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2 MARCH 2018

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EDITORIAL

Grains of salt

PUBLISHER Pawan Luthra EDITOR Rajni Anand Luthra

BY RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA

ASSISTANT EDITOR Harshad Pandharipande MELBOURNE COORDINATOR Preeti Jabbal CONTRIBUTORS Radhika Bhirani, Dhanya Samuel, Jyoti Shankar, Aparna Ananthuni, Radhika Bhatia, Vinaya Rai, Dipanjali Rao, Chitra Sudarshan, Minal Khona, Auntyji ADVERTISING Victorian Sales Manager Varun Pal 0490 705 729 National Sales Vivek Trivedi 0410 578 146 Advertising Assistant Charuta Joshi 02 9279 2004

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I

t may have only been the seventh week of the new year, but the US has seen its seventh school shooting.

That’s one incident per week, so far.

In the latest attack in Parklands in Florida, 17 people - mostly students - lost their lives.

In a country with a population of about 300 million, there are almost 300 million firearms. And these mind you, are not single shot weapons but handguns and semiautomatic weapons. The AR-15 rifle used by the Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz uses bullets which can not only penetrate the human body but tear it apart like a grenade would.

The world watches - in disbelief as the US shows no rush to change its archaic gun laws, and in awe as its youngest citizens take up the cudgels in the fight against gun violence.

Teenaged Parklands survivor Emma Gonzalez touched a chord with her inspiring anger as she called “BS” to the adults whose responsibility it is to see that she goes to school safely. Her speech - filled with tears of pain and grief and rage - will probably go down as a historic moment in

the fight for gun control. In fact, she left little doubt of her resolve as she vowed to put her school in the history books as the last school to suffer the horror of mass shootings.

Fellow students from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida have spoken up with just as much passion at Call to Action Against Gun Violence rallies. Together, they have inspired students across the country’s schools to walk out in solidarity, and to head to Washington on 24 March in what they’re calling March for our Lives.

Even the kids in America realise that it is legislation that is the ultimate answer, regardless of what the gun lobby has been saying for decades.

Australia is a wonderful example of this, as Emma pointed out in her fiery protest speech.

The swift and decisive government action following the horror of Port Arthur 1996 - when gunman Martin Bryant killed 35 people with his semi-automatic - is reprised often in the narrative on gun violence. Within two weeks of the incident, Prime Minister John Howard had secured the support of all states in Australia in banning semi-automatic weapons and handguns. In the last 20-plus years, it is believed that just over a third of the country’s semi-automatic weapons, about a million, have been sold back to the government and destroyed. Not only

have mass shootings been prevented, but homicides and suicides have also reportedly come down.

Meanwhile, in the United States, mass shootings continue to take precious lives with increasing regularity.

When indeed, as a Gosford priest asked in a billboard to world acclaim, will they love their kids more than their guns?

History tells us that momentous social change comes about when common people, disillusioned with the system, take it upon themselves to be the change they want to see.

Such as when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white person in segregated USA. Such as when one British woman allowed into the House of Commons, instead of going to the Ladies Gallery as expected, ran onto the floor of the chamber as a suffragette.

Such as when a frail old man in India picked up a grain of salt to break the Salt Laws, and inspired a nation to disobey peacefully and bring a colonial empire to its knees.

Even those as powerless as a grain of salt can make a difference, Gandhi said then.

Acts of defiance by common people mere grains of salt - who had had enough, have transformed societies.

Here’s hoping that the kids in America become the grains of salt their country clearly needs so desperately.

MARCH 2018 3

CONTENTS 21

SPECIAL FEATURES INDIA-OZ All about the Australia India Youth Dialogue

14

MARDI GRAS SPECIAL Gay activist and film director Sridhar Rangayan

16

EXHIBITION The value of water in culture and life

21

YOUTH Tips for those starting Uni

24

STAGE In conversation dance activist Dr Narthaki Natraj

16

24 COVER STORY

28

28

Remembering Sridevi

8

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YOUR SAY

AUSTRALIA’S LIKELY FIRST HINDI NOVEL

INDIA SLAMS DOOR ON ABC RADIO CREW

HARSHAD PANDHARIPANDE reports on whether the Four Corners documentary on Adani led to the refusal of the visas. Read the article on pg 16 GDM wrote: I don’t know if anyone is aware, but for the last week or two, the government also seems to have gotten some ISPs to block ABC’s website (abc.net.au). When you try to access the website, you see a blank page with the text “The URL has been blocked as per the instructions of the Competent Government Authority/ in compliance to the orders of Court of Law.” This is definitely about Adani.

Akhil Jham wrote: If indeed the visa denial is because of the previous ABC story on Adani, it doesn’t show the Indian authorities in a good light. There are already instances when news reports against the high and mighty have been quietly withdrawn or taken down from news websites. There are many examples of liberal journalists being mercilessly trolled, or worse, threatened online. And on the other hand, there are many news channels that are allowed to push their hypernationalist and jingoist agenda and spew venom against dissenters. In such a scenario, the refusal of visa to the ABC crew deals a big blow to India’s global image, especially since it looks very much like the government was acting after being pressured by a corporation.

What’s worse is the silence of the Indian authorities on the issue. It looks a bit like admission of guilt to me. Another unfortunate thing is that this issue didn’t get the coverage it deserved in mainstream media in India. Just goes to show their hands are tied too.

A book written by WA resident Laxmi Tiwari was unveiled recently. PUNEET ANAND reported Varun wrote: She is my aunt and she is an amazing, lovely human being.

The novel is truly top notch and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read Hindi literature.

POROUS BORDERS

APARNA ANANTHUNI reported on last year’s Mapping Melbourne festival that allowed performers to present experimental work in intercultural fusion Chandra Kishore wrote: Indian/Aboriginal fusion will promote the Aboriginal music and arts. Go for it.

RESCUE ACT

WHERE IN INDIA?

We reported on how an Indian-American teacher saved students’ lives in the Florida shootout Aneeta Menon wrote: This isn’t what being a teacher ought to be about.

Shweta Singh wrote: Kudos to the lady

SAY IT AGAIN 6 MARCH 2018

Our photo on an iconic church got good responses Udaykumar Shanvi wrote: Most picturised in Bollywood movies near Sunset point in Shimla...

Ritu Sharma wrote: Ridge, Shimla Great guesses! It is Christ Church in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.

I was about Xav’s age when I first visited the Taj Mahal almost 35 years ago... and it’s amazing to be back with him & the family Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

I genuinely believe that this is not just a purple patch for Kohli, this is genuine greatness Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, on Virat Kohli’s form

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HONOURS

S R U O N O H Y A AUSTR ALIA D JUSTICE WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR Mr Robert (Krishnan Ashok) Kumar, OAM

For service to the law, particularly through the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria

J

ustice without fear or favour has reaped its rewards for Magistrate Bob (Robert Krishnan Ashok) Kumar, recipient of the Medal (OAM) Of The Order Of Australia. He received the award on Australia Day this year for service to the law, particularly through the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria.

Born in Fiji and educated in London, Magistrate Kumar calls Australia home and considers himself very fortunate to have been appointed as a judicial officer in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria.

“I think I might have been the first person from an Asian background to be appointed as a judicial officer. The opportunities given to me were amazing.

Ever since I was appointed to the bench in 1986, I have never looked back,” said the septuagenarian.

In 1992, Kumar was appointed as the Regional Co-ordinating Magistrate for the Hume region and then as a Deputy Chief Magistrate in 2012. In 2015, he announced his retirement but continues to serve as a reserve magistrate for the Broadmeadows Magistrates’ court.

Prior to joining the bench, he was a senior officer in the criminal law division

of Victoria Legal Aid. During his 32-year career, he has helped the community and court through initiating and implementing systems like the contest mentions and the Criminal Diversion Program.

A contest mention hearing is where all parties and the magistrate try to decide whether a case can be resolved by finding common ground. This is the hearing before the matter proceeds to a summary hearing.

In 1993, a pilot program was started under the direction of Magistrate Kumar with the aim to reduce the number of cases originally listed as pleas of not guilty that turned to guilty in court.

The contest mention system helped identify the plea at an early stage and reduce the number of adjournments. It also reduced delays in the court system; reduced instances of witness time being unnecessarily wasted and generally assisted case flow management.

Magistrate Kumar also initiated the Criminal Diversion Program that was piloted at Broadmeadows Magistrates’ court. It provides mainly first time offenders with the opportunity to avoid a criminal record by undertaking conditions

that benefit the offender, victim and the community as a whole.

“If you are willing to work hard, there are no limits to what you can achieve,” said the Magistrate who is grateful to the Magistrates’ court and the Magistrates for the opportunities provided to him.

He credits Attorney General Jim Kennan and former Chief Justice John Phillips for their faith in his abilities and success. Magistrate Kumar is looking

forward to officially receiving the medal (OAM) at a ceremony that is scheduled in April this year According to Magistrate Kumar, people from a non-European background are currently well represented in the Victorian courts. He is optimistic that there will continue to be further representation from all ethnic communities in the legal sectors of Australia.

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MARCH 2018 7

COVER STORY

Shine on, Chandni She may have been Bollywood’s only female superstar, but Sridevi insisted she was just getting started, writes RADHIKA BHIRANI

A

rre, maine kuch achieve nahi kiya (I haven’t achieved anything)... There’s a long way to go. I feel my career has just started. Haan... let me tell you that,” said Sridevi, laughing.

Sridevi’s lilting laughter - much like her screen presence, beauty, grace and unmatchable talent - lingers on as I remember my last conversation, in November 2017, with the actress, who spent 50 of her 54 years of life living the cinematic dream.

“I feel like a newcomer. I feel that my career is going to start now. It’s not finished, It’s going to start now,” she asserted, dismissing any desire to treat her fans to an autobiography replete with stories from her glorious life - starting as a child actor at four to superstardom in India.

Born in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu on August 13, 1963, Sridevi began her career at the age of four in the devotional film Thunaivan. That marked the beginning of a journey in filmdom that saw her work across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi productions, leading her to become one of the most formidable actresses of the 1980s and 1990s in Bollywood - and in fact, the only female superstar the industry has seen.

As filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma put it, “She was like a creation of God which he does whenever he is in a very special mood as a very, very special gift to mankind.”

Sridevi grew up to be known for not just her ability for slip into myriad roles whether the double role inChaalbaaz, as a

8 MARCH 2018

woman with retrograde amnesia in Sadma, a shape-shifting woman in Nagina, a goofy crime journalist in Mr. India, the warm mother act in English Vinglishor the fierce and revengeful mom inMom - but also for her expressive eyes, sheer comic timing and her fluid dancing skills, all of which made her a director’s delight.

Hawaa hawai, Main teri dushman, Morni,Na jaane kahan se aayi hai, Mere haathon mein are some of the iconic and classic dance numbers which gave cinema fans a chance to see the dancing talent of Sridevi.

As filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who directed her in Karma, said “Introvert by

manded popularity like few others.

“Her popularity and stardom had to be seen to be believed. We were shooting for the climax in Nandyal for Kshana Kshanam and the whole of Nandyal came to a standstill when they came to know that Sridevi was in town.

“Banks, government offices, schools, colleges everything in town closed as everyone wanted to see Sridevi,” Ram Gopal Varma recounted in a tribute after the sudden demise of the actress in Dubai on 24 Feb night of a cardiac arrest.

Sridevi could also be extraordinarily warm and compassionate.

Co-producer K. Ramji of Tina Films

I feel like a newcomer. I feel that my career is going to start now. It’s not finished nature, she was electricity with thunder in front of the camera. She would shock directors with each shot - be it dance, drama or romance. She was uncrowned queen of acting in all languages in her time.”

In 2013, the government feted her with the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth-highest civilian award. Her work was widely lauded with a slew of other richly-deserved honours.

Sridevi, who over the years became quite a fashion icon - sometimes giving tough competition to her daughters - com-

International, recalls, “In 1986, while shooting for Sindoor, the heroine Neelam Kothari was staying in the same hotel as Sridevi. Neelam was a great fan and wanted to meet her, but was apprehensive about approaching an established star like Sridevi.

“Finally, when she took courage and entered her room, Sridevi got up to receive and welcome her, commented on Neelam’s lustrous hair and they became instant friends.”

In an industry where women beyond

a certain age struggle to find roles, a 50plus Sridevi proved she still had it in her when she carried two films - her “comeback” vehicle English Vinglish and last year’s Mom - on her shoulders.

The 2012 film English Vinglish marked her return to films 15 years after the 1997 movie Judaai. And what a comeback it was - playing the role of a traditional Indian housewife’s struggle with the English language in the US, she was simply outstanding.

In real life, she was indeed a “purely traditional housewife - a great mother and perfect host for guests at home,” says Ghai.

A mother of two daughters, Janhvi and Khushi, whom she had with husband Boney Kapoor, Sridevi was as doting as a mom could get. She was excited for Janhvi’s upcoming debut Dhadak, just months away from its release.

Confident of the upbringing she gave her daughters, Sridevi said, “Janhvi has chosen this path and profession, and I have been in this industry for long. So I am mentally more prepared than her. She has been watching me, and knows what she is getting into.

“Nothing is going to be a cakewalk in any profession. So you have to work hard, and there will be challenges. I’m sure she is ready for it.”

And to cite the unpredictability of life, who knew Sridevi wouldn’t be there to see her daughter take baby steps into a world where she was the uncrowned queen for so many years.

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MARCH 2018 9

COVER STORY

Sridevi’s top three Indian Link Radio anchors list their favourite moments from Sridevi’s work

Top three films

PRIYANKA TATER 1 Mr India: The title should really have been Miss India because Sridevi was the backbone of the film. This film had it all - her flair for comedy (with a special mention to the Charlie chaplin sequence), her sensuous grooves in the song Kaate Nahi Katate to her exotic act as Hawaa Hawai.

2 Lamhe: A film ahead of its time. Sridevi aced her performance in a dual role as a mother and daughter.

The daughter falls in love with the man who loved her mother but his love was never reciprocated.

Sridevi handled the nuances of this very complex characterisation brilliantly.

3 English Vinglish: Watching Sridevi in the film was like sneaking into the life of one of the many thousands of middle-aged Indian women, wives and mothers draped in five metres of vulnerability and identity diffusion.

Sridevi nailed it.

Top three fashion moments

KASHIF HARRISON 1 Virushka reception: Dressed in a unique pashmina velvet saree with regal zari tilla embroidery from Kashmir, she looked like a true empress!

2 Mom premiere: She nailed the look in an embroiled jacket style Anarkali suit by Rohit Bal for the premiere of Mom in Russia in 2017.

3 Lux Golden Rose Awards 2017: Wearing a beautiful and elegant pink gown by Manish Malhotra.

1

Top three non-Hindi movies

PAVITRA SHANKAR 1 Moondru Mudichu: Tamil movie where Sridevi, only 13, played the role of a widow 2 Kshana Kshanam: Telugu movie for which she bagged the Best Actress Filmfare Award 3 Meendum Kokila: Tamil movie for which she bagged the Best Actress Filmfare Award

3

2 1

2

2

3

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Top three songs

SAGAR MEHEROTRA 1 Chandni: The title track, O meri Chandni 2 Lamhe: The title track, Yeh lamhe, yeh pal hum 3 Chaalbaaz: Na jaaney kahan se ayi hai

2

3

Top three dances NEELAM VASUDEVAN 1 Lamhe: Morni baga mein 2 Chandni: Mere haathon mein 3 Mr India: Hawaa Hawai

2

Three words to describe Sridevi MANOJ MENON Talent, beauty and grace

Top three dialogues

ANUP KUMAR Ghar Sansar: Badon ke mooh se nikli hui gaaliyan, chhoton ko dua bankar lagti hai. Jo badon ki daant khaa leta hai, woh zindagi ki thokarein nahi khaata Lamhe: Sabhi badey hote hai, magar koi apne badon se badaa nahi hota Ram Avtar: Shaadi toh kabhi na tootne waala ek bandhan hai, ek haqeeqat hai. Yeh woh rishta hai joh saans tootne keh baad hi tootta hai

10 MARCH 2018

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ACCOLADES

Young Leader of the Year City of Greater Dandenong awards Aishwarya Pokkuluri for helping disengaged youth

“V

olunteering has helped me become more aware of my community’s needs, helping me serve it with a compassionate touch rather than in a mechanical manner,” says Aishwarya Pokkuluri who was bestowed the Young Leader of the Year award at the 2018 Greater Dandenong Australia Day ceremony.

A native of Visakhapatnam in South India, Aishwarya migrated with her family to Australia when she was five years old.

She attended the John Monash Science School and her interest in the field of human health led her to complete a degree in Nutrition Science at Monash

University. She developed an interest in food technology and product development, which she intends to pursue as her career.

