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no particular order, a clear visio n of what they want accomplished; a working team th at operates cohesively and efficiently, and a strong be lief in , and dedication to, their cause.
In over 20 years of observing the trends in Australia's Indian community, seldom has one seen the kind of passion that is on display at the moment.
r o, this note is not just about the 'Modi mania' that's sweeping the community, but more specifically about the core group behind the upcoming Allphones Arena event that will probably go down as a landmark event in the annals of the Indian diaspora down under.
The Indian Australian Community Foundation (I.ACF) was set up to hatness the re.<;o urces of the various Indian community groups in organising the reception for the Indian Prime :[\,[in ister.
It was fotmded by a core of people who are behind the Hindu Cow1ciJ of Australia's annual DiwaLi Mela, wh ich has grown strongly since it scarred over a decade ago, while other comparable functions waxed and waned.
Ir is clear that a nwnber of factors are at play in the steady success of its activities, which have made this o r ganisation one to emulate. These are, in
It is the ver y same passion tha t this team of people brings co tl1e Modi venture. In spite of initial chaUenges in getting access ro the PM's time, mey are now on tl1e verge of pulling off what will no doubt be the event of the year in me Indian community
In a community mired a plecbora of organisations demarcated by linguistic or regional differences, the egos o f the leaders have often caused divisions and factions. Splinter groups morph inro sub o rganisatio ns and all too o ften the agenda is dri ven by petty policies rather man me common good. In contrast, the IACF has reached o ut ro every o rganisation with its inc lusive nan1te. It has been impressiv e to watcll some 300 register w itl1 chem, i n a matter of days, offel'ing su pport.
The passion was fuelled by a purpose, and that was to create a platform for the scill new PM Modi to connect w ith th e Indians in this countr y Wbile the bar was set by the public forum at Mad ison Square Garden in New York not so long ago, the Sydney team knew chat their access to me PM was on a Monday working day in the earl y evening, as compared to a weekend event
in the U nited Stares lndo Americans are estimated to be over 3 ,000,000 in numbers , Indian Australians battle to reach a si.xth of that number at 500,000 Anotl1er internationa l event in the community, tl1e regional Prav as i Bharti ya Diwas held a t aro und the same time last year, could only manage muster the interest of 300 people , even wim montl1s of preparatio n. The challenge for me organisers this time around was to ignite the imagination of those thinking about attending They have been able to do chi s b y keeping the message sirnple: it's a community reception for the Indian PM, aU are welcome, and iris free.
Indians in Australia feel a sense o f pride in the c o untry of their birth and ancestry Th ere is a desi r e to connect with their heritage and c ontinue to nurnire the bonds between t he ir adopted and original bomelands. Sadly, previous govern ments had failed co reach om to mem and there was a g ro,ving disenchantment with t he politicians o f India The recent change in government seems to have ignited the passion of t he comm tmity, and a desire has emerged to participa te in the various mood s sweeping across the country. This passion has been ind eed been harnessed well b y the IACP, as mey create a pl atform at which me chi e f architect o f the new India, PM Modi, can s hare his visio n directly
Once in a wh il e someone comes along and does something that takes the world by storm Inventors, scientists, doctors, engineers, crusaders, sportspersons and others in almost every walk of life frequently produce ' frea k accident: 'divine intervention; 'lucky break; 'odd chance'or 'globe shattering'typ e developments
Research labs, i ncubators and management schools have focussed on how such non-linear but desirable changes can be methodically precipitated by some kind of fo r mula This has led to much intellect, energy and effort being directed at ma ki n g it happen faster and seam lessly
One predominant school of thought advocates creating the right climate and seeding it with the right resources, with reduced oversight but with more mentoring This invol ves a higher yielding ap proach by building self-actualisation opportunities within the environment where collaborators can team up as and how they want
Enter Narendra Modi. Here I want to alert all business schools, management doctr ine developers, aspiring political leaders and wannabe promoters of any change anywhere, that the time to study this is now -
h ow an unheard of political incubator that began in the tea-stall -yard of one small boy called Narendra Modi, is about to transform the concept of cr eating a w idely sup p orted political leadership that shows growth and popularity chart busts that any Silicon Va ll ey start -up would ki ll for!
In a world that generally m istrusts politicians to exceed and surpass all measures of success and pop ularity ever statistically recorded, i s indeed a feat. Modi's public meeti ngs in India are quite a spectacle
Before the Ivy League universities get i nterested in studying his nati on revamp formula, I want to h ighlight ten reasons behind Modi's success:
1 He visibly separated his family ftom h i m self- crucial in a h u gely corrupt developing economy where fam ily and cronies get in the way of pub lic welfare
2 He works 18 hours a day, and there are results to show for it.
3 He constantly reminds all of his mission, i e, delivering on hopes and aspirations of the Janata (public), a perfect missi on statement driven home by his team and the bureaucracy repeatedly
4. Not put off by protocols, h e ca lls unto anyone who can deliver, other politica l l eaders, business tycoons, film stars, social do-gooders, media barons, so ldiers, even
the regu lar guy on the street.
5 He accepts anyone with a soft cajole except the enemies of the nation
6 He has a positive schedule of wor k flow that hits the desks of everyone in his team
7 He runs an open government forum where everyone can provide input/advice d i rectly
8 He has increased governance by direct public input to his government's policies and prio rity formation with auditability and transpa rency
9 With his 'Make i n India' mantra, he has become a favourite of businesses that love open dialogue an d focussed h elp under one window sans bureaucracy
10 He i s the behemoth who suppo rts people's agenda even before people know what it is
Mod i is also steered adverse l y by h is opponents who think t h at peop le don't care, or are dumb and busy except on voting day and can be fooled and i gnored till the next elections
Dilip Jadeja, Cherrybrook NSW
Iwas one of the 150 or more peopl e who attended the recent Open Mosque Day (25 October) at the Vi rgin Mary Mosque at the Werribee Islamic Centr e, broadcast live on 774
ABC Melbourne [I t was one of severa l events held across Australia as part of the Nationa l Mosque Open Day organ i sed by the Lebanese Musl im Association .]
As someone w h o was brought up Hindu but attended St Xavier's Catholic Sch oo l in Chandigarh in Indi a, I found the experience illumi nating I didn't just learn about be l iefs and rituals and the logic behi nd the m , but was abl e to talk freely and open ly with Muslims from the 1 7 different ethnic groups from across Afr ica, Asia, the M iddle East and Eur ope who worsh i p there
Many of the attendees had never been in a mosque before and, like me, found it opened real d i al ogue with our fe ll ow Austra lian residents
I urge othe r re li gions to hold Open Days We cou l d all benefit from visiting ea ch other's ch u rches and temp les We might be surprised by how much we have in common For m e, th is i s reflected in Wyndham City Council's draft multicultural p olicy which looks at h ow we ca n b uild dialogue across faiths as a way of building an inclusive community
This pri nciple certain ly works for festivals . The Indian Diwali Festiva l of Lights in Wyndham i n October attracted 16-20,000 people, around ha lf of whom we ren't Indian Cr Gautam Gupta
Councillor with Portfolio responsibility for cultural diversity Wyndham City Council, Melbourne
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Br isbane-based Naiker Associates have been awarded the 2014 Global Mobility and Immigration award for 'Best Practice in Refugee Law in Australia' presented b y the UK- based magazine Acquisition Tutemt1tio11t1I.
"To be recognised for our work in a field which i.ndudes awards winners like Ernst & Young a nd Fragomen i s trul y humbling," said company director Madhukar Naiker. "We would like to thank all who have supported us endlessly in Australia and ab road for out work in a g lobal con text."
Naiker Associates originall y began in 1990 as Maharose, and was estab lished b y a father and son team - managing di.tenor Madhukar Naiker and his father Urkatu Naiker who is the company director.
~fahrose began w ith several
businesses in in dustries such as hospitality, proper ty planning a nd development.
In 2006 the organ isatio n e>.'])anded to provide services in immigration l aw and international affairs.
The core of the success of Naiker Associates is down
co the diversi ty of knowledge chat the directors bring w i th them. Having studied, worked and lived across several continents has enabl ed the ream co com municate with clients in their language and provide a personalised service chat understands each individual cli ent's needs. Both Urkatu and Madhukar Naiker carry ter tiary qualifications in several disciplines,
i nclud.i ng engineering and business l aw, giving them a deeper und ersta nding of rhe working environment.
As Madhukar Naiker said, "The award has established us furthe r as an international firm in the area of work we do."
Speaking abo u t the awards,
coordinator and spoJ,eswoman for Acq ui sition International G lobal Media Samee n a Yates said, ' 'As more businesses transcend international boundaries, and with cross -bo rder strategy high on many agendas, excellence in the relocation, immigration, and mo bility mai:ketplace is fast
becoming a cor nerstone of many of the world 's most successful b u sinesses "
She conti n ued, "Acquisi tion lncetnational has set its sigh t s fuml y on the most innovative, forward thinking and clientfriendl y firms that have transformed the way in which companies and individuals do b u s iness."
Acq11isitiot1 lntemationai i s a monthly magazine cov ering the latest corpotate finance news and reports.
Madhukar I aiker i s curr ently in India conducting research and attending internationa l conferences in Punjab, Delhi and Kashmir He told fodian Link Naike r Associates vision for the futu.te is to " maintain a global presence in the area of refugee law and international security matte rs that affect the states" Vishma Mistry
Have you recei ved an invite? It was a question that did the rounds of the Indian community io Brisbane for a few days The Honourable Campbell Newman, Premier of Queens land, on behalf of the Queensland Government, invited se lected guests, compris ing both Indians and Australians, to a Reception in Honour of the Indian Community io Queen sland.
On a warm Tuesday evening, at the Speaker's Green, Parliamentary Annexe, dressed in traditional Indian finery or
business attire, and around 200 peop.l e walked into the event ,vith eager faces.
Addressing tbe gathering, Premier Campbell Newman emphasised d i e improved connections between Queensland and I11dia. He also commended the Indian community's hard work in organising a highly successful Diwali function held at George Square, in d1e month of Occober.
The Premier also touched upon Bol.l ywood's and Indian tourists' tryst w im the Go ld Coast, and also discw,sed the upcoming G20 that w ill see over 4000 international delegates come to Brisbane.
" l am especially delighted to welcome d1e Ind ian Prime Minister Narendta Modi to the Scace," Premier Newman said And not forgetting cricket he said, ''Queenslanders are looking forward to the upcoming Australia-India test series."
Above: Prof Prasad Yarlagadda(President FICQ); Dr Maha Sinnathamby (Patron, FICQ); Biren Nanda ( High Commissioner oflndia to Australia); Queensland Premier Campbell Newman
Also speaking at the event was High Commissioner of India co Australia Biren anda, who said die event was symbolic of Australia's multiculturalism. "India coo is a diverse multiculmral society," he sa id, "Ir's i ncredi ble that peop le of Indian origin are making a significant conrribuci.on in A ustralia."
Biren Nanda also spoke about the recently elected Liclian Prime :tvf.inister Modi, and s aid mar th.is is tbe first decisive result for a political party. ''People believe aspirations can be m et wid1 a democratic framework," he said President of the Federation
of Indian Communities of Queensland , Prasad Yarlagaclda reaffirmed the title of 'Ho norary Indian of me Year' given to the Premier CampbeU Newmai1, for b.is strengthening and supporting of die India -Australia relati ons hip.
After the speec hes everyone tried to grab ilie attention of di e Premier co get a picture and a c1uick introducLion, whil e appetisers like san1osas, paneer ti kkas .and drinks floated around the venue
An evening which lasted for just over an hour fostered a new networking opportunity for quite a number of people
of diverse Indian -Austral.ian organisatio n s who have pooled their resources specificall y for d1e
:tBY ' ll" RAJNI ANAND -*-· LUTHRAM~!~:;::that when she saw the Maclison Square Garden reception for Ind ian Prime Minister Narendra Mocli live on the internet on 28 September, she felt goose bmnp s.
A long- time l'vfocli fan and supporter, the 28- year-okl Adelaide-based MBA sn1dent decided almost immediatel y chat when l'vfocli came to Australi a, she would go and beat him live.
"I was disapp o ii1ted to learn he would not be visiting m r city on his Austral.ia trip," she tel.ls Indian Unk, ''But I'm defini tely going to Sydney."
Brisbane's Sai Korrapati, a 3 1-year-o ld TT executive, is a recent Mocli convert. "l believe Narendra Modi represents India n values best and i s a great hope for the country," he says "I will be in Sydney to show my suppon for him "
M:ahesh Rohira, a 35-yearo ld chartered accoun t ant in Me lbourne, is looking forward to his train trip to Sydney on the much - talked about 'Modi Express'. He will join 220-o d d like- m inded Melbournians wh o are taking time off wo r k to see lndia's Prime l\finister i.n Australi a. "I think Modi is a fantastic orato r an d it's great that we'r e getting a n o pporrunity to heat him speak he re in A u stral.ia "
Shah, Korrapati and Rohira are buc three of an expected 18,000 people who will be part of a mega reception for the Indian leader at Al.lpbones A rena at Sydne y Olympic Park on Monday 17 November
lt will be the largest audience to hear an address by a foreign leader in A us tralia
To say that there is a n o verwhelming interes t i n the Prime Minister 's vis it, wo.uJd be an u n der statement.
This is nothin g short of Modi marua
The reception is organised by the Indi an Australi an Community Foundation (IACF), a coal.ition
Pi:ime J\,finister's visit
The even t w ill take pL'lce on the sidelines of the G -20 sum m it to be held in Brisbane on 15 and 16 r ovem ber. Bur for the Indi an community here, the IACF event is far, far more significant.
