1son uare en,

The Indian community in Australia is all set to welcome Prime Minister Modi

of diverse Indian -Austral.ian organisatio n s who have pooled their resources specificall y for d1e

:tBY ' ll" RAJNI ANAND -*-· LUTHRA

M~!~:;::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

Previous Prime Ministerial Visits

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:' subcontinent ro Australia arou nd 5,000 years ago.

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.

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

All aboard the Modi Express

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.

Austra li an fa n base

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."

Med ia interest

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.

Modi Inoz Itinerary

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's 'thinking' films from India, from within our

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.

Films from India

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.

Films from Australia's Indian community

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.