During her second year at university, Aishwarya began to feel restless and unfulfilled, living a routine of study, part-time work and socialising. She wanted something different and more meaningful in her life.

“A friend suggested the Young Leaders program of Dandenong and I knew this would be a great platform to find my place in the volunteering world,” she says.

With the help of an extremely dedicated and resourceful mentor, Aishwarya was guided with research, project planning and delivering a project in her area of

choice. Her research found that the unemployment rate for young people in Dandenong was much higher than that in other council regions in Victoria.

“I believe that volunteering is a great way to make disengaged youth feel a sense of belonging and value. The skills they develop through volunteering can help them gain paid employment,” she says.

What started as just a wish to gain soft skills soon turned into much more meaningful for Aishwarya. She realised that being involved with the community also meant becoming more aware of the issues it faces. Suddenly, there was a deep connection. “I found my service to the people change from a mechanical manner to a compassionate act, because I started seeing how my efforts were benefiting the lives of young people. It was very

rewarding,” she says.

Instead of being just another self-absorbed youngster, Aishwarya was able to think of the community and society at large. Her attitude towards work underwent a shift from being result-oriented to action-oriented.

Aishwarya is a part of the Sustainability Reference Committee and has also been attending Chinmaya Mission’s Yuvakendra classes, being involved in seva and taking Balvihar classes for children.

Aishwarya says she was pleasantly surprised at winning the Young Australian Leader of the Year award. She feels that the award will only provide her impetus to continue her volunteering efforts.

Along with it, she is also looking forward to start her career as a graduate food technologist.

DHANYA SAMUEL

No hurdle too high Nilesh Vaheesan is City of Greater Dandenong’s Male Athlete of the Year

“M

y childhood dream is to compete at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games,” says Nilesh Vaheesan who was awarded the Male Athlete of the Year at the City of Greater Dandenong’s Sports Awards. He seems to be on his way to achieving his dream after becoming the Under-18 Victoria 110m hurdles champion.

Nilesh was born and bought up in Australia, but his family is from Sri Lanka. He is currently studying Year 12 at Wellington Secondary College.

Nilesh got into athletics at the age of 10, but he only started hurdles at 16. “I first started hurdles after placing third at the School Sport Victoria State Championships with improper technique and no prior knowledge of hurdling.

This was the starting point that gave me the confidence to start my hurdling career.”

Within just eight months of training, Nilesh won the Under-18 110m hurdles at the Victorian Track and Field Championships, and placed second in the 400m hurdles.

There’s been no looking back since. Nilesh has won many accolades on track but one of his sporting journey’s highlights has been the Australian All schools Championships where he placed eighth in the 110m hurdles and ninth in the 400m hurdles.

“This was a wonderful opportunity,” he said.

“I was able to compete beside the nation’s best athletes with invitational athletes from other countries such as China, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Fiji.”

According to Nilesh, sports is a vital part of Australian culture, as schools play a wide range of sport to ensure students are kept active. But he also says that many sports such as athletics do not get the same kind of funding as cricket, football or rugby.

“Australian athlete Sally Pearson, American hurdler Aries Merritt and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt were my childhood role models,” he said.

Nilesh reminisced about watching Pearson compete in the 110m hurdles in 2012 and wanting to emulate her.

He credits his talent to his father who was also a good sprinter. Nilesh says that the award has boosted his confidence and his desire to take the sport to an elite level.

His future goals include representing Australia at the World University games, winning a national title and competing with open age athletes in state and national competitions. Nilesh also wishes to spend time in the US to further improve his technique and performance.

DHANYA SAMUEL

MARCH 2018 11

SPECIAL REPORT Amruta Slee and Phillip Adams

India slams door on ABC Radio Did the Adani story on Four Corners have anything to do with the refusal of visa?

BY HARSHAD PANDHARIPANDE

T

he Indian government’s recent refusal to grant visas to a team of journalists from ABC Radio is being seen as a blow to the freedom of press in the world’s largest democracy.

Senior radio presenter Phillip Adams, who has hosted Late Night Live (LNL)

12 MARCH 2018

for decades, and Indian-born journalist Amruta Slee were among the journalists who were denied entry into India for a week-long trip. The journalists say they had been planning the trip for over a year. No reason for the visa refusal was provided – although Indian authorities are not bound to provide one.

The Adani link?

There has been, however, strong speculation that the visa refusal is a fallout from a report by ABC’s Four Corners program on the Adani Group’s alleged environmental and corporate malfeasance.

The Four Corners team had travelled to India in October 2017, and had claimed that ‘while attempting to film and gather information about Adani’s operations, (the team) had their cameras shut down, their footage deleted and were questioned for hours by police. The team were left in no doubt that their investigations into the Indian company triggered the police action.’

The Adani Group is a corporate colossus in India and it’s no secret that its head, Gautam Adani, is on very friendly terms with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Slee - a producer at Late Night Live and the one who set up the India trip, the interviews and applied for the visas - suggested the Adani link in an article titled “‘It’s About Adani’: Did India deny me a journalist’s visa because of a story?” days after the visas were refused. A cryptic explanation then came by way of a tweet by the Indian Consulate in Sydney. “Delay in issuing visas to ABC news team has nothing to do with the issues mentioned in this article. ABC news journalists voilated (sic) Indian visa rules recently by engaging in activities which were not declared at the time of applying their

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I’ve been going to India for 50 years, always shown great private and professional courtesy… until now. The curse of Adani? Tweet by @PhillipAdams_1 visas,” it said. Replying to the tweet, Slee asked for elaboration. “Dear CGI please explain who violated what and how this contradicts what I wrote?” she said. She got no a response.

Likewise, the Consulate did not respond to Indian Link’s emails, phone calls or text messages seeking comment and elaboration. A request for comment to the Indian High Commission in Canberra was also diverted to the Consulate General of Sydney.

The silence of the Indian authorities on the issue raises further questions of whether there is more to the refusal of the visas than meets the eye.

Outrage on social media

Of course, the ABC team, smarting from the snub, took to social media to express its displeasure. Adams was the most vocal with a series of tweets. Here are a few: • After a year’s planning & months seeking visas LNL was blocked from entering India... no reasons given, just obsfucation. (might it have something to do with 4C’s Adani report?) Now my proposed guests are telling Indian media.. this is a grim portent for all ABC journalists.

• Let me repeat... I’ve been going to India for 50 years - this would have been my fifth visit... wrote an admiring book on the country 20 years ago (A Billion Voices)... always shown great private and professional courtesy... until now... The curse of Adani?

• Despite high level diplomatic support here and in Delhi LNL’s visit to a friendly democracy was sabotaged... a pointless effort by the Modi Govt as LNL will interview many of the distinguished guests we planned to meet... starting this week • 20 ys ago LNL spent weeks in India talking to everyone from ‘untouchables’ to the Dalit President-given unrestricted access and shown every personal and professional courtesy we made many programs-and I wrote a book called A Billion Voices. But this time?

How it all unfolded

In an interview with Indian Link, Slee detailed the sequence of events. “We initially went in to apply for visas in late October but were told by VFS Global, an agency that manages administrative and non-judgmental tasks related to visa, passport, identity management and other citizen services, that it was better to come back as late as January because the clock would start ticking the minute we got them - we were worried about leaving it that late so we went back to submit our applications on 21 December. Our flights were booked for 1 Feb,” she said.

Here’s an extract from her article about what happened next: “We waited. And waited. Jokes were made about bureaucracy.

“I called the Sydney visa office to check where they were up to and found their helpline was outsourced to somewhere in India and no-one there had a clue about

what was happening back here. More jokes.

Then anxiety crept in.

“I called DFAT, who had given us the grant, to ask if they knew what the hold-up was. I called friends who were old India hands, people who worked at embassies, journalists who might have a contact. I sent countless emails, I called Julie Bishop’s office, I called Delhi.

“Reassurances flowed - this was “always the way”, the consulate “often waits until the last moment.” But that last moment was a fortnight away, a week away. Then, with days to go, a highly placed government source admitted there was a problem: “It’s about the Adani story.””

This was an obvious reference to the Four Corners investigation into the Adani Group. But the point is, this ABC team hadn’t even planned to do a story on Adani. Slee said emphatically, “We were not going to cover Adani.”

She added that the purpose of the trip was to look at the country from a variety of standpoints. “My idea for the trip was that western media continues to represent India one-dimensionally. I wanted to talk to people about the challenges the country faces politically societally, environmentally.

We were going to speak to a wide cross section of prominent people - journalists, architects, ecologists, satirists, artists to give listeners a deeper insight into a country I think most Australians have little insight into.”

Slee says the team supplied a list of stories and guests in our visa documents as requested. “We were travelling on a grant from DFAT’s Australia India Council so I had already done an extensive program breakdown which had been forwarded and approved by DFAT here to the embassy in Delhi.”

Slee claims she was not asked to sign any agreement. “48 hours from when we were due to leave, I was asked to re-submit a list of stories and guests to DFAT and to the Australian ambassador (to India) Ms Harinder Sidhu - I did that.”

At that point, says Slee, she was asked

by DFAT if someone could accompany us on our stories. There was no suggestion this was a visa requirement, and it was not formerly brought up by anyone at the embasssies, consulate or visa offices who she had spoken to.

“I do accept that some countries insist on officials being in on interview processes. India is a secular democracy and as such has a commitment to free press,” she says.

“Some 24 hours before we were due to get on a flight, we were advised to postpone our flights. When we asked for how long there was no response. When

my EP (executive producer) Gail Boserio managed to get a number for the consulate she was told the person in charge was in a meeting and would get back to us. We’ve never heard from the consulate.”

More questions than answers

The silence from the Indian authorities is deafening. At a time when dissenting journalistic voices within India have been trolled and even threatened into submission, the refusal of visas to the ABC team lends further credence to the theory that censorship is rising in mainstream Indian media. This also reflected in the latest World Press Freedom Index 2017 in which India slipped three places to the 136th rank out of 180 countries.

If indeed there were visa rules violations by the Four Corners team last year, an official explanation would have ensured that all speculation was scotched.

As things stand now, India’s response, or lack of it, raises more questions than answers.

No wonder then that it has come under criticism. Ramachandra Guha, a well-regarded political commentator in India, wrote a scathing piece about it in Hindustan Times. “Why was Phillip Adams not allowed by our Government to visit India? He is not a drug smuggler, terrorist, or tax evader; on the other hand, he is a venerated public figure in a country that is a democracy like ours, a country with which we have close ties,” he wrote, adding that a senior ABC producer told him it ‘does seem like payback for the Four Corners program last year on Adani and Australia.’

On Adams’ Twitter feed as well, discontent was apparent. Andrew Garton, a Twitter user from Australia, added to the debate with this: “I was recently in India, a guest of the Oz High Comm, to launch my film at the Chennal Intl Film Fest. A film about internet impact in India. Was warned by a regulator that my film must not critique govt. Even local journos sensitive to issues raised during interviews.”

And Anubhav Bhargava, a Twitter user from India, wrote in, saying: “As a citizen of the world’s largest democracy, I regret my government’s denial of visa to you and your team sir. We are sorry. And I hope this mistake gets rectified immediately.”

Meanwhile, Guha summed up, “I hope the speculation (of payback for Adani) is untrue. For otherwise it would reflect very badly on the Ministry of External Affairs… In any case, it cannot be the job of our Government to carry on a vendetta on behalf of a private company.”

ABC news journalists voilated (sic) Indian visa rules recently by engaging in activities which were not declared at the time of applying their visas Tweet by @cgisydney

Gautam Adani

JOURNALIST VISA TO INDIA >> Journalist visas are issued to professional journalists and photographers for a period of up to 3 months (single or double entry). >> Details of places to be visited and the persons to be interviewed needed with the application >> Processing time is an average of 5 working days for applications submitted in Sydney >> The ABC crew submitted its application on 21 Dec 2017 and was planning to travel to India on 1 Feb 2018. The team wanted to talk to a variety of people about the challenges the country faces - politically societally and environmentally. It claims it did not intend to cover Adani

THE STORY SO FAR >> In October last year, an ABC team travelled to India and made a documentary for the Four Corners program that charged the Adani Group with using illegal tax havens to minimise their tax liabilities in Australia, and with promoting environmentally hazardous projects >> The ABC Radio team’s visa applications were not granted, and the producer claimed that a highly placed government source told her it was because of the Adani story >> The Consulate General of India in Sydney denied this in a tweet: “Delay in issuing visas to ABC news team has nothing to do with the issues mentioned in this article.

ABC news journalists voilated (sic) Indian visa rules recently by engaging in activities which were not declared at the time of applying their visas” >> Request for explanation elicited no response from CG Sydney

MARCH 2018 13

INDIA-OZ

#PowerOfYouth

As the Aust India Youth Dialogue concluded in India, Chairperson Karan Anand told us of the role the organisation can play in the bilateral relationship BY HARSHAD PANDHARIPANDE

W

hat is the Australia India Youth Dialogue? How did it originate?

AIYD is the leading Track II bilateral young leaders’ dialogue between Australia and India. Each year we bring together 15 young Indians and 15 young Australians under the age of 40, all demonstrated leaders in their fields, to engage in a four-day dialogue about matters that affect the bilateral relations between the two countries with a focus on youth engagement. This year was the seventh dialogue.

AIYD has its origins in the 2009 student attacks in Melbourne. The thesis of the founders was that there was no (existing) mechanism to bring young leaders together to discuss in a proactive and constructive way such issues that were misconstrued in the media. AIYD has grown beyond that and has now become an important forum to bring young leaders together and start to inform government on both sides on how to shape policy and create opportunities going forward. It takes place every year, alternating between India and Australia.

This year, it took place in New Delhi and Mumbai from 21 to 24 Jan.

14 MARCH 2018

Who can apply to participate in the dialogue?

Anyone who is a citizen of India or Australia under the age of 40. Our selection criterion is quite rigorous. We are specifically looking for people who have demonstrated leadership in their field. We take a diverse set of delegates.

This year, we had politicians, CEOs of for-profit and not-for-profit companies, bureaucrats, diplomats, corporate senior executives, a couple of people in the sports space, and many in the arts space.

We keep a 50-50 male-female proportion and try to have balanced regional representation.

What have been your main focus areas?

This year the theme was Digital Disruption, with three sub-themes - Future of Democracy, Future of Information and Future of Work. The reason we picked digital disruption was because it’s high on the agenda of both Prime Ministers Modi and Turnbull - in India, with initiatives such as Startup India and Digital India, and National Innovation and Science Agenda in Australia. It’s also an area where the senior leaders look towards youngsters for guidance as we are already at the forefront of shaping the digital economy - not just at the periphery and inheriting it, but doing the thinking around it. Last year, the theme was ‘innovation’ with a focus on health, start-ups etc.

Who were some of the most interesting people you had this year?

All of them were interesting! We had two sitting members of parliament - Scott Farlow MLC, Parliamentary Secretary to the NSW Premier and the leader of the Liberal party in the Upper House, and Matt Keogh, a Labor MP from Burt, WA. We also had Sachin Kumar, the head of strategy and scheduling, Cricket Australia.

On the Indian side, among the notable participants were Madhav Singhania, special executive with JK Cement and co-chair of the Young Indians branch of the Confederation of Indian Industries; Bhakti Sharma, one the youngest and the only female panchayat leader in Madhya Pradesh; Tasneem Fatima who is a wheelchair basketball player and founder of the Delhi State Wheelchair Basketball Association; Shaili Chopra, a former news anchor and founder of an online women’s platform called SheThePeople.TV; and Bindu Subramaniam, an outstanding musician who is the daughter of violin virtuoso L Subramaniam and singer Kavita Krishnamoorthy.

How do people such as Bindu and Tasneem fit into the digital disruption discussion?

A musician like Bindu would be interested to know about the rapidly changing business models of music. For Tasneem, the topic on Day 1 - The Future of Democracy - was quite relevant as it talked

about building awareness through social media about challenges faced by disabled athletes in India and build a positive dialogue around it.

What have been some of the most tangible outcomes from the AIYD? We do document our outcomes that have been sparked either directly as a result of discussion within AIYD or the people-topeople collaborations that are generated by the relationships formed during the dialogue. A lot of outcomes are from what we call the Group Challenge, an initiative we started two years ago.

In this, we divide up our delegates into six groups of five and give them eight hours to work together, over the course of four days, to unpack a problem related to the theme and solve it. The reason it is compelling is that it allows us to have something tangible at the end and it really talks to the enterprise of youngsters. At the end of the four days, the team has to pitch the idea to a panel of judges.