N ihal Agar, the chairman of IACF, tells Tndi,111 I.ink, " InclianAustralians have waited for 28 years to host an Indian Prime Mjnister here, so this is trul y a momentous occasion "
Balesh Dhankh ar, spokesman o f d1e IACF agrees, but adds that the euphoria i s also for the man himself. " Modi reflects the common I n dian man , and his jo urney h as been so inspiring."
Sneak peak beh ind the scenes
Agar admjts that the id ea can1e about after Madison Sq uare Ga rden
Modi's address to a capacity crowd at this New Yo r k venue bad hit world headlines and won him even more admirers at home.
"W hen we heard about Modi's Australia visit, we asked the Indian H ig h Com1nission here i f we could organise a com m unity event in Sydney," he reveals. "The political and economic agendas are to be concluded ar the Brisban e, Can berra and Melbourne even ts, a nd so we thoughrwe could have a social engagem ent in Sydney."
T he High Commi ssion's respon se was that the PM's itinerary was al.I finalised
''We then approached the PMO i.n India directl y, and were able to convince them of the s ignificance th e Sydney v isit could ho ld for the Indian dias p ora Modiji agreed to take up our invite to ad d ress the Indian con,muniry here."
This set into motion a flurry of acti v ity. The AUp h ones Arena was booked as the venue.
In characteristic style , Agar declared chat the event would be an inclu s ive effort, in whic h as m an y cornlllLmity organisations as possi ble would b ejnvited to take part. Tbe message went o m via a newly launch ed websi te ,v,.vw PMv isit org au Within d1ree days, some 200 organi sations had expressed inte rest to join, and d1ey were inducted as 'Reception Partners '
"IACF has pa r tnered wid1
hundreds of community, social, religious and linguistic organisations that represem t he diversity and pl uralism that defines Ind ia and the three hundred thousand Indi an Austral.ians," ihal Agar says. " Our aim was always to be inclusive " Community me m bers registered via their o rganisations their interest to attend t h e address
\Xfhen registrations closed, so m e 2 1,0 00 peop le had sig n ed up from ac ross the country. (Ano d1er 20,000 people a re expected to register now that organisers have opened a number of seats for allocation by lottery)
No less tha n 400 people offered thei r services as vol unteers
Agar and Dhankhar b oth agree drnt other aims of d1e endeavour are to bring t he Inclian community together on a single platform, which t hey seem co have done co m mendabl y so far, an d to send t he message out to the wider Australian cominunity d1ar they can be a formidable part of d1e socio -po litical fabric o f the country
An hour- long cultural show
is being planned, with a special event intended to showcase t he hundreds of years of links that have existed between India and Austra lia Ir will high light new historical, archaeological and lingui stic evidence indicating human migration &om the Ind ian
Sydney ' s Rekha Bhattacharjee remembers clearly the last visit of an Indi an Prime Minister, way back in 1986. The community recept ion organised for Rajiv Gandhi then was consulate-led. M. Hamid Ansari, the current Vice-President of India, who was High Commissioner in Canberra then, organised an afternoon tea event at which Raj i v Gandhi met a small group of community members at Sydney 's I ntercontinental Hotel.
"Rajiv was charming and articulate,"Rekha recalls. "I parti cularly remember his comment about NRls. They may be called 'brain drain; he said, but I like to call them our 'brain bank"'.
At d i nner later that night, hosted by NSW
Premier Barrie Unsworth at the Wentworth Hotel, Rajiv had surprised everyone with his knowledge of some very early India-Austral i a links: from 1788 to 1836, the Roman Catholic Church in the co l ony of New South Wales was part of the Diocese of Calcutta.
Rekha also recalls the great rapport
that the young Indian leader shared with Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke; the Sikh protesters that had demonstrated outside the Wentworth, and Raj iv's i nterview with Laurie Oakes on Channel Nine where he had claimed famous ly that politics was his dharma.
Neville Roach, another commun ity stalwart, can recall an even earl i er Indian PM, Indi ra Gandhi, who visited in 1968. " I remember reports of her being received at the air port;' Roach told Indian Link. "There was no event or community function; it was all low-key:'
Mrs Gandhi visited again in 1981, as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government MeetatMelbournein 1981.
The 2002 edition of CHOGM at Cool um Queensland would have seen another prime ministeria l visit, th is time for Atal Behari Vajpayee. However, a certain i ncident at Godhra (which wou ld go on to haunt the current incumbent in some measure) kept the Indian PM away then.
subcontinent ro Australia arou nd 5,000 years ago.
The technical ream, w hose job includ es providing free celecasc and broadcasc m imeresced agencies, is 40 members strong. N ibal Agar reveal s that they did consult w ith the l'vladison Square Garden team, who advised on vario u s issues as wel1 as alerted them on poss ib le troub le spots. A formig h t out from the even t, the IACF team are working round t he clock co fi n alise al] arrangem e n ts Many ha ve a leave of absen ce fro m their regular jobs (fo r a who le month in one instance) . Two vol U11teers that fodian Link spoke to rev ealed they had been wor ki n g n o n - stop fo r the past 24 hours. One of them disclosed th at the efforts and e n ergy being expended far exceed th ose in the Mad ison Sq uare Garden eve n t. As well, it w as po in ted out, the Chinese community's effo rts for the visit o f their own President Xi Jin ping (w ho like Modi will also address Federal Parliament) , are not as exte n sive
Som e 1000 M elb ournians w ill b e travelling co Sydn ey to attend the Modi evenr.
For 220 of these, i t will be via a specially chartered train that is being called the 'J\fodi Express' Shives h P andey of .Melbourne's Overse as Friends of BJP (OFBJP) chapter reveals that the train will be flagged off from Melbourne's Southern Cross Station by a leading figure, but be won 't divulge who - i t could be the Premier of V ic toria, or the Transpo rt l'vlinister Perhaps t h e M inis ter fo r Mulriculmral Affairs?
Fo r Shivesh, it was exciting to see the numbers gradualJy build up fro in his city As the numbers touched the low hundreds, the id ea of the train came up <luting a chat ,vitb frie nd s. Ir was li ke a light bulb had gone off.
''The idea clicked because :t\fodi himself travelled b y train, as a grasssroocs social and political worker," Shivesh says "I t is the common man's mode of transport
Opposite page - L: Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, with PM Bob Hawke, meets with community members at Sydney's Intercontinental Hotel R: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with Australian Prime Minister John Gorton in 1968
in India, after alJ "
T o hear the plans for tbe train journ ey would remi nd you of a pilgrimage in India for which trains are similarl y chartered. The re 's go in g ro be Modi banners, trico lour balJoons, and yo u guessed i t, dhoklas an d thepla.s and phephras galore!
O n e thin g's for suJ:e, t he train journey w ill hold some pretty special memories for a Im of people.
"U nfornmacely we could n o r accommodate so many others who wanted to joi n us," l aments Sbi ves h.
The OFBJP had a dream debm in Australia as the BJP won the general elections months after the orga nisation was fo un ded. ks num bers have burgeoned since then, in every major centre i n Australia. And there are man y m ore supporters of Modi out there who are nor even members
As a Gujarati, Mudra Trivedi Shah is ver y closely awar e o f the Modi style o f operation which
Left: Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks to the crowd during the community reception at Madison Square Garden in New York has worked wonders for her state. "Even as P M, Modi 's in itiatives like MyGov, Make in India, Man Ki Baat radio prognun , even his social media call-out co tbe community here to share ideas on important issues, al] show h is sincere efforts to shake tbe country out of its comp lacency "
D eeksha Chop ra of Syd ney, 31, who missed out o n getting a seat at tbe Sydney even t, bur will watch the proceedings vi a giant TV scree n s o utside the venue says, ,cModi is a v i si o n ary and I believe t hat he wants India to truly shine. His journey from ' an ordinary ch,ti111allah' as he calls himsel f, co t he Prime Minister of rh e country is no ordinary journey. W h o can forget his Madi son Square speech be insp ires me to be as passionate and driven as h e is."
Dilip Jadeja of Sydn ey will al so be an "outsider", having bee n too late co registe r, bu t is g rateful for the opportunity. A die- hard Modi fan, he does not care about aligning h imself to an association to show b is support.
Sai Ko rrapati is a recent conve rt. "I come from a Congress -inclined family, but lost fait h i n the lase two years I became a Modi fan first, then a BJP supporter."
And th ere are mainstream admirers as well Matt Kean, Member fo r Hornsb y in the SW Parliament, is l ooking forward to the Allphones Arena event, and will also b e in Canberra co bear the Indian lead er address th e Australi an Parliament. ''PM Modi is a n in sp iration for me as a yo ung :t\•fP," he tells Tndia11 Link. "His story provides p roof chat standing up to your beliefs and working hard , which he has done al] his life, wins yo u not only the respect of the people, but also success in poli tics I al so believe th at Mr Modi's vis ion for India can transfor m the world."
Interestingly, amongst rl1e lACF cop brass, there's a mix of alJegian ces. Shi vesh Pandey clain1s unabashedly to h ave been a BJP suppo r ter and voter for a Jong time. Ni h al Aga r will admit he ha s never been a BJP su pporter, but has always been an admirer of Modi. And as fo r Balesh Dh ankhar, he roLin dl y refoses to answer the question "It is o f no relevance what m y political leanings ar e, as regards my vol untary wo r k with t he ] J\CF."
There's been much interest in India at Modi's upcoming visit. Tbe 24-h o ur news chaimels sc urry co find their 'unusual angles' o n the stor y, such as what th e Pa ldstan Australia Business Council is doing as o n e of the p articipating organi satio n s, and listing it, rather unnecessaril y, next to al] rl1e "Hindu" assoc iations that are participating.
A!J p bo n es A.ren a is typicalJy described as havi ng "hos ted concerts of musici ans P i cbull, Ricl<y Marrin, Rihanna and Mariah Carey in t h e past," and where "Kary Perry will perform a few days after Modi's v isit''. iVfove over, rock stars!
T h ere's also been mention of Gujarati film Bry Yaar (TIVo F,iend~ r eleased he re to coincide with Modi's visi t. ews junkies may be forgiven if they b elieve the bv•yaan in the film are Modi and Abbott.
o doubt the exci tement i s high in Ind ia, to see another rahrah affair being o rganised in the diaspora for its Prime Minister
"My friends from India are askin g if I will go to the b ig community even t," Mudra Trivedi Shah reveals "Even my dad has been emailing me news clips fro m va rious sources about his Oz vi sit."
In Australia , m ainstream med ia have begun to take n o tic e of the community preparations for Modi 's visi t, n o doubt caking the lead from tbe in terest shown by t h e American medi a at Madison Square Garden. It will be inte res ting co n ote how t hey will cover the acmal event on 17 November. Is there a Jon Stewart or a John Oliver among them who will come up wich a repor t that will go viral on social m edia?
Are they wai ting co see i f Hug h Jackman will appear alongsid e the Indian PM again (and th is time correct him for a sci - fi g affe?) \'(fill there be shrieking schoolgirls? Or will they see him forw ba t he wants to be seen a s - someone who means business and someone who wan ts to steady India as it totters from i ts eco nomic and political pos ition on a global p latform ?
Of one thing we can be sure though : Madison Square may have started it, but Sydn ey's Allpho n es Arena will stamp Modi NRJ m ania as a trend to be followed.
15 Nov: Arrive i n Brisbane
15 - 16 Nov:G-20 summit
16 N ov Unveil Gandh i statue at Roma St, Parklands, Brisbane, foll owed by civic recepti on cu m high tea at Town Hall
17 Nov: Address Austra l i a's Indi an community at A llphones Arena, Sydney event at 5.00pm, and then depart for Canberra
18 Nov: Hold bilateral ta l ks with Ton y Abbott; address joint session of Parliament, and depart for Mel boume
18 Nov: Atten d state banquet with Tony Ab bott at MCG after tour of stadi um
19 Nov: Depart for Fiji
achin Tendulkar, t he god of cricket, revealed the utmost humility in being inducted as a Brndman Foundation Honouree ar rhe SCG in Sydney recen tly. It was an appropriate venue given the many runs made at the ground, that be described as hi s favourite, and the many fans be delighted i n doing so.
To celebrate tbe man who has scored more runs than any cricketer on the planet, most Test 100s, most One Day Imernational lO0s and having the l egenda ry Don Brad.man himself pay tribute to Ten dulkar as the cricketer who 'pl ays most like me' is fitting, but what he did o n a cricket pitch is just the starting point. Off the field he is as committed, precise, spectacular and dominant as he ever was o n it.
The Bradman Gala D inner, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, truly found an honouree that exudes the five key values of Sir Don - courage, honour, buniility, integrity and determination. Sharing the award with Australia's most successful captain, Steve Waugh, does not diminish the accolade, it simp ly magnifies it.
Together on stage the sing le minded determination of botl1 men was sprinkled with the clear joy tbey exper ienced in p laying the game they love. The belief that winning wasn't everything, i tis the only thing, was evident as bo th men d iscussed how they plotted and s cl1emed to beat each other and all cbe whil e maintaining absolute respect for tbe other's talents.
Tendulkar col d the story of nervous ly preparing to meet a 90-year-old Sir Donald at his home in 1998.
"We were driving co his p lace, I was with \X'arnie."
The 1000 mostl y men, all in black tie, filling the 1·00111 at rhe SCG broke into fits of laughter.
" I haven't cracked the joke yet."
More laughter as Sachin had the entire audience, not for tl1e first
tin1e in his life, eating out of the palm of his hand.
