structure and plan their academic work. Making an early start on assignments and homework can mean deeper understanding and time to reflect on, and refine work. Note that procrastination is not gender-based, it is ‘priority-based.’ All children need to be guided to learn what to value, and what can wait.

Girls are creative, boys are logical

An alternative rendition of this myth is that ‘boys are visual learners and girls are literary.’ The problem with this type of characterisation is that it robs girls of logic and robs boys of creativity. In reality, all children can demonstrate both types of thinking and therefore need to be exposed to both. However, some children show a preference towards particular types of thinking.

Logical thinking requires an understanding of causal relationships. Creativity requires a capacity for unconstrained thinking and a suspension of pre-judgement. This is necessary for academic problem-solving and managing in the world outside of school.

Boys and girls both benefit from being exposed to creative thinking tasks, as well as being required to think logically. In regard to whether boys are visual learners and girls are not, this is absolutely not true. All people of all ages learn through the visual medium. Moreover, any academic matter that is presented verbally (so that it can be heard through auditory processing), visually (so that it can be seen) and also kinaesthetically (so it can be

demonstrated and practiced) is highly likely to be understood by both girls and boys.

Boys learn through movement, girls learn through stillness

Boys are said to be kinaesthetic learners who ‘learn to do, by doing.’ Girls are said to learn through thinking and reflecting. However this is not true. Ask yourself, will a 17-year-old girl learn to drive from a book?

All students need to learn to be still and to reflect on academic work covered. This means that distractions arising from electronic media need to kept out of a study space. It also means that girls can be allowed to be active in their learning, balancing movement and stillness, just as boys can.

Boys fight and forget, girls gossip and resent

This myth suggests that boys deal with and forgive a grievance quickly, but girls do not. This is a silly myth and is simply untrue. Boys and girls both can feel afraid of conflict, can have their selfesteem affected by personally directed criticism, can be deeply affected by loss and change, or not know how to find friends or fit into a group.

All children need to be heard, validated, guided and supported to understand themselves and resolve conflicts with maturity and care.

Different types of exam questions suit different genders

Boys are said to be better at multiple choice questions and questions with visual stimulus, and girls are said to be better at written tasks such as essays.

Different types of test questions require different types of thinking. Children find some question types easier than others.

I have taught boys and girls who are just as good as each other at multiple choice questions, interpreting visual stimulus easy, and understanding detailed written tasks.

I have also taught those who struggle with these tasks. All children can be taught to be confident with different types of questions, and should not be encouraged to turn away from being open to learning.

Maxims for boys and girls

At every age the following maxims can be applied to parenting and to the child’s education:

• All students respond to respect. Respect builds trust and fosters safety.

• All students enjoy humour and respond to praise.

• All students need certainty and predictability when learning. This can come from planning and regularity.

• All students can perform well and will, if given ownership over time.

• All students grow in an environment of high expectations, but not unreasonable expectations.

• All students need to know their parents and teachers encourage them to learn.

Parents tend to rely on urban myths when planning their children’s academic career

Sometimes a bit of cheekiness, some defiance and some academic risk-taking are necessary for girls to learn to set their own limits and learn to speak up when they need to do so

A historic whitewash

BY RitAM MitRA

Revenge. MS Dhoni refuses to admit it, but behind his greying beard and his stillsteely exterior, the man has to have had some semblance of a devilish grin as he heard that word follow the Indian cricket team over the last week or two. For who would have thought, three months ago when England beat India at home for the first time in 28 years, that the same India would be able to return the 4-0 2011-12 scoreline to their much-fancied Australian opponents. That the same India, which was embarrassed, broken and destroyed in Australia, would be able to inflict on the Aussies the same lack of public confidence as they suffered themselves just two years ago.

India do not do whitewashes. This is the first time that India has won four tests in a series in its 81 years of Test history. They traditionally take the foot off the pedal, rest on their laurels, let things slip. But this time was different. From the very start of the series, there was a sense that nothing less than 4-0 would suffice to heal the still raw wounds from their disastrous 2011-12 Australian tour.

It was as atypical an IndiaAustralia series as one could have imagined. For while India have been known to succumb, as they did in 2011-12 on Australian soil, it is rare, almost unique, to see an Australian team crumble as willingly as they did on this tour. Indeed, while India won four tests in a series for the first time, Australia lost all tests in a series with four or more matches

for only the second time, the last time being Bill Lawry’s ill-fated tour to South Africa in 1970.

HigHligHts

With convincing victories in all four matches, the highlights for India were:

Dhoni’s 224 at Chennai

MS Dhoni’s unforgettable innings in Chennai set up India’s tour remarkably well – so much so that former Australian captain, Ian Chappell, is convinced it broke the backbone of the Aussies right from the outset. Honours between the two sides were even after two and a half days – India being 4-200 to Australia’s 380. But Dhoni left with the score at 9-572. Ashwin also cleaned up with 12 wickets.

Vijay and Pujara’s 370run stand in Hyderabad

Although Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara scored the only half-centuries in India’s first innings at Hyderabad, they were big ones – the duo hit 167 and 204 respectively in the fourth-highest partnership ever for India. The Aussies were listless in the field, and clueless against the Indian attack. Honourable mentions: Jadeja (who twice took 3/33) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for his fabulous spell with the new ball. India’s win, by an innings and 135 runs, was their second-largest against the Australians.

Shikhar Dhawan’s 187 at Mohali

Homework-Gate may have taken centre-stage before this match as Australia spectacularly dumped four players for not completing a team task by the specified deadline. But, with Virender Sehwag dropped

from the side, Shikhar Dhawan made his debut his own. He negated the first-day washout by powering to 187 runs at a strike rate of 107 – the fastest century by a debutant in Test history. Bhuvneshwar Kumar once again produced a great spell of swing bowling to set up an easy chase.

Jadeja’s 5-for at Delhi

Michael Clarke, Shikhar Dhawan and Mitchell Starc were out injured for the dead rubber, but it was the most hardly-fought match of the series. Peter Siddle scored two determined half-centuries, top scoring for the Aussies in both innings, but Jadeja took care of the rest of the Australian order in the second innings, claiming a maiden five-for that drove India towards an unlikely victory after Lyon had run through the Indians with 7-94 in the first innings. Pujara stroked an unbeaten 82 on one leg, as he led India to its first ever 4-0 triumph.

The upcoming challenges

It’s easy to get carried away given how well India’s youngsters performed on this tour. And they deserve all the plaudits they receive, for Test cricket is never easy, and Australia don’t just give you victory, as much as it seemed that way on this tour. With the IPL having just kicked off, it’s time to start thinking about the shorter format of the game.

Champions Trophy, England/Wales, June 2013

The selectors have definitely taken note of how well the young guns played, with some surprising omissions from the list of 30 probables named in their

Champions Trophy squad for June. Team stalwarts for much of the past decade, such as Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, find themselves without a job as the selectors slowly begin moving away from the old guard. Already out of favour with Test selectors, the trio will be forced to question their future in the game.

