WHAT’S ON

Community

Urgent Need: Male Care Worker for Sri Om Care

Sri Om Care urgently needs a male care worker with disability qualification/ experience for 15 to 20 hours per week in the west. Must have driver’s license and own car. Should be first aid qualified with police clearance. Contact: 0410 759 906 and apply to info@ sriomcare.org.au.

FESTIVAL

Rath Yatra, Sat 27 May 12pm

ISKCON presents the fourth annual Festival of Chariots at Parramatta. Assemble at Prince Alfred Square, (corner Market St and Church St). Free prasadam will be served after the Maha Aarati and Kirtan. Details: iskcon.com. au Contact: Somendra, 0433 242 148.

Festival of Chariots, Sat 1 July

10am

ISKCON and Liverpool City Council present the Festival of Chariots at Liverpool. Assemble at 113 Northumberland St, Liverpool. Free vegetarian feast and cultural show. Contact: Govardhan Das, 9601 0290.

YOGA

Yoga Workshop, Fri 26 May 5.30pm

Join the Indian Consulate General Sydney and Spirit of India for a lecture and live demonstration of yoga including Asanas, Surya Namaskar and basic Pranayama. This Free event will be held at Indian Cultural Centre, Level 2, 265 Castlereagh St, Sydney. Register at: icc2.sydney@mea.gov.in or call 9223 2702 Ext. 224.

STAGE

A Tribute to the Music of Hemant Kumar, Sat 17 June 6.30pm

A concert for lovers of the old Bollywood melodies, Australian Hindi Indian Association presents the wonderful music of the legendary composersinger Hemant Kumar performed by Avijit Sarkar, accompanied by Pushpa Jagadish (on vocals) and backed up by selected musicians from JAZBA. Held at Pennant Hills Community Centre, cnr Yarrara and Ramsay Rd. Proceeds go to the AHIA Seniors Group. Tickets: $20-$50. Contact: Tilak Kalra 0413 753 134 or Avijit Sarkar avijit.sarkar. sydney@gmail.com.

Bharatanatyam Ballet, Sat 15 July 6pm-9pm

Indian artists Revathi & Manasvini, in collaboration with Hamsa Venkat & Samskriti School of Dance, Sydney, present YOGATRAYAM, a confluence of Karma, Gnana & Bhakti Yoga expressed as ‘Laya Nirupanam’, a unique dance theme of India’s classic Bharatanatyam style. Held at The Science Theatre, University of NSW, Via Gate 14 Barker Street, Kensington. All proceeds go to charity, to aid disadvantaged children in care of AIM for SEVA, India. Contact: Sudha, 0431 558 934. Visit: samskritidance.com.

Fundraiser

Indian Support Center 2nd Anniversary Fundraiser, Sun 4 June Indian Support Center invites you to its second Anniversary fundraiser event at Parramatta Town Hall. Since inception in March 2015, the Center provides services to a large number of new settlers, job seekers and victims of domestic violence. A lot of work has gone into supporting people requiring emergency support and also people requiring visas and passport related support for travel to India. After the initial seed capital support from the NSW Government in March 2015, this is a self-funded program. Contact: 0411 335 999 / 0412 92 44 08 or support@indiansupportcenter.org.au.

Men’s Health Awareness Ball, Thurs 15 June, 6.30pm

The 2nd Mens Health Awareness Ball aims to raise awareness for men on important health issues to Get an annual health check-up, and build a rapport with their GP so that they can live longer, healthier lives with their loved ones. Proceeds will go to beyondblue and Foundation 49. Held at The Ballroom, Sheraton On the Park, 161 Elizabeth Street, Sydney. Tickets: Early bird $160 per person. Contact: Bhavisha Parmar-Bhandari, 0411 886 740 or Bhavisha.Bhandari@gmail.com. Visit: menshealthawarenessball.com

Swachh Bharat

Help provide financial support for Swachh Bharat mission through the Sulabh Social Service Organisation. The ongoing campaign invites all persons of Indian origin to generously donate for Swachh Bharat. Donations can be made to Sulabh through Western Union. Bank details are below In favour of: Sulabh International Centre For Action Sociology (SICAS)

Account No: 63012660749,

IFSC Code: SBIN0030262

MICR: 110002347

Name of the Bank: State Bank of India, Branch Name: C 28 Community Centre, Janakpuri, New Delhi-58 Contact: bharatramvasudevan@gmail. com.