"I told \Varnie, Warnie you being an Australiao hero, you should start tl1e conversation , I don't know what to talk to Sir D o n. And what he said, you are a batsman, you would be able to understand him better "
'1 asked hin1 a question, 'what would yo u have ave.raged in c.ricke.t today?' He thought about it and said 'maybe 70'. The natural reaction was 'wby only 70 and not 99?' He said, 'C'mon , that's not bad for a 90-year-old man'."
"It was h eartening to know that he watched cricket so closel y and he was aware of everything
"To be descr ibed by Sir Donald as the man who p layed cricket most like him was probab ly the greatest compliment of my li fe."
Aud yec, if Sir Donald could speak now, the re would be no doubt that it's the transition TenduJkar has made to life after cricket that is wortl1y of the highest praise. Both he and Steve Waugh are known for the incredible work they do for a
number of charitable organisations, inc luding tl1ei r own , in alleviating pover ty, in providing medical treatment, in helping those who slip tluo ugh the cracks and would othecwise be forgotten. Sharing tbe stage with Tendulkar, Steve Waugh spoke of the 'overloading
of the senses' while visiting India many times as a cricketer, and man y ti.mes since One couldn't he lp make the comparison to the sensory overload any spectator experi enced in watcbfag these two men p l ay th e gamecraftsmen, exuding the uanosr finesse, mentall y g rasping each mo1nent and extracting the absolute most from ir
They are lessons from tbe field that can be applied to all facets of life. Sir D o n wou ld ind eed be pro u d. The y a re lessons these two now retired national captains
apply in making the world a better place.
So, humility aside Sachin, i t is we who must thank you.
It was a simple statement that says so much about the man
especially frienclships d1at; chang in hostile co ndi tions Howe ver, d1e film is not long enough to discuss th e situation in its en tlre ty. T o rlrnL extent it is oversimplified Th e p e r fo rmances are powe ~'fut a nd moving, bur o n e i s left wan tin fo r more, and somewhat unsatis fied
It was a b unch of interesting offerings, features as well as d ocu m entaries, at th is year's Parramasala Film Festival. Keeping safely away from your typical Bollywood fare, the carefully pic ked films looked at issues that touch us as I odians, as Indian Australians an d as Indians of d1e diaspora. A nd yet there's no denying that the themes engage us as humans in the m odem wo rld , as we cry to negotiate our daily li ves widuo the vast plorlines o f our own h istories and allegianc es.
The Indian film s stood out with d1eir stories as well as technic al expertise We had the end earing Ankhon Dekhi by Raj at Kapoor, arguab ly one o f the best Hindi films of 201 3 The protagonist here is an advoc ate of the concept of 'seeing is belie,1ing' to such a n extent that it b order s on in sanity San jay Mishra perform s me role to perfection. The film is beautifully abstract a nd has deep philosophical undertones, touching upon famil y ties and relationships.
l n s harp contrast, Ash ish
Avi kumhak 's m ystical Rafi
Chakmt>J111b, a critically acclaimed experimental film, is shot in one long single take. Characters sp eak about 111yrl10 logy, poli tics, riots, violen ce, sex, d esire, and the circle of life, in no particular o rder o r context. T he fil m literally has no con venti onal begi nning and end, with the discussion carried i n an unemotional, almost stoic fashio n Although there are several characters, perhaps they really represe n t the many voices of o ne individual, more like an internal dialogue widiin o ne's own head. The film manages co inc ite anger, sadness and even titilla tes.
It was inte resting to wa tch I am Meghri o n its own for the first time, as th e film originally is interwoven with th e other films in Onir Ban's I A m and1ology Based on d1e conflict and un rest in the '90s in Kasluuir,Juhi Chawla and Manisha Koirala are the promgooisrs The film touch es upon relationships,
And chis brings us to Hollywood
In Danci11g T o The Tunes ef Bo/Jyrvood, film -maker Vikrant Kishore looks at ilie etymology of d1e word Bollywood, and t he phenomenon of 'Bo llywood dancing' that many are su dde nly interested in leaniing an d p erforniing profess io nally Who coined the term ? What does it mean to people in ilie western world and the professionals in the Indian fil m industry? ln this well researched docrn11entary which includes interviews of many industry bigwigs, d1e evolution o f 'Boll ywood dancing' is e.xplo red. From the first musicals ro th e lates t tre n ds of ' item numbers' and 'item' gixl s, the out-of-context so ng an d dance sequences are see n through different perspectiv es.
In The Arhok R fD' Story, Oonagh Sherrard o ffers a fitting homage to a musician of great stan1re an d reper toire. The film captures the sarod artist Pt Ashok Roy's life a nd achieveme n ts in A ustralia, liis passion fo r m usic and musician s he has inspired. l t is a couching tribute to d1e legend , probab ly the last o ne in his league to have lived among us in Australia.
T he fean1re i\{J, Comersto11e by Stanley J oseph was a great oppo rnini ty for local actors of Indian o rigin ro come together and showca se d1eir talent. The film is a sincere attempt at exploring the dich otomy of imniigr aor Indian values Yet, t he ch aracters t ha t are relatable initially, turn into mere caricatures as th e film rn1furls.
T be senior sector of d1e Indian community in Australia is one that is crying o ut for attentio n. ln H er Inner So11g, lndu Balachan dran tells the story o f "grandma musi cians", a bunch o f seniors who speak of t heir lifelong passion for Carnatic music. lo i ts re trospection, me movie explores the nature of tbis ormodox industry, p erception of women in Ind ia since 1930, th eir survival through th ese times and their pme love for music
Strad dling our two world ~ of
Ashish Avikunthak's mystical Rati Chakravyuh. R: Sanjay Mishra as the protagonist in Ankhon Dekhi
India and Australia was Sydneybased film-m a ker Sudarshan Narayana, w h ose award -w inni ng Kannada fil m Thalla11a got yet another screening in Sydney Sudarshan uses me backdrop of me protagonist - a fea rless domestic maid who fights against all o dds to fu, d her niissing daughter - to make a comment on contemporary India. Th e hypocritical ed ucated class, corrnpt cops, th e spineless media , un scrupulous God men, the helpless wod.ing class, all p lay a n important part here. The characters are genuine, with n o exaggerated " filmi " manne risms, bringing in a rare realis m.
Films from the diaspora
And fro m d , e wo rld beyon d India and Australia, we had the shor t films th at made up Gary Paramanathana's Diaspom Sto1ies This o n e i s an absolu te delight to watch] In the age of Twitter, where a th ought n eeds to be expressed succinctly io 140 characters, they seem to fit righ t in. Bisanuii (f'A11toblls) from Mauriti us is set in a bu s ride. Doubles 1JJith Slight Pepper from T rinidad and Tobago exp lo r es the lifestyle of an Indianorigin family. Three Lions jm,taposes me plight of impove ri shed Bangladeshi labourers in Dubai.
Masala Ma111a set in Singapore is a wond erful film that'll have yo u in spli ts : definitely one that will go v iral on social m edia.
Films based o n relation sliips amidst war are many, h owever very few measure the lengrl, and d1e depm of how love stories e.xist an d evolve between a coup le who belong to d1e o pposing sides Marr yi11g the enemy can b e cad1artic but extremely di fficult especiall y if the worn1ds of the past are afresh in me niinds. This happens to me protagonists in Prassana V itban age's film I/Pith
½111, Witho11t Yo11 The b reatl1-taking film, the story o f a Sinhalese man and T amil wo m an; is in spired by
F'yodor D ostoyevsky's shore story
The Nleek One. Th is c ontroversial film was banned in India; o n e must be l ucky to be able to see such a masterpiece h ere in Australia.
s ports commentator Ajay J adeja and his son on their recent vis it to the State. It features key attractions including the Barossa Valley, Kangaroo Is land and the Adelaide Hills
In a major effort co encourage visitors to Adelaide, South Australia during the Cricket World Cup, tbe South Australian Tourism Commission recently premiered a film in India's capital ew Delhi, the first of the three new films by tbe Tourism Commission.
The films are desig ned to encourage Indians to visit Soutb Australia next year when the Adelaide O val will host the opening game of the IC C Cricket World Cup - a b lockbuster, limited overs cricket match between arch - rivals India and Pakistan on February 15
The film s hows South Australia through the eyes of former Indian cricketer turned telev ision
Ajay Jadeja first visited Ade la ide and South Australia in l 992 when he toured d1e countr y with the then Ind ian World Cup ream under captain Kapil Dev.
" He is one of the players we all aspire to be and it was like a dream come true wben I wa lked our w i th him at tl1e World Cup," Jadeja said.
Sha ring his experience working on the film, Jadeja said the shoot was a walk down memory lane
"This week-long trip bas shown me tbe ocher side of d1e city," Jadeja explained, saying he had s hared some great moments with his 1 2 -year-old son Aipen.
"The .Adelaide Oval might have changed , but tbey have still retained the old score board and tbe Sir Donald Brndman stand, yo u still see d1 e Cathedral at the back, and people who come co
John Rau on hi s r ecent visit to India for a trade missio n.
"The India versus Pakistan game is a real draw card for Adelaide and will reach an anticipated g lobal television audience of over one b illion people," Rau said.
and produced b y Daydreamer Pictmes.
Accompanied by a soulful , earthy track composed by renowned Boll ywood musicians Siddhartb and Sangeec Haldipttr, the film aims to show content Indian visitors can identify with.
watc h a match bere will rnorough ly enjoy it - the se r v ice provided i s the best in che world "
For tbe bus y star, being in the picniresque wine capital of Australia was relaxing and fun. He could spend time w ith bis son, away from d1e chaos
of big cities. "The uniqueness is t he pace at which everything in A delaide moves," Jadeja said. On d1e best p lace in South A ustralia Jadeja said, " lt's a tough one, it's like asking Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar or Garry Sobers? Every place that I went was fabul ous, but i f I had to p ick, I l oved sandboardi ng the massive dunes of 'Little Sahara' with Aipen at Kangaroo Island."
The film was launc hed b y South Australian Deputy Premier
"The Cricket \i1ocld Cup provides a great touri sm opportunity in the key market of India and the subcontinent. The film aims to uncover me real South Australia. We wanted to caprnre the experiences of real people in a creative way."
Conceptualised and commiss ioned by the South Australian Tourism Commission as pare of its India Strategy 2020, the trilogy is directed by Indian film mal<er, Deepti Chawla
"There is huge p otential to showcase ou r state through d1e o n line medium and d1ese films are designed to tap into that potential," Rau sai d.
The fi l ms wil l also be supported by a domestic media and communications strategy aimed at the VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) segment and Indians in other A u stralian stares as well as the Middle East, Singapore, Malays ia, New Zealand and the US.
/IT alumni help forge links between their alma mater and universities here
''"The education initiative is our first large-scale endeavour and we hope to continue with it in the next few years. We also have plans for an industry- related conference in the near future"
Samit Chandra Vice President, 1/TAA
IIT H yderabad) and four d eans (Prof. Amar Samanta of llT Kharagpu1 , Prof. Sandeep Singh of IIT Roorkee, Prof. Dhe eraj Sanghi of IIT Kanpur and Prof.
I::,NI ANAND •4, LUTHRA
Did you know that 24 per cent of the scientists at NASA regard the Indian I.nstimtes of Technology (IITs) as their alma mater?
Th.is Statistic was mentioned by the Consul General of India (Sydney) Sunjay Sudbir, a former IITian himself, at a recent conference organised b y the ITT Alumni Asso ciati on of Australia (IITAA).
The conference, held in association with the education chapter of the Australia India Business Cou ncil, was aimed at forging pathways for IITs to connect with universities here. Ir saw a number of visiting UT top brass interact with their counterparts at Australian universities in a bid to exp lore increased research partnerships.
The IIT visirors included one di recto r (Prof. U.B Desai of
J\loke Ghosal o f IIT G uwah ati)
Over the course of the conference at the MLC Centre, they made presentations about their own instimtes, t heir particular research strengths and their visions for the future.
They also heard from representatives of Australian universities such as Ptof. Judy Raper (Deputy Vice CbanceUor of the U niversity of Wollongong),
Prof. Barne y Glover (Vice Chancellor of UWS), Prof. Jim Lee (Deputy Vice Chancellor of Macquarie U nive rsity) , Prof. Veena Sebjawala (Scientia professor a t UNSW and an IITian herself),
Prof. Joseph Davis (from the University of Sydney 's School of Information Technologies), James Keenan (Head of Partnerships at Macqua rie U nivers ity) and Prof. Mar y O'Kane (Chief Scientist of l SW)
Two panel discussions held ar rhe event also threshed out the role of IITs in cutting edge research and bow Australian universities could harness them in partnership; Australian case studies and best
practices on r esearch partners hips, and d1e possibili ty o f exchange of faculty and smclems b etween IITs and universities here. The discussions were organised by Muralidharao, chairman of AIBC education chapter.
Over rhe next three days, the visitors from India traveUed [0 universities here in SW as weU as in V ictoria and in Canberra.
The research relationship between India and Australia bas grown b y leaps and bounds in recen t years Prime 1\1.inister Tony Abbot[ p ledged on bis recent trip to India, $20 million fo r th e Australia lndia Stra[egic Research Fund. In October, the Australia Lidia Cou n cil announced funding for 13 specific collaborative research projects d1at: will mutuall y benefit the two countries
Indian Prime 1\1.in.i ster arendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign will have potential as well to see this relationship develop fnrd1er.
Prof. U.B Desai, Direcror o f IIT Hyderabad was pleased with the o utcomes of the visit He sai d , "We exchanged ke y opportunities (with our Australian counterparts) a nd had one on o n e meetings to pursue sp ecific action item s."