More surprising than all of these omissions is the fact that Cheteshwar Pujara did not even make the list of 30 probables. Pujara tormented Australia and almost single-handedly stood up to England, and averages over 55 in List A matches as it is. He scores quicker than most in Test cricket and is an electric fielder – instead, Pujara will be leading an India A side in South Africa, clearly an indication that the selectors want Pujara to get used to the pace and bounce of the wickets over there ahead of the crucial series against the South Africans in December. You should always pick your best team for a tournament, however, and Pujara would walk into most ODI XIs in the world right now based on his domestic and international form.

Nevertheless, India may well be one of the favourites for the tournament, the infusion of youth mixed with the experience of the likes of Dhoni, Gambhir and Raina makes for an exciting combination. The only question will be whether the Indian spinners can stifle opposition batsmen in the unfamiliar conditions of England – and given the propensity of the Indian seamers to self-combust under pressure, this could well make or break India’s tournament.

India in South Africa, December 2013

It remains to be seen whether the likes of Vijay, Pujara, Dhawan and Jadeja are able to perform overseas with anywhere near the same impact as they can at home. India have a long wait until their next Test series, which takes place in December against the unchallenged world number one side, South Africa. Steyn, Philander and Morkel make for a far more threatening combination on juiced-up pitches, and this will be the real gauge of how much India have improved since their recent rough patch.

The batsmen might just get through unscathed, Pujara appears the most ready for South African conditions, with the ability to sway away from the short ones and produce a Dravid-like wall of forward defence. Meanwhile, Vijay has tightened up his technique significantly over the last two years, he can play the ball late, and has great balance when the ball is angled into his pads. On bouncy wickets, the challenge for Vijay will be moving forward as far as he needs to when he’s just seen a ball whiz past his face at 150 km/hr the previous ball.

The spinners, though, may well struggle on all the pitches except perhaps the slightly helpful Durban wicket – and MS Dhoni will need to have a long hard look at whether Jadeja’s struggle with the bat can be offset by his skill with the ball. An attack of Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Ravi Ashwin doesn’t look too menacing, though – India need to find some serious quicks, seriously quick.

For now though, India can be relieved, if not ecstatic at beating a weakened Australian outfit, they are back on track.

The Indian cricket team savour the jubilation of their win over arch-rival Australia and look at their next plan of attack

(From left) Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay: will they perform with the same impact overseas?

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Darwin and the Top End

the interior linked Australia with the rest of the world in 1872.

BY PETRA O’NEILL

It was a balmy night of clear skies, with stars and an almost full moon, insects were humming and I was gently being lulled to sleep. But suddenly, there came stomping, snorts and worst of all, high pitched squeals.

I was camping in Kakadu in Australia’s Top End several days into my journey that began in the roistering town of Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory.

This was my fifth visit to Darwin, as I had developed a fondness for this city that has a certain untamed frontier quality to it, with straight-talking inhabitants and cross cultural influences from Asia and more recently, the United Kingdom with construction, mining, oil and gas creating a boom town atmosphere. Closer to Asia than to the rest of Australia, both geographically and in spirit, the northern capital is home to people representing over 60 ethnic groups and indigenous Australians, many descended from the Larrakia.

Darwin was named by John Lort Stokes in 1839 after his friend, Charles Darwin. The great explorer John McDouall Stuart managed to trek overland from south to north in 1862, a journey that can now be completed onboard the Ghan, one of the world’s great rail journeys. The overland telegraph built across

Lyons Cottage, Brown’s Mart and Government House date back to this period, though few historic buildings remain. This is a reflection of the events that occurred here. From the 46 air raids by the Japanese during World War II, to Cyclone Tracy which flattened much of the city in 1974, leaving little more than a pile of rubble.

With a population of roughly 127,000, Darwin’s compact city centre is ideal for walking. The Esplanade is shady and lush, and is full of joggers and people taking a morning or sunset stroll.

It was here that the Darwin Rebellion occurred, when in 1918 a crowd marched towards Government House over efforts to halt the sale of beer! Set one street back is backpacker central, with busy Mitchell Street home to restaurants, pubs and cafes.

You can visit Cullen Bay to see the luxury homes and ‘tinnies’ moored at the marina. Nearby, the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens established in the 1870s, has over 1,500 tropical plant species including palms, orchids, ferns and a rainforest. Onto the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, where you’ll meet Sweetie, a massive (deceased) crocodile and view one of Australia’s best indigenous art galleries.

Darwin has up to seven a week colourful, pulsing markets, (in the dry season from April to October). They are a visible expression of the city’s multicultural diversity and it’s where you can sample some of

the best food to be had here. You can experience them all on a market crawl, that starts at Mindil Beach Sunset Market. Travellers head here on a Thursday night for its food stalls from around the world, handmade craft, live bands and street performers.

On Friday, head to Palmerston Market for exotic food, produce and craft stalls. Saturday morning offers Coolalinga Market and the Parap Village Market, where locals head for laksa, satay and smoothies. On Sunday, visit Rapid Creek Big Flea Market, Darwin’s oldest for the freshest tropical produce with turmeric, pink tipped galangal, lemongrass and other tropical herbs in abundance. At nearby Nightcliff Market the vibe is relaxed with good food and coffee, live music and large shady trees, where you can sample Asian cuisine from Vietnamese rice paper rolls, Indonesian Nasi Goreng or Malaysian roti. But don’t mistake the stallholders as recent arrivals, since they may be fifth-generation Australians who came in the late 1800s from the Philippines, Japan and Timor (as divers for the pearling industry), or from China (to work in the goldfields).

Darwin is one place where you will appreciate the vastness of distances within Australia, with travellers underestimating the time it takes to explore. You’ll be well rewarded by discovering more of the Top End, especially World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park. It is comprised of 20,000 square kilometres, and is listed both for its cultural significance with sacred sites and ancient aboriginal rock carvings, and for

the diversity of its flora and fauna. Corkscrew pandanus and termite mounds give way to vast flood plains and rock formations of long sandstone escarpments. Magpie geese are seen in tens of thousands, jabirus and egrets stalk the open shallows, while kites fly overhead, and crocodiles lie on the river banks.

The drive from Darwin to Kakadu is one of my favourite stretches of road, passing through the small hamlet of Humpty Doo to the park entrance. During the wet season from December to March, rivers, billabongs and the wetlands are flooded. After entering the park, we cross our first big river. An aboriginal family heading home are unable to cross. The traditional owners, mostly Bininj or Mungguy, still live within the park. Arriving at our campsite I go for a walk to the top of a hill. Birds fly overhead and the sky turns brilliant shades of pink and orange as the sun recedes. Prongs of lightning illuminate the sky, thunder claps crash overhead, and as the sky turns black with storm clouds, I sense that here nature is wild and everywhere.

At Litchfield National Park we visit termite mounds and several waterholes including Florence Falls, Buley Rockhole, a popular swimming spot for locals with young boys diving from a large tree. We also visit Tolmer Falls

to view the water cascading down from the sandstone plateau, and Wangi Falls, which is a large clear pool that was closed due to crocodiles.

