delights

belonged to, or our political loyalties, we all came together in celebrating the victory of good over evil. Those were the days, unimaginable in Kashmir today!

It’s a special Diwali for Dr Mattoo as the AII has just concluded its fifth successful year of operations, and continues to build positive Indo-Oz relations.

just after Guru

Purb, which is equally significant, if not more so for us Sikhs. Then there’s that much awaited afternoon when we would be taken to the shops to purchase our choice patakas; the endless parties night after night in the week of Diwali as we made the rounds to homes of close friends the special little things I would have for all my cousins, especially as the oldest cousin in the clan; the special moments with each of my Bhai Dooj (Brothers’ Day). Oh, there definitely were some not-so-happy moments which we all still laugh at today, such as when my hair went up in flames from a stray phooljhadi (sparkler), or when my brother burnt his hand! But overall, the outstanding memories are those magic moments of sharing and happiness and non-stop partying… A very Happy Diwali to you. May the diyas enlighten you, may the crackers add a sparkle to you; may the candles fill you with hope, and may your fears go up in smoke!

Congrats to SBS

Punjabi broadcaster Manpreet as she celebrates her Walkley Award nomination and UNAA’s media award for increasing awareness of women’s rights and issues. It’s certainly going to be a happy Diwali for her.

mala mehta, oam

Every Diwali is special for me with my family, friends and children from our Hindi School, but the most special in some ways was the one in 2011! That year’s Diwali was like a dream come true for me, as I celebrated it with a few hundred mainstream primary school kids. Students from seven mainstream schools had got together at Cronulla Public School to mark Diwali. And what a Diwali party we had!

There were Indian outfits galore for teachers as well as students; a traditional Indian welcome ceremony; Indian music and dance, and some sumptuous Indian food for all. The mostly non-Indian kids learned about Diwali as they enacted scenes from the (including a Ravana figure complete with ten heads), crafted colourful diyas as candle holders, and drew rangoli lessons. And the Bhangra and the Bollywood dancing, what a hit!

My only regret was that alas, we did not have sparklers… Having worked towards making something like this happen for 24 years, it was truly exhilarating to see it all come to fruition. I cannot express in words how I felt but hopefully my photos will say it all!

The event was initiated by the Principal Mr Peter Banks and the India Calling teacher and Assistant Principal Mrs Joanne Williamson. A huge thank you to Dr Phil Lambert PSM, art teacher Ms Jacqueline Hackfath, Ms Janet Freeman, Hindi teacher Ms Kulwinder Kaur, dance teacher Purvi Desai, Bhangra boys Mahtab & Chiranjiv Walia and music experts Mr Vinod Rajput and Mr Bulla Singh. India Calling is a multistage teaching resource currently complemented by a Hindi language program, trialled and developed in the Sydney Region of the NSW Department of Education and Communities’ Expanding Horizons with Asia initiative. It involves both face-to-face lessons presented by a specialist Hindi teacher, augmented by videoconference technology to connect a total of 520 students in Year 3 and 4 across all the participating schools in the state. This innovative educational program shares resources to develop an understanding of India and provides insight into the Hindi language. It also builds vital ‘people-to-people’ links among school children of both countries and sows the seeds for opening up of opportunities for considerable growth through education, including exchange of language and educational programmes and deepening ties between Indians and Australians. In 2013 we have established sister school partnerships in India with Bloom School, the Shiv Nadar and Vasant Valley Schools in Delhi and the Heritage School in Kolkata. This Diwali will be a special one for Mala, as the India Calling program which she has helped devise and coordinates, marks three years since inception.