Prof. Mark Hoffman, Pro Vice Chancellor of UNSW said, "The
initiative helped to make UNSW more familiar with a number of t h e IITs and hopefully will lead ro more reciprocal and collaborative agreements."
A lumni can pl ay a sign.incant role i n creating such links, says Samit C han dra, the Vice President of the IITAA " Creating such opportunities is particularly satisfying for us," he told Indian Link "\Ve are indebted both co our alma ma[er and co our new home here, and our efforts can bru1g ab o ut fruitfu l outcomes for both."
" The education initiative is o ur first large -scale endeavour and we hope to continue with it in die next few years," Chand ra , an IIT Roorkee alumnus, revealed. "'il/e also have plans for an i ndustryrelated conference in die near fumre."
As well, there are p l ans afoot for programs with PAN - IIT U SA, a more global alumni organisation. The IITAA was founded in 2003, but only became activem a professional sense five years ago, Ch andra re vealed , with momentum pi cki ng up two years ago as d1e numbers increased in Australia. The organisation recently pare sponsored an UT Roorkee race car project, in which
''a smdent team not only designed and fabricated a race car bur also competed in an in ternatio n al competitio n , the FSJ\E Australasia held in Melbourne. The Indian team was ad judged the best in the fuel efficiency category.
The IITs are India's most prestigious science .institutions "It may be d1e most important universi ty you have never heard of," a recent 60 1\!Ii1111/es segment on India's premier techno logical university began famousl y
It was in 1946 tl1at the id ea of tl1e IITs fust came up, as p lans began to be drawn for the governance o f a soon- to -be independent India. The fo unding fathers of die nation , realising the imponance of tertiary technic al institutions in the job of nation -building, s uggested tl1e setting up of th e instimres across the cotmtr y The first IIT was established in Kharagpur in 1950. Wi thin the next decade, the .institutes at Delhi , Bombay, Madras and Kanpur came into being, and became highly regarded as educational .instimtions that trained you ng India's scientists
Today there are 16 IJTs in India, and man y mor e institutes are awaiting recognition to become fuU- lledged IITs.
Senator Concetta F ierravan ti-Wells (Parliarnen tary Secretary to tbe Minister for Social Services) and Senator Zed Seselja .recently helped usher i n tbe Hindn New Year by co- hosting Diwali festivities at Parliament House
The occasio n saw leader s from across all political parties come togetl1er at a special gathering of prominent Indian A u stralians, at the event co- hosi:ed by the Hindu Council of A Ltsttalia.
Senaror Fierrannri-W1ells, who has spec ial responsibility for M ulticul rural Affairs and Settlement Services, said Hindu and other communities had contributed to the richness and vitality of Au stralia.
" W/e welcome and celebrate the valu able contrib u tio n our many communities have m ade to Australia's social cohesion," said Senator F ierravanti- Wells.
"I congratulate the Hindu Counc il of Australia for its contribution over tbe past 16 years to supporting and fostering
growth and in tegration and the work of its participating organ isations. The Cou n cil should also be commended for its active work in imerfaim meetings and nmlticultucal activi ties in Australia."
In a historic move s ure to strengthen bonds between India and New South \'.::1ales, the sails of the Sydney Opera House were il luminated recently to celebrate the Hindu festival of light, Deepavali.
From 8pm until midnight o n Tuesday 2 1 October, tl1e Australian icon was awash in colour, featuring a ser ies of images and projections related to the popular Hindi festival.
In spite of the rains, some 300 people gathered to see ilie historic even t, and man y found vantage points along the harbour to get the best p hotographs.
A n image snapped b y Indian Llnk's Sachin Wakhar e even made the front page of one of India's leading E n glis h language dailies, Hi11dmta11 Times alongside com m en ts from Tndiat1 Link CEO Pawan L u tbra.
NSW Premier Mike Baird and i'vlinister for C itizenship and Communiti es V ic tor Dominello hosted ilie event alongside M uJ ticulmral NSW Chair and
prominent member of the Indian community, Dr Hari Harinatl1. The trio lit a d!Ja, a ceremonial lamp io Hindu culture that signi fies d1e lifting of spiritual darkness and the renewal of life
The NSW Parliament House in Sydney also lit up simultaneously and will remain lit each night umil
\1(7ednesday 5 November in support of ilie Deepavali festival, io a tradition mat began ten years ago
Currenr and former athletes have criticised the timing of the 54tl1 National Open Atl1letics Championships that were beld from 2-5 ovem b er in New Delhi, saying chat holding such a meet at the very end of the season serves little purpose and could in face be detrimemal co the p layers' interests, defeating the very reason behind the championships Tbe event was at the end of a gruelling seaso n. India's top crack and field athletes participa ted in two major evems - the Commonwealt h Ga mes and Asian Games. The Championships saw a dep leted scare as several top athletes withdrew due to injuries and fatigue.
Asian Games silver medallist Manju Bala Singh opted o u t of the women's bammer throw event. National record holder race walker KT. Irfan also pulled out ci ting a swolle n ankle.
But tl1e most shocking was Asian Games silver medallist, Khusbbir Kaur who quit during the 20km race walk. Khusbbir had completed nearly half the race when her coach Alexander Artsybas hev forced her ro stop, concerned that she may gee in jured. Most top atllletes, working with public sector companies, made themselves available o nly for the salte o f their employers. Several performed considetably below their best and admitted tl1at they were not much concerned about their performance as it "meant little" in meir scheme of dungs.
"After the As ian Games I did not gee much time to train. The schedule was really pnnishing. I trained for only two -three days for this competicion. But I was confident of winning despite the lack of training," said M. Poovamma, who won the Women's 400m Gold.
The Asian bronze medallist said chat it is difficult to find motivation after two back- toback mega events and revealed mac she did not give it her best to prevent picking up an injury.
" Taking risk isn't wise in tl1ese circumstances. Compared co other tracks, tl1is tra ck is not well maintained. And I am also not happy wi t h the facilicies pro vided," added Poovamma.
"I turned up for my emplo yers ONGC. Running ell.i s event doesn't matter to me. I am no t concerned with whatever tin1e I register here. This was the last meet of a long seaso n and 1 am glad that it's over."
Her 4x400m relay team mates J\fandeep Kaur and Priya.nka Panwar, who claimed the Asiad gold, also skipped tbe event
Legendary athlete, PT. Usha also echoed Poovamma's sentiments. "This event should have been held before tl1e two mega events. Ir would have proved co b e a grea t warmup evem and given the amleces a lor of confidence. But hoscing it now serves no purpose."
"Athletes are rnnuing chis eve nt for the sake of their employers. W ha t is the point o f running well in tbese championships, after di e season has ended? If yo ur mind is willing to run and perform, tl1en only you nm fast and win," added me P'!ffoli Express, a lso infuriated by the poor infrastructure for the event
"After hitting peak form, a certain amount of laxity d oes arise in the atliletes. Then it
becomes difficult for mem co perform at their op cimum. Usually an exrended gap helps the athletes to recover from big events. But this year chat hasn't been the case," said ilie cwo- cime Asian Games sil ver medalli st, Soma Biswas.
After Kerala, West Bengal will now hose Kiss of Love, when youngsters in me state capital Kolkata will indulge in public displays of affeccion as a mack of protest against moral policing.
In solidarity wim tl1ose who courted police accion during tl1e Kiss of Love in Kocbi earlier, srudents of India's prestigious Jadavpur U1i.iversicy are o rganis ing a similar event in South Kolkata.
"\V/e are procescing against the organised instances of moral policing lnterested cicizens are welcom e to join us," said university student Nabotcama Pal.
"From Kochi to Kolkata, instances of moral policing are not rare. A saffron wm7 e is slowly but surely engulfing the country - be it tl1rough accusations of conduccing Love Jihad for lovin g a person from a different religion or attack on young people displaying affeccion."
Students will form a human chain and walk from tlle university premises to finall y engaging in kissing, hugging, showering affeccion to each othe r through wh ichever way they feel comfortable, wi tb mucual consent, in the Jadavpur police stacion area They will also move o n to the SB bus stand opposite the rni.iversicy campus to publicly discuss tl1eir stand against moral policing and why they mink it is wrong. A similar event will be followed by Presidency U niversity students as well.
"We will also raise our vo.ice against cl1e recent incident where me autl1oricies of a cinema hall allegedly harassed a girl on the grounds that she was wearing a kneelengtl1 skirt, which according co them was indecent," quipped Nabottama.
Kiss of Love is a protest against me recent attack on a cafe in Kozhikode afte r a TV
channel showed yorn1g men and women hug and kis s during tlieir visits to the ou tlet for snac ks
i\ record 30 Ind ian-A mericans are contesting the US elections mat will determine the course of power politics in die last two years of President Barack Obama's term in office.
Nearly three million people of Indian descent, with an ever growing number of offici als in high places, are better educated, earn more tl1an ocher A mericans, bur haven't had much of an impact on national policies though mey have two state governors and a lawmaker in the House.
No Indian -American is running for any of the 36 seats, including three special eleccions, up for ballot in t he 100 m ember Senate where Oba.ma's Democracic Parry is facing the prospect of losi ng its 53-45 majority with two Independents in me mix. But four of tliem are vying for a two-year term in me House where all 435 seats are up for eleccion.
In a divided US Congress, Opposition Republicans currently control the House with a 233 - 199 lead. Poll pw1dits expect the Republicans co keep their lead i f not increase it.
Prominent among desi contestants to the House are D emocrat Amerisb '.Ami' Bera, who cwo years ago became only the third Indian- American lawmaker in U S histor y, after Dalip Singh Saund and Bobby Jindal , and a former Obama adni.inistracion official Rohit 'Ro' Khanna.
Bera, whose parents emigrated from Rajkot, Gujarat, received a big bo os t in his tight re-eleccion race against Republican businessman Doug Ose in Califotnia's 7th district wich former Pres ident Bill Clinton corning to stumps for him recentl y
In t he battle for Silicon Valley, Khanna, former depmy assistant secretary in Commerce department, is giving a run for h is mone y to ve teran fellow Democrat Mike Honda, who has h eld the seat fo r the past 14 years.
Khanna, who ha s won the backi ng of Yahoo's M arissa Mayer and Fa cebo ok's Shery l Sandberg in tbis home of tech cicans, called it "the best pick up oppornmity for an lndian Ame ri can in the country"
In Pennsylvania, Democrat Iraq war veteran physician Manan Trivedi is making his third cry to e n ter me House, w li.ile. Arvin Vobra of the Libertarian Party is running from Mar ylan d
In the Stares, R ep ublican r ikki Haley, seeking a second four-year tetm as South Carolina Governor, was considered a virtual shoo in even before her Democratic opponent Vincent Sheheen called ber a " whore" at a campaign rally and became "a headache" for his par ty. inirata Nikki Randhawa, tbe daughter of Sikh immigrant parents, has also received me backing of Louisiana governo r, Piyush 'Bobby' Jindal, who llimself is considering a presidencial mo in 2016.
But in California governor's race, fel.low Republican i eel Kashkari, also known as me '700 billion dollar man' for running me bailout program after th e 2007 -2008 financial crisis, faces an uphill task against Democratic Governor, Jerry Brown
If he w in s again as expected, Brown, 76, w ill become me only California governor elected to four terms.
In the race for California's top law officer, Kamala Harris, me s tate's first female Indian -American and AfricanAmerican Attorney General , is sitting pretty against Republican Ronald Gold
The daughter of an Indian motlier from Cben nai and a Jamaican father, whom Obama last year called "by far tl1e bestlooking Attorney General", which caused a b it of a stir, is also said co be on me President's short li st to succeed Attorney General Eric Holder.
A score of oilier Indian -American snine Republicans, 10 Dem ocrats and one Independent, are eyeing legislative seats in 15 states in a h id w win a rightful place in me policical arena fo r tbe community.
It is the fabled Indian 'city of palaces; but tourists love it also for its temples, wildlife and much more
he young man dispensed a fragrant dollop o n to my wrist from the perfume bo ttl e he was holding: "I r's the same as Cah7 in Klein's Eternity," he said. I was in Devaraja Market, M ysore, a city famed for jcs silk, sandalwood , incense and perfume.
The scenic journey co M ysore from Bengaluru travels pa-st sil kworm farms and green countryside of wheat and sugarcane fields, lakes, irrigation canals and rivers. Sheep and goats graze amid e u calyptus trees inttoduced from Australia, and jutting from the land are gigantic rock formations.
Mysore gets its name from the demon Icing of Hindu mythology and was tuled successive ly by the Ganga, Chola, Hoysala ru1d Vijayanagara kjngs until 1399 when the \Xi'odeyars ruled almost continuously for six centuries, interrupted only during a bcief period when Hyder Ali ru1d his son Tipu Sultan rul ed in the mid 18'" century,
Redolent of royal excess, Mysore is a city of palaces, the most sumptuous being the scmmingly beautiful Mysore Pa lace, completed in 1912 just as the suo was setting on the extravagant way of life it enshrined. It was here that the Maharajah rode in his Rolls -Royce and enjoyed e lephant parades.
The architectural style o f the palace is known as Indo-Saracenk, blending Hindu, Muslim and Gothic styles of architecture bui lt of grey grruute and deep pink marble, with interiors t hat are a monumental kaleidoscope of brightly coloured srained glass, g il t mirrors, iron filigree and ornate jvory inlaid dooxs. 111e Marriage
Pavilion soars upwards to an octagonal painted glass ceiling featuring peacock motifs and a bronze chandelier supported by co lonnaded turquo ise pillars. The vast public Durbar Hall, or ce remoLual hall of the royal court, contains a priceless collection of pain tings and opens onto an expansive balcony supported b y massive pillars. The private Durbar Hall is exqwsite; richl y decorated with stained g la ss ceilings and chandeliers. And while I marvelled at the palace's interiors, I returned
that Sunday evetung when the pa lace was illuminated as thousands of people converged togethe r and a brass band played with considerable gusto.
