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tactics of America and i ts aUies. While t he targets have changed, it seems the concept of eavesdropping remains die same as during d1e Cold War. W ith Edward Snowden's tevelations, President Obama had to apologise to German C h ancellor Angela Merkel and cw·rently; PM Abbott i s going through a rough ride when it emerged that Australia had been snooping o n phone calis in d1e higher echelons in Indonesia.

Positive news comes from the Middle East w here some sanctions have been lifted from Iraq and were welcomed by its denizens and the reluct,'Ult international community, but the political situation in Afghanistan seems relatively unchanged Syria continues irs civil war and Egypt is experiencing p oli tical problems too.

In lndia, thougb n ot a lot happened p oliticaliy with the san1e argy bargy tactics between the rwo major political parties, an increase in inflation and a drop in Indian economic growth resulted in a rev iew of lnd ia's credit raring. The most bappening dung in sports beyond the IPL march fixing scandal was the retirement of cricketing god Sach.in Tenclulkar. Many natural clisasters have stirred up more debate about g lob al warming and its effects. The typhoon in the Philippines, die earthquake i n China and the ll ttarakhand flood disaster in India ,vere just some of the many even rs resulting in serious loss of life and property. Closet co home were d1e NSW bush fires that created a haze of sm oke over Sydney tha t lasted for days! la the local co=uni ty, a lot has been happening mo While we had great opportunities to interact and prornote our culture at v aijous me/as and get-togethers, d1e Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas io Sydney could have been a great happening, but ended up being a non-happening event. \Ve were gra ced wi th me presence of Shahrukh Khan who made d1e auclience wait for over 90 minutes before anything happened.

Man made events of destructio n like tbe Kenya mall shootings and the Syria chemical attack allegations shocked the world, while d1e US shutdown shook d1e world.

So wbat will 2014 bring? Will a repeat of the Rudd -Gillard scenario occur in d1e Co alition Parry? Will PM Abborr's vis it ro India develop I ndo- Oz relations? Will India choose a new government to its helm? Well, we 'll just bave to wait and see But from all of u s at Indian Li11k, we wish you a very happy New Year and alJ the very best i n 2014 And if you have co picl< a word to describe d1e corning year, start with relaxing, adventurous, prosperous, fun, family, pos itive change, bealrny and happiness Here'.s wishing that tl1ey all come true for yon Pawan Luthra is the 2012 Parliament of NSW Multicultural Journalist of the Year.

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We love tbe holidays, it's that time of the year when we th.ink of nothing more strenuous than decidiJ1g whether to go to the beach or the park, or what sausages to grill on the barbi e. It's a time for reminiscing too, and while most of us have had fun family times, there have. also been those hilarious and unique moments which are sometimes fondly remembered, sometimes best forgotten. A few of our contributors sh ared thei1· merr y, mad, memorab le moments with Tndia11 Link.

Cracking ice at a Christmas party

There are possibly too many to choose just o ne! There was the time our new puppies decided to sniff out all of the edible presents under the Christmas tree and devout the lot, and then there ru·e of course, the numerous stories associated with my famous (or infamous, depencling on how you fared after drinking it) punch that l use to make, and that's not even mentioning schoolies Bur, T dlink d1at my most memorable silly season srory b y far is the time that m y work colleagues and I decided ro try to ice- skate (witl1 our shoes) across a frozen fouotain in London after a Chris tmas party. The ice appeared to be a good foot in thickness, but we soon learnt tl1at our measurements were off by a considerab le amount after the ice started tc> crack within seconds of LlS trying to slide across it. Needless to say we all ended up very cold that night, and rushed home to have hot barbs. It just goes to show that Sydneysiders don't really understand much about ice!

Lena Peacock

Man and his mushroom

Being an international s tudent in Srdney isn't easy, being away from family, bm recend y di e residence threw a party to celebrate the season. l was away, bur tl1e quiet, seriou s boyfriend got drunker than he has ever been. So me memorable texts appeared, like 'To much. Live yo u', wbid1 I assumed were declarations of love. Loud background music during a phone -call suggested there was dancing. If he and his friends got armmd to their original agenda, there was also a gan1e of cards. When the texting stopped, 1 assumed he had fallen asleep. Next morning, my phone buzzed witli his message, 'I want to d ie'.