So, the winning idea in the 2017 dialogue was based on the fact that there is a huge imbalance in the two countries in regard to incidents of drowning. The number of people who drown in Australia is a very small fraction of the number of people who drown in India. Also, Australia has a strong culture of surf life-saving. So, there’s this group that is trying to mobilise a partnership with Surf Life Saving Australia and piggybacking on some

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initiatives in Karnataka and Goa where some Australians have already made the first steps to industrialise and essentially export life-saving from Australia to India. These people are connected to the Coogee Lifesavers Club. Then, there is the instance of the 2014 alumni of the AIYD. A delegate called Hakimuddin Habibulla, a former Indian Olympic swimmer, has a partnership with Aust Swim around training swimming teachers in India. And in fact, the people connected to Coogee Lifesavers Club and Hakim are finding a way to work together. They came together at AIYD 2018 to take it forward.

There is the example of Talish Ray, our 2015 alumnus and a Delhi-based lawyer, who has developed an online resource girlsgottaknow.in, with help from the University of Tasmania, for women seeking legal assistance in India, with information on everything from renting to dealing with harassment.

So, it’s not about just those four days of the dialogue but what it can activate and the on-the-ground outcomes it can deliver.

So what was this year’s winning idea?

Both countries have a strong culture of indigenous art, but those who create that art aren’t always fairly compensated for the hard work they put in. There are other challenges they face such as the fact that you can’t always attribute who the original artist is and some fraud takes place. So the

programme amongst high school students in regional parts of both countries.

How do you interact with governments of the two nations?

One is an informal feedback mechanism,

It’s not about just those four days of the dialogue but what it can activate and the on-the-ground outcomes it can deliver between Australia and countries such as the US, Japan, Vietnam, China and Indonesia.

We have good relationships within the governments and these continue to develop as we move mature as an organisation.

idea is to put a blockchain type of system to validate and verify authentic pieces of art so you can trace who the original artist is. The idea like that is not intuitive and it comes from the enterprise of youth. So, it’s thinking about something that the governments aren’t necessarily contemplating in their formal meetings, but something that is of significant mutual value using, in this case, blockchain which is significant digital disruption in the world right now.

Some other good ideas from AIYD 2018 were about sharing cultural intelligence and experiences and another around piloting a critical thinking exchange

but the other is a formalised way. So, for instance, we worked with the Victorian government to bring out the VictoriaIndia Strategy. We hosted a round table with our alumni and provided formal feedback that went into the drafting of the strategy. A section of the Strategy does talk about AIYD and the importance of youth engagement. We provided a formal policy submission to (retired diplomat and public servant and current Chancellor of University of Queensland) Peter Varghese AO who is currently putting together an India Economic Strategy. We have also contributed to a few youth dialogues

One of the sub-themes this year, The Future of Democracy, seems quite interesting...

Yes, it was. Substantively, we had a panel discussion involving three MPs, one from Australia and two from India. They were Tim Watts from Gellibrand in Western Melbourne, Jay Panda from Kendrapara in Odisha and Meenakshi Lekhi from New Delhi. The two points of discussion were the impact of social media and how it has changed the way politicians communicate with their constituents and how Indian politicians use it as a way of on-thespot problem-solving that Australians

politicians don’t necessarily do or have to do. There was also a very good discussion about how digital disruption impacts the structure of democracy itself: ‘Do we need representative democracy going forward?

If you have direct citizenry, why do you need public representatives?’ It was very interesting to contemplate a future without politicians, although the resolution of all and sundry was that democracy is the best governance model yet.

So what’s next for AIYD? Seven years in, we have a cohort of about 210 alumni. If we are to be successful and impactful, the way we manage, engage and mobilise our alumni is really important.

My plan during my tenure as Chair is to unlock the opportunities of an alumni programme. And using the dialogue is the way to stimulate that.

AIYD has become an important forum to bring young leaders together and inform governments on both sides on how to shape policy and create opportunities MARCH 2018 15

MARDI GRAS SPECIAL

Coming out of the shadows In conversation with gay activist and film director Sridhar Rangayan whose film Evening Shadows premiered at Mardi Gras Film Festival BY HARSHAD PANDHARIPANDE

A

t Queer Screen, the Mardi Gras Film Festival in Sydney this year, an Indian filmmaker made a bold statement with a tender film. Evening Shadows (Surmaee Shaam) is about a young man coming out to his mother and the upheaval it causes within the traditional family and society around.

The film had its world premiere at the festival.

The director of the film, Sridhar Rangayan, is a filmmaker, writer, activist and festival director. Rangayan has many creditable firsts to his credit. He is the Founder Festival Director of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, which has, over eight years, become the biggest LGBTQ film festival in South Asia.

He is the co-founder of The Humsafar Trust, India’s first registered gay NGO. And he co-founded Solaris Pictures, a production house that brings out films with LGBTQ themes.

Evening Shadows is the sixth production

16 MARCH 2018

by Solaris Pictures. Rangayan insists it’s a film about relationships, and one that he hopes every family watches.

In an interview with Indian Link, Rangayan, one of the jury members to judge the ‘My Queer Career’ Australian short film competition at the festival, talks about his journey and challenges, and why there is a need to normalise LGBTQ issues.

How did it feel to be part of the spectacle that is the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras?

The Sydney Mardi Gras is one of the oldest and grandest celebrations in the world of LGBTQ community. I was privileged to be part of it last year when I was invited to by Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival to attend a conclave of Asia Pacific Queer Film Festival Alliance, a network of about 25 LGBTQ film festivals in the Asia Pacific region. I also marched with the Queer Screen float: it was indeed a heady feeling being cheered by thousands of onlookers! It was magical.

Evening Shadows was screened at Queer Screen. What does the film mean to you?

Evening Shadows is a film that is very close to our heart: it is our most ambitious

project and the most mainstream one.

It is a film about parental acceptance of LGBTQ children, and a film that we hope every family watches. More than a gay film, it is about relationships - between son and mother, between son and father, between father and mother and also between two men who are in love. It’s about how these relationships sometimes conflict with each other because of intergenerational viewpoints and existing social mores. A lot of hope is riding on this film - not only for the cast and crew, but also for around 180 contributors across the world who have supported the film’s crowdfunding campaign. And, of course, the hope of the entire Indian LGBTQ community and the South Asian diaspora across the world.

What kind of reaction were you expecting?

As a conscious decision, we tried to make a simple film that will touch hearts. There are no auteur flourishes or sensational moments. The film’s narrative and the characters are real and universal. We hope that the audience takes back a story that makes them reflect about prejudices - whether it is against LGBTQ persons or against women. The screening at Mardi Gras having been the World Premiere of

the film, we hope the film’s journey began on a positive note.

What have you seen here in Australia - or elsewhere around the world - with regard to the LGBTQ community that you have been surprised by, or have liked and would like to see in India?

Obviously the laws need to change in India - Sec 377 needs to be read down so it doesn’t criminalise the community.

And then we need marriage laws, adoption and inheritance laws that will give the community an equal footing in the mainstream social space. What I have really liked in Australia and other countries around the world is that there are so many LGBTQ persons in power who are out - statesmen, politicians, judges, actors, sports personalities etc.

When LGBTQ persons who are wellknown come out and underline the normalcy of their gender identity or sexual orientation, it will inspire an entire generation to be more accepting. Only when you are out can you expect families, allies and stakeholders to support you in your fight for equality and dignity.

What is your own story of coming out?

I was a late bloomer! It was only when

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Scenes from Evening Shadows

KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival has managed to change perceptions and impact attitudes towards LGBTQs I was around 27 or 28 that I became comfortable with my sexuality. Because, remember, this was in the early 1990s when in India there was not even a whisper in public about homosexuality, unlike in the US, Australia and some parts of the world where gay rights were talked about in the open. I have been a victim of homophobia and discrimination which left deep scars that took years to heal. But once I managed to look in the mirror and say I was okay and my desires were normal, my journey of coming out spiralled out quickly. From being part of Bombay Dost, India’s first gay magazine in 1990, to co-founding The Humsafar Trust, India’s first registered gay NGO, and then being out in the media, there was no looking back.

Why did you choose to make films with a focus on queer subjects?

At the time I was coming out, I was also directing several mainstream television programs (Rishtey and Gubbare on Zee TV, Krisshna Arjun on Star Plus, Haqeekat on Sahara TV). But in none of these programs was there an opportunity

Sridhar Rangayan

to include either stories or characters who were LGBTQ. The channels back then did not want any of it as they felt it will alienate family audiences! So Saagar Gupta and I (both professional and life partners) decided to start our own company, Solaris Pictures, that will focus on making films with LGBTQ content. We wanted to tell stories that concern our community and impact our lives. Our first film was The Pink Mirror which was a peek into the boudoir of Indian drag queens in 2002 and we have followed it up with five more films over the years. Always, while we want to make films about the community, we want to make it for a larger audience. So with every project of ours, the effort is to reach it to larger mainstream audiences.

While The Pink Mirror and Breaking Free are now on Netflix, Purple Skies was telecast on the national network in India, and 68 Pages was taken on a tour of 25 cities in India. So the effort has always been to mainstream LGBTQ issues through cinema, and our latest film Evening Shadows is another step ahead in that direction.

Purple Skies

Is it easy to make films on queer subjects?

In India, because of the prevailing legal and social environment for LGBTQ rights, it is quite challenging to make films on LGBTQ topics. There is no government funding and the mainstream industry is very cautious about how they want to approach the topic. Also issues of censorship complicate matters. So stuck between the devil and the deep sea, most filmmakers turn to crowdfunding or personal resources. While there is no externalised homophobia, there is reluctance by mainstream actors and distributors to be part of LGBTQ films.

Things are changing with a few films, but we are not there yet. Our hope is in the independent films, documentaries and short films - a substantial number of LGBTQ films are being made in these genres.

What kind of reactions have you got for KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival? It’s been around for eight years. Have you seen more acceptance come your way since its first edition?

When we started KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival in 2010, soon after the Delhi High Court striking down Sec 377 in 2009, our main aim was to have a LGBTQ film festival in a mainstream theatre - as a celebration for the community, but also for mainstream audiences to get a window into LGBTQ lives. Over the years, the festival has grown not only to become South Asia’s biggest LGBTQ film festival, but also

VOICES OF PRIDE Evening Shadows is an invitation to a journey of self-reflection.

It’d be my hope that everyone who watches it finds it thoughtprovoking Maulik Thakkar, one of the 180+ contributors to the film’s crowdfunding effort It’s rare for us to be able to program narrative features from India, especially ones that have such a universal and relatable story. I’m thrilled we will have its World Premiere and a number of the key players as festival guests Lisa Rose, festival director of Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival It’s a matter of great pride that our film is being appreciated so much across the world; it validates all our hard work and all our hopes for the film. I hope and pray that our simple and honest narrative will touch those who watch it Mona Ambegaonkar, who plays the mother in the film

MARCH 2018 17

MARDI GRAS SPECIAL The Pink Mirror

GAY BOLLYWOOD Ranveer Singh and Jim Sarbh’s homoerotic act in Padmaavat is a big deal in Indian cinema, writes SUBHASH K JHA

I one of the important events in Mumbai’s cultural calendar.

We have had corporate houses supporting us, embassies coming forward, A-list celebrities gracing the festival, but most gratifying is that out of 2000+ audience who attend the festival every year, around 30% are non-LGBTQ audiences. Based on the feedback we have received (the festival does a post-event survey), it is evident that the festival has managed to change perceptions and impact attitudes towards the LGBTQ community. Even the number of Indian LGBTQ films has grown exponentially. Last year, we had over 50 Indian LGBTQ films at KASHISH. Even quality-wise and content-wise, there is more promise now with their diversity and storytelling power.

You have made films on HIV/AIDS within the LGBTQ community. What other issues or problems does the community face that those in the mainstream wouldn’t know about? Do you plan to address them in your upcoming projects?

While the LGBTQ community has issues about their self and society, more complicated is the dilemmas of the parents who are caught on the one side with their children’s issues, and on the other side with social mores. Especially when they are from a generation that has been entrenched in an environment with negative attitudes towards non-binary gender and nonheteronormative sexualities, the families suffer a lot.

Evening Shadows tries to address this and we hope the film can become a tool for parents to understand their children and stand up against prejudices.

Some of the other areas which need understanding are bisexuality and asexuality.

There is hardly any information about these sexualities. Domestic violence among samesex couples, drug abuse, old age issues are (other topics) to deal with soon.

Which other films or projects are you working on? Since your work revolves around LGBTQ community, how do you achieve a variety of themes and subjects within it?

I am a filmmaker who not only makes a film, but is involved in taking it ahead.

So dissemination, distribution and the dialogue enabled therein is very much part of my filmmaking process. With Evening Shadows just beginning its journey, it will

18 MARCH 2018

be some time before I embark on my next film. The one in the pipeline which I hope to get made soon is a feature length film English Songs of Eternal Love, a poignant romantic story at the cross section of religion and sexuality.

The Pink Mirror is still banned in India.

Do such restrictions dishearten you? How do you work around them?

The Pink Mirror still doesn’t have a censor certification. Our application was rejected thrice and we didn’t have the energy to follow up. That was back in 2002-03.

The censor board has definitely been more liberal since then. My film Purple Skies received a ‘U’ (universal) certificate though it was about lesbians, bisexual and trans persons; and our latest film Evening Shadows received a ‘UA’ certificate (children below 12 need parental guidance). My attempt has never been to sensationalise the issue or use it as a peg to promote the film. My films deal with LGBTQ issues as normally as in real life.

How has Section 377 affected the LGBTQ community in India?

While Sec 377 hasn’t been used often in legal terms, it has been misused by the police and blackmailers to both extract money and sexual favours from LGBTQ persons. Our feature-length documentary film Breaking Free (now available on Netflix) is a detailed account of how Sec 377 impacts the community - with real life testimonies of those affected as well as lawyers and stakeholders – and also the two-decade-long legal challenge to change the law. The film won the National Award for Best Editing (non-fiction) at the National Film Awards, which is the highest recognition for creative excellence in the country. It was a big victory for an LGBTQ film to receive the award and was a proud moment for me receiving it at the hands of the President of India.

n the West it’s Armie Hammer and Timothy Chalamet giving interviews as a couple for their gay love story Call Me By Your Name. We haven’t reached that nirvanic stage in India.

But Ranveer Singh and Jim Sarbh’s homoerotic act in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat comes closest to obtaining a kind of legitimacy for same-sex relationships that this country has so far only seen in fringe films by Hansal Mehta (Aligarh) and Onir (My Brother Nikhil).

Of course, detractors will argue that showing the villain as bisexual in Padmaavat doesn’t legitimise homosexuality as much as demonise it.

Then there will always be those who will look at mainstream cinema’s attempts to validate non-mainstream sections and relationships with suspicion and distrust.

But the fact remains that Ranveer Singh playing a man who is sexually attracted to another man is a big deal in Indian cinema.

He even gets into a bath-tub with Sarbh and at one point in the nubile narration, Sarbh gestures to ask if he can join his lord and monster..., pardon me, master, in bed.

Says Onir, “I love the chemistry between Ranveer and Jim Sarbh. I really like the shades that Sarbh has brought to his gay character.”

We can now tell you that there was a lot of debate on the sets of Padmaavat as to how Sarbh should play Ranveer’s “doosri begum”, the first one being Aditi Rao. The director wanted the character to be ruthlessly macho and not the least effeminate, so that when Sarbh bursts into an evocative erotic number about unrequited love we almost feel the stretched-out strains of a gender-free love that has no definition or demarcation, only rejection and ridicule.

And then there is the tenderness between the two men. There is a sequence where Sarbh takes Ranveer’s

hand and places his face in it... the tenderness and anguish of that moment are clear. Call him by any name, but the gay lover is finally here to stay. Indeed, there is more chemistry between Ranveer and Sarbh than there is between Ranveer and his screen wife Aditi Rao. In the global cinema, though, the movement towards mainstream legitimisation of same-sex relations has been in the making for years, with the mould being perhaps broken by Brokeback Mountain in 2005.

In the new flamboyant franchise film Maze Runner: The Death Cure we see another homoerotic relationship being given a healthy fillip - in the intense relationship between Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and Newt (Thomas BrodySangster). Not that anyone says they are gay. But their passionate friendship runs through the course of this sinewy tale of dystopian derring-do, almost topping the hero’s passionate relationship with the film’s official female lead.

The film ends with Dylan reading a posthumous love letter written to him by Newt which very clearly states the passionate nature of their mutual affection. All this is in the domain of the forbidden being forced out of the uncapped tube of moral freefalling that would have been frowned at by the moral police in the past.

Now that there is, what shall I say, more acceptance, a forthcoming film, Surmayee Sham directed by Sridhar Rangayan, talks about a young man coming out of the closet on the eve of his marriage.

Just two years back, it took a Fawad Khan from another country to play the gay son of a Delhi business family in Kapoor & Sons.