Opposite the Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery in Jaganmohan Palace treasures are disp layed in glass cabinets in a somewhat haphazard fasruon, while the climb up a steep flight of stairs was rewarded b y a richly decorated timber colonnaded hall.
Mysore is a friendly, easygoing city of low shuttered bungalows shaded by firecracker red Poinciana, the streets lined with shady ttees, tares as lndia's second cleanest city and is compact enough for exploring on foot. The main s hopping street is Sayaji Rao Road where you'll find bookstores, restaurants and the colourful Devaraja Market that stretches for several b locks. Cauvery Arts an d Crafts Emporium is where you 'll find gifts and there are many impressive churches including St Philomena Cathedral, one of the largest churches in Inrua.
Mysore also makes an ideal base for viewing the many temp les, palaces and forests chat are located
nearby. Just o utsid e the city are palaces built by the maharajahs to accommodate foreign guests, including the huge Lalitha 1\.fahal Palace and the Royal Orchid Brindavru1 Garden with expansive views of the Krishnarajasagar Dam, one of India's largest. Brindavan Gardens is busrung witl1 picnickers enjoying the cascading waterfalls, founr,1-ins, lawns and flowering plants.
For those who enjoy hilcing, the dinib up to ChamuncLi Hill is rewarded by a giant Nandi carved out of solid rock that dates back to 1659 and at five metres high is one of the largest in India. At the summit, the sev en story Sri Chamundeswari Temple is a huge structure with a large gopuram 40 metres high.
You can also visi t the extensive ruins of the former capital, the fortress city of Srirangapatna bw.lc by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sul tan on an island and the beautiful templ e of Somnathpur.
As the sandalwood and incense capital of India, you can see aod smell the process of making incense sticks, not only from sandalwo od, but from jasmine,
rose and musk. You can also visit tl1e Government Sandalwood Oil Factory where sandalwood oil is distilled.
agarho le and Banrupur are major wil dlife sanctuaries known for bison, deer, tigers, leopards and elephants and wblle I only drove through Bru1dipur, I spotted deer and wild boar.
Back in May 1 991 I was bound for Chem1ai to begin a journey t hat would take me to My so re. It was n ot co be. The assassination of Rajiv Gandru and tl1e civil tLlll'.esc that followed cut short my trip if not my resolve to go there.
After all these years, l still have the letter ro confirm m y reserv ation from the Hotel Metropole o riginally built co serve as tl1e residence of the Maharaja's guests. The charming hotel remain s nmch as I would have fotmd it then, ,vith a lawn, shutters, historic portraits and antiques. With the fragrance of several sticks of sru1dalwood in cense l'd bought w afting in m y swte, I retrieved t he l etter from my sw tease, and watched the sunset from the wide open verandah, glad that I had come this far.
be it plastics or cars, satellites or agricultural produces" with "zero defect and ze ro effect (on the environmen t)".
0ne of the potentially most significant developments in lndia in recent rimes bas been the election of arencL:a 11focli's government with
the ambitious target of skilling/ ups killing 500 million people in India b y 2022.
Modi has already attracted several billions of dollars in promised invesunenr fr om countries suc h as Japan, Ch in a and the USA , as well as busin esses such as Boeing, IBM, General Electric, Pepsico, Amazon and Facebook. The creation of a new fed eral ministry fo r entrepreneurship and skill development augurs well to fol@ a thumping majority, clearing the way from the crippling Limi cations of coalition poli tics that had plagued the Indian government in recent times. Mocli comes to power w ith arguably wellestablished credentials, o n the back of his success as the premier of the state of Gujarat.
With his election, the political discourse in India has shifted from routine blame-games betwee n parties to focus on the 'development agenda'. There is now a renewed emphasis on
''Modi has launched a campaign of 'Make in India' with the aim to make India the manufacturing hub of the world
Modi also surprised ev erybody b y inviting tbe political heads of India's n eig hbouring countries to his inauguration He followed this by visiting Bhutan an d Nepal in the fi rst few months of assuming power, cl early underscoring the im portance h is goveramenr has p laced on developin g relations in the region. He also ann ounced a slew of ec onomic assistance packages co these countries governance standard s, in cluding qualicy and speed of decision making enabled b y
in an apparent effort to dispel concerns regarding India's h egemon ic tendencies in irs ne ighbo urh ood, and also as a e -gover nm ent ini riatives.
His mantra of ' m aximum governa nce and minimum governm ent' has already attracted attentio n in global business and political circles.
In bis meetings with business l eade rs during his recent visit co the U ni ted Scares, PM Modi highlighted how 65 per cem of the Indian population is below the age of 35 (with 50 per c ent below the age of 25), yielding rich 'demograp hic divide n ds' a nd "vith the potential to become the world's leading supplier of ma npower With declining and ageing populatio ns and growing skill gaps in Sc ience, Engin eering and T ech n ology (SET) se cmrs in western c ountries, this may i ndeed become a reality.
The vision and visibility of the Prime Minister of a country is key to how the world perceives that country.
''counter-weight t o China's increasi n g involvement in South Asia
''With the successful a ccompli s hm en t of India's Mars O rb ite r Missio n (]\if OM), Modi urged the India n Space Resea rc h O r ganisation (IS R O) to d evelop a SAARC satellite as a gift to rhe ne ig h bours. He alms ro en large India's satellite-based navigation system footpri n t ro cover all of South Asia, and m share t he fr uits of its technol ogical advancements wi th the developing and th e n eighbouri n g nations which don't en joy the same.
It goes without saying th a t th.is divide nd can quickly turn into a huge liability if enough job oppor tuni ties are nor created Thar is w h y Modi has launched a cam p aign
In that respect, there is no doubt that Modi has the charisma and transformational leadership capabilities, backed by the overwhelming public mandate in the recent parliamentary and state elections
The visio n and visibility of th e Prime Nlinister of a country is key to how the world perceives that country ln that respect, there is no doubt that Modi has the charisma and transformational l eadership capabilities, backed by the over w h elming public mandate in rhe recent parliamentar y and of ']'.fake in India ' with the aim to make India the m anufac turing hub of the world. stat e electio n s
In his Independence Day spee cl1, he invited the world to "come m ake in India,
''While it is still ve ry early to judge the succ ess or otherw ise of PM Modi and h i s gover nment, the signs ar e encouraging.
riday 17 October saw the start of the Australian 2014 Sri Chi.nrnoy OnenessHome Peace Run.
The tun began from U luru , the emblem atic heart of Australia, and then progressed south before reaching the Flinders Ranges, moving through to Adelaide, then following the length of the mighty Mu rray River from its mouth ro its source before it will conclude in Canberra on 24 November
Pounded by Sri Chinrnoy in 1987, the Peace Run has traversed over I00 nations and touched the lives of millions of people. The Peace Runners carry a flaming torch, symbolic of bmnanity's aspiration for peace. Sri Chi nm oy said , ''Peace does not mean the absence of war Peace means a Rood of love in the world family."
The run does not seek to raise money or highlight any political cause, but s imply strives ro create goodwill among people of all nations with the ideal that we can
all contribute to a more peaceful world.
Perth runner Prabuddha
Nico l who bas participated in Peace Runs in America, Malaysia and China is currentl y the team leader which consists of runners from Ukraine, :Mongolia, Canada , New Zealand, lceland and Great Britain.
"I am doing the section fro m Uluru to Adelaide," ico l said ' ' We meet so many people al ong the way. early everyone wants world peace and the Peace Run allows people to express tl1at yearning."
The torch has been held b y many dignitaries and h umanitarians including Nelson :tvfandela, Mo hammed Ali and Morber Teresa but it reall y aims to touch the lives of everyday people who hope for a more peaceful world, by passing the torch from one person to the next, from hand to hand, heart to heart. It offers people from differem
backgrounds, faiths and communities rhe opportunity to express their hope5 and dreams for a better, brighter future; it unites them together in a common aspiration ro offer something positive ro the world.
The Sri Chinm oy OnenessHome Peace Run is organised by an .imeroational n etwork of volunteers. Co -ordinators in each country partner locall y with
schools, community groups, sporting organisations, city and state government departments to bring the run to the community encouraging international
friendship and unders tanding. Numerous people are participating in the Peace Run in their city to hold the to.rch and show support for peace.
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According to the dai lymail co.u k, the drop dead gorgeous actress Jvfegan Fox cleanses and d etoxes her system with a combination o f Apple Cid er Vinegar and water. J'vlost of u s ha ve used
Ap p le Cider Vin egar as a s alad dressing, b ut reading a li ttle more about it showed up a who le list of so lutions to everyday skin a n d hair prob lems.
R ecently, I changed the brand o f h a ir colour I u se and cl u m ps o f hai.r started to fall our! I didn 't know what to attribute it to - the l ncLia.n m o nso o ns, the hard water, just d i e hair co lour, or a side effect to m y recent viral infec ti on.
Stresse d about m y tresses, I th o u g ht of crying A.CV (Ap p le Cid er Vinega r) While there has been only a sligh t reduc tion in hair loss in the past two weeks tl1at l have used it, l muse say, the last rinse with ACV mixed w ith water left m y hair softer a n d way more manageab le.
Ideall y, t h e raw and organic
ACV wo uld be you r best bet, bu t i f you can't get chat, you can p ick up one which preferab ly bas n o additives o r preservatives
ACV has high levels o f potassium, and the acetic acid, the main ingredient of v inegar, stri ps hair of any product buildup, leaving the hair soft and shiny. This ingredient ba s man y benefits to offe r.
To treat dandruff, dry scalp or hair loss, mix ¼ cup of ACV wi th 'I• cup of water an d apply to your scalp Leave for 20 minutes dien wash off This w ill cake c are o f dandruff aud al~o give you soft and shiny hair. ACV ha s anti- fungal and anti-bacterial qualities that fight infection You cau also use the same solution as die lase rinse after you have washed off die conditioner. This works for coloured hair as well.
5km
ACV also helps with skin related issues. It can be used co treat age spot\ sunburns, fee t / toe fungal or skin in fections, wares and acne as well. Appl y it co warts and leave it o n overnight. Over a few weeks, t he war ts \.Vill come off.
If you have oily skin, appl y a mix of one tablesp oon ACV wi tb two tabl espoons of wacer on your face. ACV is an e ffecti ve toner and balances die pH levels of your skin. Mi." equal amounts o f ACV wim Fullers Earth an d one t.ablespoon of honey, it m akes an effective. face mask to d eep cleanse and decox the skin o n your face and n eck. Leave it on till it dries aud rinse off.
Health
Gargle a dil uted solution of ACV in the moming to ge t rid of bad breath, to gee whi ter teeth, an d it can even unblock yo ur sinuses if you have a cold
Pour a cup of ACV into your bathrub as it fills u p and c.'lke a long soak. Th e ACV will act as a detoxifying agent and help yo u relax after a h ard day's work
So quit the expensive salon treatments d1at unleash a slew of chemicals on your skin and hair, and cry chis great, all narural ingredient
~·,1BY 'l DEEPA GOPINATH
As a child, Sneh Roy was a self-confessed ' nosy parker' in [he kitchen.
"1 was always in mnm's way asking a gazillion questions and basically doing ever ything I was not asked to do," says Roy of her childhood kitchen advenmres. ''My earliest memories of kneading a very squishy wate r y dough go back to when I "vas six. I learned m cook by trial a.nd error, and ha\Ting an often foolhardy sense of advenmre whete cooking was concerned!"
The curiosity has paid off fo r Mumbai-born Roy, who earlier this year released her first cookbook Tasty Express The book is described as a collection of "super quick, super easy a.nd s uper tasty recipes for a healthier lifestyle" that was eagerly anticipated by the massi\Te fan base of Roy's h igh ly successful b log, Cook Repub lic
Based in Sydney since 2005, Soeh Roy's journey into the world o f culinary publishing began with the birth of Cook Republic the following year. The past year or so has seen Cook Republic receive significant accolades includ ing winner of the Best Australian B log 2013 in a competition run b y The Australian \'v'riters' Centre, as well as being chosen i.n the Top F ive Voices of Australia in the Food a.nd \Xlellbeing category The b log is a feast of sorrs, as Roy combines her talent for creating s imp le, delicious recipes with her skills as a writer, photographer a.nd designer. It is indeed ''visual stor ytelling of a nourishing life".
Memories and personal smries fo rm one of the foundation stones of both Cook Republic and Tas!y Express
"1 would like to think that Cook Republic i s an honest reco m1t of my daily life and everything that affects me," Roy says. " Tbe phi losophy behind the blog is to share real food and real life, to pro\Tide inspiration so people can see the joy in little tilings a.nd reconnect with rituals and traditions that we seem to be losing everyday because of the pace of life and techno logy."
Roy is inspired by the CL1isine of many different cultures, and as a working mother of two yo ung children, she aims to create nutritious, uncomplicated recipes
tliat anyone can replicate at home.
"1 \Vanted to s implify cooking delicious yet wholesome recipes not o nly for me bm for othe r s who read m y blog," she says.
"In Tasry Express, I explo re nutritionally rich, honest and adventurous recipes that can go from breakfast to lunchbox to dinner in minutes. Fresh, real food yo u could take to work, school, college or share witl1 fani.ily and frie nd s over the weekend. Food as we eat now is a m elting pot of flavours from all cultures," Roy says of her cooking style.