National Blood Donation Drive by Sathya Sai International Organisation

Sathya Sai International Organisation of Australia & PNG is again having a blood donation drive and is encouraging all of its members who are able to contribute in this wonderful and much needed service. Giving blood is giving life. What better way to ‘Love all; Serve all’ and honour Sathya Sai Baba. Contact: Mayavan 0404 059 093.

MISC

IABBV Hindi School, Sat 10 June

To mark its 30th anniversary Hindi School presents an evening of fun, entertainment and togetherness at the Hornsby Function Centre Hornsby RSL. Contact: Mala Mehta 0412 283 677.

Hindi Classes Saturdays 2.30pm4.30pm

Located at the Indian Cultural Centre, Level 1, 265 Castlereagh St, Sydney. Hindi classes are $5 per one hour class or $40 for ten classes. Registration is essential as there is a maximum of 20 people per class. Paid parking is available in the vicinity. To register email hindi@indianconsulatesydney.org or contact 9223 2702.

SPIRITUAL

Hindu Council of Australia

Interfaith Forum, Sat 27 May 2pm5pm

An interfaith forum exploring dharmic traditions inspiring peace to the world. Held at Auburn Town Hall, 1 Susan St, Auburn. Free registration at hinducouncil.com.au/interfaith-sydney

Vedantic and Brahmasutra Lectures, Fri 19 May - Thurs 1 June

World renowned philosopher Neemaji Majmudar from Mumbai will deliver lectures on the topics Brhadaranya Upanishad and Adhyasa Bhasyam daily for 14 days. Morning sessions 7am-8am, Evening sessions 7pm-9pm. Held at 8 Boden Avenue, Strathfield. Contact: Dr K. Bala 0488 244 868 or 9798 9673, krishnbala81@gmail. com or Dr R. Krishnan 0403 818 386, ramjikrish@gmail.com.

Bala Samskar Kendra Open Day at Oran Park, Sat 5 Aug 2.30pm

Bala Samskar Kendra opens at Oran Park Public School, 390 South Circuit, Oran Park. All welcome. Learn more about Bharateeya Samskriti through Samskritam followed by afternoon tea. Chief guest Donna Shevlin, Principal, Oran Park Public School. Contact: Akila, 0450 117 372 or visit: vhp.org.au.

BSK/SVP classes, Saturdays 2.30pm-5.30pm

A local initiative of VHP Australia, Bala Samskar Kendra (BSK) holds weekly Sanskrit language lessons as well as a culture and heritage program at Oran Park School, 390 South Circuit, Oran Park. Contact: Akila, 0450 117 372 or visit: vhp.org.au.

Global Organisation For Divinity

Australia Activities at Namadwaar G.O.D Australia gladly informs that Namadwaar, Chanting and Prayer Centre at 44 Oakes Road Winston Hills, is fully operational. All members of the community are welcome to have Darshan of the Lord and participate in Nama Chanting and other programs during the following times: Monday to Friday 9am-10.30am and 6pm-7.30pm. Weekends: 10am-12.30pm and 4pm6.30pm. Visit: godivinity.org.au.

Vedanta classes with Arsha Vidya

Australia

All classes except chanting classes are on Zoom. Contact Shankar Arunachalam on 0403 059 658 or arunachalam.shankar@gmail.com for more information.

Bhagavad Gita, Sundays 6pm

Upanishads, Saturdays 8.45pm Beginners Class, Sundays 2pm Vishnu Sahasranama, Sundays 10am

Vedic chanting classes, Saturdays 6.30pm

Free yoga with Divine Life Society, Tuesdays, 7pm

Swami Uditramanandaji of The Divine Life Society of Australia offers free yoga classes every Tuesday from 7-8.15pm at Strathfield Girls High School. All levels of fitness welcomed. Entrance via Oxford Road. For further details, please contact Karo: 0413 535 157.