On my final day in Darwin, after two days of camping, I was in need of a double shot espresso. Somehow that led to a morning’s discussion with locals about life in Darwin. I met Sinead Coghlan of Mbantua, an art gallery that specialises in indigenous art from central Australia. She sent me to meet Peter Moya, an artist and owner of the Java Spice Café that is brightly decorated with an eclectic collection of ceramics and paintings by Australian artists hanging from the walls. A delightful place, I lingered over a great coffee and a large slice of coconut cake. Then I did a very touristy thing. I bought some furry crocodiles, and a genuine buffalo hide hat before my flight home. And yes, I’ve I’ve worn them every day since.

Truly multicultural and indigenously enriched, this unique town enjoys nature’s generous bounty

Travel noTebook DARWIN

G ETTING THERE

Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia fly to Darwin.

G ETTING ARO u ND

For airport transfers use the Darwin Airport Shuttle or taxi for two or more. Intrepid Travel 03 9473 2626 www.intrepidtravel.com has an excellent three-day Kakadu Litchfield Safari.

ACCOMMODATION

Melaleuca on Mitchell is a centrally located modern hostel with a friendly vibe. 1300 723 437 www.momdarwin.com With great views of the Arafura Sea, harbour view rooms at the Mantra on the Esplanade are worth the splurge with fully equipped apartments ideal for families. 08 8943 4335 www.mantra.com.au

WHERE TO EAT

Dine at one of many Asian restaurants with Ayuriz and Thailicious good affordable choices. Busy Hanuman is renowned, il Lido and Tramontana for Italian, barramundi at Seafood on Cullen and Saffron for South Indian cuisine. The Java Spice Cafe has great coffee. Four Birds, the Cyclone Cafe in Parap and the Roma Bar are also good.

WHERE TO SHOP

Mbantua specialises in aboriginal art from central Australia. www.mbantua.com

F u RTHER INFORMATION

Adventure Tours in Mitchell Street and Tourism Top End for maps and brochures. www.tourismtopend.com.au

INSIDER TIPS

Darwin Police advise travellers to stick together late at night and stay in well-lit areas. Box jellyfish are present during the wet season and crocodiles are dangerous anytime. Always wear a hat, keep well hydrated and apply sunscreen.

Closer to Asia than to the rest of Australia, both geographically and in spirit, the northern capital is home to people representing over 60 ethnic groups and indigenous Australians, many descended from the Larrakia

Main pic: Florence Falls at Litchfield National Park

Clockwise from top:

Termite mounds at Litchfield National Park

River cruise to view the crocs

Entering Australia’s largest national park

Aboriginal rock art

Going walkabout at Kakadu Government House in Darwin

Out shopping

Frill-necked lizard

Darwin waterfront precinct Smith St Mall

World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, is comprised of 20,000 square kilometres. It is listed both for its cultural significance with sacred sites and ancient aboriginal rock carvings, and for the diversity of its flora and fauna

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When music inspires racism, homophobia and hatred

Is Eminem’s music simply a form of self-expression, or something far more sinister?

By SHAFeeN MUSTAQ

on the train home the other day I sat two seats away from a man blaring Eminem on his headphones. He wore a torn singlet, was covered in tatts and had a ‘piss off look’. One might assume (if one was prone to judging a book by its cover) that listening to such music makes the man. He got a phone call and suddenly his features broke into a huge smile and his face softened as he cooed into the phone with (presumably) someone he fancied on the other end of the line. Now, if you judged him before aren’t you feeling a little bit ashamed now? Switch to another day, another train and a bored looking suited young man who was sitting across from me. Looking every bit the prim and proper corporate gentleman, he flicked his phone cover open to revel that he was listening to Eminem. He then took a phone call in which his placid features contorted into that of disgust, as he cussed down the line in a verbal barrage that would have left the mafia trembling.

Judging a book by its cover then is obviously not a good idea. But can this be extended to judging the music of Eminem?

So who or what is Eminem?

For those of you who like me, do not listen to hip hop and rap, and prefer other music, here is a quick

summary I collated. Eminem is one of the best-selling artists in the world, the best-selling artist of the 2000s, and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Now that’s a lot of accolades even in an industry where a teen in a car singing about Friday can go viral. I listened to some of his songs and all I heard was a lot of swearing, a lot of aggressiveness and a lot of violence against women and blacks and... and general insanity.

I then did a google search on

here and advocate violence against women,” he said. Flaherty cited a transcription of Eminem’s song Kill You, which includes lines like “Slut, you think I won’t choke no whore/till the vocal cords don’t work in her throat no more?” Liberal parlimentarian Michael Bryant suggested that the government should even lay hate crime charges against Eminem. Some people however, said the issue was one of free speech. Eminem’s Toronto concert went on as planned that night.

So on the whole Eminem and his music is sexist, vulgar, racist, profane and downright insane. I am not alone in being disgusted by his lyrics and his colourful life, which he proudly sings about.

‘Why is Eminem so popular’ and guess what? Most of the results talked about why he SHOULDN’T be popular. And yet… he is one of the world’s bestselling artists.

On October 26, 2000, Eminem was meant to perform at a concert in Toronto’s Skydome. However, Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty argued that Canada should stop Eminem at the border. “I personally don’t want anyone coming to Canada who will come

What is most worrying however is that young kids, particularly young men, like this music. They see nothing wrong with the profanity, the violence, the negativity and the racism. What they listen to is the rhythm, and the selfawareness. I asked a young male friend of mine and he said, “I think the way you think and speak has more to do with the people around you... Art and entertainment have a fairly minimal impact on people. It’s often used as a scapegoat and an excuse”. While I disagree with this and think that art and popular culture have an extraordinarily significant impact on people, it is interesting to note just how confident he was with this statement.

Is it true then, that this music is just another form of selfexpression? I like to think that

freedom of speech stops where the rights of others begin. If music is going to impede the fight for equality between genders, between races and between religions, then we need to rethink the place of such music in our society. If music is making young men more violent and careless, and if music is contributing to a misguided sense of the acceptability of rape, racism, homophobia or misogyny, then we need to rethink the dissemination

of this type of music to our youth.

If one person’s self-expression and right to practice his art is influencing a myriad of others into emulating his violent, colourful and drug addled life, then we need to rethink the freedom we give to such people to be ‘role models’ for society. If music is the food of love, play on. But if music is the antagonist of social discontent then: Stop. Rewind. Rethink.

If music is going to impede the fight for equality between genders, between races and between religions, then we need to rethink the place of such music in our society

Macadamia madness!

Delicious and packed with goodness,

home-grown nut

Lamb and Kumara

Tagine with Macadamias

2 tsp ground coriander seeds

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp paprika

tasty accessory to a variety of recipes

1 bunch coriander leaves, with stems removed

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp macadamia oil

1.2 kg boned lamb shoulder, trimmed, cut into 5cm cubes

1½ cups reduced salt chicken stock

1 cup dry roasted unsalted macadamias

500 gms kumara, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks

12 seedless dates

Whether you munch on them as a snack, or add them to your meals, eating macadamias is a great way to look after yourself. By simply including a handful of macadamias in your diet regularly, you will enjoy a range of health benefits as well as their unique and delicious taste. Macadamia oil is also versatile and healthy for dressings and cooking.

