2020-04 Sydney

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FORTNIGHTLY

Vol. 27 No. 7 APRIL 2020

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EDITORIAL

PUBLISHER Pawan Luthra EDITOR Rajni Anand Luthra

Time for compassion for international students

SOCIAL MEDIA Suruchi Sehgal

BY PAWAN LUTHRA

MELBOURNE COORDINATOR Preeti Jabbal CONTRIBUTORS Emie Roy, Rhea L Nath, Jyoti Shankar, Janani Karthik, Simmi Singh, Dhanya Samuel, Petra O’Neill, Minal Khona, LP Ayer, Namita Gohil HEAD, SALES AND MARKETING Vivek Singh SALES OPERATIONS Charuta Joshi Indian Link is a fortnightly newspaper published in English. No material, including advertisements designed by Indian Link, may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the editor. Opinions carried in Indian Link are those of the writers and not necessarily endorsed by Indian Link. All correspondence should be addressed to:

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NATIONAL EDITION

F

or the 500,000 plus international students in Australia, the next few months will be a testing time.

Already, they have been cast aside by the Australian government who were happy to take their dollars and services in good times while deserting them when the going got tough. The million odd temporary residents, the majority of who are students, keep parts of the Australian economy ticking.

These temporary residents work in hotel services as managers, as chefs (one in five temporary residents is a chef), as service staff. They make their ends meet with casual work at local restaurants, as stackersin supermarkets, and as cleaners elsewhere. Their wages are meagre but hard earned.

Then are others who work in healthcare – doctors, allied heath workers, aged care workers.

It is known fact - and certainly the government is also aware - that most students live a hand-to-mouth existence. Yes, they are expected to have funds to support themselves in their first year here, and over time with work hours as mandated are expected to see themselves through daily requirements.

The education sector adds $34 billion to the local economy through tuition fees and the money spent by the students on living costs, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The students pay their full rate of tax and are good temporary residents and at times like this need the support of the government to get them through.

Most cannot go back home as international borders are sealed; very few international flights are taking off and those that are, are charging exorbitant prices. Australia also has an international obligation, with its comparatively better health care system, to keep those within its borders longer, even if it means taking care of those affected and stuck here.

Possible suggestions for solutions to the impasse includethe setting up

of a temporary fund and paying an allowance to those students disrupted

by COVID-19. Allocations have been made for Jobseeker allowances of $1,100 and Jobkeeper payments of $1,500 each per fortnight. Overall, the cost to date to the government is over $115 billion. Setting up a shorter-term payment- say three months - of $400 per fortnight can help these students.

No doubt it will be $1 billionexpense, but look at it as an investment to not only sustain but also build goodwill in an annual pre-COVID industry which earned $34 billion.

To date, the temporary Indian resident has been supported by the charity of the Indian-Australian community who have banded together to care for them, whether through food or accommodation. Restaurants are donating free food, home kitchens have been set up to create dinner packs, donations are helping with rents.These donors with big hearts need to be applauded for their selfless service.

It is in times of need that true friends come forward.

Perhaps it’s time for the Australian government to show their friendship now.

APRIL 2020 3

CONTENTS SPECIAL FEATURES INNOVTION A ‘Key’ for COVID safety

13

KIDS Talking to kids about COVID-19

16

LOCKDOWN Virtual weddings

19

SCHOOL Learning at home

24

TRAVEL Virtual travel

30

13

19

24 30

COVER STORY

08

Reaching out to the needy

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APRIL 2020 5

YOUR SAY

Akshaya Sridharan

WFH WITH LITTLE KIDS JANANI KARTHIK asked parents with pre-school aged children how they keep them occupied as they settle into their home-office routines.

Akshaya Sridharan wrote: I’ve printed out colouring worksheets to engage my three-year-old daughter. She spends an hour colouring, and I finish the important tasks of the day. Later, I allow her to do my makeup: it cheers her up. I’ll do anything to keep her settled and happy while I work!

Narayanaswamy wrote: My wife and I have come up with many creative activities to keep our son, four-and-half, busy throughout the day. We know his interests quite well, so we plan certain puzzle activities with a checklist to tick-off. My nine-year-old Smitha Wali daughter joins in to support my WFH schedule.

Bharathwajan Parthasarathy wrote: This is the time to be extremely supportive partners. My wife and I have split our working hours and we take turns to be with our daughter. This way, we both

Pradeep Kumar

Bharathwajan Parthasarathy

work efficiently. We finish any incomplete work of the day after our daughter goes to bed at night. This routine involves teamwork and a lot of mutual understanding.

