Window to India

For one thing, the stereotypes that both communities hold about each other, came to the fore.

Gopinath, Ritam Mitra, Noel G De Souza, Mohan Thite, Yesha Joshi, LP Ayer, Hasnain Zaheer, Radha Ravi, Shafeen Mustaq, Sandip Hor, Minnal Khona, Rani Jhala, Prashant Dixit

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BY RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA

ABC TV’s recent Q&A program broadcast from India offered a realistic peek at the issues that plague contemporary India, including its perceptions of Australia.

Much like India itself, the program was an assault on the senses from the onset, in terms of sight as well as sound, thanks to the unusually bright visuals and the passionate but noisy panellists! In the end, it left the ‘visitor’ Tony Jones somewhat impressed, perhaps intrigued, and definitely exasperated as he tried to make coherent sense of it all. The final sentiment for the viewers, indeed as many tourists have reported upon returning from India, was a wish for the engagement to continue for just a little bit longer, the realisation notwithstanding that there are some massive problems there, some of them beyond comprehension. Ahhh, the enigma that is India…

The issues that are engaging India at the moment came out loud and clear from the panel. To some degree, insights into Indian society also came from the live Twitter feed on screen.

It was ‘You treat your aborigines appallingly’ versus ‘How can you talk about racism when you invented the caste system?’

And, ‘Your men are disgusting for the manner in which they treat women’ versus ‘Your society is disgusting for the manner in which you treat asylum seekers’.

The open honesty of it all was impressive, and tellingly, there were no hard feelings.

The Australian viewers at least were able to glean some understanding of the level of involved debate taking place in India today as it struggles to find answers for its particular problems, whether food security, raising the standard of living, or gender equality. It was evident also that such involvement is taking place not only at the policy-making level, but at the social consciousness level as well.

Perhaps a reverse forum will allow Indian viewers to understand how Australia is debating the asylum-seekers question, other social issues such as alcohol-related violence, or even those that it has faced historically such as Stolen Generations.

It is here that migrant or ‘new’ Australians can make a contribution. Two people on the program, a panellist and a questioner, both Indian-origin Australians, impressed with their particular allegiance to the two countries that make up their sense of identity. With their unique long-term perspective on their country of origin and their adopted country, they can be the bridging gaps that other forums, such as government agencies and the business community can only try to be. While one is not in any way undermining the work done by these platforms, the suggestion is made that increased people-to-people contact can help shatter stereotypes and build relationships based on mutual respect. And yet, India teaches us, that it will be alright in the end. The pretty girl will get up and dance to bring some much-needed cheer. India will forgive the British for their injustices and even learn to love them. The Commonwealth Games will conclude with no major mishaps. Heck, Indians might even change their perceptions about Australians and treat them like friends, because as Indian-origin Australians will tell you, they really do have many interests in common.

And another thing, it’s really not that difficult to find an Indian-origin person who doesn’t follow cricket. Believe it or not, we do exist (shock horror). Or haven’t you noticed that there isn’t a single mention of the game in this particular piece until now?

Fund-raising at Diwali Hope for gender equality

Around the time Deepavali celebrations were going on in Sydney with so many organised events and family get togethers, a tragedy stuck the community living in the Blue Mountains and other parts of NSW in the form of bushfire. The Australian Indian community heard in disbelief of the large-scale devastation caused by the worst bushfires in NSW. The full extent of this unfortunate natural disaster cannot be described in words. It is a huge tragedy for all those affected victims. It is at this moment of great sorrow and loss that humankind comes together to support, share the grief of fellow human beings and minimise the sufferings.

Our community organisation Federation of Australian Indian Associations Inc. (FAIA) considered it appropriate to launch an appeal for assisting NSW bush fire victims in our successfully held “Shaame-Diwali” event on 27 October at Dundas Community Centre. Our FAIA Community Benevolent Fund is a registered charity by Australian Charities and not-for-profit

Commission (ACNC), and is endorsed by Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) for tax exemption purposes. During our Shaam-eDiwali function, we requested community members present to donate generously to our FAIA Community Benevolent Fund in aid of bushfire crisis. Including the collections on the day, FAIA has mobilised an amount of $1,582 to be donated to Salvation Army, which is allocating resources to support victims of the NSW bushfire.

FAIA appeals to all community members to consider donating towards NSW Bushfire Crisis, to alleviate sufferings of innocent victims of this natural disaster.

Donations can be directly credited to FAIA Community Benevolent Fund’s account 062 028 10266121.

Neera srivastava

President, Federation of Australian Indian Associations Inc (FAIA)

Putney Nsw