The new book i s a collection of 110 recipes, of ,vhich the majority a.re vegetarian and a good number
gluren -free. There is a strong Indian Aavour to the book and the b log alike, both in term s of recipes and the srories that are sha red They say we eat with our eyes, and it is Roy's evocative food photography that first draws the reader to Cook Republic, urging them to click on link after link of smnoing, creati vely- styled images of the food she makes for her
family. Her talent .in t h is Field is something to be shared, especially given the current eiiplosion i.n numbers of food p hotography hobbyists.
If the blog, cookbook , a brief stint as a columnist in E lle magazine, and a recently completed course in graphic design weren't enough to keep this computer engin eer busy, Sneb Roy has another pro ject in the works The new ven mre is a food styling and phomgraphy workshop that is in its developmental stage..'>, something which will undoubtecliy be well received b y those who a.re followe rs of Roy's work and b udding food photographers themselves.
Taking Tasty Express from concept ro publication was 110 simple feat. ''1 had 40 days ro test all 1 10 recipes - several tin1es, write the book, cook the dishes, style and photograph chem and art direct tbe design," Roy reveals. " I found it extremely challenging to go from cook to photographer to designer a.nd back to recipetester all in the space of a few hours. As v.ritl1 everydi.ing else I do, l overcame th.is by obsessing con scantly and sleeping very little!"
Tasa• E:,pm.r holds all of the warmth that is found on Cook Republic, which Roy refers to as her tl1ird cli.ild. A browse through the website can very easily become hours spe11t reading through persona.I anecdotes of Roy's famil y life a.nd her child hood. In o ne post, the r eader gets an i11sighc into sweet memories of the earl y days of Roy's romance with her husband, a.nd she then unveils a recipe for the sin1ple pl easure that is a Bombay sandwich. In another post from last year, a. recipe for Malai Peda is preceded by a taste of the joys of celebrating Diwali in Inclia "Today i s Diwali ," s he writes, "The Indian Festi val of Lights. There are no firecrackers or lanterns, but caste is a very powe rful sense. One nibble and l ca11 smell the smoky air, feel the heat of a sparkler on m y arm a11d hear t he gentle hum of a h ym11 being sung as peop le offer their prayers amidst the ding ding ding of temple beUs". It is imagery that you can't help but be drawn to. Suddenl)' tl1ere is the faint smell of incense, the recollection of your ow11 childhood Diwali joys and an inexplicable cravi ng for Malai PedrJ.
Ta.sty Expr ess is published by Random House Australia and is availab/.e in bookstores and online
mong historical events that have left an enduring influence, the Second World Wat is certainly one d1a c lives up to its n am e Its European, African and A m erican components are adequately dep icted, buc die Asian e.-xpetience, while not entirely absen t, is quite under-represented.
A nd this is despite t he early 20d1 ce ntury bei n g a tumulnious era for d1e region - older con fliers (the China-Japan War) segueing into d1e World \Xi'ar, which in its wa ke, sparked a spate of decolonisation and freedom struggles, some of them violent
But diere are promising voices appearing, such as Malaysian lawyer - turned -author T an Twan Eng widi his first two intricacelycraftecl, evocative novels of the war and its effects in his ethnically- diverse homeland.
The war is the main component, but Tan's canvas stretches much wider in bod1 his debut Tbc Gift qf Rain (2007) and follow up The Garden of Evening l\!1i.sts, co enco mpass the d1emes o f loyalty and betrayal, sacrific e, survival and guilt, d1e persistenc e of memory, conilicting demands of collaboration an d resistance, complications of a mixed- race heritage, and varied paths to r edemption All these are overlaid b y a refined Eastern sensibility, a credible supernacu.rnJ motif and the aesthetics and l ay out of a Japanese ga rd en.
Set in the north-western coastal state of P enang in peninsular Malaysia before, during and after the wa r, Tbe Gift of Rdi11 is narrated in flashback by AngloChinese business magnate, Philip Hutton, who i s the sole survivor of a prominent E nglish family running a trading firm in colonial era Malaysia. His memories are triggered w h en he has an unexpected visitor, connected to som eone from his past.
Before the war, Hutton, who has a cordial but difficulc relation ship wi th his paternal and maternal relatives (especiall y h is maternal grandfadier), befriends the Japanese consul, Hayato E n do \'{Th.j]e E ndo becomes h is preceptor in the new martial arc of aikido and ics philosoph)~ Hutton serves as the diplomat's guid e to die area, b u t realises, as d ie Japanese invade, that E ndo was sent to reconnoitre
die area - and Hutton unknowingly aided him.
Under the occupation, both find themselves grappling to reconcile their friendship and loyalty to each other and co their countries (and in Hutton's case, his family) Traversing a peril ous path , Philip agrees to assist die Japanese and Endo in a b id to keep hi s family safe. Ac the same time, h e passes intelligence co the guerrilla fighters, i nc luding di e famo u s Po ree 136, wh ich include his best friend Ko n , die son o f a local C h inese triad boss. But there are tensions with d1e Communi st partisans, hard line Japanese administrators a n d many unpleasant d ecisions and actions for Hutton, w ho does not e m erge unscad1ed from me war.
Even afterwards, there is a furdier unpleasant but inevitable decis ion in respec t to E ndo, with whom Hutton turns out to h ave a centuries -long associatio n (revealed in the supernatural component) Ir is die pose-war visit from a Japanese widow, on ce a love interest of E ndo, who serves as the catalyst for the memories to emerge.
Tan's second novel Tbe Gardm of Bvming Mists, begins with the evocati\Te line: "O n a mountain above the clouds once lived a man w ho had been the gardener of the Emperor of J apan". The boo k is narrated by newly retired Malaysian Supreme Court )udge Yun Ling Teoh and cakes place over diree different time periods.
Also wr:itten in flashback, it begins in the 1980s wim me judge sud d enly res igning and moving co the Can1ero n Highlands, where she had lived a fter the war. There she seeks to make sense of her life and experiences before the aphasia she has been diagnosed with cripples her speec h and memory.
The World War is a backdrop for me first sto ry arc, when Yun an d her elder sis ter Yun Hong , of a prominent Straits Chinese family, are taken co an internment camp when the Japanese invade The only survivor, Yun develops a fervent hate fo r the Japanese and energetirnlly participates in die war crime trials She also visits the highlands w he re the taciturn Nakamura Aticomo, the aforementio ned gar den er, who
is crafting "Yugiri" or die garde n of die eveQlng mists, lives. She asks him co build a garden in he r sister's memory He refuses, but instead takes her on as an apprentice and teaches her die art even as die Communist insurgency erupts in :Malaysia and serves as che backdrop of the second sto ry arc
Bringing b odi arcs cogerner is th e present when Japanese historia n (and failed Kamikaze pilot)
Yoshikawa Tacsuji vis its
Yun
and seeks information about Aritomo and h is gard e n - die only surviv ing one The flashback leads Yun co re -examine her memories and the morally ambiguous actiom of both her and Aritom o in wa r time, and later her "survivor guil e"
Despite a languid pace, especially as far as die pre -war era is dep ic ted and aesdietical detail s are mentioned , born of Tan's works are e p ic i n scope. The novels incorpo rate and deal w ith a range of hmnan emotions, motivations and clilemmas to offer an intense, i nvaluab le and engrossing experience of \\7\V rI and i ts lingering effects in Soudi
E ast Asia
he ba r becue cul mre is one of the first things chat all Indian expats adapt to th eir
A u ssie lifestyle. It is deep-rooted in our community to gather with fr ie n ds and family, celebrating with d electab le food. And that's what a barbecue parry i s all about - good food, good friends, good times!
It is also an extension of our love for tandoori (grill ed) Though the Au ss ie ba r becues are far from the ta11doori style of preparation, there are several s imilarities coo. Like in most Indian househo lds where the ta11rlo01· (clay oven) is usually m anned by the men, the barbecue pit is also a male bastion.
The second , and the more important re ason, is our love for grilled food. The lanrloo,is and tikkas feanire among the best loved Indian foods and there are am ple recipes, both vegetarian and non- vegeta rian
Now, let's tw ist things up a bit. Instead of grilling Oz style burgers this sum mer, let's try our hand at this hearty, indulgent pork hurger wi th an Indian tw ist
Pork a nd pineappl e is a classic comb in ation, a match made in heaven! And just to sp ice th ings up, let's incorporate so m e famili ar Indi an flavours to the dish.
The secret to a deli cious, succul ent, juicy b urger lies mainly in the quality of mea t. Instead of going for a store-bought mi nce, it is best to get good cuts of meat from your loca] butcher and ask hi m to mince it u p for you. This way you get to c h oose how much fat goes into the mince For this rec ipe, choose the pork s h o ulder and the ratio of fat to meat in the mince is 1:4.
Minced onion, aromatics and a freshly roasted and ground spice mix is add ed to the pork mince to infuse the class ic Indian flavours. The caramelised p ineapple add s a hint of sweetness and bri n gs the spices to life.
The best thing about homem ade burgers is that these are healthy, as you are i.n control of all the ingr edien ts that go in and is a great way co get your faniily to eat veggies too.
Tlii s is an extremely versari.le burge r r ecipe; if you do not eat pork, use a n y meat that you want or even t r y out a vegetari an vers ion making th e mince using niixed vegetables and potacoes
Makes about 8-1 0 patties (these freeze well so you can make batches and stock away for later use; another idea is to make meatb alls and use it the next time you make spaghetti).
For the burger:
1 kg pork mince (use any meat that you want)
1 large red on i on, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
1 large green ch i lli, finely chopped
Indian spice blend:
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp d r y ch ili flakes
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt, to season
1 egg
For the final sandwich:
Burger buns
1 pineapple, c ut into thick slices
Cos lettuce, shredded
1 tomato, sliced
½ red on ion, sliced finely
A few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves
Barbecue sauce
To prepare the spi ce blend, dry roast the cor i ander and cu min seeds. Cool, add t h e
chilli flakes and grind to a fine powder I used the entire b l end as I was wanted a good kick of the spices but you can add just enough to su it you r taste preferences.
If you are using a food pro cessor, throw i n all the ingred i ents for the burger i ncludin g t h e spice blend; or finely chop the onion and aromati cs and then mix all i ngr edients together for t h e burger patties.
For m the m i nce into circu l ar patti es and keep aside. Again , the thickness of the patty is entirel y u pto your prefer ences; I make thick ones and for a kilo of min ce, I got 10 patties.
Heat a grill pan, brush with oil and g r ill the patties till done;flip around after g iv ing a couple of m i nutes to each side to get those char g r illed marks. Leave them to rest fo r at least two minutes before preparing the bu rger.
Grill the pineapp le slices (make sure the grill is smoking hot to i nstantly caramelize t h e sugars which keeps the cru n ch i ntact and seals the juices i n side; on low heat, the pineappl e sl i ces go limp and soggy).
Cut the burger b u ns into half an d gri ll for that extra cru n ch.
To assemble the sandwich, p lace shredded lettuce on t h e bottom half of the bun and layer up i n the order of patty, bar becue sauce, p ineappl e slice, tomato, onions and cor iander leaves.
Gorge and get transported to burger heaven!
In our quest to find the oldest l i vi ng life forms on this planet we made some fascinating discoveries. At the risk of taking out the spoiler award, let's just say there are some ultra-centenarians, some immortal species and some millions of years old, pre-human livi ng entities st ill sharing oxygen with us!
10. Oldest planted tree
The oldest surviving fru it tree planted by man with an ident ified planting date is a fig tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka The Jaya Sri Maha Bod hi is t he sacred t ree grown from a sapling of the Bod h i Tree under which Lord Buddha received enl ightenment. Planted in 288 BC, this ancient tree is well prot ected by authorities and is revered by Buddhists all over the world
9 . Oldest living woman
Born on 5 March 1898, Japanese super centenarian, M i sao Okawa, is the world's ol d est living woman At 1 16 years old , Misao is verified as t h e oldest ever Japanese person, the oldest perso n born in Asia an d the sixth o ldest perso n ever Alth o ugh M isao now resi d es in a nursing home, she was ab le to do leg sq uats until the age of 102 and walk u naide d until 110 She currently uses a wheelcha ir b ut i s stil l able to prop el herself
8. Oldest shrimp
The horseshoe shri mp hol ds t he titl e of t he oldest livi ng spec i es on ea rth that has exi sted unchanged for 200 milli on years. Pre-historic fossils of an animal exactly like it confi rm that the little creature has been unmarred by evolution. During dry spells, when the water in pools where they l ive dries up, the adu lt shrimps die, but the ir eggs have the ability to survive in the sand for up to twenty years. This survival technique could be the key to the unevolved longevity of this species
7. Oldest tortoise
Born in 1832, Jonathan, the Seychelles giant to rtoise is the oldest living reptile in the world. Jonathan belongs to the government of Saint Helena and resides in the grounds of the Governor's House He was brought to the i sland in 1882 along with three other tortoises at the age of 50. At 182, Jonathan is still goi ng strong and could possibly break the record set by Adwaita, the giant tortoise from Kolkata, India who, at 255 years, was among the longest living ani mal s on the planet until his death in 2006
6. Oldest bacter ia
Over 250 million years old and still alive! That 's Bacillus 2-9-3, a bacteria that was found trapped in suspended animation inside pre-historic salt crystals buried almost 2000 feet below ground in a cavern in New Mexico. The American scientists who managed to revive them claim they are the world 's oldest l iving thi n gs. Bacteria are equipped with the ability to combat harsh conditions and exist in suspended animation for long periods of time by forming resistant structures called spores.