Given a chance, would Karan Johar have cast Ranveer Singh in Fawad’s role?

And more importantly, are we ready for the long-delayed sexual revolution in Hindi cinema?

Same sex marriage has recently been legalised in Australia after a postal ballot, but the Indian community’s vote wasn’t an unequivocal ‘Yes.’ What do you want to say to them?

There are always some people who will have regressive views. Perhaps they are not even their real views, they just want publicity by standing out. My message to them is, ‘Don’t be the barricade, it will fall. Be the wings, so you can soar too.’

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YOUTH

Fantastic plastic 15-year-old Angelina Arora wins top young innovators prize for her eco-friendly plastic developed from prawn shells

BY JYOTI SHANKAR

W

ould you say it is possible to make a pliable substance from the hard shells of prawns?

Plastic seems so essential to all aspects of our life today but its ubiquity has become the bugbear of every person concerned about its environmental impacts. Is it ever possible to find a replacement for plastic that is eco-friendly?

Fifteen-year-old Year 11 student of Sydney Girls High, Angelina Arora, has managed to do both of this. She will soon be on her way to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in the USA where over 1,800 high school students from 75 countries, regions and territories are given the opportunity to showcase their independent research.

This journey has been made possible as Angelina is one of six prestigious winners of the 2018 BHP Billiton Foundation Science and Engineering Awards. The awards are a partnership between the BHP Billiton Foundation, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and country-wide Science Teacher Associations (STA). Since 1981, these awards have been supporting pioneering research of young people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects.

Other amazing winning inventions this year includes a bionic arm that can detect and disarm landmines without putting human lives at risk, a picnic rug that

repels ants, a biochar product that can filter water and also be used as a fertiliser, a flood warning device and a robotic window cleaner.

Indian Link spoke to Angelina at the national camp of top 26 finalists of these awards where she participated in a series of lab and science activities and presented her project to judges. “I tested the strength, elongation, clarity, solubility, deconstruction and endurance of the plastic that I created from prawn shells and protein from the cocoons of silkworms, as well as other plastics made out of potato, corn and tapioca,” said Angelina, launching straight into the details of her creation. Angelina said that she was first made aware of the harmful effects of plastics when a shop attendant said that she had to pay for the plastic bag, which until then was given for free. The attendant explained that it was because plastic was bad for the environment and we need to reduce its use. This was trigger enough for Angelina’s questioning bent of mind.

She delved further into the extent of ill-effects of plastic and found that plastics have now found their way into the oceans and the creatures that live in water. As seafood consumers, humans are not far removed from ingesting plastics indirectly, she learnt.

Angelina wanted to find a sustainable alternative. With the support of her school teachers, a lot of experimenting - and patience! - Angelina was ready to present her findings.

The first part of her project was to examine different breeds of fish for micro-plastics, for toxics that leach from plastics into their flesh and enter the

human food chain. The second was to research options for bioplastics made from starches extracted from corn, potato and tapioca which would be environmentfriendly as they return to nature when they disintegrate. Current plastics made from petroleum products stay intact in nature for hundreds of years, even after they disintegrate.

Angelina’s initial experiments led to her picking up the first prize in chemistry in her age bracket at the STANSW Young Scientist Awards 2016. As a result, she was introduced to top scientists at CSIRO who are now mentoring her through her current project of turning discarded prawn shells into bio-plastic. The spur for this idea was a visit to her local fish and chip shop and the sight of discarded piles of crab and prawn shells, smelly and destined for the bin. Surely there had to be a better, more sustainable way of disposing them, thought Angelina. So she took some of this waste to her school lab and began experimenting.

“Prawn shells consist of a hard yet flexible protein called chitosan. I combined this with fibroin, another sticky protein extracted from the silk of silkworms.

This shrimp plastic was sturdier than the corn-starch bioplastic I made from plant sources. It does not disintegrate in water.

And when it finally disintegrates, it doesn’t leave harmful substances in nature. In fact, it can act as a fertiliser for plants,” explains this young scientist. “Right now, I have got offers for developing this product commercially for packaging products.”

Angelina has, in fact, been declared the winner of the Innovator to Market award for the 2018 BHP Billiton Foundation Science and Engineering Awards and this

will make her research a practical reality.

She hopes this new plastic could replace plastic shopping bags and other packaging to reduce the environmental impact on landfills and oceans.

Angelina acknowledges that she couldn’t have done this all alone. “I am lucky to have people in the CSIRO and Sydney University, my parents and school science teachers to guide me,” she says. Time management seems easy for this young lady who balances inventing, school work, swimming, cricket, playing the clarinet and piano, public speaking, dance, drama and volunteering.

Angelina says she hopes to be a role model for other young girls considering a career in science. “I am not sure if I want to be a doctor or an environmental engineer yet. All I know for now is that I would like to help people and nature,” she says, revealing the mind of a confused teenager, just this one time.

PLASTIC 2.0 • Prawn shells consist of a hard yet flexible protein called chitosan.

Angelina combined this with fibroin, another sticky protein extracted from the silk of silkworms • It is sturdier than the corn-starch bioplastic Angelina made from plant sources. It does not disintegrate in water.

• When it finally disintegrates, it doesn’t leave harmful substances in nature. In fact, it can act as a fertiliser for plants • Angelina has had offers for developing this product commercially for packaging products

MARCH 2018 19

WHAT’S ON WOMEN’S DAY Women’s Day Gala – The Colour of Desire Thu 8 March (8:00pm-9:20pm) Wyndham City presents the inaugural International Women’s Day Gala.

Curated by Dipa Rao and Aparna Ananthuni, the evening will feature performances from seven women, exploring both Western and South Asian traditions through music, poetry and dance. Wyndham Cultural Centre, 177 Watton Street, Werribee.

Details 03 8734 6000 BOOK LAUNCH AII Event Wed 14 March (5:30pm-7:00pm) Professor Craig Jeffrey, Director of the Australia India Institute, launches his new book, Modern India – A Very Short Introduction. The Woodward Centre, South and West Rooms, Level 10, 185 Pelham Street (Law Building), University of Melbourne. Details 03 9035 8047 ENTERTAINMENT Bappi Lahiri Sunday 11 March (7:00pm) Palais Theatre, St Kilda. Details Rakesh 0411 621 371 STAGE Baithak with Pt Abhijit Banerjee Sat 24 March (2:30pm-6:30pm) An event hosted by Ghongroo School of Kathak Dance. First half will be Kathak tabla workshop in which senior students of Ghungroo School of Dance will perform Kathak to the accompaniment of live tabla by Pt Abhijit Banerjee and Lehra on sarod

by Rahul Bhattacharya. Second half of the event will be tabla and sarod Concert by Pt Abhijit Banerjee and Rahul Bhattacharya. Huntingdale Community Hall, Cnr Germaine St and Huntingdale Rd, Oakleigh Sth. Details 0437 093 549 Pandit Abhijit Banerjee with Tripataka Sun 25 March (8:30pm-11:30pm) A concert by Tripataka in which with four musicians show their affinity with jazz and Indian music. Hosted by the Melbourne Jazz Coop. The Jazzlab 27 Leslie St, Brunswick. Details https:// www.jazzlab.club/

20 MARCH 2018

Krishnarpanam Sun 4 March (2:30pm-5:30pm) Senior students of Nrithakshetra School of Indian Classical Dance present Krishnarpanam. Close George Wood Performing Arts Centre Yarra Valley Grammar, Kalinda Rd, Ringwood.

Details, Trishula 0413 768 175 Kaifi Aur Main Mon 12 March (6:00 pm-8:30 pm) Kaifi Aur Main summarises everything about Kaifi, his 55-year romance with Shaukat, or his progressive social ideas. 188 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Details 0425 204 364 FESTIVAL AIII Holi Sun 4 March (11:30am-6:30pm) Hosted by The Australian Indian Innovations Inc and Dr RnB Entertainment. Experience the fun of playing with powdered colour, water balloons for kids, dry powder Holi and water-based Holi. Scrumptious food by Melbourne’s most famous food trucks, children’s rides, variety stalls, nonstop music for all those dance lovers.

Tatterson Park, Keysborough. Details Raj 0411 429 598.

VCA Wyndham Holi 2018 Sat 3 March (11:00am-9pm) Hosted

by Victorian Cultural Association Inc. Presidents Park, Wyndham Vale.

Details www.vcaa.org.au Rang Barse - Festival of Colours Sun 11 March (11:00am-6:00pm) Monash Clayton Sports Center, Melbourne Details 0427 274 462.

Bundoora Park Holi Sat 10 March (All day) Reserved Area, Bundoora Park. Details Pooja 0481 334 375 Holi at Werribbee Racecourse Sat 3 March (11:00am-8:00pm) An event by Festivals of South Asia Inc. Werribee Racecourse, 2-10 Bulban Rd, Werribee. Details www. festivalsofsouthasia.org.au Holi Fair Sun 4 March (11:30 am-6:30 pm) The Australian Indian Innovations Incorporated’s event. Tatterson Park Cheltenham Rd, Keysborough. Details Raj 0411 429 598

To list your event email: media@indianlink.com.au FOOD Foodie Trails - Indian Festival Melbourne Sat 24 March 9:00am to Sun 25 March 4:00 pm Queen Victoria Market, 452 Queen street Melbourne MUSIC Anoushka Shankar - Land Of Gold Tues 13 March (8:00pm-11:00pm) A singular figure in the Indian classical and progressive world music scenes, Anoushka Shankar grew up playing sitar alongside her father and Guru, the legendary Ravi Shankar. Arts Centre Melbourne 100 St Kilda Road Details 1300 182 183 COMMUNITY Sikh family camp Fri 9 March to Mon 12 March This camp sees international facilitators coming to impart motivation, knowledge and Gurmat vichaar alongside local facilitators. Kids friendly. Camp Marysville 959 BuxtonMarysville Road, Marysville. Details 0431 692 299 MuslimFest Sun 11 March (12:00pm-8:00pm) Attracting over 10,000 people, this community event has been exciting residents of all ages and share the multicultural heritage of Islam with all Australians through art, culture, and entertainment. Highlights include carnival rides, free kids activities, cultural and community performances.

Westgate Sports & Leisure Cnr Grieve Pde & Doherty’s Rd, Altona. Details 0432 175 822 Mela Meliyan Da Sat 3 March (4:00pm-10:00pm) Event hosted by Khakh Production.

Live performances, food stalls, suit stalls and many more attractions.

Williamstown Town Hall, 104 Ferguson Street, Williamstown. Details Arsh 0424 150 132 Cranbourne Punjabi Mela Sun 18 March (12:00pm onwards) An event hosted by Milestone. Family event with bhangra, kabaddi, rasa kassi and gidda performances in open fields. Cranbourne Racecourse, Grant St Cranbourne Details 02 9191 9638

SPIRITUAL Sri Venkateswara Kalyan Utsav Sun 18 March (6:00pm-8:30pm) Event in celebration of Ugadi New Year! Join us for this joyous wedding ceremony followed by annadhanam dinner! Sri Sai Siva Vishnu Temple 5/4 Shaft Crt Hoppers Crossing. Details 0411 611 031 Sri Rama Navami Sun 25 March (6:00pm-8:30pm) Sita Rama Kalyanam will be performed. Sri Sai Siva Vishnu Temple 5/4 Shaft Crt Hoppers Crossing. Details 0411 611 031 MISC Women’s Day Sat 3 March (5:00pm-9:00pm) Hosted by MDA Events, this project will have various competitions and challenges, meet and greet and general chat sessions along with dance and music performances. The project will be chaired by Filmfare award-winning actor Sangeetha Krish along with Harathi Ravindran (Aarthi), winner of Tamil Nadu’s prestigious Kalaimamani award. Hungarian Community Centre, 760 Boronia Road, Wantirna. Details Mandy/ Raj 0416 677 180 M Festival 2018 18 March (12:00pm-10:00pm) M Festival: A festival of momos, music and more. Coburg Cycling Velodrome Coburg. Details 0425 822 776 Indian Cruise Party 2018 Sat 17 March (5:00pm) Cruise boarding time 5:00pm and departure time 5:30pm. No tickets required for kids below 1 year. Unlimited dinner, dance and DJ party. Central Pier, Docklands. Details 0488 332 111 FUNDRAISER Kriti: The Musical Wonder Sun 4 March (2:15pm-6:00pm) Melbourne Yuva is organising a musical concert to raise funds for Sri Vakrathunda Vinayagar Temple’s building fund as the temple completes 25 years. Join us for an afternoon of music, dance and good food. The Drum Theatre, Corner Lonsdale & Walker streets (the old Dandenong Town Hall), Dandenong. Kids Friendly.

Details, VJ 0401 514 042

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EXHIBITION Ujala Baoli, Mandu, Madhya Pradesh, India Photo: Victoria Lautman, from The Vanishing Stepwells of India by Victoria Lautman (2017)

Water and wisdom An exhibition at RMIT Gallery shows how humans and water are inextricably linked

BY APARNA ANANTHUNI

W

ater. It is both ancient and modern in its role in culture, in the stories human beings tell about it, and the absolute dependence they place on it for survival and development.

In its summer exhibition, water+wisdom, RMIT Gallery explores the shared and disparate connections to water of lands that were once themselves connected: Australia and India.

Once part of the ‘super continent’ of Gondwana, the two lands still have many similarities when it comes to water: high rainfall variability, long established practices of customary water management and competing demands for water from different sectors. This connection is

symbolised by the display of a painting from 1999 that was co-created by indigenous Australian and Indian artists.

The artists worked on the painting from either side. Where they met in the middle, they decided to collaborate - on the depiction of the river.

Curated by Suzanne Davies with Helen Rayment, the exhibition guides us through the work of over 40 creative practitioners, and thus through diverse interpretations of the cultural, social, spiritual and economic importance of water and waterways. “In shaping the exhibition, we’ve drawn on extensive research by experts from India and Australia to present poetic dimensions of customary knowledge regarding water stewardship,” Davies says.

The exhibition is beautifully eclectic, comprising painted works, photography and video works, as well as material objects such as the finely woven eel traps of master weaver, Gunditjmara artist Aunty Connie Hart. It also features a special family-friendly Augmented Reality

sandbox that allows users to create topography models by shaping real sand, which is then augmented in real time by an elevation colour map, topographic contour lines, and simulated water, enabling rivers to be created.

One of the most striking paintings is the softly luminous Sacred Water (2010),

by Judy Watson, which depicts the spring waters of Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill Gorge), in the artist’s Waanyi Country. Water, the artist writes, is the “conduit” for all she does. “It needs to be respected and cared for, not polluted and drained. It feeds the Country which replenishes the people.”

In Journey to the River Cauvery (2012), Bengaluru artist Bhavani GS travelled alongside the river in its journey to the

Bay of Bengal. Her video work shows the river as a place for everyday chores where women beat and wash clothes, a place of natural beauty, and a site of spiritual bathing. The artist explains that as she followed the river, it gave her a “different view”, and “she fell in love” with it. The rush of the river, the artists’ feet submerged in its red-clayed shallows, the bloody work of fisherman cleaning giant fish on its banks, all conveyed the multilayered importance of rivers in India.

The exhibition also uses archival photography to explore unknown aspects of the human connection water - for example, in a series of nineteenth-century photographs, we see indigenous peoples holding dingos; the animals provide warmth, but, importantly, are also water diviners. Dingos were traditionally the special care of women and children, and were, besides helping in finding water, also functioned as hunting aids, living blankets and security. Thus the striking black-and-white photographs show the vital connections between land, water, life, and the human body, held together in indigenous Australians’ embrace of the dingo.

A very different, contemporary, series of photographs by Victoria Lautman, captures the crumbling, intricate and ancient stepwells that still stand in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat in India. Some are still of functional use, many others are not. As noted of the obscure stepwell called Batris Kotha Vav (thirty-two stories) in Gujarat, its picturesque green vines are “sadly damaging to the structure.” The stepwells today represent aesthetic beauty and fascinating histories of diverse patrons, but, as Davies points out, also “provide us with an insight into an often-overlooked relic of sophisticated historic water infrastructure.”

Another example of a little-known and ancient form of water infrastructure are the fish traps depicted in another set of nineteenth-century photographs of the stone fish traps created and maintained for thousands of years by the Ngemba, Wonkamurra, Wallwan and Gombleroi peoples of the Brewarrina region of NSW. A sombre reminder of the current state of waterways in Australia is seen in the specially commissioned documentary, People of the River. In it, Elder N’Ahweet, Aunty Di Kerr, says, “I worry about our future…I’ve seen the rivers go down and down.” She also highlights how vital that relationship with water and the land is: “It’s important to belong…to connect.” water+wisdom is ultimately about how complex and multilayered our relationship with water is - and how to view water and waterways as purely practical, economic, cultural or spiritual, rather than holding them in our minds as all of those things at the same time, which can put that relationship in danger.