Macadamia nuts are packed full of nutrients as they are rich in monounsaturated fats and are heart-friendly. They contain phytochemicals such as antioxidants that help maintain health and wellbeing, fibre to maintain digestive regularity, as well as protein, vitamins and minerals. Macadamias are Australia’s native nut and were a treasured delicacy for traditional Aboriginal Australians. Known as the King of Nuts, macadamias can be handpicked from trees in rainforests or grown from native trees on farms from Noosa to Byron Bay, and are even exported globally. And while they can be eaten unsalted, salted or in a variety of mixes, these versatile nuts can also be used to make some delicious and nutritious recipes.

Pumpkin and Macadamia Soup

1 tbsp macadamia oil

½ cup roughly chopped, roasted unsalted macadamia nuts

1 small white onion

1 teaspoon grated ginger

3 cups diced pumpkin

1 apple, chopped

3 cups salt reduced chicken stock

Reduced fat natural yoghurt for serving

Whole or halved roasted unsalted macadamias, for garnish

Heat oil in a heavy-based pan; add macadamias, onion and ginger and sauté for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown.

Add the pumpkin and apple and cook for 2-3 minutes, then pour over the stock. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until pumpkin is soft.

Transfer mixture to a blender and process until smooth and creamy.

Serve in large bowls with a swirl of yoghurt and a few roasted macadamias tossed over for garnish.

Mango, Avocado and Macadamia

Salad

1 ripe mango

1 ripe avocado

100 gms rocket

1 cup dry roasted unsalted macadamias, crushed

For the dressing

Juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp of macadamia oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 long red chilli, deseeded and sliced

Chop the mango and avocado into small cubes of the same size and set aside; make sure you don’t bruise them and keep them in a good shape.

For the dressing, mix the lime juice, oil, garlic, mustard and sliced chilli together.

Put the rocket in a large bowl, add the mango and avocado and the dressing, and gently toss to combine.

Top with the roasted macadamia nuts.

Preheat oven to 150°C. Combine the ground coriander, cumin and paprika, fresh coriander, onion, garlic and lemon juice in a blender or food processor, and blend until almost smooth.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan; add 1/3 of the lamb, fry until browned on all sides. Transfer to a baking dish. Repeat with the remaining lamb.

Add the coriander mixture and stock to the frying pan, bring to boil and add to the lamb.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 2 hours. Add the macadamias, kumara and dates, and cook a further hour or until the lamb and kumara are tender. Serve with couscous or rice.

Beans with Macadamias and Pecans

175 gms green beans, trimmed

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp macadamia oil

1 tsp honey

½ tsp Dijon mustard

50 gms dry roasted unsalted macadamias, roughly chopped

50 gms unsalted raw pecans, roughly chopped Black pepper to taste

Place beans in a saucepan of boiling water and blanch for 1-2 minutes. Drain well and place on a serving plate.

Heat a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add the lemon juice, macadamia oil, honey, mustard and nuts. Season with pepper to taste. Heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring until honey has dissolved. Spoon warm dressing and nuts over the beans and serve immediately.

Recipes and photos:

Suncoast Gold Macadamia Nuts www.suncoastgoldnuts.com

the

is a

Lamb and Kumara Tagine with Macadamias

Beans with Macadamias and Pecans

Pumpkin and Macadamia Soup

Mango, Avocado and Macadamia Salad

ThE BuZZ

Barfi! All the way!

It was a glittering event attended by Bollywood’s brightest and best, as celebrities turned out in droves at the maiden edition of the Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA) in Vancouver, Canada recently.

Box office hit out to be the top winner, cornering the Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress trophies. Anurag Basu picked up the Best Director award while Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra carried home the Best Actor and Best Actress trophies, respectively. Even Southern actress Ileana D’Cruz, who made her bow in Bollywood with Barfi!, won the Best Debut Female award for her performance.

The award for the Best Debut Male went to Ayushmann Khurrana for super hit Vicky Donor, in which he played a sperm donor. Rishi Kapoor won the Best Actor in a Negative Role trophy for Agneepath

In the Critics’ Awards category, Gauri Shinde won the Best Debut Director for telling a heart-warming tale in English Vinglish; Best Actor Female award went to Deepika Padukone for Cocktail, and Best Actor Male award was given to Irrfan for playing the steeplechase-runner turning into a dacoit in the ravines of the Chambal in Paan Singh Tomar. The Anurag Kashyap-directed Gangs of Wasseypur, a gritty celluloid saga of the coal mafia and bloodthirsty vengeance, won the Best Film critics award.

Abhishek Bachchan won the Best Actor Comic Role for Bol Bachchan

SRk’S ENjOyINg ThE ExPRESS ExPERIENcE

It’s been a while since energetic superstar Shah Rukh Khan has been seen in a light-hearted avatar, so it’s no surprise that he’s pleased with comedy-action entertainer Chennai Express. SRK believes it is “different” from the intense and serious films he has done in the recent past. According to sources, the film has fantastic comedy, action and amazing songs.

The film, produced by the actor’s wife Gauri Khan, features Deepika Padukone opposite King Khan. Shah Rukh is, of course, happy with the way the movie is shaping up, revealing that he injured his right shoulder while shooting for the film.

“It’s awkward for me to speak of [a] film that I produced, but I just have to say that Rohit [the director] has done me great favour while making a film like this for me. It’s fun and I am enjoying it. Yes, I end up doing very intense films like Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Chak De! India and My Name Is Khan,

and so, it [Chennai Express] is a nice change for me,” he said recently.

The Bollywood badshah also hopes to do more such films in the near future.

SRK has been experiencing a few ups and downs lately. His IPL team the Kolkata Knight Riders are doing well at the time of going to press, and he’s on a high. But the controversy of veteran actor Manoj Kumar suing him for Rs100 crores must surely be a low. The veteran actor had shot a scene for 2007 hit Om Shanti Om which was subsequently edited out when the film was released. However, a re-released version in Japan includes this scene, which Kumar feels is disrespectful to him.

The actor also revealed that he’ll soon be making another film, A for Apple, B for Billi, C for Cutta (ABC). With a name like that, naturally, SRK doesn’t want to reveal more! Good luck to the King Khan!

Other notable winners at the awards were Sonu Nigam, Best Playback Singer Male for Abhi mujh mein from Agneepath; Saans by Gulzaar for Jab Tak Hai Jaan won for Best Lyrics and Atul-Ajay won Best Music Director for Agneepath.

And while the awards created a stir, Bollywood blazed through the evening with a range of power-packed performances.

Shah Rukh Khan, dressed in a long red jacket, entered the stage to thunderous applause, starting his act with a small speech, thanking the city of Vancouver for love and respect. He then danced on his popular tracks like Suraj hua maddham, Challa ki labh da phire, Chamak challo and many more, while the audience went quite mad with delight and tried to mob the stage.

Before SRK, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai had enthralled the audiences with their super-charged acts. This was Aishwarya’s first stage performance abroad after the birth of her daughter in 2011, and she didn’t disappoint. She not only dazzled everyone, her act was one of the highlights at the gala night. Looking gorgeous in a black free-flowing outfit, she performed to songs like Khwaja mere Khawaja and the title track from Dhoom 2

Priyanka dedicated her act to women power, while Katrina’s Chikni Chameli performance set the stage on fire.