Sometime during the evening, he'd found a huge stuffed mushroom. At one poinL his fri.ends thought he had gone to bed, but men d1ey saw a man si tting contemplatively in the rain , ho lding the mushroom. L ike the nice friends rney are, tl1ey put him co bed; but me next thing he knew, he was out in the ball, wearing n o tl1ing but boxers, socks and his left shoe. Oh, and still holding the mushroom His ke)7s \Vere inside tl1e house, and he ended up sleeping outside bis door before the coordinator let him in.

"I'rn gone one day, and tlus happens," I replied, after I nearl y died laughing. "1 won't be drinking for a while," was his sober reply. lc's too funny to let go mough, so all week he's been receiving texts from me saying, "I'm so 11111.rhed up, why would you abandon me, I mush you so much". He's pleading that I scop; this is one holiday he wanes to forget. Bm not if I can help it!

Kritika Rao

Plan paintballed!

Growing up outside of Queanbeyan, tl1e small ci ry east of Canberra was socially isolating The Ridgeway Estate where I lived had o nly about 100 residents, wim a single road leadi ng into and out of the estate. The entry was off tl1e main road to the coast from Canberra - the King's Highway, which was notorious for irs fast moving traffic. At tl1e time, the single lane road was extremely poorl y maintained.

As a young lad, my mates and l once ventured co the side of me highway having followed a dirt track mar led, on the other side, d ow n ro the township of Queanbeyan. The cars and trucks passing us were moving scarily quickly, and in our youthful indignance we discussed how to gain safe passage across the road.

Ir was on a balmy night around Ch ri sm1as tbar we came upon a plan co make the road safe r, so we could complete our journey alo ng rbe dirr track a nd into the town. One full moon night around 1am, my mates and J took some tins of white paint and paint brushes left over from my house having been painted only months earlier, and headed for the main road. \Virh one person looking out for the glare of clistaot headlights, we started painting stripes along tbe road. Long, wide, even strips of thick white paint with a space between each of them, ove r the tarmac and knobbl y gravel, parallel to the edge. After about 20 minmes, we thought we had done well. Stripes rig ht across bod, lanes! Shaking with laughter as we admired our work, we heard the d istant rumble of truck. Th e perfect time to resr our zebra crossing!

The truck rolled into sight and we stepped back from the highway, planning to move to the very edge as i t goc closer. We assumed it would stop, so we could cross. As it thundered close r, we crept forward. The moonlight glistened off the paint on tbe road. Bur as the truck approached, we realised rbat it wasn't acmall y slowing down. Then ir rushed past and there was a squelch y sound as wet paint sprayed eve r ywhere. Vt/e gazed at the back of tbe disappearing truck, and realised char it was leaving lo ng white paint lines up die highway.

As we howled with laughter, a car c.'Ulle tbe other way and created long white lines down die orber side of the road. It was the best C:bristmas holiday ever, even though that road was no safer co cross. Every trip to town in the back of Dad's car caused a smile, as we passed ilie ' crossing'. The paint took several years to fade

MohanDhall

Present peeker!

Jvly friend Ju-a is one of four, and her parents own a laundrette jtL~t down the street from where I live. Her litde sister Sia used to sneak to open her presents before Christmas, have a look at tbe m and dien put them back. On Christmas Day she would p ick up a present and say, "Ooooohl And thi s one's the fairy wa nd!" That's how everyone knew that she had sneaked a peek, but Sia n ever caught on that sbe had given hersel f away.

Lily Rose Robertson

Rocking on the road!

In rnyearly 20s, New Year's Eve in M umbai had become Jess about going to Midnight Mass and brrrning up the 'Old Man,' and more about which party we would attend One memorable year, a group of us were all d ressed up and ready to party. At 10:30pm, we fi t ourselves into four cars and headed off i n a loud and nois y cavalcade. There was an atmosphere of celebration and anticipation in the air as we beaded for Bandra Bandstand, about 20 minutes away, to a bash tl1rown by an upcoming actor. \XTe would get diere in plenty of ti.n1e, or so we though t.