The exhibition runs until 10 March at RMIT Gallery, City campus

I worry about our future…I’ve seen the rivers go down and down.

Elder N’Ahweet, Aunty Di Kerr MARCH 2018 21

KINDY KIDS

I’m a big kid now

REEHA PANDHARIPANDE Summer Hill Public School, Summer Hill NSW

I feel a bit like crying when I go to school, but when I see Mrs Thompson, I feel happy. I think I love her

AARAV SEDHA

Jasper Road Public School, Baulkham Hills NSW

Enough of this kindy now. I will come back some other day

AMORA TRIPATHI

Parramatta NSW

I had THREE lunch breaks, yay!

ATRI TEJA

Christ the King, Warradale, South Australia

SRADDHA SHAILESH

I love playing in the playground

St Antony’s Primary School, Girraween NSW

Finally I get to go with my BIG brother to BIG school

AISHANI SINHA

Glen Huntly Primary School, Glen Huntly VIC

KRISHAY SHAH

Blacktown South Public School, Blacktown NSW

Daddy, I didn’t cry at all but mum cried when you dropped me to school in the morning.

22 MARCH 2018

(When her Mum said she would miss her): Maa don’t worry, I will be back soon. That’s my school, not my home

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SOURISH BHATTACHARYA

Seven Hills North Public School, Seven Hills NSW

MEERA SHITOOT

I am excited to go to big school but I will be super happy if Mamma and Daddy can stay with me!

SHANAYA ANAND

Kellyville Public School, Kellyville NSW

(Singing her favourite rhyme) Look at me, I am going to school!

Ashfield NSW

Mum, you can go catch the train if you want. I know everything about school!

AYAAN PURI

Riverbank Public School, The Ponds NSW

Maybe 1 week and I’ll become a pilot

SIDDHI PURANIK

HAMISH SUNERAM

Campbelltown SA

St Ives Park Primary School, St Ives NSW

I like my new uniform.

I also like playing in the playground

Do I have to go back to school again today?

But I went yesterday

AYAAN PATEL

Beresford Road Public School, Greystanes NSW

I am a big boy so have to go to big school

TISHA PATEL

Stella Maris Parish School, Seacombe Gardens, SA

I like to play with friends and with my star board

MARCH 2018 23

YOUTH Photo: Monash Multicultural Indian Club, MONSU Caulfield Inc

Top t i p f or ne s s tu d e w nt s

O L L E H SAY E F I L I N U O T BY RADHIKA BHATIA

A

s a current 5th year university student, I’d almost forgotten the complex jumble of emotions I’d felt on the lead up to my university’s orientation week. During the three-and-a-half-hour drive down to the Australian National University, where I had enrolled weeks earlier, I remember trying to supress bubbling apprehension over how little I knew about what was in store. After living thirteen years of my life on a dependable 8:20am-3:30pm timetable, at the same school and in the same city, I was jumping head first into completely unfamiliar territory.

Not all of you first year students will move to another city to attend university.

Some of you might be studying overseas and for some of you, university might be a mere train stop away from home. Either way, adjusting to university life can be a challenge and anything you may currently be feeling, from trepidation or fear to

24 MARCH 2018

buzzing excitement, is completely valid!

Below are a few of the things that I would have found valuable to know at the start of my first year, and that I hope might help you adjust to the next 3-5 years!

recommend downloading the ‘Lost on Campus’ app to help you get around and make it to classes on time.

Organise your timetable in a way that suits you

As you’re probably aware, most universities have a multitude of eclectic clubs and societies for you to choose from. Societies are not only a great way to continue to develop a current hobby but also to find a completely new one. Sign up to something new and you may find that you have a hitherto undiscovered talent for Quidditch or competitive Frisbee. Just be sure not to overdo it on the society sign-ups, unless you want your inbox to be bombarded with emails about clubs you don’t even remember joining.

One of the greatest things about university is the lifestyle. Say goodbye to 7+ hour days, 5 days a week, and hello to minimal contact hours (depending on your degree) and a timetable of your own choosing!

Whilst lecture times are set in stone, you can often choose which days and times you would like to attend your tutorials.

After a few semesters of experimentation, I discovered that what works for me is having all my classes compiled into 2-3 days, freeing the rest of the week for studying or work. If going to university involves extensive travel, I’d recommend this course of action for you too.

Make sure you know how to get to your classes Practically speaking, your university is likely to have a larger campus than your school, with different buildings for different academic colleges. I’d

Sign up to clubs and societies (but not too many)

Find a cool place on campus to study

Your timetable may leave you with several hours to spend on campus between classes and what better way to spend that time than study? Check out all the different libraries, study halls and even outdoor benches to find the best study environment for you.

Alternatively, cafes can be great places

to sit and work if, like me, you prefer a more relaxed learning atmosphere. Once a friend and I spent the most productive four consecutive days of our lives at my favourite café, researching and writing our 3500-word International Relations essays.

When choosing your ideal study-café, be sure to look out for large tables so you can spread out your work, plenty of natural light so you don’t ruin your eyes, music you enjoy and kind owners that will allow you camp out for as long as you need.

Learning at university is different to school

Quick disclaimer: I am an Arts/Law student so I know little to nothing about how maths or science courses are run at university. The two pieces of wisdom I can offer first year STEM students have been borrowed from my STEM friends. 1.

Avoid statistics courses where possible and 2. Eat before university labs because they are very long.

In the humanities world, learning is divided into lectures and tutorials.

Lectures generally run for between one to three hours. Most lectures are not interactive, but rather consist of a professor spieling as much information as

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she or he possibly can in their allotted time. I recommend that you avoid trying to record everything they say in your notes because, at least in my experience, that is nearly impossible! Instead, focus on understanding the material and use your textbook to fill in your notes with the content you missed.

If the idea of a three-hour class overwhelms you than you are definitely in the majority! But don’t worry, lecturers are aware that three hours of intense concentration is a lot to ask, and often allow for short breaks in the middle of their class. Also, lectures are often recorded so you can watch them at your own pace and in your own time.

Quick tip: to save time, you can play your lecture at 1.5 speed or even double the speed and cut a three-hour long lecture down to an hour and a half!

Tutorials are more involved. They typically run for one hour and involve discussions about assigned readings (be prepared for both awkward silences and soapbox orating!) or working through problem questions. Participation is often compulsory so try to come prepared!

Make sure you stay on top of your coursework

With the excitement of escaping from the slightly overbearing nature of school life still fresh, it’s easy to forget the realities of being entirely accountable for your own learning. Although there are no immediate repercussions for falling behind on your coursework, try and keep up to date. Learning an entire university course in the week before your exams may be possible for you, but it’s never a fun or healthy experience!

It’s also important to remember that you can ask for help when you need it.

Don’t be afraid to email or organise a meeting with your university tutors and lecturers to discuss any questions you may have. I’d also recommend befriending a senior student who may be able to pass along some helpful advice!

1 University is a big change from high school Learning at the tertiary level is self-driven and open to whatever approach works best for you; just remember to maintain those time-management skills from high school!

2 Dive into everything O-week has to offer O-week is the place to be for first years. You’ll have no trouble meeting all kinds of people and forging lasting friendships by signing up to the kaleidoscope of clubs, societies and events that are on offer (not to mention all the freebies and discounts that inevitability go hand in hand with large gatherings at any university).

3 Study abroad! Don’t hesitate if you come across the opportunity to go on exchange. A two-week vacation can’t compare to the depth of experience you get living in another country. For me, six months in London included making amazing friends from Japan to Norway, visiting eight countries across Europe and embracing a truly independent lifestyle.

SUDARSHAN ARVIND 3rd Year, Bachelor of Biomedicine, University

More than anything, don’t try and fit what everyone else is doing. Everyone’s experience of university is different. Make your own experience, but the only way you can really do that is by getting involved at uni. It’s easy to fall into a trap of uni being the same as studying all day every day. The memories, experience and knowledge you actually gain, generally occurs outside the classroom. Get involved with whatever you’re vaguely interested in and see where it takes you.

For me, the Law Society gave a world of new opportunities; the UN Society let me travel to conferences at an Asia-Pacific level where I met and learned from delegates from across the globe. That’s not to say that these experiences should interest you, but more to say that without getting involved, a lot of doors open for me now would never have even been visible in the first place.

KHUSHAAL VYAS Arts/Law UNSW, 5th Year

My advice is to jump in right from Day 1 of O-Week. Sign up for the campus tours and go to course events even if they seem like they might be boring because you are likely to meet some amazing people who you will remain friends with for your whole degree!

Additionally, sign up to all the clubs and societies that appeal to you; most are either free or have a nominal fee to join.

Finally, try your best to keep up with course content on a weekly basis. It’s hard during certain weeks when you’re bogged down with assessments and midsemester exams but at the end of semester you will be so thankful for the couple of hours taken to do this!

And as a side note, your first days, weeks and months at university are usually a completely novel and incredible experience. But, it is very different from anything you’ve done before and if you find the new structure or environment a little foreign at first, don’t stress too much; it will slowly grow on you and you will eventually settle in and LOVE it!

SIMREN SAMRAI Commerce/Arts USyd, 4th Year

Meet new people

Try to make new friends at university.

This may sound incredibly obvious and may even be inevitable for those of you who are going to university away from home. However, if you are tempted to stick to your school friends, I advise you against it. One of the best things about university is the diverse range of people you will meet. Your peers will have come from all around Australia and the world and will bring with them interesting and unique ways of approaching life. At the risk of sounding clichéd, discussions with my university friends have definitely challenged and still constantly challenge the way I see and do things. Also, having friends from all around the world means I have places to stay when I go travelling!

Good luck with university, first years, I’m sure you’ll love it!

RADHIKA BHATIA is an Arts/Law student at ANU

I would tell any incoming uni students to make the most of the social opportunities you’re offered: get involved in things that interest you and especially things that involve your classmates, and as long as you don’t overcommit you’ll find that being around more members of your cohort actually drags your marks up, not down JAMES WILSON Economics/Law USyd, 3rd Year

Take care of yourself, and ask for help when you need it. It’s the most common advice people give you throughout university, but it’s also the most important.

It can often feel like someone has handed you ten flame clubs to juggle, even though you’ve only ever learned how to manage two tennis balls at once (and you weren’t very good at that either).

That’s when you need to step back and focus on yourself for a while. If you’re sick, don’t pressure yourself to get better overnight.

Give yourself time and ask for help from your lecturers, tutors and peers. There is no shame in asking for help. University is about you, learn as much as you can, and have fun along the way.

SAHIBNOOR SINGH Bachelor of Science (Microbiology) USyd, 3rd Year

University can be really daunting because it requires independence and a strong work ethic. It’s important to take time out and reflect on progress and achievements. These small affirmations can make all the difference, giving you the confidence and motivation you need to succeed.

ANISHA GUNAWARDHANA Economics/Law USyd, 3rd Year

MARCH 2018 25

If you live in a suburb near grasslands, you’re at risk of fire.

If you live directly next to parks or paddocks and a fire starts, walk at least two streets back. If you live two or more streets away, stay where you are. Grassfires are unlikely to spread into built up areas. Stay alert and monitor conditions.

Don’t drive, visibility may be poor, accidents are likely, and you could block emergency services.

emergency.vic.gov.au

Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne

Download the VicEmergency app

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Lucy and I wish you and your family a very Happy Holi

MALCOLM TURNBULL mp Prime Minister of Australia

Authorised by Andrew Hirst, Liberal Party of Australia, Cnr Blackall and Macquarie Sts, Barton ACT 2600.

PM Holi Message_122x170.indd 1

26 MARCH 2018

15/2/18 5:12 pm

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My child is in a combined class

Photo: Sacred Heart

SCHOOL

There are several positives for learning in multi-age classrooms

BY VINAYA RAI

T

he school year has just begun and a question on social media about combined or composite classes got me thinking. When my children were in primary school, and often in a composite class, many parents (especially migrants) thought gifted children were put in a composite class and were thus able to be ‘extended’. When the same child was put in a composite class with lower class students, for example in a 3-4 class with his year level being 4, then the parents’ angst and anguish were palpable.

No amount of the teacher or principal explaining that composite classes were based on student numbers and not on intellectual ability of the student satisfied the parents. They felt that their child would not progress academically.

In contrast, I found that my son became better when in a composite class with younger children. He helped the younger kids when he had completed his own work. So much so that shy kids who did not like to put up their hand and ask the teacher for help, often asked him.

So if you have a shy child, they will have more people to ask for help and the comfort and ease of having a peer to turn to. This may then translate to being able to relate to

peers better in the playground, which will help in their social development.

When my children were in composite classes with older kids, I found that they did better probably due to a perceived higher level of competition, and also that they had greater confidence. They learnt better study habits by observing the older kids and had more social interactions, not just with their classmates but with children in other classes as well.

Children also learn cooperation, responsibility and appreciation of individual differences. I rarely heard any child being mocked as being dumb or slow, or given more importance for a talent. They saw that if a classmate helped them with computing, then the same classmate might be helped by someone else in English or another subject.

In fact, younger children find more role models in the older students and are able to integrate better into the class. They also learn the class routines quickly as they imitate the older kids.

When older children help the younger ones, they are reinforcing their own skills and get more practice at what they have learnt. So this not only makes them more confident but eager to learn more. I remember my son was good at computing and by Year 7 was reading magazines like Computers Today only because he wanted to know more. In fact, I think he thought he knew more than the teacher!

Being in a class with older kids helps children socially too. Kids from our

community are often smaller physically than most others in the class. But being in the same class as older kids, they develop ways to communicate better and interact assertively with a wider variety of children in the classroom. They are then more confident and assertive outside of the classroom, in the playground as well as in other places.

Parents’ concerns about composite classes centre around bullying, children not being challenged enough, the

the school. The fault may not be with the composition of the class but there may be other dynamics at play.

It is important to have good communication with your school, and with the child’s teacher first and foremost, but also with other staff and parents too. Make sure you get involved with your child’s school. This makes it easier to ensure your child has good experiences at school and also you get to know more about the school and its workings.

Remember that it is not so much class structure that influences learning, but the quality of teaching curriculum not being covered adequately for both year levels etc. If any such concerns crop up, the best way is to approach the teacher or principal and discuss these issues openly.

Whether your child is in single-grade class or in a composite class, it is important to keep open communication with the teacher. Don’t be shy to take your concerns to the principal or higher, if nothing is done. Issues can arise in straight-grade classrooms as well.

So if your child who was happy to go to school last year suddenly does not want to go to school any more, or struggles with his or her homework, then speak to

As you can see, I think composite classes are quite good. Research mostly indicates the same. Academically, composite classes don’t seem to make much of a difference to most kids. However, some of the research indicates that socially and emotionally there is a greater advantage.

But we have to remember that it is not so much class structure that influences learning, but the quality of teaching. And the child’s involvement in the learning.

So is your child involved and engaged, not only academically but in other activities as well?

And are you? Are you involved in your child’s education?

MARCH 2018 27

STAGE

God Woman Bharatanatyam dancer and transgender activist Dr Narthaki Natraj on her struggles, feminism and more

BY APARNA ANANTHUNI

“I

believe that dance is one of the most incredible ways to create connection to our bodies and, fundamentally, our inner selves.”

These were the words of Dr Narthaki Nataraj, Bharatanatyam dancer extraordinaire and activist for the transgender community of Tamil Nadu, at the end of her recent performance in Melbourne. Presented by Laya Vidhya Centre’s InConcert Music, the event was supported by InTouch Multicultural Centre against Family Violence, IndianCare, and Ashray Women’s Centre.

As a child, Dr Nataraj “couldn’t understand how she was different.”

Eventually, her passionate interest in dance became fundamental to discovering and expressing her identity as a woman.

“And I think it was dance that chose me and gave me a means to express my femininity, which I was otherwise unable to. Dance was an effective tool to realise my womanhood and to express its subtleties,” she said.

Her confidence and conviction is born of years of pursuing rigorous dance training and a career as a dancer, which itself was

28 MARCH 2018

the result of a highly tuned sense of her own self and what she wanted to achieve simply, to be “the best.”

“We (herself and her lifelong friend and dance partner Shakti Bhaskar) have come up the hard way, faced so much scorn and censure, and lived in fear. People born like us generally take the easy way out and go into the oldest profession in the world. But we did not let the shame and rejection break our spirits. Our great determination to carve a name for ourselves as respected artists, has brought us where we are today.”

Dr Nataraj performed a traditional Tanjavur-style repertoire of Bharatanatyam pieces. According to her, the Tanjavur style (the style that predates the twentiethcentury reconstruction of Bharatanatyam

by Kalakshetra’s Rukmini Devi Arundale), is all about presenting the dance as a historical legacy, in its “purest form.” She dances the exact choreography created by her guru, the renowned Dr K P Kitappa Pillai, descendent of the Tanjore Quartet, and says that strict adherence to the Tanjore tradition is what audiences have come to anticipate in her performance.