Amma Satsang, 6.30pm-9.30pm, 3rd Saturday each month

Sri Mata Amritanandamayi, or Amma, also known as the hugging saint, is cherished as a humanitarian and spiritual teacher. Mata Amritanandamayi Centre Sydney hosts a monthly program to engage in spiritual practices such as meditation, as well as to conduct communityoriented service projects. Held at Uniting Church Hall, 11 Carrington Ave, Strathfield. Suggested donation is $20 for ashram fundraising. Contact: Mohan 0418 462 687 or visit ammaaustralia. org.au.

Yoga: The way of life, Saturdays 8am; Wednesdays 7pm

A retreat for body, mind and soul, join weekly yoga sessions at Glenwood Public School (Saturdays) or Moorebank Community Centre (Wednesdays). To secure a spot, contact: Meera 0433 125 708, or Ankita 0431 750 991.

Shanti Mission Satsang, Sundays

9.30am

Held at the Shanti Mission Abode of Peace Ashram (1 hour north of Sydney), 45 Kings Road, Cooranbong and also in Sydney at the Henley Community Centre, 2 Crown Street, Henley. Visit: www.shantimission.org.

Contact: 4977 3300.

Fire Pooja

Devotees are invited to attend Vedic fire pooja held at the Shanti Mission Abode of Peace Ashram (1 hour north of Sydney), 45 Kings Road, Cooranbong.

Fire Pooja: Mon, Wed, Thur, Sat & Sun evenings, 6.30pm (time changes to 5.30pm when daylight savings ends).

Dhanvantre Healing Fire Pooja: Mondays & Wednesdays, 9am Sri Maha Narayani Yagam: Every New and Full moon.

Shanti Mission also holds special poojas for feast days. Devotees may sponsor poojas. Visit: www. shantimission.org. Contact: 4977 3300.

Sri Hanuman Pooja, Tuesdays 7.30pm-8pm

Devotees who wish to seek the blessings of Shri Hanuman should join the community at Shri Shiva Mandir, 201 Eagleview Road, Minto, on Tuesday evenings for the reciting of Hanuman Chalisa, reciting Hanuman Kasht Nivaran, Hanuman Aarti and Prasad. Contact: Jagdish Chawla, 0421 376 384 or Priest Arul Muthulkumar, 9820 1094.

Spirit of India Yoga, Saturdays and Sundays

Yoga classes are held in Ryde, Wentworthville, Quakers Hill and Epping. All levels incl. beginners, senior citizens, children’s. To enrol in this 15 week course e-mail spiritofindia2002@ yahoo.com, visit www.spiritofindia.org or contact Suresh 0412 202 182.

Three years of Modi: Possibility of second innings

looms large

Considering that the score line in the last round of assembly elections before Narendra Modi’s third anniversary of the assumption of power was 3-2 in the Congress’s favour, one can only say that his approval rating has been average.

True, the final line-up of winners became 4-1 because the prime minister’s factotums were able to dislodge the Congress from its No 1 position in Goa and Manipur with some nimble politicking.

But the fact remains that the supposedly moribund Congress won a handsome victory in Punjab over the Akali DalBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine and was initially the largest party in the Goa and Manipur legislatures.

It was the BJP’s overwhelming success in Uttar Pradesh which reinforced Modi’s larger-than-life image. But the reality is more mundane even if the country has been able to emerge from the policy paralysis of the twilight years of the Manmohan Singh government by achieving a more than seven per cent growth rate, up from 5.6 per cent in 2012-13 and 6.6 per cent in 2013-14.

However, the availability of jobs fell to its lowest level in 2015 and 2016 with figures of 155,000 and 231,000 new jobs compared to one million in 2009, which was Manmohan Singh’s best year before Sonia Gandhi’s populism undercut the economic reforms.

The reason for the slow job growth is known. It is the increasing resort to automation by the industries. But with 12 million to 15 million new job seekers entering the market every year, India’s demographic dividend of having a young work force may become something of a nightmare.