The icing on the cake was the last act by choreographer Shiamak Davar, who not only sang songs from Student Of The Year, but also invited the entire galaxy of stars on the stage as well as other performers for the closing act. Trio co-hosts Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Boman Irani thoroughly entertained the audience with their wit and humour.

It was a bonanza that Vancouver is unlikely to forget for a long time to come. Well done, Bollywood! Next stop, down under?

Aamir Khan aids Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Dutt’s imminent imprisonment has thrown a spanner into Bollywood’s works, and several projects that feature the unfortunate actor are now in limbo. But some of the industry’s biggest stars are showing a great deal of support for Sanju baba, and Aamir Khan is one of these. Aamir has gone out of his way to allot days out of turn to Raj Kumar Hirani’s PK, to ensure that Sanjay’s scenes are completed before the latter’s proposed incarceration on April 18, a move that has had both the producer and actor heaving a sigh of relief. The 53-year-old was sentenced to five years in jail by the Supreme Court March 21 for illegal arms possession during the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Sanjay has been asked to surrender, to serve his remaining term of three-and-half years, as he has already spent 18 months in jail.

Bollywood’s best have rallied around Sanjay, with Jaya Bachchan vociferous in her support for the actor, while others accept the court’s decision. Watch this space for news on whether Sanjay will be granted a pardon…

A different Chashme Buddoor David Dhawan, director of the hit remake of Chashme Buddoor is going hoarse claiming that his film is different from the one made 32 years ago by Sai Paranjpye. Dhawan emphatically claims that he has done nothing that would offend the director of the old classic, responding to

AishwAryA rAi

reports that the veteran director is upset about the remake.

“How can she be upset without seeing my Chashme Buddoor? I have not taken anything from her film except the idea of three friends, two of whom are pukka kaminey types. That apart, if Sai was to see my movie, she wouldn’t recognise it,” said Dhawan, who has churned out hit comedies like Hero No.1, Biwi No. 1 and Partner

The 1981 movie starred Farooque Sheikh, Deepti Naval, Rakesh Bedi, Ravi Baswani and Saeed Jaffery, while the new one features Ali Zafar, Taapsee Pannu, Siddharth, Divyendu Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, Anupam Kher and Lilette Dubey, and it is doing well at the box office. Critics have also given the new version a thumbs up.

“Mine is a completely different film,”

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Diane kruger and Malaika

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Dhawan said. “Not one shot or frame in my film can be compared with Sai’s film. And we have changed the script considerably. Rishi Kapoor’s character is a totally revamped avatar of what Saeed Jaffrey played in the original. Rishi even has a love angle with Lilette Dubey. The two of them are fantastic as a pair”.

The prolific director insists he has not given Paranjpye any reason to be offended.

“She’s so well respected. I love her Chashme Buddoor. But my film is not what she made 32 years ago. It can’t be. Times have changed. What worked back then would look completely out of place now,” he said.

What is particularly exciting is that Indian cinema, in its 100 years’ legacy, witnessed for the first time, the digitally restored version the 1981 Chashme Buddoor, and its new-age remake of the same name. And while the latter seems to be doing better business, the former is setting pace for more classics to be restored in times to come. And while the remake minted nearly Rs 5 crore at its release, the original version is unlikely to match that trend.

But for those of us who love our golden oldies, it’s certainly worth a watch again! Ranbir wants to be a baddie

Actor Ranbir Kapoor would love to play negative roles, but he says no director is ready to accept him as a baddie.

“I would love to play a negative role, something that is like an anti-hero. Something without guitars, roses and even a heroine. I have been asking this for quite a long time, and I hope the directors are hearing me out and come out with scripts like that,” said the 30-year-old actor who starred in hits like Rockstar and Barfi.

Indian cinema is celebrating its 100 years, and Ranbir says a significant change over time is the fact that there are “challenging roles for actors today, unlike in the past when an actor kept on doing same kind of roles for three to four years”.

“I think the time when films like Dil Chahta Hai and Lagaan came into being, that was the period when we noticed the slight switch in storytelling. I think cinema has kind of evolved after that. Also, I think every hero was playing the same character over three to four years in the past, but right now there is so much diversity in characters,” said the young heart-throb from Bollywood’s famous Kapoor family.

But although Ranbir has himself managed to maintain a great variety in his roles - be it a free-spirited boy in Saawariya, a loverboy in Bachna Ae Haseeno, a carefree college boy in Wake Up Sid, a ruthless manipulator in Raajneeti, a struggling singer in Rockstar or a deaf and mute innocent boy in Barfi!, he still hasn’t been able to nab a downright negative role.

“There are so many challenging roles now. There are more stories to tell. Back then, there were more society problems [in films]. Now, we have wider things to make,” Ranbir added, hoping no doubt, that some kind director would offer him a challenge.

The actor will be next seen in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which also stars Deepika Padukone, Kalki Koechlin and Aditya Roy Kapur. He’s also excited about playing the lead in a biopic on late actorsinger Kishore Kumar. Well, Ranbir, let’s hope a villain role comes your way!

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What’s the chitchat between Big B and Steven Speilberg?

Big B: You’ve got to remake Sholay for the western world, Steven.

Speilberg: As long as you don’t force me to put Abhishek in it… Babu Menon Erskineville NSW

Babu wins a ticket to new Hindi film release Chashme Buddoor

sAnjAy Dutt

AAmir KhAn

rAnbir KApoor

cINE TALk

Dum hAI, BOSS!

C HASHM e BADD oo R

STARRING: Rishi Kapoor, Lilette Dubey, Ali Zafar, Siddharth, Divyendu Sharma, Taapsee Pannu and Anupam Kher

next-door intimately by her bathroom decor. He manages to take a picture of a tattoo on her waist to convince his lovesmitten pal Sid (Ali Zafar) that the girl is... well, not chaste but quite a chalu cheez.

DIRECTED By:

David Dhawan HHH

Dum hai, Boss!” - the perky young Miss Congeniality in David Dhawan’s Chashme Baddoor, a far cry from the shastriya sangeet trainee tutti fruti-eating Deepti Naval in Sai Paranjpye’s film, exclaims whenever she is impressed by her lover-boy’s dialogue-baazi Exclamation marks are the only punctuations in this seamless comedy of courtship played at an impossibly high octave.

Barring the core theme of two friends maliciously nipping the third friend’s romance in the bud, and some mischievous sequences and characters from the original which have been entirely re-interpreted as ‘swines of the times’, Dhawan’s Chashme Baddoor is far(ce) removed from Paranjpye’s original. Those were days of relative innocence. Whistling at girls at bus stops, chasing unwilling girls to their homes, and landing up at their doorstep under assumed identities were all considered innocuous bachelor bacchanalia. In Paranjpye’s Chashme Buddoor, it was a big deal that Rakesh Bedi managed to get into Deepti Naval’s bathroom pretending to be a plumber.