An especial beauty of Dr Narthaki’s performance is her delicately yet intensely portrayed interplay of emotions between characters, and inner feelings of the heroine (nayika). This nayika bhava is, she told us, fascinatingly also described as “Madhura bhakti…or a divine transgender

state.”

Later, she told me, “Dance is a vehicle to uplift women, and womanhood is also a vehicle for dance.” By this, she explained, she means that she projects the Lasya, that is, feminine qualities through dance, but also uses her womanhood to project dance. And her real feeling of freedom comes in her ability to be whatever character is demanded of her - not just a nayika, or heroine, but also male heroes such as the god Shiva.

Shiva figures significantly in her philosophy of gender equality. In her speech at the end of her of performance, she said, “How can one ignore Shiva when the topic is of feminism? There is no better feminist than him.” For her, Shiva’s male-female form of Ardhanareeshwara “personifies” feminism.

She described female empowerment as a “coherence between your thoughts, feelings and actions.” Clearly, being who and how you truly are, with ease, is a key part of her philosophy. “(Women) should ask themselves, what do I know about myself, as a woman, how much am I aware of myself and my needs? Do I express myself comfortably? Joy is the natural state of your female nature.”

When it comes to gendered violence, she was refreshingly firm: “Men have to realise that women are not mere flesh and bone to be used for their physical pleasures.”

I asked whether she thinks things have improved for the transgender community in India. “The young generation, they can understand who we are,that we also the humans, we have feelings too.”

Nevertheless, she believes it will take a long, long time for her community to be accepted as equal. And certainly, there are very few in the transgender community who have been able to achieve the kind of career she has in the arts.

This career and its successes have, she emphatically states, been solely the result of her skill as a dancer and her determination to reach that level of skill. “I trust myself only. All I have, I got from my merit. I absolutely don’t like that “oh she’s a transgender, so we will encourage her dance or appreciate her.”

But Dr Nataraj has not just defined her own freedom in the way she describes herself and her journey. She has literally redefined the way the transgender community in Tamil Nadu is named. The way the community has been named as hitherto been solely derogatory: “Their name for us is some teasing word, you know. So was not ready to accept (it). I respect myself and my inner thoughts. I call myself as Thirunangai (literally GodWoman)”. In 2007, she had this term officially recognised by the government of Tamil Nadu.

Her independence and drive have also led her to establish Velliambalam Trust, an organisation that supports and creates opportunities for women of her community.

However, as she eloquently and characteristically declared, women going through what she went through to find and express their identity don’t need “sympathy” from the rest of the world.

“All they need is acceptance and support. At the end of the day, I love myself and am happy with my life. Which is where my feminism lies.”

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OPINION

Why NOT to be a domestic goddess A thought for Women’s Day: It’s time to change our gendered expectations

BY DIPANJALI RAO

S

omeone said to me a few months ago, commenting on a project I was working on, “How do you manage to do so much?” I usually chuckle and dismiss this question, but the other day, my kitchen sink flashed before my eyes. I didn’t laugh this time. I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I don’t clean.”

I genuinely don’t. And nope, no cleaner either. As I write this, there are three dust bunnies in my living room waiting idly by for their next chance to swirl gaily around my living room. There’s an envelope from ANZ from 2016 that sits next to my TV. There’s cat litter on my bathroom floor, a layer of dust on my TV table, and the kitchen sink is full. (The only thing I do regularly is laundry, because, personal hygiene.) I regularly have aha! moments when I find long lost things stuck between the cushions of my couch. Hmm, maybe that’s where that DVD remote is.

Now I don’t try to be messy person, I just don’t really care enough about the state of my house to do anything about it regularly. And this is particularly important. Because time I don’t spend on cleaning is time I spend on, dare I say, more interesting and important things. And it is a lot of time. The average Australian woman does between 5 and 14 hours on housework a week, according to the 2016 census. The typical Aussie man?

Less than 5.

Carnatic classical singing, wrote half a dozen pieces for this newspaper, worked on two community projects on domestic violence, completed a leadership course and was nominated for an award on domestic violence reporting. I also lost three kilos of fat, put on two kilos of muscle and can now do two pullups. Ok

achievement for women. According to research, women pick to spend time on housework over employment. Such is the pressure housework puts on women.

Plus, turns out that cleaning can actually be dangerous to your health. Women do the lion’s share of cleaning and are exposed to more chemicals, which likely cause substantial damage to women’s lungs, according to a study published in American Journal of Respiratory and

The key is to change our gendered expectations, including what we expect of ourselves. My mother did very little house work around the house (we had maids, which is problematic in different ways) so at least at home, I escaped that socialising.

Walking over a sock that’s been lying on the floor for two weeks is possibly easier for me; my sense of worth isn’t tied to how neat my house is. And any insecurity I had about this behaviour was put to rest by a

The time I don’t spend on cleaning is time I spend on, dare I say, more interesting and important thing So what did I do with all that spare time? Apart from working full time, I presented at my first ever IT conference, presented on five other occasions for work, was on two panels for a documentary I’m working on, emceed an event at the Jaipur Literature Festival, worked for the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, curated and performed in a concert, trained in

fine, only 1.5 pullups.

The point is, I had time to do a lot. (I acknowledge that privilege enables these activities, including that I can indeed choose not to do housework) This is time men usually have and women don’t because it is expected that they keep house. And this has significant implications for both personal and professional

Critical Care Medicine. So stop cleaning, right?

How’s this for a cruel joke: we still suffer if we reduce the amount of housework we do. As women, we’re socialised to believe that keeping house is our responsibility, and we’re judged by it. So when we don’t think we’re doing enough, we feel guilty about it and our health suffers, as evidenced by a study in the Sex Roles Research Journal. What is a woman to do?

younger, feminist friend who called me her role model because my house was messy.

Maybe that’s what we need. More messy female role models. And reassurance that our home is not the measure of our worth.

My reassurance comes in the form of a mother who steps over socks in tandem with me. And a fridge magnet that reads, ‘A Clean House is a Sign of a Wasted Life.’

This International Women’s Day, perhaps we should all get one.

MARCH 2018 29

BOOKS

Love, mystery, drama A novel by Melb-based Dr Madhu Vajpayee has all the makings of a good story I Owed You One by Dr Madhu Vajpayee. Lifi Publishers, 2018

A

letter from someone he would rather forget, and a mysterious disappearance, set the course of action for Dev Khanna, the protagonist of Dr Madhu Vajpayee’s latest book I Owed You One. Spanning a volatile childhood deprived of paternal love in India and a dream life in Melbourne, the story, as the name suggests, is about a debt of gratitude for a favour.

Dev settles down in Melbourne after his mother’s death and deliberately distances himself from his father and family in India.

He meets, romances and marries the love of his life Radhika and then becomes a doting father to his son Neel.

His tranquil suburban life in Melbourne, however, is shaken with the arrival of a letter from India.

In response to the letter, Dev feels compelled to embark on a journey back to his homeland with mixed feelings of trepidation and hope.

He travels to the clash-ridden streets of Moradabad, an Indian city suffering from communal riots, senseless acts of violence and deserted streets.

What follows is an emotional journey interspersed with religious foibles and tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities.

With courage and persistence, Dev tries to fulfil his commitment despite several setbacks. In his earnest attempt to unravel a mystery, he discovers his own fate.

Dr Madhu Vajpayee has sturdily crafted a tale that goes beyond being an intellectual indulgence for a medico.

Madhu completed her MBBS from KGMU Lucknow and MD from AIIMS New Delhi. She currently lives in Melbourne with her family and devotes most of her time to writing.

She began her writing journey at an early age, encouraged by her father, and shared his fascination for written words.

Several scientific papers and chapters in books later, she decided to venture

into the literary world with her first book.

Seeking Redemption is about a medical graduate who gets caught into corruption and caste politics.

I Owed You One is Madhu’s second book. According to her, this book also has a bit of love and drama interwoven amidst the uncertainty of life.

The writer has skilful control on the narrative and smoothly transports readers from an idyllic life in the world’s most liveable city to hostile and conflict-ridden surroundings.

The battle that rages within Dev is captured with sensitivity and portrayed

with substance. The momentum and interest is maintained in most parts with minor lapses towards the end.

Zoya’s disappearance is the root cause of Dev’s journey but details of what exactly happened to her remain rather sketchy.

Madhu has remarkably voiced the story from a male perspective, capturing the complex landscape of Dev’s mind and nudging her protagonist back to a place of hope.

I would stop short of calling it a pageturner. However, the writer definitely offers the readers a good story.

Preeti Jabbal

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BOOKS

Remembering the emperor A look at the Vijayanagar ruler’s pursuit of his love interest and the influence of those around him

I, Krishnadevaraya by RK Rangarajan (English translation by Shantha Krishnamachari). Westland publishers, 2017

R

obert Graves’ autobiographical novel I, Claudius - ostensibly told by the eponymous Roman Emperor spanning a period from 41 BC to 44 AD - has been acclaimed as one of the 100 best novels ever written in English. Impressed by the book’s scope and depth, Tamil writer RK Rangarajan set out to write a similar novel in Tamil

about the famous and towering historical personality, the Emperor Krishnadevaraya (KDR) and called it Naan, Krishnadevaraya. The English version, translated by Shantha Krishnamachari, I Krishnadevaraya has been recently published, and is not a bad rendering of the original, although its language lacks the flourish and the finesse of the original.

For those history buffs - particularly Vijayanagar-spotters like myself - it is not a book one could resist, especially when the elegant cover of KDR stares at you from the window display of a bookshop.

The Vijayanagar empire has fascinated me from as far back as I can remember, and I have devoured every book or article on it that I could lay my hands on over the years. It culminated in a visit to Hampi -

the magnificent but ethereal ruins of this once-great empire, reduced to rubble by the Deccan Sultanates after they defeated the Vijayanagar army in the battle of Talikota.

During their six-month occupation, they sacked and systematically destroyed this once-proud and thriving cosmopolitan city, extolled by Italian and French travellers, and prominently identified in the European maps of the Middle Ages.

I digress. If you, however, expect to read an account of the glorious reign of KDR, his conquests, his temple-building, its scientific achievements, its marvellous architecture and sculptures - you will be disappointed. The book does not cater to those looking for a catalogue of Vijayanagar achievements from the great emperor’s mouth. Instead, its focus is almost exclusively on KDR’s pursuit of a beautiful dancer named Chinna Devi, with

whom he becomes obsessed, and who becomes his second principal wife after he pursues and wins her over - spanning a few years.

It does, nevertheless, capture the zeitgeist of the era, the social and religious mores, KDR’s contemporaries, et al as Rangarajan has done his research fairly thoroughly.

He has brought to life several of the people in KDR’s coterie, and they have an authentic ring to them. KDR’s mother, his long-suffering first wife Tirumala Devi, his able and loyal general Appaji, the head of the Vaishnava Mutt Thathayya, the bold and talented Gayatri etc, are memorable characters who leave their imprint on the empire in their own ways.

A must read for those interested in a sort of retelling of a chunk of Indian history.

CHITRA SUDARSHAN

Curried cultures Exploring the relationship between globalisation and South Asian cooking Curried Cultures: Globalisation, Food and South Asia, Eds Krishnendu Ray and Tulasi Srinivas.

Adelph Book Co, 2012

I

stumbled upon this book published a few years ago - whilebrowsing through bookshops in Bengaluru. The book explains the relationship between globalisation and South Asia seen through the lens of the region’s culinary traditions. The collection of essays uses food to comment on a range of cultural activities, and how South Asian cooking has changed the everyday world of urbanites everywhere from the colonial period to the contemporary era.

South Asian foods have become staple in many parts of the world such as Chicken Tikka

Masala in the UK; Curry Raisu in Japan; chaat cafes in Berkeley and so on.

The book is a scholarly and serious study of what food does - and how it is shaped by - globalisation. Some of the articles are heavy reading, targeted more at a scholarly audience and full of sociological jargon; there are, however, some gems in there for the lay reader as well. The chapter on how the ubiquitous Udupi hotels sprang up first in the Madras Presidency and Bombay, was particularly fascinating. It is about how impoverished Shivalli Brahmins from a village called Shivalli near Udupi, in the periphery of the then Madras Presidency, spread out to different cities in India to make a living and emerged as successful food

entrepreneurs.

What struck me as significant was how socio-religious customs shaped the business enterprise of a whole community. Shivalli Brahmin boys and men learnt to cook from a young age as only the food they cooked could be offered as prasad in their homes. When these young men left home for cities like the then Madras and Bombay in search of a livelihood, the only skill they had was cooking, and they put it to use by working in kitchens, and many succeeded in buying the outlets of their employers or setting up their own hotels.

From the famous Dasaprakash and Woodlands in Chennai to your lowly neighbourhood ‘Udupi hotels’, this is a most fascinating tale.

CHITRA SUDARSHAN

MARCH 2018 31

FOOD

Nectarine scene This stone fruit can be a gourmet delight

BY RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA

N

ectarine season is nearly over. I have enjoyed this stone fruit this time round like never before, particularly the white-flesh variety. Nectarines are sort of like smoothskin peaches, and are quite similar to peaches nutritionally and by way of use.

They are a good source of vitamin C and dietary fibre. Yellow-flesh nectarines have more beta-carotene, but both varieties also have potassium and some vitamin E. You can cut up nectarines for use in a fruit salad or a smoothie. Or you can cook them: you can bake nectarines (halve, sprinkle with honey and cinnamon and cook until tender in a hot oven, cut side up), or grill them (brushed with fruit juices or an appropriate alcoholic beverage), or poach them (in wine or fruit juice).

My favourite method in recent weeks has been to use nectarines in salad. Whiteflesh nectarines are lower in acid than the yellow-flesh version, and their subtle sweetness adds a wonderful flavour to salads, offsetting beautifully the saltier ingredients.

NECTARINE SALAD 1 nectarine, thinly sliced 50 g rocket leaves 2 red radishes, thinly sliced 15 almonds Parmesan, shaved Dressing: 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp lemon juice 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar

Toast almonds in a dry frying pan and cool.

Put rocket leaves and radish in a deep bowl. Whisk dressing ingredients together and pour over. Gently toss, and then lay out on a platter.

Throw nectarines, almonds and shaved parmesan over greens.

NECTARINE SALSA

3 medium nectarines, diced 1/4 cup red capsicum, diced 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped 1 tsp garlic, crushed 2 tsp orange juice 1 tsp honey Fresh coriander, chopped

32 MARCH 2018

Salt, pepper and red chilli powder or chilli flakes to taste

1 packet salad greens of choice Chopped fresh chives

Toss all ingredients together in a deep bowl. Serve over grilled chicken breasts.

Also great as a dip for chips.

Whisk together yogurt, sugar and pepper.

Arrange salad leaves on platter and throw nectarines and avocados over.

Spoon yogurt dressing over, and top with chives.

NECTARINES WITH HAM

2 cups nectarine slices 1 ½ cups cooked ham, cut into juliennes 3 cups baby spinach leaves ¼ cup olive oil 2 tbsp white wine vinegar ½ tsp ground ginger Salt to taste Whisk together the oil, vinegar, ginger and salt in salad bowl. Add ham, fruit and spinach and toss gently.

NECTARINE AND AVOCADO SALAD

¾ cup plain yogurt 1 tsp sugar ¼ tsp white pepper 4 medium nectarines, stoned and sliced 2 avocados, pitted, peeled and sliced

NECTARINE RELISH 6-7 medium nectarines 1 cup walnuts ¼ cup dark brown sugar 2 tbsp diced crystallized ginger 2 tbsp lemon juice Salt to taste

Stone and dice nectarines. Put into deep bowl, add all other ingredients and toss gently. Cling wrap and refrigerate at least three hours before use.

BARBECUED NECTARINES 6 ripe nectarines 25 gms pistachio nuts, blanched and chopped 75 gms unsalted butter, softened

Halve and stone nectarines. Tear out a large piece of Alfoil and spread some butter in the centre. Pile all the fruit in and wrap up Alfoil securely by folding in edges. Make sure there are no gaps.

Place on a hot barbecue and cook for about 15 minutes. When done, open the package, lift fruit onto a platter and carefully pour the juices over. Sprinkle with pistachios, and serve with a good quality vanilla ice cream, yogurt or ricotta sweetened with honey.

You can add a dash of alcohol (rum or sherry) if you like - sprinkle on top of the fruit before wrapping up in foil.