If a recent study nevertheless showed that 60 per cent of the respondents thought well of Modi, it meant that a large section of the people have retained their faith in his ability to take the country in the right economic direction.

There may be misgivings about the activities of the saffron militants. But these are probably seen as being isolated incidents which are highlighted by the media and do not affect the average people who are more concerned about the continuing unemployment rate, which has been noted by 63 per cent of those surveyed, and inflation (66 per cent).

But what has apparently impressed the people the most is the absence of corruption in the higher levels, which was the single most important factor for the Manmohan Singh government’s downfall.

However, as the disquiet about unemployment and high prices show, Modi is still basically on shaky ground which has been camouflaged by his rhetoric and the TINA (There Is No Alternative) factor at the national level although he has faced stiff resistance in several states.

The results in Punjab, in the Karnataka by-elections and West Bengal local body polls have shown that it will take a long time, if ever, for the BJP’s dream of a Congress-mukt (free) Bharat to be fulfilled.

At the all-India level, however, Modi holds almost complete sway, for none of the other parties has measured up to popular expectations.

The Congress has had to depend on Sonia Gandhi again despite her indifferent health because of Rahul Gandhi’s palpable inadequacies; Nitish Kumar has become even more deeply entangled in Bihar’s scamtainted politics; Mulayam Singh Yadav’s main battle is still with his son, Akhilesh; Mamata Banerjee has remained essentially a state-level politician in ideas and personal appeal and Naveen Patnaik appears uninterested in the world outside Odisha.

The forthcoming presidential election will be yet another test of the respective strengths of the BJP and its opponents.

As of now, the former appears to have its nose ahead in the race, especially because of the expected support from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the YSR Congress.

But much will depend on who the BJP chooses as its candidate, for it will show whether the party has risen to its stature after three years in power at the Centre to be a genuine national party or is still beholden to its friend, philosopher and guide - the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) - for seeing a multicultural nation through saffron-tinted glasses.

In all the appointments to the supposedly autonomous institutions that have been made so far, the BJP has allowed the RSS to plant its standard-bearers, even if the latter are not known for a wide recognition of their talents.

These devoted saffronites include the heads of such well-regarded institutions as the Indian Council of Historical Research and the Indian Council for Social Science Research. It is an open question whether these institutions will retain their high status once their terms end and not be deemed a “circus”, as the Nobel prize winner Venkatraman Ramakrishnan called the recent science congress.

But irrespective of who becomes the President - whether a deeply-hued saffronite or someone perceived as neutral - the possibility of a second innings for Modi looms large at the end of his three years in office.

His success is based on the image of being a man of development which has remained untainted by the depredations of the gau rakshaks and other Hindu fundamentalists.

Indian techies forming union to protect jobs amid layoffs

Hundreds of Indian techies working as software engineers or providing back office services to global firms are setting up a panIndia trade union to protect their jobs amid layoffs by many IT firms, including Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Cognizant.

“We have already filed an application with the Tamil Nadu Labour Department to register our Forum as an all-India trade union to protect our interests, especially jobs, as many IT firms are terminating employees at a short notice without adequate compensation,” Forum for IT Employees (FITE) Joint Secretary Aruna Giri told IANS from Chennai on phone.

Admitting that thousands of IT employees across the country benefitted from well-paid jobs and perks over the years when the going was good, Giri alleged that the IT firms were no longer what they were in the past, as they have started to fire more than hire.

“The need for a common platform is not just to protect our jobs, but guard our rights as citizens under the law of the land. For various reasons, including the nature of the industry, which provides more services than goods, even employees within a company could not come together to raise their voice or protest exploitation by profitdriven employers, promoters, founders and managements,” she said.

Expressing concern over the manner in which many IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) firms were giving pink slips to even lateral employees owing to disruptive technologies and sluggish business growth, Giri said the employers should think twice before asking their employees to either resign or face termination at a short period.

“Unlike employees in other formal sectors, like manufacturing and labour workforce in commodity plantations, we do not have trade unions or outside support to address our grievances or concerns. Sudden loss of jobs leads to uncertainty and worry, as our families, including children and parents are dependent on us,” she said.

