SAY IT AGAIN

Thanks to all who recommended I read (Rohinton Mistry’s) A Fine Balance. But I’m absolutely gutted. Never fallen in love with characters so much only to have my heart broken again and again.

QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS

We brought you reports of our interactions with the Indian-origin AM and OAM honourees in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours

Kaushaliya Vaghela, Gayatri Harinath, Shally Relan, Chandra Kishore, JC Solanki, Sonal Malhotra, Smriti Rangarajan and Ajay Kapoor wrote in notes of congratulations to the accomplished individuals we featured. Ash R. Dev wrote: Congrats to the Fijian born Prof. Dharmendra Prakash Sharma. The descendant of a Girmitiya has been honoured in the Queen's Birthday honours by Canberra. There are tens of thousands of Fiji Indians just like him who had to move to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA because of the brain drain created by Rabuka and his coups in 1987 which were extremely racist and totally against the Fijians of Indian origin. These highly skilled, experienced qualified and talented individuals would have made Fiji a very different and advanced nation compared to what it is today. Fiji would be no less than Singapore or any developed country of a similar size had Rabuka not created the coup culture and destroyed the future of the country. This is a perfect example of how the monster created by Rabuka affected Fiji and will continue to haunt Fiji for many years to come.

Where In India

These caves remind you of Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains, don’t they? No one quite identified this landmark correctly, although Vivek Trivedi got close enough to the region with his answer Cherrapunji. Readers Payel Ray and Raj Saneja suggested these might be the Borra Caves in Andhra Pradesh. The correct answer is Siju caves in Meghalaya.

The picturesque @YorkWinery is a taste of Australian wine in India! Chief Winemaker Kailesh is a graduate of the Uni of Adelaide and is the youngest winemaker in India! A great example of a successful Aus Global Alumni and the deepening connections between our two countries.

Juanita Phillips, ABC broadcaster

Tony Huber, Australian Consul General Mumbai

A Laugh And A Yarn With Ashok Chakradhar

Hindi poet and writer Padmashri Ashok Chakradhar joined Indian Link Radio host PRIYANKA TATER on a special edition of her morning show recently.

Ruchika Mangla wrote: Thoroughly enjoyed this show on podcast. Ashokji is my personal favourite. Priyanka, keep bringing us such interviews with the masters.

Anju Handa wrote: Bada sa namaskar Ashokji, welcome to Sydney.

Ravi Singh wrote: Ashok Chakradharji, namaskar. I remember seeing you on Doordarshan. Wonderful memories…

Bhanu Kothari wrote: A very good show this morning, Priyanka.

Rajni Luthra wrote: Wonderfully entertaining.

Priyankja Tater wrote: I very much enjoyed Ashokji’s poetry and haazir jawaabi on the show and was pleasantly surprised to see how popular he was with our listeners. Thanks to all those who rang in. Ashokji himself said he loved doing the show (“Bada maza aaya”), and enjoyed the youthful vibe on our channel. Also a secret revealed: the little dibiya from which he regularly takes something out to place in his mouth, is filled with mishri!!

Caption Contest

What’s the chitchat between Saurav Ganguly and Ranveer Singh?

Amita Randhawa wrote: You might be best in your gully, par iss field mein chalta hai sirf Gang-uly!

Arix Bishnoi wrote: We need your coat to lay out on the outfield to save it from the rain.

Vandana D'souza wrote: Ranveer says, “I have my fans but Saurav, I’m YOUR biggest fan! Just have a look through my coloured glasses.”

Amarinder Singh wrote: Indian players are wearing the logo of a Chinese company Oppo. The Afghanisare wearing Amul, India's best loved brand!

Abby Ragz wrote: Yehi Lords ke ground main first 100 mara tha maine. Inspire hole, taki meri biopic mai acha performance aaye!

Amit Soni wrote: Aage se is tarah ke kapde pehen kar aaya toh yahi par lita kar mukke maronga, samjha...

Rita Dushyant wrote: What are you are doing here??

Leyla Singh wrote: Should’ve gone to Specsavers

Monica Gaur Nagar wrote: Mera Chashma Aapke Chasma se bada hai! Pallav Tiwari wrote: You may be a Gully boy but when it comes to hitting in the gully I can do it better.

Ritesh Verma wrote: Meri aankhon me dekh, dada. Nahi, tu mere joote dekh, Ranvir.

Hemal A Chauhan wrote: Shaadi wale kapde pehan kar kyun aaya hai?

WHO WORE IT BETTER?

PRIYANKA CHOPRA OR IVANKA TRUMP IN ALEX PERRY?

50% Priyanka Chopra

Where In Oz

This beautifully shaped landmass is a photographer’s delight from up above Readers Tushar Choudhary and Rishabha Chitalia Nayak correctly identified it as Heart Reef, Whitsundays

Indian driver pointed out that today is a rare occurrence. All of “Old India” (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh) is cheering together for India to beat England due to the points table positions. I mentioned Australia cheered for anyone to beat England.

Mike Cannon-Brookes, Atlassian co-founder

Har har Sco Modi, ghar ghar Sco Modi. Ian Woolford, La Trobe academic and Indophile

50% Ivanka Trump

The global shift away from coal continues: India plans to add 500GW of renewableenergy to its electricity grid by 2030. This is around 20 times more capacity than Australia's entire coal fleet.

Climate Council