5. Oldest bird
Wisdom, a Laysan albatross turned 63 this year, making her the o l dest known wild bird in the world Studies show that Laysan albatrosses don't usually live beyond their 30th birthday which is why Wisdom, who gave birth to a chick recently on Midway Islands, has been perplexing scientists with her unusual age and the abi l ity to give birth so late in life She was tagged in 1956 and has since flown more than three mill i on miles.
4 . Oldest living man
Super centenarian, Sakari Momoi of Japan has been verified by Gui nness World Records as the oldest man living Born in 1903, Momoi turned 111 this year He was born a day after Alexander lmich who, also 111, held the t itle of the oldest living man until his death earlier this year. Momoi told reporters last year that he wished to live for two more years.
3. Living fossils
Living things continually evolve through the ages and how most of them look like today is very d ifferent from what they started out This makes the horseshoecrab a unique creature as it has remained virtually unchanged for over 445 million years They are considered 'living fossils' and one of the oldest li ving animals on the planet. Thought to be from the Ordovician period, the crabs live near shallow ocean waters where their population is now being threatened by human activity.
2 . Immortal jellyfish
Turritopsis dohrnii, a tiny jellyfish discovered in the Mediterranean Sea in 1883, can age backward from a mature stage to a baby, qualifying as being immortal. Normally the dohrnii reproduces and dies like other mortals, but if faced with life threatening conditions lik e starvation, instead of dying it can transform into a baby, time and time again! It turns into a cyst which develops into a polyp, the first stage in jellyfish life. Then, through asexual reproduction, it can produce hundreds of clones of its adult self. This unique abi lity is helping the Turritopsis dohrnii spread
in oceans all over the world in swarms
1. Oldest tree
A Great Basin bristlecone pine named Methuselah, growing in the Wh ite Mountains of lnvo County, Californi a is said to be 4846 yea rs old It was reputed to be the world's oldest known living non-clonal organism until 2013 when t he t itle was clinched by another 5056 years old bristlecone pine discovered in the same ar ea. Methuselah, however, continues to fascinate scientists and the public, and i n order to prot ect it the Forest Services keep its exact location a well- guarded secret.
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This month you may have some misunderstandings with your partner. These will be easily resolved, as the cards are Indicating a short trip to get away and spend time together. You will be feeling very motivated with your work. You will be pushing yourself to gain recognition and rewards. Finances are looking good, but you need to be careful of over spending. Take time out to get exercise and keep active and fit. Good news about a test you took.
The cards are indicating a time when you will be craving attention from your partner. If single you will be looking to date that special person. This is a fantastic time for your career and finances. Success is indicated. You may consider moving to another country for a work opportunity. You may decide to Invest in shares. Take advice and make some wise decisions. You may be asked to help a relative with some paperwork.
This month is a good month for you, as you will be entering a new relationship. You will be feeling at peace and happy. Your work will be stressful and demanding. There will be many challenges and the cards are indicating you need to be careful of people at work who may be trying to cause trouble for you with your superiors. The cards are indicating a time to take care of your health. Make sure you have plenty of fresh air and keep your immune system boosted.
You wi!I be devoting time to love, relationships and stability this month. There is an indication here that you may bump into an old flame, and you may rekindle some unfinished business. There will be a lot of stress around you and you must release this from your body. A good workout and walking must be considered. The cards are indicating a time of sorting out financial matters. Work will be busy. You are looking at buying a new car.
This month you will betaking time out to relax and spend time with your family. You may be planning a holiday and this is a great time to catch up with everyone you have not seen for a while. The cards are indicating good news is in the air, either a pregnancy or you may advertise plans to get engaged. Take care of your back this month and take it easy. You may get a sudden injury or suffer with an old one.
You will be planning to do some courses and looking to do some coaching this month. There will be a lot of changes around your work, and you will be looking at expanding your client base. There will be a friend who needs your help and support right now. The cards are Indicating a time when you need to keep your finances In check. Your relationship will be a little strained as you will not always see eye to eye.
This month you will be spending a bit of time doing some much , needed DIY. There will be some difficult situations at work, so keep calm and try and keep your head down. The cards are indicating a time of changes in your relationship. You will be feeling a littl e bored and you will need to spice things up. Keep an eye on your stomach as you may have some sensitivity to certain foods. An old school friend will make contact with you, which will make you very happy.
This month will be full of different aspects in your relationship and work areas. You will be feeling a little stressed out with your partner, as they will be a bit needy and demanding of your time. Work will be busy and there will be deadlines to deal with. lfin business, there will be some difficult situations. Finances will be an important subject this month, you will be looking at investing in property. An older member of your family may suddenly be taken Ill.
Your partner may be feeling under the weather this month, so it may be a time of taking care of them. There will be some important financial issues attached to important paperwork to deal with. Keep things up to date. You will need to watch your diet and keep off junk food and smoking. There will be some new opportunities coming your way and you may need to take some important decisions. This is a time of stability and forward planning.
This month you will be making some plans to invest in property and make some changes and alterations to an existing property. The cards ate indicating a time of self-employed success, and an indication that you may give up work to start up something for yourself. There will be stress relating to a child and you will be unsure how to deal with them. Try not to rush around as you may get injured. Drive with care and diligence
This is a time of movement in most areas of your life. You will be looking at moving from your current property or accommodation. As the year comes to a dose you will be making mental lists of what you have achieved. You will be keen to put your relationship on a different level and bring harmony to the situation. If single there is a strong chance of meeting a suitable partner. There will be new colleagues at work, who may not be supportive.
You will be thinking of taking a holiday. You will need some warmth in your bones. You may be suffering with knee problems There is a new friendship forming and you will be keen to take things to the next level. Work wlll be slow and you will be looking at other opportunities. Keep an eye on your purse, as you have the tendency to get a bit carried away with the Christmas shopping. The cards are showing a time when you will be feeling at peace.
STARRIN G: hah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah, Jackie Shroff DIR ECTO R: Farah Khan
What is it about Shah Rukh Khan that brings out the comic accent in Deepika Padukone? She did a very funny, broad, South Indian accent in Mr Khan's inspired company in the maddeningly mundane Chennai Express She repeats the farcical feat, th is time doing a bravura Maharashtrian accent, a bar dancer grooving to Kaanta laga in her own free time.
Deepika dreams of running her own dance school where little girls will l earn to dance not for drooling men, but just for the love of it.
And she's nailed it! That's what this film is all about! It's been made with no loftier intention than to provide low-brow entertainment
Happy New Year (HNY) is the cinematic equivalent of freshly-plucked guavas from a roadside tree Juicy, tempting but of indeterminate origin Eat and enjoy at your own risk
Some of the stuff passing off as humour in this tall of tale of a bunch of losers who dance their way into a billionrupee heist, is pretty ummm ugh Abhishek Bachchan, who plays another interesting character.just vomits on unsuspecting victims to get his way HNY is the kind of film that doesn't allow us to dwell on the crimes of excesses, of which there is plenty in this stretchedout plot. The carnival - like presentation is not quite the aesthetic experience that one expects from a film with such a classy l ine-up of actors and technicians.
Instead what we get in abundance are in-house jokes where Shah Rukh Khan does dialogue take-offs with his co-stars from his own famous films
Speaking of take-offs, there is an excess of shirtless scenes featuring the King Khan and Sonu Sood who seem to enjoy dropping thei r shirts for no other reason but to become i nstant eye-candy for the ladies in the audience For most of the playing time the main actors play graceless dancers masquerading as wannabe winners at an international dance contest whose owner Jackie Shroff (scowling constantly) has a strange version to all things Indian
Of course that gives our five heroes (and I am including Deepika in the list) a chance to dance with the Indian flag being waved defiantly at all the unpatriotic spoilsports
The formula is fearsomely in-yourface You can't miss the broadness of the humour and the patriotic spirit Every emotion is like a message written on a t -shirt Every actor seems to have been given the brief to be as loud as possible. No wonder Sonu Sood plays a partially deaf character It offsets the plot's ditsy celebration of dumbness.
Deepika i s one ofthe more interesting characters in Fa rah's new 3-hour danceheist marathon She sparkles in the dance and the talkie portions. Abhishek Bachchan's tapori act is written with overthe-top intentions. He manages to play
the character w ith a certain in-built coo l that perhaps was not there in plot. But then, who knows what was and wasn't there? Even Farah would be flummoxed if asked.
Sonu Sood , Boman Irani and young Vivaan Shah suffer because of sketch il y written parts but still succeed in making their presence felt, specia ll y Sood who as per character sketch plays a 'bad' dancer which he is not by any stretch of imagination
But it's the King Khan's show all the way The director misses no chance to make Shah Rukh's 'loser ' character Charlie emerge as a winne r Shah Rukh even has a long rooftop fight sequence with Korean dancers which has no bearing on anything but the hero's 8-pack midriff. Somewhere in the scramb le to engage
our attention, the plot comes up with fi l mmaker Anurag Kas hyap and musician Vishal Dadlani p l aying closet-gay reality- show judges who are blackmailed by Charlie i nto el igib il ity Heroes, in case we forget, can do no wrong; even when they are caught doing wrong. For all its sins of excesses HNY is a full-on paisa-vasoo/ movie. It i s a rollicking, rumbustious ode to the spi r it of whopping, howling, shrieking and bantering camaraderie Filled with tongue-in- cheek episodes of h i pswaying audacity, the all-pervasive madness i s infectious.
SUBHASH K JHA
STARRING: Rahul Khanna, Arjun Mathur, Monica Dogra, Shivani Ghai, Aadya S-edi
WRITER/D IRECTOR: Sabal SinghShekhawat
Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold, and a tear-dimmed tide is unleashed on the characters of this intimate character-study.
Fireflies is a well -intentioned lndie film with a clear-cut target audience. Admittedly there is an inherent pretentiousness attached to an Indian film where the characters, no matter how urbane, speak only in English Even the songs in Fireflies are in English. That's like a sonata in Sonepur me/a
Nonetheless there is a fascinating undercurrent of sensuality to the proceedings -crimson-red wine clinking in crystal glasses, diamonds rustling against silken saris, the rain splattering against high-rise windowpanes to accentuate the pain, all of this compounded by a very good -looking cast that seems to intuitively grasp the nature of the goings-on.
Fireflies is like chapters out of a dreamilywritten half-finished novel about incomplete lives
It's the story of two incompatible brothers Shiv and Rana whose lives seem to run on parallel tracks As played by
Rahul Khanna and Arjun Mathur these two brothers could be long-distance cousins of Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan in Deewaar. Except that the script here lacks the commercia l expanse of the masala epic on sibling fights. Fireflies is an elegantly-cut nugget about sibling bonding and an unspeakable family tragedy Rahul and Arjun are fluently in friction, frequently intense and constantly in character Wonder what stops Arjun from gaining greater glory in our cinema!
Oh yes, this is a fetching film with some strikingly interesting female actors playing troubled characters who remind us that sexual relationsh ips fall apart, but family stays
The characters are mostly shot in dark hues suggesting the deep, suppressed longing that they are unable to express adequately in words. The stilted dialogues could be rationalised to that extent.
Rahul's disintegrating relationship with his upper-class wife (theatre actress Aadya Bedi, very effective) is weighed againstArjun's growing bonding with the mysterious Michelle (Monica Dogra, sensuous and self-assured).
While Rahul gets into a doomed extra-marital relationship with a former sweetheart Aila (Shivani Ghai, quite a find), his brother's relationship too heads fast to a dead end
Cinematographer Shankar Raman shoots the Arjun-Monica relationship
in the nonjudgemental bustle of Bangkok creating in the alien environment a feeling of emotional panic barely concealed because well, strangers are looking.
It all comes together at the end not too satisfactorily In spite of a very weak endgame, the plot of Fireflies induces enough intrigue and mystery to keep us watching the film It may not be the greatest of drama on the conundrum of human relationships, but debutant director Sabal Singh Shekhawat gets the mood, tempo and characterisations right most of the time.
Fireflies is an imperfect film about flawed characters who disguise their
spiritual ennui in tailored postures of sophistication. It's not a great film. But it's sincere and a largely well-crafted piece of cinema about fractured lives frozen in compromised relationships.
SUBHASH K JHA
STARRING: Abhinav Shukla, Achint Kaur, Nora Fatehi, Ali Quli Mirza, Subrat Dutta
DIRECTOR: Kamal Sadanah
If you're looking for a rewarding cinematic experience with a coherent plot and well-rounded characters, then Roar may just prove a bore that you'd probably abhor.
But if you're the sort (like me) who grants leeway to movies for stretching their neck out beyond the domain of the conventional, then Roar has quite some visual swagger and splendour to it. It's shot entirely in the dense Sundarban forests Now the dilemma that debutant director Kamal Sadanah must have faced is, should he make a documentary about the tigers of Sunderbans (which would get no audience) or a fictional story set in the tiger sanctuary (which hopefully would attract an audience).
Regrettably, Roar suffers from an overwritten, excessively punctuated plot that groans and heaves forward wheezing with baggage fatigue
The narrative, underlined by an insistent background score (fortunately no songs),
strains so hard for effect that you fear for its life-force. Moreover, the editing is abysmal. Scenes written to highlight the irreconcilable differences between Man and Nature meander to an incomplete full-stop.