Without naming IT firms, their promoters or managements, Giri said contrary to the statutory labour laws, hundreds of techies, including those with 10-20 years of experience, were being sent home with 2-3 month salary compensation instead of 11 months and other benefits.

“We (FITE office bearers) are getting 50-100 calls daily from our colleagues in the industry working in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune that they were being asked to leave or look out for another job, as they were no longer required due to technology shift, lack of required skills and slow growth,” she said.

As a trade union can be formed even with 100 members, the Forum has submitted about 120 names to the Labour Department to register it as a formal trade body and mediate with employers in the overall interests of the $150-billion IT industry, its eco-system and related sectors.

“Once our union is registered in the next two months and allowed to take up issues with the employers of IT firms, we are confident of getting thousands of techies as members to fight for our rights and others, affected by cost-cutting measures of profitmotive companies,” added Giri.

The Forum has about 1,200 online members and 120 active members, with chapters in nine cities, where majority of IT and ITeS firms are located.

Transgenders must raise their voice, demand their rights: India’s first transgender principal

Their identity in society is largely limited to being termed hijras (eunuchs), they are often ridiculed for their appearance, their profession has been reduced to begging and their rights are routinely suppressed.

But Manobi Bandopadhyay, India’s first transgender principal, believes that their status can only improve when the third gender itself raises its voice and demands their rights.

“In most of the cases, they remain ignorant of their rights because of lack of education. A transgender can only be recognised when an individual raises her voice and comes into the limelight,” Manobi Bandopadhyay told IANS.

The Supreme Court in 2014 may have given third gender status to the transgenders, but Bandopadhyay sees little hope for their betterment.

“When the government cannot protect women, how can we expect more for our better future? We cannot expect the government to take the initiative and add rights to the community. Better status can only be achieved after we become more vocal,” the 53-year-old maintained.

Bandopadhyay is currently the Vice Chairperson of the West Bengal Transgender Development Board under the state government and executive council member of Kalyani University.

She recently released a candid biography, A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi (Penguin), written by Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey. The biography compresses her journey from being Somnath to Manobi, and her struggle from winning a war of self-identity within family and society to her becoming of India’s first transgender principal.

The writing in the book is bold, raw, barefaced and brings to fore the darker side of child sexual abuse, of which Manobi too was a victim.

“Sharing my personal life can save lives of many others. Sexual abuse of children happens a lot in India but people don’t disclose it or raise their voices; they like to keep them buried. Truth needs to be spoken and exposed,” Bandopadhyay responded on thoughts that evoked her to encourage the book.

“I showed the courage to come (out) with this and share my story with society. My purpose is to remove the evil notions that persist in the society and writing the book is my effort to do this,” she said.

She maintained that she did not have any second thoughts about her biography and that she was not worried about how it would be perceived by readers.

“Why should I hesitate to write about when I had to face sexual abuse? What I wrote may have happened to many others. I want people to be more aware and alert about sexual exploitation,” Bandopadhyay said.

“People enjoy reading about the scandals of others. My book says it all, from my childhood days to becoming principal of a college. And if people like reading about my ‘scandalous’ life then I don’t have any problem,” she added.

Though the book is a biography, she dreams of writing an autobiography in her own language, which won’t be in any chronological order and will be a collection of scattered memories.

She thinks the pages (of the biography) are soulless as her ideologies and philosophies are not a part of it.

“My feelings and emotions can be best described by me and cannot be penned by anyone else. The philosophies that I follow cannot be described through translation. There is more beyond the book, all cannot be captured in a book,” she concluded.

Hindu, Muslim wives donate kidney to other’s husband

Human blood holds no narrow sectarian boundaries, was proved when a Hindu and a Muslim woman donated one of their kidneys to the other’s husband at a hospital in New Delhi.

Ekram (29), a resident of Greater Noida, and Rahul Varisht (26), a Baghpat resident, were suffering from kidney ailments and needed kidney transplant.

