in action

Forum presents new ideas for promoting community harmony

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tt BY ASTHASINGH

The annual forum of the Australian Partnership of Religious Organisations (APRO) was h eld at the 1 SW P arliament House in early l\fay.

Co- hosted by d1e Co=mmity Relations Commissions of me NSW Government, me all -day event consisted of eminent members of religious o rganisations from all over Australia along witb ac ademic researchers and media personn el. Over 90 people attended t he forum, which turned out to be a great platform for rhe amalgamation of inter and intra religious b eliefs and learnings in conjunction wid1 the Australian way of l ife.

Current realities a re drnr re ligion is playing an impacr.ful role in the way our sociely functions.

Keynote speaker in one of tbree panel discussions, Barney Zwart, formerly the religion editor of The Age, n oted mar the unfortunate 9 / 1 1 event has targeted Muslim s and they have been gaining more media attention lately.

Barney mentioned h owever mar Hindus and Sikhs as r e ligious gro u ps have not come to the media's attent io n untiJ n ow. He stressed chat inte rfai d1 events are sociall y important and could be a para m eter of Australia 's soc ial progress. Faith communities should also talk about bow religion and science lit together

\'(Then asked what the govermnent is doing for more engagement with minority f aiths, h e replied that participation has increased by the m inority faid1s li ke Buddhists and that tl1ey are gradually becomi n g more vocal.

Dr Stepan Kerkyasharian, president, Anti- discrimination Board of NS\'v; broug h t up the T-.1.i.ndu community in Sydney in hi., talk on freedom to express one's religious beliefs He gave an ~xample of how mosques and temples were not allowed to be built by certain councils, reiterating the story of the building of the Ivlimo temple, and affirmed the peaceful and quiet response fro m the Hindu community. Dr Kerk-yas h arian mentioned that the council raised man> ' objections m the construction of the te m p le, wh ich is one of the main reasons why i t was built underground.

At d 1e san1e forum, the Emanuel Synagogue's Jacqueline N inio, spoke o f the su r prise that sh e is u sually greeted with as a female rabb i. However peop le are gradually accepting the change of r eligi ous equality of gender -based leadership, she noted.

Another informal dialogue amongst the representatives of the Hindu community of t SW was notable. Pandit R ami Sivan and Panel.it R amc ha ndra Ath reiya from Hindu Clergy of NSW and Meenakshi Stivivasan from Sanskrit Scnoo l participated. The discussion heated up when I asked about the role of women in today's Hindu soc iety. The ro le bas ch anged gradual.l y from tbe Vedic times, expl ained the exper ts , at.lding chat tbe scriptures have repeatedly been misunderstood and misrepresented. Pandit R ami Sivan strongly reiterated the fact that Stepan stated before, d1at the Hindu communic:y is very ignorant of its own philosophy and heritage and needs a strong representation and vo ice in A u stralia.

Elucidating on the Hindu philosophy in a n other sessio n, Mata Pravrajika Gayatripran a, President, R amakishna Sarada

Ved an ta Society o f NSW beautifully explained the w;iy life is shaped by women: as mothers, they have the greatest role in shaping d1e chi ld and in directly the society \'{/omen i11Auence the power of thought and mind an d if the tho ug h ts are liberating, the cornnmnity's ethics will definitely be strong.

Many participants fro m the Hindu commw1ity such as Prof Ni h al Agar (Ch airman Hindu Council), Dr Vijai S ingha! and Mr Bhag-var Chauhan were al so present, making it the maxi.rnw11 number of Hind u s present in the forum for the first time.

Bur over and above all tbe discuss ion, much cam e out in the even t about d1e possibilities of tbe interfaith phil osophy in actio n.

Dr Kerkyasharian's observations that religion could be an important counteract to antisocial activities special.ly d1ose involving the you nger gen eration, went down par ticularly well: they were based on a US research study wh ich fow1d that people who are religious a.re more law abiding than t hose who are not.

Tn anoth er keynote address, Dr Phil Lambert, General Manager, Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporti n g aud1ocity (ACARA), elucidated o n the Australian school curriculum and the inclusio n of inrerculmral, religious and ethical tmd erstandi.ng o f sch ool kids The importance of inter -religious liter acy fo r Australian children was clearly brought out.

