Indian Link media group

some extent. But if it was about people coming together to celebrate their common heritage, share experiences and bring to focus their current problems, issues and highlight the needs of the Pravasi community at large, it fell short of delivering that.

There was hardly any P2P, or people to people contact. So why did it fail to attract the community? Was it the high cost of $350 [early bird discount] for a 3-day event fair? Or because it was scheduled on working days? Perhaps the programme lacked lustre and failed to attract interest amongst the community at large. Maybe it was a combination of all the above.

Why were there no popular events scheduled, open to the public free of cost? If the Government of NSW could host AR Rehman in a free concert for the Indian community, why can’t the Government of India do the same for its pravasis? Renowned artists like Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Meeta Pandit were invited to PBD but the concert was open only to the delegates and they performed to an almost empty hall. In fact Meeta Pandit commented, “Where is the audience - is there a cricket match taking place?”

Some important sectors like medicine and health, tourism and sports were missing from the 3-day agenda.

As for the round table discussion on ‘Power of Media in the Asian Century,’ which was well chaired by Sushi Das of The Age, which I was invited to be a panellist on, we had a robust discussion on:

• Role of media in both countries in reporting Violence against Indian Students in 2010 and lessons learnt from it.

• Will the Indian media play a dominate role in shaping the world opinion on the global stage like the west did in the last century with the power of its economy and the magnetism of its culture? Will we see an Asian Rupert Murdoch emerge?

• Thirdly, in the next 20, 30, 40 years, where are we likely to turn for authoritative, accurate and balanced news coverage? The influence and uses of new media – whether it’s the social media such as Twitter, Facebook etc. or online news, analysis and blogging, as well as online TV/radio.

• The need to have an NRI TV channel which connects the Indian diaspora globally and focuses more on issues and concerns for non-resident Indian and 2nd and 3rd generation Indians. (Minister Ravi who also attended the sessions agreed to offer support to any such initiative).

• A critique of the local print media which has predominantly become an advertisement directory. (The fact that no local print media was invited to be on the panel was pointed out as they could not contribute to the discussion).

• While we enjoyed meeting and exchanging ideas with many interesting people from other cities and countries, we missed the local participation.

In his concluding remarks CGI Mr Arun Goel commented that the two useful recommendation that emerged from the PBD deliberations were:

• Need to have Old Age Care facilities for ageing Pravasis.

• Need to have a NRI TV channel to connect the Indian diaspora globally.

Saba Zaidi Abdi Managing Director Nuvera Media

Volunteering to teach English to Tibetan monks has been an experience of a lifetime for NEHA JAIN

olunteering has always been an endeavour that I have wanted to pursue, to be able to give back to the community (which is highly encouraged in my religion Jainism), and to my ancestral motherland, India. I finally got the opportunity to do so in SeptemberOctober 2013, with International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ), and I have to admit that the experience was phenomenal.

My volunteer experience consisted of teaching English (grammar, vocabulary, poetry, conversation English) to monks of varying ages at a Tibetan colony in Bir, Himachal Pradesh. In all honesty I was not sure of what to expect, but when I got there, the experience exceeded my expectations. Despite having limited supplies, the enthusiasm for learning a third language was very clear amongst all the monks. They strived to be a part of the learning, to create a bond with the educator and they had utmost respect for all the educators (volunteers). Their humble and respectful approach to knowledge and education touched me the most. A clear example of this occurred on my last day of teaching; I was given a party by my students (aged 8-13) who brought snacks, serenaded and danced for me, handed me heartfelt letters and gifts of appreciation, whilst bestowing me the honour (through white scarfs) of being their teacher. The best part about volunteering with the monks was not just that I was given the opportunity to be a part of their learning curve, but that I was imparted with words of wisdom from them, which has allowed me to grow in a positive way.

Apart from being able to educate, volunteering in Bir also helped me to forge strong friendships with my fellow volunteers as well as the adult monks, and I will forever be grateful for this. We formed such a close knit group in the four weeks that I have nicknamed us the ‘Bir gang’!