Smitha Wali wrote: I’ve recently taken a Disney subscription! I get two solid hours of productivity while my daughter watches a film, and she also learns interesting things. Of course, I only do this when I really need to focus on important work.

Karthik Krishnakumar wrote: I’ve become flexible with my child’s screen time now. When I have meetings, important calls or other important work, I let her watch cartoons. To make up for those hours, I ensure she has zero screen time after work hours are done.

Ramya Madan wrote: I found that my daughter disturbs or distracts us only when she wants something.

First thing in the morning, I keep all her stuff ready and accessible to her - toys, colouring in stuff, puzzles - so that she doesn’t need to ask me when I’m working. This saves a considerable amount of

time while I'm shuttling between household chores and office work.

Ashna Wilson wrote: No toys or puzzles can keep my three-year-old daughter engaged - she wants to do what I do at home. So, I give her a spare laptop and open a notepad and she types away besides me. When my little colleague is busy with her work, I get time for myself!

Deepa Gnanamani wrote: This is an extraordinary situation, and it requires us to be super-organised. We need to be flexible with our own daily schedule too. Like sleeping hours. If you wake up a few hours earlier than your little one, and stay awake for a couple of hours after their bedtime, you can do wonders at work. At night, I finish my cooking for the next day. Yes, it sounds difficult, but it helps for a hassle-free day.

Janani Karthik added: These days my three-anda-half year-old is into ‘cooking’. I give her my ‘order’ from ‘the menu’ and small cups of real ingredients while I work. I keep asking how she’s going and whether my order will be ready, just to keep her going. She’s ‘cooked’ me dosas and rotis and pancakes! Afterwards she taps away on her cash register toy and I get a few more minutes while ‘restaurant’ game continues a bit more. It’s great role play and she enjoys it. She’s also into clay and dough and magic sand; I don’t mind at all that it makes a mess as it gives me a longish quiet stretch!

Sometimes I’ll buy her a new toy and I know she’ll be engrossed in it for a couple of days at least.

WHERE IN INDIA We asked you to identify this unusual structure.

The correct answer came from reader Kumar: Broken Bridge in Hemant Kumar Chennai. Built on the Adyar estuary, it collapsed in heavy rains in 1977 and was never repaired. This ‘bridge to nowhere’ is now a popular hangout spot with young people.

SAY IT AGAIN 6 APRIL 2020

My son just asked me if when I was little I had to stay inside for COVIDs 1 through 18.

Kerry Howley, Twitter user

Day 20 of #socialdistancing, the 3-year-old now has control of my phone and generally everything else.

Nick Jeffery, Twitter user

If you think people’s moods are bad now, wait till September when 12 million adults try to put on nonelasticised pants.

Byron Kaye, Reuters journo

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SARBAT DA BHALA You liked our video from Sisganj Gurudwara at New Delhi showing the feeding of hundreds of needy people, with safety procedures and social distancing measures in place.

Teresa Mackenzie wrote: Such a beautiful act of love, kindness towards others. Blessings to you all for what you are doing for the homeless people.

Liladhar Ramteke wrote: What a commendable job, salute to you.

Vandana Saini Sandhu wrote: Knew this would happen. The gurudwara is the best place for sharnarthi. People can rest, shower and eat, as its kitchen is always open. All around India there are gurudwaras – there’s one in almost every city. They welcome people from all communities without any bias. So please take sharan in a gurudwara nearby, explain your situation and circumstances, and I am sure they will help you. Makes me proud to be a Punjabi and an Indian. Best wishes from Sydney.

Gail Moorfoot wrote: Beautiful people Abhishek Shandilya wrote: Pride of India. Hamare Sikh bhai, the pride of India.

CAPTION CONTEST

WHERE IN OZ We asked you to identify this stunning building.

Readers Sachin Wakhare and Chandan Kishor identified it correctly as The Wave Resort, Broadbeach, Gold Coast.

No, you can’t send your partner or housemate into childcare.

Daniel James, Twitter user NATIONAL EDITION

When you can’t leave your house #daylightsavings is the least of your worries.

Jason Fraser, Twitter user

Coronavirus is the ultimate relationship boot camp.

Trevor Noah, Comedian and TV host

What’s Deepika Padukone thinking here?

Gur Mohan Singh wrote: Ranveer only bought me ONE hand sanitiser Rupali Janbandhu wrote: I'm smarter than Kajol and look hotter in my mask.

Leyla Nubia wrote: So did they say to sing Happy Birthday while washing hands or Dum Maro Dum? Arora Vijay wrote: Do I touch the tap or do I call Ranveer to turn it on?

Raj Saneja wrote: Wasn’t easy to find a Gucci mask matching my Gucci bathrobe.