Ajmer Singh, President, Sikh Council of Australia, re.i reraced the need for religious gi:oups to be more in teractive "\Y/e s bould have neighbourhood sessions in every suburb," h e suggested, adding, "We need co understand each other and agree with ilie differe nces that exist amongst us".

Neeraj Shridhar reaches out to his Sydney fans in his inimitable east-meets-west style

' BY ..:.! KALYANI WAKHARE

Neeraj Shridhar looked every bit the rock star as he walked on to the stage Black leather wristbands with studs, metal chains, dog collar, unusual sty le of facial hair and of course wildly cheering fans.

He looked like he was all set to rock the house, and that is exactly what he ended up doing.

His particular style of music, which effortlessly blends rbe contemporary with the more traditional, has won him many fans. The stylised modem tream1ent that he has accorded to age -~1ld prayer- songs T11m hi ho ba11dh11 and Rc;gh11pati R(lghriv are but two examples of his innovative techniques that have won hi m so much acclaim. Neeraj, also known as Bombay Viking, is one of the ne.,v breed of musicians who have successfully reached our tO those on the subcontinent who want the best of botl1 worlds.

Some 1,000 Sydney fans, of all ages, came om this rime co sing and dance along with him as he entertained with his very best.

The top five Neeraj Shridhar favourites on any one's list, were al] there: Loi1e mcra hit hit, H'ty Bal!)\ Prem ki 11ajy a, and several others. Some of bis lesser known numbers like Aa raha hoo111t1ain and T era 11;era PJ'aar sana!lt were unusually refreshing and got a great response roo.

Shridhar also had the audience eating out of h is hands as be narrated many imeresring incidents and shared anecdotes relating co almost each munber H is stories themse lves were enough for us co understand what a genuine artiste he is, and how down - co•earth as a human being. He engaged bcilliantly witl1 the audience, even getting off stage and sitting amongst the crowd, passing the mi crophone along to some thrilled people and even shaking a leg w ith some

Surely his bame r with the audience that night will be remembered just as much as h is music.

Like a true emertainer, Shridhar saved the best for the last; hits like Jhak JJ1arke, Ti11ist1 Chor bazaa,i and T1111J wile He seemed co have a huge collection with him and was eager co perform more.

Due to rime restrictions however, towards the end it was a rush- rush siruarion and tmfornmately his best n wnbers like T11111hi ho handhu and Ragl.mpati Ragha/J could not be enjoyed co their full potential. He seemed co be in the mood to go on and on, but sadly bad co be cm short.

In the end though he seemed to run out of energy a bit and even con fessed how difficult it was for him to pull through some of tl1e high energy numbers! That's ok, Shridhar; even ageing rock - stars are cool these days!

Luckily, eeraj had the confident Gorisha supporting him very abl y Earlier in the evening, when. Gorisha came on stage accompanied by all tl1e band members, she had lit up the atmosphere with her strong voice, melodious notes and perfect choice of songs. Her rendition of Senorita was so magical that peop le were alread y clapping and tapp ing tl1eir feet. With each successive number she had tl1e crowd eager co shake a leg! Aud sure enough, soon the aisles were full of people dancing and partying away. f c was a fabulous ly fun - 6JJ ed evening, and the fact that this was at one of the most spectacular venues of Sydney, the Sydney Town Hall, made it even more so.

Earlier on, the warm- up aces managed co entertain, even as the show staned fash ionably late like most Indian shows T h e local artistes were a mixed bag with fresh faces and raw talent and some hit number performance up their s leeves. Along with the MCs, tl1ey had set the bacl(drop well for

Bombay Viking

The organisers Swrg Events Pty. Ltd. cotLld eas ily take pride in th e face that their debut venrure was indeed well received. If people's joy could be a measure of the success of t he evening, then indeed it was a hit! The atmosphere was no short of a grand parry with good music at a fantastic venue.

In many ways, eeraj Shridhar is a symbol of what comemporary India stands for: eager to modernise, while still beLng firmly rooted in its own culture. And if you looked around at the crmvd that gathered at the Town Hall that night, that is exactly how tl1ey themselves woul d have come across to you.