Dri vi ng towards Bandra, a feeling of apprehension began to grow, becau se the main road was abso lutely jam-packed witl1 craf6c. We crawled alo ng , anxiou sly watching tl1e clock and u nfairly recriminating with our friend for not driving fast enough.

At I I :50pm, we had come to a comp lete stan dstill, and tl1e aanosphere in die car

·was wound up and anxious. Drive rs honked impatiently, their passengers argued , but tl1ere was just n o way we could get our of tl.1ere. At 1 1:55pm, our driver friend decided cl.mt he'd had enough. He got out of the car, clambered out of tl1e bonnet, scood o n tl1e roof Qt was his car, what clid we care?), and looki ng over the s ea of cars, he announced char a traffic light had broken down in the clistance He was just ab out to climb down when we heard tl1e fireworks, and the n ight sky lit up wirb a million Hares. This intrepid gu)~ the only teetotaller in the group, stood uprigh t and yelled out at the top of his vo ice, "Happy New Year, eve rybody!" For a magical m oment, iliere was silence Then car doors started opening, people s carted getting out an d w ishing each other a happy new year. All around us was a scene of cheerful chaos. Some wannabes climbed onto the roofs of dieir cars, but th e moment belonged to Oll.f friend and we were in tl1e midst of it, endiusiastically hugging strangers. A variety of music blared out of different car ste reos, and we began to serious ly party right tl1ere, surrounded by cars and people. It was a m emorable and tmforgettable sight. 15 minutes later, an irate parry poope r p olice inspector got ever yone into their cars, as traffic began moving. For our friend, tl.1e 9L1iec, well-mannered one, i t was his 15 minutes of fame, and we spent the rest of the year recounting his escapade, muc h to his visible embarrassment and secret d elight! He's a devoted husband and father n ow, but tl.1e sight of him atop his car, wishing the wo rld is still an unforgettable one.

Sheryl Oixit

and kin , we headed out to stay in a resort with close friends. 1 have no concept of travelling light, so the car boot was packed witl1 food to lase a wee k (in case we get hungry), clothing (1mpreclic tab le weatl.1.er, so gotta take ever)'tbing), golf clubs (hubby's sole conclition for coming alo n g), lllptop (naturally), seven pair o f shoes (to match every outfit and a few extra just in case) and a Christmas tree (in true festive spiri t)

On arriving at the resort, the porter inquired if ,ve were stayi ng for a month, and despite all his h ospitality groomin g, his eyebrows shot up in am ll5e111ent wben I sheepishl y mentioned the duration of our stay After a short rest, we pulled out rbe Christmas tree and in true celebratory spirit covered it with LED lights. Then we switched o n tl1e lights, and ,vitl1 a loud noise , tl1e power went off. We called the reception, where the sleepy operator said he could nor send anyone to help as the staff had all gone h ome early to be witl1 family. one of us were talented enough to 6x power omages and despite the three dozen candles that I had carried along, i t was still too bot to manage without electricity. A few irate phone calls later, the 'bordering o n rnde' receptionist offered us anorber room o n the oppos ite side of ilie resort. With no porters in sight we had to heave all die baggage, Christmas tree et al, to tbe newly allocated room. There was not even a car park n ear that room so we could nor clxive around to it. I still shiver from tl1e memory of earring the seemingly e ndless pieces of luggage, bags and cartons between the two rooms Three year s later, rbe niggling pain in m y lower back could well be attributed to rbar heavy, not hearty Christmas!

Jabbal

Preeti

Maybe we can aU learn :1 thing or l'WO from t!1ese writer~ ancJ remember to stay safe and om of trouble Ju.ring the silly season!

Heavy, not hearty!

It was 'Heave Ho!' in stead of 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' the year we decided to celebrate Christmas in lnverloch with some friends. The holidays are a tin1e ro rejuvenate and recover from a year of working hard and partying even h arder. So witl1 kitl1