In Dhawan’s film, the very gifted Divyendu Sharma, who plays Bedi’s part, just can’t pretend to know the perky girl

H

While the writing gets chalu, it miraculously steers clear of being cheesy by a wide margin. under the veneer of vicious courtship games played by two desperately single guys, Dhawan’s film retains a core of innocence. A tongue-in-cheek virtuosity remains the film’s greatest triumph. SajidFarhad’s writing is wild, naughty and witty, but never vulgar. The whimsical wordplay flows from a tap-dance of prankish internet-styled banter which is border-line silly but nonetheless very engaging in an off-handedly smart way.

If anything, the repartees flow much too furiously. From Anupam Kher’s slaphappy mother Bharati Achrekar (effortlessly replacing Leela Mishra from the original) to Goan cafe owner Rishi Kapoor’s unidentifiable assistant - everyone is a certifiable quipster in the new film.

Among the three protagonists, Divyendu, playing an awful self-styled shaayar, gets the most tawdry lines of bumper-sticker wisdom, which the actor delivers with such punctuated panache, we can’t help guffawing out our implicit irshaad

Comic timing is of vital importance to this film. And every actor gets it right dead-on, sometimes dead-pan. To me, the film’s most natural scene-stealer is the southern star Siddharth, who nails his character’s filmy flamboyance. Many would say Siddharth has gone over the top. But to sustain that high-pitched level of crazy energy throughout the film is no laughing matter.

Ali Zafar is far more sober and controlled than his co-stars. It takes some doing to remain steadfast in your stipulated sobriety while all your costars pull out all stops.

The laughs, so refreshingly liberated of lewdness, flow almost non-stop. Adding a dollop of spice to the original script is an entirely unscheduled love angle between Rishi Kapoor and Lilette Dubey. Lallan Miya (Saeed Jaffrey), who played Rishi’s character in Paranjpye’s film would have loved that. Outstanding both, Kapoor and Dubey’s onscreen romance looks warm and credible.

Audaciously, Dhawan and his writer Sajid-Farhad have transferred the celebrated chamko detergent demonstration-sequence between Farooque Sheikh and Deepti Naval in Sai Paranjpye’s film to the Rishi-Lilette characters. Maybe the writers saw this pair’s chemistry to be more frothy and foamy than the central romance?

Ali Zafar’s courtship of the vivacious Taapsee Pannu is relatively thanda. One reason for their frosty compatibility is Ali Zafar’s reined-in performance. He deliberately plays his part a few octaves lower than his loud co-stars who are so hyper-strung that you sometimes

wonder which drugs they are on.

The film moves wickedly at its own volition creating a crazy pattern of comic chaos that stops short of being anarchic due to the finely-tuned situational satire simulated in the writing out of a material that was created 30 years ago when there were no mobile phones and the height of male voyeurism was the Playboy magazine.

Dhawan’s film doesn’t take the characters’ contemporary courtship games into areas that would offend the moralists. He knows where to stop.

Carry on, Mr. Dhawan. David Dhawan’s new-age interpretation of the 1981 film moves far from the original, creating for itself a new pathway of hilarity without showing any disrespect to the source material.

Ali, Divyendu and Siddharth’s audacious antics, make the trio of girlcrazy heroes in Paranjpye’s film look like angels. This is David Dhawan’s wickedest comedy of one-upmanship since Mujhse Shaadi Karogi. You can’t miss it. The attention-grabbing chest-thumping gibberish-spewing rowdy boyz won’t let you.

Dum hai, Boss!

S UBHASH K. J HA

cLuELESS REmAkE mAkES ORIgINAL SEEm much BETTER

IMMATWA l A

STARRING: Ajay Devgan, Tamannaah

DIRECTED By: Sajid Khan

SHridevi said recently that her 1983 career-making potboiler Himmatwala was no Mughal-eAzam. She was right to a point....until now, when Sajid Khan’s remake of the film has come along.

And suddenly the old Himmatwala appears to be a classic!

It gave us the timeless Sridevi as an arrogant spoilt rich bitch who mouthed insane dialogues like “I hate the poor”. Thirty years later, Tamannaah Bhatia does a Sridevi. She gets into Sridevi’s leather pants, with a whip to match, and tortures the peasants in a village lorded over by a

fatuous feudal dad who is not really evil. He is just mad.

We hear the larger-than-life hero Ravi (Ajay) mouth words of oldfashioned heroism with a straight face. But somehow we aren’t convinced. Indeed, there was more than a dash of Shakespeare’s Taming Of The Shrew in the way the original Himmatwala Jeetendra brought Sridevi to heel.

The new-age Sridevi is a squeal. She quickly changes from her audacious mini skirts and high heels, to salwar-kameez, solely for the man in her life.

We can look at Ajay Devgn in Himmatwala as the man who came in from the cold and warmed up the bucolic baddies’ backsides with what he calls a “bum pe laat”. Cute? That’s how Ajay plays his shehar ka hero gaon ka super-hero part. He wants us to believe

he is having fun with the trite part. But the boredom underneath the facade of fun shows up often enough to make us cringe.

The fractured world of Sajid Khan’s Himmatwala is not looking for healing. It is happy being unfinished, wonky and out of shape. A wheezing grunting snoring world of demented feudalism where the Zamindar, as played by the gifted Mahesh Manjrekar is part-fiend, part-clown.

Mahesh and Paresh Rawal do the Amjad Khan-Kader Khan banter from the original Himmatwala with a dash of homo-erotic humour when they are forced to share a bed in a cowshed.

Is this a film to be taken

seriously? And when a tiger appears from nowhere to help the hero fight the goons in the climax, how do we set aside the uneasy feeling that the narrative is laughing not with us, but at us?

S UBHASH K. J HA

A SPINE-TINgLINg cuSTODy BATTLE

A ATMA

STARRING: Bipasha Basu, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Doyel Dhawan and Shernaz Patel

WRITER-DIRECTOR: Suparn Verma HHH

All of us have to live with our fears. Sometimes we have to die with them. That’s where trouble starts in Suparn Verma’s smartly-written, nimbly-executed shiver-giver which, blessedly, doesn’t lapse into a gore fest... At least not until the last few reels when the body count piles up faster than we can say ‘Aatma’.

By the end of this horror drama, I get the feel that the script, which has so far moved at a smooth pace, kills too many people. Life is short. Shorter if you have a dead spouse determined to wrangle your only child’s security by legal or otherworldly means.

Early on we see Nawazuddin as Bipasha Basu’s brutal husband twisting her arm, hurling her to the floor, hurting and wounding her pride and her body.

Domestic violence is a serious crime.

It can get nasty and ugly on screen when put into the wrong directorial hands. Director Verma doesn’t succumb to sleaze. He creates an inner-belly of monstrous disturbances underneath the smooth normal face.

At the top, the movie displays polished surfaces smiling benignly into our faces. The director makes telling use of suburban spaces: the marble floors, the freshly-painted walls, the imported kitchen appliances, eye-catching furniture and the luminous lighting, all seem to suggest that life is beautiful.

The fissures and aberrations make themselves apparent through the fabric of normalcy until we are left gawking at the gaping wounds that fester underneath.

At heart, Aatma is a custody battle for a child, a Kramer vs. Kramer, where one parent is dead.