Stunning shots ofthe natural beauty of the Sunderbans cannot compensate for the lack of consistency and logic in the plot about a bunch of adventurers' revenge on a white tiger, which finally lurches to a whimper rather than a roar. The characters are all written for the sake of creating a shock effect as one by one, the plot's populace pops off the face of a majestic map
Time after time, the editing exposes the lack of coherence in the plot. Characters jump into the danger zone and then wait for the script to decide their future. The film was obviously written as the shooting progressed, thereby providing a rationale for the vast expanse of incidents that are crammed into this jungle-adventure story
The killings In the sinister marshland are well-staged. In fact, the film's cinematography by Michael Watson is so brilliant that it makes you want to shove the characters and their inane prattle out of the way to just savour the magnificence of Sunderbans
The acting is uniformly amateurish with the two female actors Himarsha and
Nora Fatehi joining together to create a wildlife cleavage club-they look and speak out of place in the jungles. Attempts to add glamour to the grisly goings-on are downright clumsy. You can almost smell the director's unease and awkwardness in trying to infuse acceptable commercia l trappings into the sun-kissed rugged picturesque locales
What we get to know finally from this film about the relationship between Man and Nature is, it is one helluva screwed-up alliance
This could have a brutal avatar of Born Free. If only it didn't conceal the exuberant
computer-graphics in streams of tribal folklore dressed up in swanky clothes. Images from National Geographic meet Fear Factor in this adventure saga.
The fi l m claims to have not hurt any animals. But what about the poor audience? There ought to be a parallel SPCA- Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Audience. SUBHASH K. JHA
It was wishes gal o re for birthday boy Shah Rukh Khan who turned 49 on 2 November The who's who of India's glitterati including West Bengal CM, Mamata Banerji, sports stars and several Bollywood stars, wished the King of Romance on the occasion
The superstar said to the media that he doesn't count his years as he always feels energised and is actually looking forward to his SOth birthday
It was a double dhamaka for SRK this year as his just released Happy New Year also made the quickest Rs.100 crore on the box office (it has now touched the Rs 200 crore mark)
On his birthday SRK came out to greet his eager fans waiting to wish him, and later tweeted , "So many beautiful people outside Mannat. Thank you all for celebrating my birthday with such ownership and love Very humbling:'
A special gift from Dharma Produ ctions was Best Moments with SRK- a bouquet of memorable moments from their films with SRK for his fans to enjoy
The best of scenes were picke d from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Kai Ho Naa Ho an d Kabhi Avida NaaKehna.
As well, DOU (Di/wale Du/haniya Le Jayenge) is set to complete 1,000 weeks next month "Aditya Chopra is planning to have us all watch the film together with some unedited footage There is a lot of affecti o n attached to the film;' said SRK on the occasion of his birthday bash
The actor, who has played negative roles in the past, also said he wou ld love to do Dhoom 4 if approache d. So far John Abr aham, Hrithik Roshan and Aam i r Khan have played the main villain in the Dhoom franchise When asked if he woul d like to d o a negative role in Dhoom 4, SRK sa id, "I am d oing a fi l m with Yash Raj currentl y, Fan If I get an opportunity, I wo u ld l ove to do Dhoom 4'.'
Bollywood mourns the loss of one of its finest villains
"We wi ll remember Sadashiv Amrapur k ar as a versat i le actor, popular across gen erations RIP My deepest condol ences to his fami l y," read a post on PM Mod i's Twitter handle @narendramodi.
The PM and many othe r veteran actors and film makers like Amitabh Bachch an, Anupam Kher, Pooja Bhatt, Madhur Bhandarkar, Kuna! Kohli, Riteish Deshmukh , offered condolences at the death of versatile actor, Sadash iv Amrapurkar, 64 He was hospitalised at the Kokilabein Dhiru bai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai with lung i nfection.
His Maharani act i n Sadak and his genuine personality are trademarks that t h e l ate actor Sa d ashiv Amra p urkar will always be remembered for, said celebrities from the Hindi film industry.
Baba Sehgal plays himself in Bank -Chor
Baba Sehgal, popular as the king of desi ra p , will be seen as h imself in Y-Fi lms's Bank- Chor His cameo was especially written for the movie
The singer, best remembered for songs l ike Thanda thanda paani an d Oil dhadke, wi ll be seen as one of the hostages stuck insi d e the bank dur ing the heist i n t h e fi l m His character · will d r i ve everyone - the robbers, the bank employees, customers and other hostages - crazy with his rapping
"The part was specially written in a later d raft as both Bumpy (the direct o r) an d I are huge fan boys of the man;' producer Ashish Patil, producer says
"He's als o been entertaining the crew with his batty raps that he makes up on the spot about everything from the oily medu wada to the spot boy serv ing chai What a mad film this is shap ing out to be;• Patil ad d ed.
Bank-Chor is a comic -caper that tells the story of three morons trying to rob a bank who pick the worst day possible w h en everything that ca n go wrong, goes wrong an d how they 're inad vertently caught in the crossfire of p o licemen, industrialists an d corrupt politicians
The film stars Riteish Deshmukh , Vivek Oberoi and Rhea Chakraborty in l ead roles.
Yesudas , Shreya Ghosa l, Salim Merchant, Shruthi Haasan an d Har iharan have l ent their voice on the project
Big B, big paunch
Bi g Bis currently i n Ko l kata , b u t you already know that because you fo ll ow h i m on socia l media!
He was seen cycl i ng hi s way through the city's nerve centre BBD Bagh t h at houses n u merous heritage structures as well as the Writers Buildings - the regular seat of the West Benga l government
N o, it wasn't a spot of exercise for the 71-year-ol d superstar; he was fi l min g for h i s upcoming film Piku
"Kolkata shal l a lways hol d a special p l ace," Am itabh tweeted. "It's a 'city of joy'that ener gises you with intellect and passion:'
He al so c l aimed that the city made him nosta l gic and b ro ught back "too many memori es "
Amitabh ha d migrated to the eastern metropolis in search of a future and a job i n the early 1960s He m ade do with a sa l ary of just Rs 500, working for a p r ivate company. Later, h e moved to Mumbai to make it big on the si lver screen.
Hariharan,
Lyricist Javed Akhtar and composersinger Har iharan are working together to bring out the theme song of India's 35th Nationa l Games, starti ng Jan 31.
Akhtar has penned the l yrics for the three-minute signature song in H i nd i , while Hariharan has c o m posed the music for it.
The song highlights the sportsman spirit Apart from the song, jingles will also be used as fillers and would be re l eased acro ss the country on FM Ra d ios
A promo film on the event i s bei ng worked out as well
Piku is d i rected by Shoojit Sar kar of Vicky Donor fame The mega star p l ays the role of fat h er to starl et Deepika Pa d ukone. In an era wher e Bollywood actors obsess about six pack ab s, Ami tab h Bachch an went on a binge diet to sport a p aunch for this particular role
The film al so stars l rr fan Khan an d Moushumi Chatterjee So we were wrong to thin k Shoojit's Piku has something to do w ith Satyajit Ray's 1980s Bengali film Pikoo
Meanwhile, Big B might pop i n to see h i s ow n wax statue at the city's new wax m u seu m that i s set to open on 10 Nov Statues of 19 ce l ebrities i nclud ing Shah Rukh Khan, Sach i n Tendu l kar and Presid ent Pranab Mukherjee will dot the museum christe n ed 'Mother's Wax Museum' after Mother Te resa
Big B's upcoming films are Shamitabh wh i ch r el eases in Feb 2015 and Wazir, set for Apr i l 201 5
Lisa Haydon is shaukeen
Actress Lisa Haydon says she's a fan of Rat i Agn i hotri's performance in the 1982 film Shaukeen, which has inspired the forthcoming film The Shaukeens Shaukeen, a cult film by Basu Chatterjee, starred Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt. A K Hangal and Rati in key roles
The new age film The Shaukeens, which releases this week, features Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoo r and Piyush Mishra. But Lisa also clarified that her character Ahana in The Shaukeens is very different from Rati's orig inal role
"I am enjoying the fact that the humour in this comedy is very self-deprecating. Every actor has made a great effort to laugh at himself," she said
The experience of working on The Shaukeens has been wonderful for Lisa, who has been noticed for her work in Aisha and Queen in the past
uQueen was equally satisfying in its own way, even though it was a small film. The Shaukeens has given me an opportunity to work with amazing actors I don't think I have seen a comedy like th i s in Indian cinema before," she said.
The film is directed by Abhishek Sharma and also stars Akshay Kumar, Anupam Khe r, Annu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra
Lisa's role was earlier offered to Nargis Fakhri. But no, she isn't complaining
"I don't comp l ai n about my blessings;' said the dusky beauty.
The one good th i ng that the HrithikSusanne divorce has done, is to show how to be friends after the marriage is officially over.
Hr ith ik Rosh an and his estr anged wife Susanne Khan we r e granted d i vorce by a Sandra court recently They continue to be fr i ends and meet regularly, especially at events to do with their kids Hrehaan and Hridhaan.They have joint custody of the kids
Hrith ik 's lawyer Deepesh Mehta says, "Here is an example of how a couple should part ways i n an elegant and classy way. Their divorce was finalised in a unique way, with n o alimony and not a single document drawn up between them . It's al l on the basi s of trust, respect and faith:'
It was earlier reported that a Rs.100 crore alimony was invol ved in their divorce but Sussanne had officially deni ed it.
Hrithik announced Sussanne's decision to end their 17 -year-old rel ationship via an official statement Dec 13 , 2013. Both dated for four years before fi n al ly tying the knot 20 December, 2000.
The stunning actress Ai shwarya Rai Bachchan, who ce l ebrated her 41 st birthday on 1 November, was surprised by her director Sanjay Gupta with an early teaser trailer of her comeback film Jazbaa
"It was an idea that came to me very l ate;' Gupta revealed. "Why not put together a three-minute teaser of our film and present it to her. I made sure she didn't get to know about it as I slogged for 18 hours a day to get it ready in time:'
Anything for your lead ing lady, eh, Sanjay?
Shabana Azmi and l r rfan Khan also star in the film
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"I have also given a go-ah ead to a few more scripts," Aishwa r ya told reporte r s on her birthday "I thought of making an announcement today, but I thought with due respect to the director and producer, it wou ld be r i ght for them to make the announcement:'
Ummm, okay then
LISA HAYDON HRITHIK ROSHANNRls like myself are often very critical of lnctia. Thjs i s not o u t of malice, but out of concern for the la nd of our birth.
If, like me, you want to write hurnoLLr columns for your l ocal cornmunicy newspaper, no p lace on earth offers as m uch scope as Inctia. Indeed it is a veri table mine perhaps a minefield roo.
When I l anded in Inctia in early October after nearly 10 years away, tbe story that was sweeping every media outlet was, yes, 'sweeping'.
Not by orctinary municipal meruals, but b y mirusters and mandarins. The mectia was awash wi tl1 pictures of the top brass wea ring s uits an d crisp saris wielding tl1e derijhad11. That, for those of you who don't know, is a reed b room attached co a long pole. So long in some insta nces, that the tool was hard to handle! Bue never mind, i t was o nl y for p ho to opporturuties following the launch of 'S111achh Bharat Abh!Ja11' (Cle an Inctia Campaign) by out new ly appo inted Prime M iru ster, Naren dra Modi. 1 wish these
departme n t di111i111s wo uld show sinular eotlmsiasm in deaning the cobwebs on files with triplicate copi es collecting dust on their desks.
Being a inan of action like our own Tony Abbott, Mocti - after launc hi ng t he movement at Gandhi's spo tle ss Rajghat samctdhidid a spot of cleaning himself at a hasti of sanfration workers near Rajpath And wh atever he
starts, MocL does in mega style, so he named a panel to propagate his program, rune prominent personalities that inclu d ed the likes of Anil Ambani, Sachin Tendulirnr, P riyanka Chopra,
lugh profile U ruplomat.
Mocti has stated tha t his goal is to get tl, e en tire nation c lean by 2 Ocrober, 2019
Salman Khan, Kamal Hassan , Shashi Tharoor and others
Now AruJ knows how to bwld a huge pile of cash but not trash; and Priyanka can sway her hips and sing at the same time while swee pLng m dodge the drudgery Sachin can sweep anything to fine leg tl1at is spun in front of him, b ut what Salman and Kamal can do is n ot clear to me. Even to perform their snmt acts, tl1ey ask for dupes They leave a trail of trash .in their fight scenes. A h, Salman once waned to clean some Rajasthan forest of some animal ' d eer' to his heart.
Even b efore the S1JJachh move ment started, the Kerala urut of the Congress Parry moved to sweep its star member, Sasru Tharoor, out for agreeing to be part of a clean campaign , an undiploma tic act by the once
But m y humb.le opiru on is that Modi, being an astute politician, may be thinking of a clean swee p of the Congress and a few o ther regional parties by th e time the next general election comes arou nd, coincidenta!Jy in 2019.
Ever since Mocli announced his well -intentioned move, 1 have been paying extra attention to tl1e amount of rubbi sh lying at every street corner, and notice tliat every pile is growing b y a few inches w ith each pass ing day.
If only a time maclune were to be set, like the one tl1ei1 had before the dawn of the millenruum or the r eaching of the seven billion global popuJarjon mark, it ma y show how many more tom1es of trash have been added since the campaign started If alJ the rubbish from the entire nation o f India could somehow be pi led up in o ne p lace, 1 suspect it may challenge tl,e height of Everest.
o r wishing to di screctit Nfodi's noble v ision, I dare to say that jt may take more than five years, o r
more than even 50 years, before we will see a modified 'Clean forua'. 1 hardl y notice any change in peop le's attitud e in n onchalantly dumping ru bbish o uc in the open Surely tl1is needs a bottom -up and nor top-down approach.
Now w ith picmres of their broom - handling bash archived in albums, Salma n an d Kamal have gone back to their fight scenes co leave che next trail of trasb. Such j5 Bhara t (co paraphrase a well -known Australia n)!