GRILLED NECTARINES 4 ripe nectarines 1 tbsp butter 8 tsp brown sugar 8 tsp sweet sherry

Cut nectarines in half, remove stones and place, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Divide butter among halves, placing little in each cavity. Add 1 teaspoon each Sherry and brown sugar to cavity of each nectarine half. Grill until topping is bubbly and fruit softened,

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My sister has a promising future Aditi’s family wanted to know the Navy was a smart career choice.

Now Aditi’s joined they’ve discovered her Navy engineering education and training is also recognised by many industries outside of the Australian Defence Force.

But that wasn’t the only thing they found out. In fact, the Navy is supportive of all backgrounds, cultures and beliefs.

TS0465P - Dee_360x250_v1.indd 1

Aditi works in one of many diverse roles, with great career advancement opportunities, offering her a rewarding career as a Marine Engineer Officer that makes her family proud.

Find out for yourself. Watch Aditi and Priya’s full story. defencejobs.gov.au/family

6/2/18 4:46 pm

MARCH 2018 33

TRIBUTE

Rest in peace, Krishna Aunty S

he was inspirational when she lived and unforgettable as she rests in peace. Melbournians mourn the loss of their favourite ‘Auntyji’, Krishna Arora, who took her last breath on 26 February morning, passing away peacefully.

She had just celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this month in true Krishna Aunty style, singing, dancing and meeting her friends and family.

People who were fortunate to have their lives touched by this inspirational lady learned many valuable lessons from her.

She always believed that you are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. And she lived by those words.

As a community stalwart, food enthusiast and former Principal of the Pusa Institute of Hotel Management, Arora’s popularity within the community knew no barriers.

She was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2013 and became the first Indian woman to be honoured with the Shilling Wall Tribute award by the multicultural commission of Victoria for her outstanding contribution to the community.

Born in Bangalore, Arora was the cofounder of the Indian Senior Citizens Association (ISCA) and also served on the Executive Committee of Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria (FIAV) as a representative of the Sangam community organisation.

She was the Founder and Principal of the Pusa Institute of Hotel Management in Delhi before retiring and migrating to Australia. Arora authored several cookbooks and contributed a regular food column in Indian Voice, a local community publication.

Auntyji, as she is fondly called be all, came to Australia in 1992, after retirement, to be with her daughter and her family.

In Melbourne she started afresh by making new friends, volunteering for MECWA and cooking for Meals on Wheels.

She taught Asian cooking for two years at the Maribyrnong Community Centre and gave cooking demonstrations at the Immigration Museum, Girls’ Guides and schools.

According to her daughter Rashmi Sharma “Her light will burn on in those

she has touched. We, her family - daughter Rashmi, son-in-law Mukesh Sharma, grandchildren Tarika, Hamish, Ritwik and Supritha - are honoured to have been a part of her life. We thank her for teaching us how to really live.”

Having spent her life in India, it wouldn’t have been easy for Krishna to relocate to Australia.

“When I came here, I was a pretty lonely person,” she once told Indian Link.

“When I moved here I had no friends, nothing. Someone said to me Australians pass their time by doing community work, which I thought was a great idea. I started doing volunteer work for MECWA where I worked seven years.”

But still, it wasn’t easy. “Living in Australia was very different from living in India. The Australians seemed to keep to themselves, seldom they smiled or talked to strangers.

“After living in Australia and getting to know the Australian people, I have changed my opinion and have a greater understanding of their way of life. The

APG Photos

Community icon Krishna Arora passes away at 90

Multicultural Policy is one of the best things the Government introduced,” she said.

The 90-year-old from Glen Waverley volunteered with more than 10 community organisations since moving to Australia.

In that time she founded the Indian Senior Citizens Association of Victoria, volunteered at the Malvern Opportunity Shop and been heavily involved in the Flavours of Monash festival.

Arora’s contributions to Monash’s Indian community were recognised with an Order of Australia Medal. She said one of her greatest achievements was being written onto the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre Shilling Wall for her contribution to Indian women’s welfare.

Krishna Arora’s funeral will take place on Monday 5 March 2018, 3:30 pm at Boyd Chapel, Springvale Botanical Cemetery, 600 Princes Hwy, Springvale Vic Preeti Jabbal

INDIAN LINK SOCIAL MEDIA 34 MARCH 2018

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MARCH 2018 35

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predictions

MARCH 2018

BY MINAL KHONA Minal Khona has been reading tarot cards for the last two decades. She uses her intuition and connect with the cards mostly to help people.

TAROT

ARIES March 21 - April 19

TAURUS April 20 - May 20

GEMINI May 21 - June 20

CANCER June 21 - July 20

It is time to make a difficult decision regarding a new relationship. Financial transactions are beneficial and practical help will be given if needed.

For those who are single, it is an excellent time to enter into a new relationship. A trip may not work out as planned. Work life improves greatly, and if already in a relationship, it is strengthened - perhaps with the birth of a child. Focus on constructive ideas or partnerships aligned with what you want.

An idea starts to manifest and the space for it to grow is created. You focus on work, success, financial security and a safe environment.

Obstacles in the form of work, logistics or geography cause an impediment in a romance but can be overcome if those involved wish to be together. If disappointed in love, work provides respite. Health needs medical attention. Be honest with yourself at all times. A family member or a beloved pet could pass away.

A Libran influence makes you want to evaluate pros and cons as matters of fair play, justice and getting ahead occupy you. Let go of the past or an unhappy relationship. You will want to mend old relationships that are frazzled, forge new friendships and be more tuned to the feelings of others.

Be cautious while driving. Low-grade infections could bother you. Anxiety about the future and frustrations about work help in giving you an insight into yourself.

Fluctuations and material prosperity are forecast but if matters of the spirit concern you, seek spiritual sustenance to maintain balance. An ex could return, or a chance meeting with them will bring closure. You can change a negative situation to a positive one by redirecting your energies. Postpone making travel plans as rest at home is a better option. Improved health and finances after a period of suffering is indicated. Moderation on all fronts is recommended.

LEO July 21 - Aug 22

VIRGO Aug 23 - Sep 22

LIBRA Sep 23 - Oct 22

SCORPIO Oct 23 - Nov 21

New beginnings and a creative phase make you more upbeat than usual.

Increased business, social activities and new avenues of fulfilment keep you busy. A part-time relationship is not your cup of tea as you seek more stability and commitment. You might have new ideas for work. Issues in existing relationships get resolved amicably. A positive outlook and new ideas about work bring clarity regarding the future. More money and better public relations are also predicted.

If you have been stuck in a rut, a positive change is indicated. You will want to get out of an oppressive situation or change your line of work due to stress or other issues. Though you might feel restricted, you hold the solution to your current problem in your mind. Be careful, there could be accidents around your home and car from sharp objects, appliances and other drivers. Personal relationships will improve and issues will get resolved. Don’t blame yourself for everything.

Highly charged emotional events related to personal affairs and material wellbeing dominate this month. A chance meeting could lead to financial gain.

Travel plans get postponed and work has ups and downs. Bouts of insomnia due to worries about the future can occur. Enjoy your material luxuries without feeling guilty. You will get the love and fulfilment you seek as there are no mistakes in the universe. Everything works out - differently from what you had envisioned, but work out it will.

You are in a studious, productive and practical frame of mind. If you have issues in your relationship and you deal with them in a responsible manner, it has a future. Home appliances could go on the blink and you might indulge in some retail therapy. Back aches or a problem with the ears or throat could recur. Speak openly and be willing to listen to what is being said. Money is slow but financial gains are predicted soon.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 22 - Dec 21

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 19

AQUARIUS Jan 20 - Feb 18

PISCES Feb 19 - March 20

Matters regarding the future, spiritual growth and looking for a purpose dominate this month for Sagittarians.

Lack of romance can make you feel unfulfilled but you have reason to be hopeful as someone new could enter your life. You could win a lottery or at Bingo or even sell property. People are helpful, and you might look for a new job. Money prospects get better and guidance will be given regarding longterm professional goals. Destiny is your motivator.

Delays, setbacks and disappointments cause exhaustion on all fronts. Enjoy solitude and family gatherings equally, as you feel burnt out at work and these could help you recharge. Money is tight for a brief while. You will succeed through your own efforts, and positive thinking will see you through this trying time. You don’t want to settle for less than a complete relationship. Wait for what you really want, even if it is a dearly beloved ex - he or she just might return

Healing the self and a spiritual awakening is predicted for Aquarians.

You need to change yourself to change your world, and love yourself first if you want others to love you. A personal dilemma gets resolved sooner than expected and for the better. An upsetting incident regarding a pet or a family member could cause upheaval.

Avoid going on a binge of any kind.

Ask the universe for clarity as it is a sensitive time and choose your words carefully.

Reconciliations, reunions and new personal relationships are indicated.

New business ventures too could come your way. Conditions improve - at work and at home - because of a change in your consciousness. In a romantic relationship, you could change your mind if it is at a nascent stage; perhaps the actions of the other person will cause a rift. A short trip is beneficial.

Someone close to you could fall sick. Investments are profitable and setbacks if any, are temporary.

MARCH 2018 37

entertainment

cineTALK LOSERS HAVE FUN IN NEW YORK

WELCOME TO NEW YORK

STARRING: Diljit Dosanjh, Karan Johar, Boman Irani, Lara Dutta, Ritesh Deshmukh DIRECTOR: Chakri Toleti

HHHHH

First things first. This is not a proper feature film but more of a promotional pitch for the IFFA awards. The main thrust of the narrative - if we may call it that - is to spotlight the awards through a fictional plot about two losers who get a chance to go on stage.

The initial sparring between Diljit Dosanjh and Sonakshi Sinha as they descend from their home town into the sophisticated bustle of NY, is steeped in an acid tongue.

Writer Dhiraj Rattan and director Chakri Toleti have a thankless job of weaving a story around the staged event. And to that extent, they do a competent job of threading the off-stage manoeuvrings at New York into the antics of the wannabe star from Punjab and the dress designer from Gujarat.

Diljit Dosanjh plays his Punjabi-bumpkin card with an infectious gusto. He is the life and breath of the proceedings, injecting every scene, no matter how mundanely written, with an effusive warmth.

Welcome To New York revels in corny contrivances. Lara Dutta looking smoking hot in her colourful businesses dresses, plays the villain with relish. Her scenes with Boman Irani, who plays the IFFA organiser, could have been more elaborately written.

It’s Karan Johar’s double act as Karan and Arjun which brings the house down. As Karan, he plays himself. Camp and fashion conscious sneering at everyone around for their lack of familiarity with high-end snobbery. The other part of a vengeful

mobster is played with a tongue-in-cheek solemnity that dares us to laugh.

By the time the thin plot closes in on its ersatz climax, the narrative is a messy game of mistaken identities, with the two Karan Johars huffing and puffing, bringing the house down. Truth be told, a lot of the writing here is purely puerile, meant to prop up the comings and goings of stars at the IFFA. The stars glide across the film’s skyline with the intention of providing star value.

Some of the cameos, like the one featuring Aditya Roy Kapoor, are cute.

Others, like Salman Khan’s half-baked interpolatory hurrah, just seems to be thrust into the glamour-driven event-oriented plot for the sake of conmpensating for the absence of true inspiration.

This film is fun as long as Dosanjh and Johar get to innovate and explore the ‘dork’ side of comedy about two losers who come together to prove that two can do it better than one.

I wish the screenplay were better written.

And that the narrative didn’t try so hard to convince us that the film has not been made to justify the presence of the entire Bollywood fraternity under one roof.

Subhash K. Jha

A LIGHT-HEARTED TUG OF WAR SONU KE TITU KI SWEETY

STARRING: Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha, Sunny Singh Nijjar, Alok Nath, Deepika Amin, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Virendra Saxena, Pawan Chopra, Rajesh Jais, Sonu Kaur DIRECTOR: Luv Ranjan

HHHHH

This is director Luv Ranjan’s fourth film and, like his previous films, this one too pivots on gender-skewed comedy.

It engages you and generates enough laughs to keep you hooked till the end.

As the title suggests, the film revolves around the relationship of the three eponymous characters.

Sonu (Kartik) a near orphan after the death of his mother and with his father gone abroad, has been living with Titu (Sunny) the scion of the sweetmart ‘Gashitaaz’ and his family since childhood.

Sonu and Titu’s mothers were friends and so are Sonu and Titu. They share a close brotherly bond, with the cocky Sonu being the protective figure of the two, especially when it comes to Titu’s choice of girlfriends. He feels girls are conniving beings, trying to take

38 MARCH 2018

advantage of his naive friend.

So when, Titu after his recent breakup with his girlfriend Piyu, decides to go in for an arranged marriage with Sweety (Nushrat), Sonu is aghast. He thinks that Titu is marrying on the rebound.

Despite Titu and his family being convinced that Sweety is the perfect match for Titu, Sonu makes no bones to pinpoint that Sweety is too good to be true. How he goes about trying to stop the impending marriage follows as the story.

Written by Ranjan and co-written

by Rahul Mody, the script, which is taut and racy, has enough meaty and engaging character material to effectively showcase its plot premise.

While the mood is that of a gentle and affectionate comedy, the film makes some extremely sharp misogynist points and sexist remarks.

The dialogues are witty and peppered with cuss words. The bleeps, enforced by the Censor Board, mar the viewing experience.

Though the characters are onedimensional, they are well-constructed and thoughtfully brought to vivid life by its players. Kartik is charming as the

impish Sonu. His misogyny is palpable and he has the best punch lines which he delivers in his inimitable, breathless style with panache.

Sunny as Titu is endearing with his lost puppy-look torn between his best friend and the girl he desires to marry.

Nushrat is an extremely competent performer. With her triumphant look and determination, she slips into her character with natural ease. Ishita Raj as Titu’s ex-girlfriend Piyu is equally attractive and delivers efficiently.

The rest of the supporting cast which includes Alok Nath as the patriarch Ghasitaraam, Madhumati Kapoor as his wife, Ayesha Raza Mishra as Titu’s mother Manju, Virendra Saxena as their family friend, are strikingly noteworthy in their respective roles.

The film has moderate production values and is astutely mounted.

Overall, this film is definitely a lighthearted entertainer worth your ticket price.

Troy Ribeiro

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its most played-down scale.

Malhotra is especially surprising, fine-tuning his inner pain, channelising the Ranbir rather than Ranveer within himself, to deliver a mellow blow to a system of governance that fosters corruption. Adil Hussain as an arms dealer has one very powerful sequence with Bajpai where the two actors address a devastating debauchery in the defence system with lethal élan.

True to the action genre, the female characters are sketchily written.

Capable actresses like Juhi Babbar and Nivedita Bhattacharya scarcely get to make even a fleeting impression. As for Rakul Preet Singh as Malhotra’s love

THAT SEAMLESS POLITICAL THRILLER BOLLYWOOD NEEDED AIYAARY

CAST: Manoj Bajpai, Siddharth Malhotra, Naseeruddin Shah, Rakul Preet Singh DIRECTOR: Neeraj Pandey

HHHHH

At first, Aiyaary seems less seamless than it actually is. “Where is all this leading to,” you wonder at the outset, as writer-director Neeraj Pandey sets up what eventually turns out to be pieces of a jigsaw that fits perfectly into the mindboggling zigzag of India’s political conditioning in contemporary times.

It is very hard to point out plot points in Aiyaary that stand out to build the compelling construct on corruption in

military forces. It seems miraculous that Siddharth Malhotra, playing an army renegade, is allowed to mouth dialogues that openly castigate the corrupt political system. Illegal arms-deal scams are not only whispered into the commodious plot. The narrative screams in wounded agony at the dizzying heights of corruption in the highest places.

This is no mean achievement.

The performances are not consistently polished. Some of the actors are impossible high-pitched, clamouring to make themselves heard over the bustling officious background music by Sanjoy Choudhary that could have been less hammering in its impact.

Blessedly, Manoj Bajpai and Malhotra play against each other with vitality and force, giving both heft and history to their respective parts of a veteran who won’t desert the cause and the junior who won’t stay within the corrupt system. The confrontation sequences between them are a treat to behold, largely because they play not for effect but for reasons that come from within their conscience.

There are two vivid flashbacks in Kashmir where we see the two heroes’ heroism from each other’s point of view.

Taking the bullets from the enemies with a refreshing lack of flourish associated with cinematic soldierliness, the two protagonists represent patriotic valour at

interest, she looks clueless about her function in the plot.

But truly, my favourite performance in this film of indubitable force and inner strength, is by Naseeruddin Shah.

His cameo as a common man who, according to the smart script, brings out the Adarsh Housing Society scam, is peerless.

It takes a vast amount of integrity and guts to bring to the screen a drama that dismantles the image of ‘Saare jahan se achcha..’ to focus on the corruption within. Designed to poke needles into our collective national conscience, Aiyaary is a film that must be seen by every Indian.