Verma shoots the chilling premise with minimum ostentation. Ironically the husband, as played by the stark and startling Nawazuddin, is frighteningly demoniacal even when shown alive. In a scene that progresses effortlessly

from the ordinary to the ominous Nawazuddin after losing custody battle in the judge’s chamber, threatens the judge and thumbs his nose at any law that separates him from his daughter. Here, and anywhere else, living or dead, Nawazuddin’s omnipresence is a terrifying prospect.

Verma makes austere use of terror tactics. Mirror images that don’t match up with the people, a ball rolling down an empty school corridor, and in the frightening finale, Nawazuddin leading his daughter by her hand down a railway track, Verma’s images are vivid and spine-tingling. He uses space to convey distances that stretch into hearts filled with emptiness.

AN OvERRATED EmOTION cALLED LOvE

R AN g R e ZZ

STARRING: Jackky Bhagnani, Amitosh Nagpal, Vijay Verma and Priya Anand

DIRECTED By: Priyadarshan

HHH

Way back, Tina Turner sang, What’s love got to do with it?

Now in Rangrezz, the question is spun into a spunky drama of brutal love and betrayal.

Priyadarshan takes the original Tamil film Naadodigal and twists it into an engrossing saga of how lust can often be a convenient pretext for love.

In what must rank as one of the most gripping elopement sequences written in the history of celluloid courtship, three friends, who look like they’ve walked out of Kai Po Che when Chetan Bhagat wasn’t looking, get together to abduct a powerful minister’s daughter from a crowded temple to unite her with their lovelorn friend.

The entire sequence lasts for a good 10 minutes. And yet there is an air of unrehearsed casualness in the way the three, played with throw-away conviction by Jackky Bhagnani, Vijay Verma and Amitosh Nagpal, flee, fall and scamper away from danger, bruised, bleeding and bellowing like wounded animals, with the eloping couple in the backseat of a screeching car.

Full marks to the action director

for cutting to the chase without negotiating a single faltering step in the way the drama unfolds.

Indeed, the real hero of this surprisingly watchable film on the violent end of that much-abused emotion called love, is cinematographer Santosh Sivan.

Santosh’s unerring eye for a detailed emotional and physical landscape makes this Priyadarshan’s visually richest film since Gardish in 1993.

This film isn’t at all apologetic about serving up a spicy dish. The Bihar-uP dialect dialogues come across selfconsciously the way they are mouthed by the two actors, Pankaj Tripathi and Lushin Dubey, playing warring politicanparents of lovers-on-the-run. Ms Dubey is specially hammy. But then this is no place for the soft-spoken.

There are strong sensory perceptions here. The landscape is ruthless, rugged and riveting. The emotions are primeval. Caveman tactics are the prevalent mode of vindication. It’s a tough world.

Though Rangrezz is partly a coarse bro-mance and partly a mocking romance, its brutal landscape scoffs at softer emotions.

And the violent flare-ups are shot with gumption and gusto, packing in plenty of punch.

Priyadarshan wastes no time in building up a tempo in the spiralling storytelling, and the characters plunge

into a crisis before thinking of the repercussions.

The three guys seem to convey more sincerity in their feelings for one another than the two man-woman relationships in the plot. Jackky, giving a subdued but effective performance, likes the girl next door (Priya Anand, Sridevi’s pert niece in English Vinglish) but shies away from any physical contact. As for the other couple, whose elopement forms the central plot, their love evaporates faster than the film’s pacy editing can cope with.

But not before one of the protagonists loses a leg and the other, his hearing ability.

All this for love that never was! The racy proceedings could have been funny were they not so sad. The rage and passion of betrayal are astutely captured.

The film poses some disturbing questions on the lack of genuine commitment in today’s relationships. What if love is just hormones at work?

It’s a film with a number of advantages, the performances topping the list.

While Amitosh Nagpal, Vijay Verma and the redoubtable Rajpal Yadav as the

Tragically, the terror runs out of steam mid-way and the endgame doesn’t have the edge-ofthe-seat scream-stifling impact that the rest of the film leads us to Aatma is one of the scariest films in recent times because it doesn’t try to be scary.

The chills come from the normal gleaming surfaces. Suparn Verma keeps the proceedings quiet, subdued and uniformly ominous. He gets able support from his editor Hemal Kothari, who gives a tightly-wound but nonetheless baggy and freewheeling feel to the footage, and from the cinematographer Sophie Winquvist, who makes Bipasha and her world look pretty, though not in a picture-postcard way.

Aatma features some talented actors in the cast. Shernaz Patel and Jaideeep Ahlawat get into their characters’ skin without doing anything here that takes their reputation forward.

The show belongs to Bipasha all the way. After Raaz, she once again carries the scare-fest on her shapely shoulders, feeling every minute of the single mother’s terror and horror as her sadistic husband’s malevolent soul takes over her life.

Bipasha seems to get better with every film.

S UBHASH K. J HA

protagonist’s buddies in arms are first-rate, Jackky Bhagnani as the boy next door, who doesn’t think twice before plunging viciously into a friend’s love problem, gives a quietly self-assured performance. His character Rishi hardly sings and dances. But you know he can. You can sense the rhythm simmering under the surface of discontent.

Cupid’s arrow has never struck a deadlier blow.

S UBHASH K. J HA

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ARIES March 21 - April 19

The cards show that you will feel low on energy until midmonth. Be very aware of people’s intentions; this could be a month of a lot of rivalry and disputes. Take good care of your diet, and keep calm. There is thought about buying a new car; take your time and the right one will come up. Work is steady but your restlessness will show in demotivated working patterns. Take a break and decide what you really want to do.

TAuRuS April 20 - May 20

The cards indicate a lucky month: you will feel that you are gaining recognition and will therefore gain confidence. you will also enjoy your life more. Take care of your health; you may feel sleepy and lack energy. It is time to reassess your diet and exercise regime. you may find some unnecessary expenditure coming up: do not worry, you will be able to take care of them.

gEmINI May 21 - June 20

The cards indicate a great month for progress, gains and an increase in income. It is a great time to invest in property or deal with property and land issues. Look after health: watch the pain in your left leg. A relative will upset you by being critical of your plans. Do not allow this to alter your judgment as this is just a sign of envy. A surprise party planned for a friend may help you meet someone interesting.

cANcER June 21 - July 20

This is a time when you will be more interested in spirituality and getting involved in meditation and your personal wellbeing. This is a wonderful time to progress your career too, so start making it clear that you want a higher position. Regarding family and responsibility, sort out some things as you have not been spending enough time at home. A financial matter needs your attention.

LEO July 21 - Aug 22

Be careful about communicating with people, as you are unsettled and restless right now. There may be more money and popularity at work and career, so do not upset anyone as this is a good time to get recognition. Take care of your health, you may be very low on energy and a little tired. you may help a friend going through problems and there may be health issues around a young female. your loved one is on your mind.

vIRgO Aug 23 - sep 22

This month you have the cards of marriage and commitment. If married, take care of your loved ones. If unmarried, think of making a commitment. Increase or start a health regime. Don’t eat heavy fried foods, get more fresh air. An older female member of the family may get ill suddenly, but they will recover well. Some property papers may need your signature. Dealings with authority are indicated too.

predictions for APRIL 2013

By NANcy jADE ALThEA

LIBRA sep 23 - oct 22

The cards indicate that you will need to be careful how you handle work and close friends. There could be explosive situations at work, avoid these. your spouse may have some issues which need to be resolved. They will be feeling left out, as your main concentration will be on financial issues. you are waiting for important news which will arrive midmonth. There may be a new contract on the way.