Since both families had no suitable donor, the men’s lives were at risk. Unfortunately, each wife’s blood group failed to match the husband’s.

Ekram’s wife Razia (24) was B-positive while he was A-positive, whereas Rahul’s wife Pavitra (38) was A-positive but he was B-positive.

“We held separate meetings with both families and informed them that if each woman donates her kidney to the other’s husband, it is possible to save the lives of both patients,” Amit Devra, Senior Kidney Transplant Surgeon at Jaypee Hospital, said in a statement.

Convinced, both wives agreed to donate a kidney to the other’s husband. A fivehour surgery successfully transplanted the kidneys to both patients.

“The successful exchange of kidneys between Hindu-Muslim families indicates human blood holds no narrow boundaries. Only the human mind holds religious reservations and if humanity takes precedence over sectarian concerns, particularly during medical emergencies, thousands of lives could be saved,” noted Manoj Luthra, CEO Jaypee Hospital. Both the patients are doing well, the doctors said.

The ‘middlemen’ who are changing India’s publishing scene

India’s publishing industry is as ruthless as it is dotted with glitz. With debutant authors often taking years to find a publisher, the journey of the manuscript to a full-fledged book is not a cakewalk. Changing this trend is the rise of literary agents in India.

Commonly known as “middlemen” in the publishing industry, the literary agents offer their expertise to authors to reduce their struggle in getting books published. Take 34-year-old Kanishka Gupta, one of the youngest literary agents in the South Asian belt whose big break came in 2013 with Anees Salim’s book Vanity Bag Gupta’s firm, Writer’s Side, was set up in 2010 and he claimed that his agency has sold more than 500 books to publishers in the last six years.

“In the year 2015, we sold 100 books to the publishers, among which 25 were to HarperCollins. We stress on strong prose and exceptional storytelling skills in fiction, and socially relevant or controversial themes in non-fiction,” Gupta told IANS.

According to him, the publishing industry is not a field which can sustain on funding or investment. “It breathes on goodwill; and agenting in the literary world can survive only on goodwill exercise; it is a relationship-driven world.”

Like Writer’s Side, another agency Siyahi too has been acting as a guide to many authors since 2007. Not just Indian authors, but Siyahi has been bringing good writings from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the US and Britain to Indian readers.

“An agent acts as a catalyst in all senses, helping with the creative process of writing, liaising with publishers, making sure the book gets promoted well for an author,” Siyahi founder Mita Kapur told IANS.

Until a few years ago, authors did not know much about literary agents. But Gupta says that the change has begun and authors, mostly debutants, are approaching agents because they assure that a manuscript is turned into a book.

Gupta further said that often a debutant author remains clueless about how to submit a manuscript, which publisher to approach and what the market prospects of the book are.

India’s publishing industry is unstable as the top honchos keep shuffling very frequently and often good scripts do not get published, the agents said.

“Unless one has direct connection with the editors, a writer can end up getting quite a low amount for the book. And here lies the importance of our job. If an author is supposed to make one lakh, we make sure that he gets at least five lakhs for the book,” Gupta added.

And not just the authors, publishing houses too are opening their doors to literary agents.

According to Kapur, a manuscript from agents is an assurance of “quality writing” and also maintaining a smooth relationship between an author and the publisher.

“Publishers are preferring to work through the literary agents because they are very good mediators. From making a copy publishable to its book cover designs, it is on the shoulders of the literary agent,” Gupta further added.

Success does not always knock on their doors and, according to Gupta, no agent - even the top ones - has a 100 per cent success rate.

“Often it is because of differences in opinion. At times, publishers don’t like the book or feel it doesn’t fit their publishing profile. Many times, sales compulsions force publishers to turn down manuscripts they really want to publish,” Gupta said while also adding that smaller publishers are not keen on dealing with literary agents.

“The whole problem of legitimising the role of an agent, settling with payment issues, makes us avoid them,” he stated. Though the agents have made an impact in the publishing industry, some hurdles still remain to be overcome.

“In India, agenting is very tough and difficult to scale because of the menace of direct commissioning wherein authors sign directly with publishers,” concluded Gupta. IANS