Subhash K Jha

AKSHAY SHINES IN THIS PUBLIC SERVICE FILM PADMAN

STARRING: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte, Amitabh Bachchan DIRECTOR: R Balki

HHHHH

The concept for this film, Padman, is credited to Twinkle Khanna for the story that is based on the short tale in her book, The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad. This story has been inspired by the life of Arunchalam Muruganantham, a social activist from Tamil Nadu who revolutionised the concept of personal hygiene during the menstrual cycle in rural India by creating low-cost sanitary pads.

Incidentally, the film shares the same premise as that of Phullu which was released in June 2017.

Set in rural Madhya Pradesh, Lakshmikant Chouhan (Akshay Kumar) a mechanic by profession and a loving and devoted husband to Gayatri (Radhika Apte) ensures that his wife leads a comfortable life by introducing small inventions to enhance her daily life.

But when he learns about the stigma and taboos that surround menstruation and the unhygienic methods used by women during this period, he is pained. So he embarks on a mission to make affordable sanitary pads.

How he succeeds in his endeavour, forms the crux of the tale.

Lakshmikant’s story is truly inspirational and writerdirector R Balki leaves no stone unturned to magnify it for the large screen. Narrated in a linear manner and laced with light humour, stellar performances and statisticsfilled dialogues, this film conveys the strong message with ease and is entertaining from word go.

But the graph of the story is flat and the plot, laden with deus-ex-machinas and certain elements truly stretched a la Bollywood style especially Lakshmikant’s invention and his speech at the UN, truly makes the film, “filmi.” It loses the charm of a realistic, biographical film.

Akshay Kumar’s portrayal of Lakshmikant Chouhan is sincere. He delivers on every front and is the soul of the film. You are with him during his struggle and obsession. He is aptly supported by Radhika Apte as his wife Gayatri. She is every inch the submissive, rural lady struggling to survive within societal norms. Their onscreen chemistry is palpable.

Sonam Kapoor as Pari the city-bred,

tabla maestro and a freshly minted MBA, is a misfit and strictly mediocre. She walks through her role and what makes her further unacceptable is the frivolous demeanour that she is forced to portray.

On the technical front, the film has all the trappings of an A-lister.

Cinematographer P C Sreeram’s camera work is definitely commendable. He captures the locales in all its glory.

Amit Trivedi’s music is effective and it does elevate the viewing experience. The songs Aaj Se Teri has interesting lyrics and Ladki sayani ho gayi that celebrates womanhood is well-choreographed. The other two songs don’t register at all.

Overall, though entertaining, Padman is like a long-drawn public-service film that’s worth your ticket money.

Troy Ribeiro

MARCH 2018 39

entertainment

the BUZZ UP-TO-DATE NEWS ON WHAT’S HOT AND HAPPENING IN BOLLYWOOD

A NATION MOURNS

A QUEEN BOWS OUT

A

s I write this, I know that back in Mumbai, preparations are on for Sridevi’s antim yatra. Even days after the news of her death, I am still coming to terms with the fact that the cinematic icon who I grew up adoring, is no more.

I have replayed in my mind the times spent with my sister dissecting every Sridevi act after each of her movies. The spontaneity, the impeccable acting, the ultimate dance moves, the comedic turns. Those eyes spoke volumes, the mischief in her smile could make anyone’s heart skip a beat, and her very presence on-screen could give any male superstar a run for his money. In a male dominated industry she held her own, at times taking home a bigger pay packet. Yes, she was the first ever ‘female superstar’ of Hindi cinema.

Of course we also spoke of Jaya Prada along with Sridevi: two contemporary competing forces during their prime, both beautiful, powerhouse performers and great dancers. In their famed rivalry, the two really pushed each other to become better at their craft. But what made Sridevi stand apart was her versatility, especially when it came to her mastery over comic timing and even action. From playing a retrograde amnesiac in Sadma, to a contrasting double role of a coy vs a happy-go-lucky girl in Chaalbaaz, to getting into the skin of a ‘nagin’ in the insanely popular snake-woman film Nagina, to the ultimate romantic in films like Chandni and Lamhe, Sridevi nailed every character with her ‘range’ of acting prowess.

Fiercely private in her real life - and a known introvert often called an interviewer’s nightmare – it is inexplicable how she flowered in front of the camera, bringing every role to life in a seemingly effortless fashion. As an entertainment journalist back in Mumbai, I still remember, what an uphill task it was to get a Sridevi byte, let alone an interview.

Starting at the tender age of four, Sridevi got to rule the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada film industries both as a child artist and as a lead actor.

Her foray into Hindi films kickstarted with the 1979 film Solva Sawan but what catapulted her to instant fame in the north was the 1983 film Himmatwala and its kitschy song-n-dance number Naino mein sapna, sapno mein sajna. Her body of work kept expanding and so did the diversity in the choice of characters that she took on. Here was yet another star from the south, destined to rule the Hindi film industry after the likes of Rekha and Hema Malini.

The other ‘range’ in Sridevi’s acting career was the generations of heroes she was paired opposite: Kamal Hassan, Jeetendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, to Salman and Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar right up to Adil Hussain, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Akshaye Khanna.

With her 2012 comeback film English Vinglish, Sridevi proved yet again that she was born to act.

The last we saw her on screen was in Mom (2017). And the last we will see of Sridevi will be as herself in SRK’s forthcoming Zero, directed by Aanand L. Rai. Summing up the enigma that was Sridevi?

Na jaane kahaan se aayi hai, na jaane kahaan ko jaayegi? Deewana kise baanayegi ye ladki?

We know the answer to that last question: an entire nation that will never cease to love her.

PRIYANKA TATER, Indian Link Radio

40 MARCH 2018

Veteran actress Sridevi, 54, passed away in Dubai after cardiac arrest, engulfing the entire country in a pall of gloom. From Indian stars to Indian political personalities to Pakistani icons, her fans and admirers expressed shock and disbelief.

The Padma Shri recipient passed away in Dubai on the night of Saturday 24 Feb. Sridevi was there to attend the wedding of her husband’s nephew, actor Mohit Marwah.

In a moving gesture, Indian industrial magnate Anil Ambani sent an aircraft to Dubai to bring her body back to India. The funeral took place on Wednesday 28 Feb. Born in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu on August 13, 1963, Sridevi began her career at the age of four in the devotional film Thunaivan. That marked the beginning of a journey in filmdom that saw her work across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi productions, leading her to become one of the most formidable actresses of the 1980s and 1990s in Bollywood.

She is remembered for her performances in some of the iconic Bollywood films like Mr. India, Nagina, Sadma, Chaalbaaz, Chandni, Khuda Gawah, among many others in different Indian languages.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Congress President Rahul Gandhi condoled the death of the veteran actress saying that she was an incredibly talented and versatile actress.

Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay said that “like millions, he will miss her too”.

SPECULATIONS PUT TO REST

Sridevi’s colleagues from the film industry all expressed a sense of disbelief, even as the speculations began to make the rounds, about ‘irregularities’, especially as it emerged that there was alcohol in her blood at the time of death.

However, the speculations were all put to rest, as the forensic report issued by the prosecutor’s office in Dubai pronounced that Sridevi had died from “accidential drowning” in her bathtub, after losing consciousness.

The case had been closed, the prosecutor’s office said.

It took three days for the Dubai police authorities to complete various legal and medical formalities before the body was finally handed over to the Kapoor family. This included taking the statement of her husband Boney Kapoor, the last person to see her alive.

It was also reported by Khaleej Times that the laboratory results

revealed that traces of alcohol were found in the blood, revealing that Sridevi was in an inebriated state when she slipped and fell into the bathtub that was filled with water.

The police concluded that there was no clear criminal motive with regard to her death, neither did she suffer a cardiac arrest as it was reported earlier.

‘SRIDEVI TREATED MAKE-UP ARTISTES, OTHERS LIKE FAMILY’

Subhash Shinde, who did Sridevi’s make-up at nephew and actor Mohit Marwah’s wedding in Dubai, says the late actress had “much warmth and positivity” and always treated everyone on a film’s set including make-up artistes, like a family.

“She looked very pretty (at the Dubai event), happy and bright as ever,” Shinde said.

Shinde began working with Sridevi after English Vinglish in 2012. He said she would often ask him if he had had his meals and how his family was doing.

“She had a strong sense of aesthetics,” he recalled. “She had a great sense of colours and shades to complement the entire attire. The colour, ornaments, even the size of her bindi, she had an eye for detailing. In fact, I learnt from her.”

Was she a perfectionist when it came to fashion?

“I wouldn’t say she was a perfectionist, but she exemplified the excellence that comes with perfection.

So yes, perfection is the word to define it.”

RAM GOPAL VARMA: THE PRIVATE WOMAN BEHIND THE PUBLIC PERSONA

Sridevi has for long been film-maker Ram Gopal Varma’s muse. Yet, wellknown for shooting off his mouth without thinking, Verma has got into trouble with Sridevi’s husband Boney Kapoor before. This time round, he may well be doing so all over again, especially with a little piece he wrote recently in which he claimed Sridevi “was a very unhappy woman”.

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who

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directed Sridevi in films like Great Robbery, Govindhaa... Govindhaa... and Hairaan, says that the late actress has been a “very unhappy woman” and her life was a “classic case of how each person’s actual life is completely different from how the world perceives it”.

Sridevi, 54, died on 24 Feb in a Dubai hotel bathroom. The autopsy report called it an “accidental drowning” in the bathtub.

In a personal note on her, Varma says that she was the most desirable woman and the biggest super star of the country but that’s ‘just a part of the story’.

He wrote, “For many, Sridevi’s life was perfect. Beautiful face, great talent, seemingly stable family with two beautiful daughters. From outside everything looked so enviable and desirable... But was Sridevi a happy person, and did she lead a very happy life?”

Varma went on to describe his perceptions of her life, including a dominating and overprotective mother who squandered away her earnings with poor investment decisions, as well as extended family who “betrayed” her, so that she was left penniless when she met Boney Kapoor. (He himself was in huge debt at the time).

Following her mother’s death, Varma claimed, Sridevi fell out with her sister Srilatha who took her to court over the family’s ancestral property.

“So, in effect, the woman desired by millions in the world was all alone in the world except for one Boney,” concluded Verma. “Sridevi always came across as very shy, insecure and low on confidence.”

Varma also voiced openly the speculations that are currently on about the actress’ death, listing medications, depression and anxiety that will no doubt be seen by the Kapoor family as hurtful.

‘BRILLIANT, BEAUTIFUL SRIDEVI’

Tributes continue to flow in for one of the Indian film industry’s most loved characters.

Manish Malhotra: Sridevi and I first met in 1990 when she was already a superstar and I was beginning my career. Working with an icon I always called ‘Ma’am’ was a turning point in my career, as it was the beginning of many associations and a longstanding friendship beyond work. We saw each other grow professionally and personally - it was amazing to see the roles she blossomed into, her passion for painting, and the doting wife and mother she was. I met Sridevi very recently in Dubai and we just had so much to share. I will always cherish the precious memories of a friend who was

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an iconic superstar.

Rajnikanth: I’m shocked and very disturbed. I’ve lost a dear friend and the industry has lost a true legend.

My heart goes out to her family and friends. I feel the pain with them.

Sridevi, you will be missed.

Kamal Haasan: Have witnessed Sridevi’s life from an adolescent teenager to the magnificent lady she became. Her stardom was well deserved. Many happy moments with her flash through my mind including the last time I met her. The Sadma lullaby haunts me now.

Hema Malini: Sridevi’s sudden passing away has left me in deep shock. Can’t imagine how such a bubbly person, a wonderful actor, is no more. She has left a void in the industry that cannot be filled.

Filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli: “The first Lady Superstar of the Country. Fifty of those 54 years as an actress par excellence. What a journey... and such an unexpected end. May your soul rest in peace.”

Ekta Kapoor: The strongest women have the weakest hearts sometimes.

Shahid Kapoor: Remember Srideviji for her brilliance and the magic she brought into our lives.

Jacqueline Fernandez: I was always an admiring fan, and she was always so gracious and kind to me. Her passing has taught me something.

Life is so short and so fragile, every moment counts, this is not a rehearsal.

There will never be anyone like Sridevi.

Raveena Tandon: Difficult to say goodbye to someone who was larger than life itself… you will always be missed, my friend Sridevi.

Aanand L Rai: Legends never die.

Sridevi forever.

Shekhar Kapur: Comic timing in a blink of an eyelid. Even as I grieve for Sridevi I couldn’t help admiring her amazing comic timing. Don’t know a single actor in the world that could have pulled this scene off like she did Sridevi Charlie Chaplin sequence. With Sridevi gone an era is over. Like life turning a new chapter. A beautiful story just ended. An amazing spirit just vanished leaving us with amazing love, memories, and incredible grief.

Aditi Rao Hydari: She will truly shine forever.

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What’s the chitchat between TWINKLE and AKSHAY here?

Twinkle: First Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, then Padman, what’s next?

Akshay: Mujhse Flush Karogi?

Chandra Kharel Congrats, Chandra! You win a movie ticket!

Another Good One: You are Mrs Funnybones but I’m finding the whole Padman thing funny!

Rishi Singh

MARCH 2018 41

BACKCHAT

ASK AUNTYJI disconcerted that my husband

not insisted that I go along Painful yarns has with them. Should I be feeling

DEAR AUNTYJI

I have been married for almost 10 years, and my husband Neel is a wonderful man and a loving father. Most of my husband’s family lives in the UK, except his father and mother who live here in Australia. Now mum-in-law’s brother in the UK has been sick for a while - we had told Uncle Harry that we would visit him when we came to the UK later this year. However, we have decided to buy a bigger home this year, so the UK trip is off.

But last weekend, I was talking to my hubby and I indicated that he should visit Uncle Harry, as it was the right thing to do. I was not too keen to visit, because it would be quite dull for me.

But then, after a genius idea, I suggested that my hubby take his mother and go visit Uncle Harry. Neel thought it was an excellent idea, and now he and my mother-in-law are planning a quick UK trip, and I am a little

left out, Auntyji? And is this small-minded of me to think this way? Mind you, if I had gone along with MIL, I would have had to listen to a continual litany of complaints about health. Lekin, I am still feeling left out. Please advise?

AUNTYJI SAYS

Oh my poor little gulabo, my little chameli - you have put forward an idea and now you are feeling upset because you are no longer part of the fun team. There is no reason for you to feel this way. You have given birth to your idea, and your work here is done. Did you seriously want to go on a yatra with your MIL and hubby? Did you know how boring that would have been? Sara din aur sari raat you could have had to listen to constant complaints about bad knees-shees, bad heart-shart, and gout-shout.

And then, this torture would have been amplified as soon as you reached England, nah?

Uncle Harry would have been like a broken record, probably complaining about his ill health and with his sister by his side, it would have been a symphony of the damned. Just be grateful that your wonderful hubby is sparing you this misery and is taking one for the team. Wish your MIL and hubby a safe journey, give him a list of gifts to bring you back, and sit back and enjoy your week without worrying about listening to dard bhare dukhde.

Moving out vs moving in DEAR AUNTYJI

I was hoping for your advice, Auntyji. I am married to an Australian, who is the most wonderful man I have ever met.

I have two grown up children from my first marriage. Now, Vicky is 23 and is still living with us. Recently he found himself a new girlfriend and they seem to

be rock solid. The thing is, I was hoping that when he found a girl, he would move out. However, this girl is of Hungarian descent, and is very family oriented. Now Vicky announced the other day that he loves living with us and does not want to move out.

Grace spends 5 nights a week in our house, and she loves being with us as well. She is a doctor, and is very nice. Now I feel the house is a little small for us and with Sydney’s prices, I am thinking of moving to a larger home where Vicky and Grace can live in the granny flat out the back until they decide whether they want to buy their own house. But when we told this idea to our Australian friends, they are baffled by why we would do this. They think that kids should go out and make their own way in the world. What are your thoughts on this matter, Auntyji?

AUNTYJI SAYS

Looks like you have a great sense of family and community, and understand what duty

A

means. You brought your son into this world and Sydney prices being what they are, you have a duty to help them. You are very lucky to have a son and potential daughter-in-law who get along very well with you.

So if they want to live with you, even better. The important thing I note is that your hubby - who is not Vickey’s father - does not have any issues with this.

And his is the most important viewpoint. If he is in favour of the idea, then you are very fortunate. It looks like you have a great family, and you are a loving mum who wants to do right by her son. You have a daughter-in-law who is smart and loving, so consider yourself doubly blessed. It is wonderful to see that family ties still mean a lot to some people! So don’t waste your time thinking about what others might say, and do what you feel is right. All the best with finding a house in Sydney. By the way, it’s good to have an in-house doctor fortune has indeed smiled at you my little jalebi!

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