ScORPIO oct 23 - nov 21

you have some new plans in the work area of your life. you have also planned a short break as you need time to clear your head. There are some legal documents that need your attention: make sure you do not procrastinate. Take care of your health especially as stress is a factor this month. There will be a trip where there will be water: relax and enjoy the atmosphere. you need to meditate right now and de-stress.

SAgITTARIuS nov 22 - dec 21

The cards indicate travel and adventure. you have itchy feet and will take a longer break than usual. your spouse will not be too well, with a lack of energy and motivation around them. Take care of finances, there may be unexpected outgoings. you will also look at school changes, or even moving to another city. you are assessing all areas of your life and trying to change a lot of things.

cAPRIcORN dec 22 - Jan 19

you have exciting new ideas with work and will be looking at networking, promotions and advertising. Work will be your main focus and you will meet new people, with a rise in your income. There will be some difficulties with family members and health issues of an older person. Mind your eyes, as you seem to be sleeping at irregular times. you have many admirers, but your eye is on one person.

AquARIuS Jan 20 - feb 18

The cards indicate stress at work, with long working hours ahead. Take care that you get enough rest. There will be some extravagant purchases, for which you have been saving. There are issues around your house which need attention: get a professional in to sort them out. If interested in taking on a new hobby, make sure you push yourself and do it. It is a childhood passion.

PIScES feb 19 - March 20

There is a real feeling of excitement: you want to change your life completely. you have put off some amazing ideas, now is the time to go forward and take some chances. A very special person wants to make a commitment to you. If single, love could be in the air, and you may be playing hard on your partner. Past hurts get in the way. Go with the flow, as this person is making a real impression on you.

Maturing to the sound of Indian music

and Britain

of colour simultaneously dance graciously across the stage, hands stretched high as if reaching for the heavens. Rather than seeing half-naked men holding oversized forks and attempting to spear fish thin air, battle scenes were instead played out. It was in that antiquated and very Indian way, that I nostalgically remember my grandmother watching from one of the seemingly infinite episodes of the Mahabharata on TV. Like a kaleidoscope, my whole view had totally changed with the merest of distortions.

Older me also appreciated for the first time how important an intermission really was, as the crowd percolated through the back exit to take their fill of the Indian sabjis on offer. (Although as a caveat, this does not take away the confusion still inherent within me that questions why an Indian movie needs to be four hours long. Or why characters move from India to Switzerland, and then back to India again in the space of a few seconds.)

I won’t lie. I don’t think I’ll be going to many Indian shows for a while now, but both my partner and I are happy that we went to this one.

By ABHINeeT TANgRI

Having been brought up in Britain by Indian parents

I am still confused as to whether or not I am indeed Indian. Having travelled overseas extensively over the last few years my situation has not been helped by the confused look from locals when I say that I am British. Some are equally confused when I say that I am Indian, most likely because I am not wearing iron pressed jeans and have no sideparting or moustache.

But I have been in Australia for 10 days now and something within my mentality has changed. I would not say that I have discovered my Indian-ness. Far from it. In fact my dislike of daal is as strong

as it ever was, despite my mum’s insistence on how nutritious and flavoursome it is. However, in this short period I feel that I have come to realise that at the tender age of 30 I am much more accepting of my own inherent culture.

This epiphany, if one can call it that, came to fruition a recent Saturday night. My Portuguese girlfriend and I were invited along to a dance performance of the Ramayana. It would be a fallacy to suggest that I was ecstatic at the prospect of watching something in a language that I couldn’t fully comprehend. But my partner and I thought that a Saturday night away from the usual movie on the sofa might make for an interesting change, and so we agreed to go along.

In typical Indian style we arrived a couple of minutes late. A brief look around gave me a glimpse of numerous non-Indians, which in hindsight provided a wonderful change to the homogeneity of the 100% Indian crowd that I had

been used to from attending these events as a youngster. At first this unfortunately appeared to be the only thing that had changed in this time. The initial few minutes of the show did nothing to quell the reminder of how much I had disliked these events that I was forced to watch as a sprightly young Indian boy with a sideparting. I observed my young cousins a few seats away and saw that same confusion; what was going on, why did they need to be there and why was there no popcorn? To make things worse I couldn’t even use my smart phone to haphazardly browse the internet. I was stuck… and so were they.

Yet it would be a lie to think that as a 30-year-old I have not gown up just a little bit. It did not take long for my initial thoughts to recede, and my preconceptions to abate, before I slowly came to realise that I was actually enjoying the show.

A pubescent version of me would have seen 10 girls dancing in peculiar clothes. An older (perhaps more mature) version of me saw 10 beautiful whirlwinds

In fact, my perception of many things that I was subjected to growing up as an Indian has changed. No longer am I put off by beautiful Indian music. I always appreciated the effort but dad just isn’t that great at singing Jagjit Singh’s Kagaz Ki Kashti in the shower. And I don’t know why, but mum’s choice of Indian music just wasn’t cool when she played them in her car. Outside this bubble of homeliness, however, I find much Indian music placid and serene.

A lot of this change in perception over the years has little to do with any notion that I have become more Indian with time; rather I have become more accepting of different cultures with time. And therein lies the key to this change. Or at least that is the way that I perceive it.

Possibly to the chagrin of many Indians, I am and will always be a child of the Western world. No doubt there will be others in my generation who are diverted from the path that was set down by the countless Indian generations before them. Irrespectively of the path on which a child is eventually led I believe it imperative that they be brought up to respect all religions and all cultures, however different. Even the ones with singing and dancing, and four hour long movies.

A lot of this change in perception over the years has little to do with any notion that I have become more Indian with time; rather I have become more accepting of different cultures with time

A dislike of daal leaves one young man somewhere between India

Possibly to the chagrin of many Indians, I am and will always be a child of the Western world

Do you know a super special mum out there in the community who deserves the title?

Mothers are those special people who are always there for you, no matter how many tantrums you have, or if you don’t eat your greens.

That’s why, at Indian Link we would like to invite nominations for our inaugural Indian Link Mother of the Year Award 2013 from the subcontinent community. If your mother, wife, sister, friend, or anyone you know is a very special mum, you may want to nominate her for this award.

How to enter?

Tell us in 300 words or less why your nominee should win. Include photographs of the nominee, and any supporting documents.

Email entry to: win@indianlink.com.au

Get your entry in by 5pm on April 24th, 2013 Prize?

The award-winning mother will receive special prizes, including $500 from Indian Link.

The award winner will feature in the May-1 edition issue of Indian Link, as well as on Indian Link radio.

Criteria for nominations

The nominee must be currently living in Australia as a Permanent Resident or an Australian citizen. The nominee must be of Indian or South-Asian origin. The nominee must have certain special qualities that make her stand out from the crowd. Employees, as well as friends and family of employees of Indian Link cannot enter the competition.

We look forward to seeing your nominations!