Prince Prince wrote: How I will turn the tap on now with soap on my hands?

Remiya Goswami wrote: Should I wash the soap dispenser before I wash the tap to wash my hands?

Priyanka Nijhawan wrote: Now what was it?? Wash for 10 sec or 20?

Debz Guha wrote: Just finished my nail appointment, now over to Mission Handwash.

Harvi Rosy Singh wrote: Nothing is more real than the masks we make to show each other who we are (a quote by Christopher Barzak) Nazish Fatima wrote: Is that the price of a toilet roll or hand sanitiser???

Raka Mitra wrote: I touched the tap to turn it off… wait, does that mean I have to wash my hands again?!

Raj Saneja wrote again: How can I time the washing of my hands for 20 seconds. I left my stopwatch outside.

Shefali Abhinav Sharma wrote: Ohhh, I have to make a video about how to wash hands for my PR, but I can’t remember how the PR team taught me to do it…

Arix Bishnoi wrote: Should I wash my hands before or after putting on my makeup.

Arix Bishnoi wrote again: Oh no, I’m in the bathroom and I’ve left Ranveer alone with all my clothes…

Yamini Sata wrote: How do I brush my teeth with my mask on Arix Bishnoi wrote again: The things we have to do for our fans to like us. #publicity Dibyendu Dasgupta wrote: Think I put that sanitizer in Ranveer's pack…

Tanav Gupta wrote: Itna maza kyun aa raha hai, Tu ne haath mein sanitiser lagaaya (YJHD) Manisha Agarwal wrote: Chappaak!!

Kavita Panchal Mistry wrote: Virus, Jo darr gaya, samjho marr gaya...

Aur hame pata hai kiye maskaur hand wash dekhke tu aise hi darr gaya.

Aur jald hi mar bhi jayega... Ha haha.

Varsha Mehra Arora wrote: Ek chutki hand sanitiser ki keemat tum kya jaano Ramesh Babu. Ab toh 20 sec keliye hand wash karne hi padenge.

Sahil Sharma wrote: Mujhe chahiye Azadi. Where is my tukde tukde gang.

Gurmeet Kalsi wrote: Nalke mein garam paani kyun nahi aa raha hai?

APRIL 2020 7

LOCKDOWN

Reaching out to the needy "I

t’s time to go home,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently advised visitors and international students in Australia.

“If they cannot support themselves then there is the alternative for them to return to their home countries,”

MELBOURNE Monica Raizada: Women of Wyndham (WOW) and Wyndham Interfaith Network (WIN) “Imagine listening to that statement by the Prime minister as a newly enrolled student who arrived in February-March this year to start their semester,” Monica Raizada told Indian Link. “Those students are the worst affected. They’ve had limited opportunities to create friendships, they are still to find jobs and their classes are either cancelled or are being conducted online.”

Monica is supporting international students through Global Hindu Association for Reform and Sustainable Societies (GHARS) a nationally registered not-for-profit that is based on the Vedic belief of Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam (The world is one family).

“International tickets are exorbitant at the moment and some borders are closed, making it difficult to travel. The PM and his advisors should observe due diligence before making statements that drop like a bombshell resulting in further anxiety for these young people. International students inject over $30 billion a year into Australian economy, but when it’s time to pay back, the attitudes have changed,” lamented Monica.

A team of GHARS volunteers are offering free home cooked vegetarian meals to seniors, students and disadvantaged families.

Various pick up points have been assigned across Melbourne in suburbs of Prahran, Derrimut, South Morang, Wyndham harbour and East Keilor where the meals can be collected. Free counselling services will also be made available to international students as the anxiety around COVID and its economic impact increases.

Enquiries email team@ghars.org or call 0434 470 095.

Girish Patel: Migration Agent, Aussizz Group The Aussizz Group are receiving over hundred calls a day and hundreds of messages to enquire about visa and PR application status, Girish Patel told Indian Link. There are parents stuck here that need to extend their visitors visa, students with no further stay restrictions, PR applicants in the process of applying for immigration and students that cannot attend universities.

Aussizz Group has created a special email ID in response to the overwhelming number 8 APRIL 2020

announced the PM as the Coronavirus pandemic continues. He was reiterating that safety and well-being of Australians is his first priority, and fair enough.

That controversial statement from the Prime Minister, however, resulted in further anxiety for students already bogged down by COVID concerns. With

university fees paid in advance, flights to other countries disrupted, parents/supporters also in lockdowns in their home countries and job losses all round the situation is already grim for many.

The Indian communities in Melbourne and Sydney have rallied round to

support the affected students in various capacities from offering free Education and Visa consultations to cooking fresh meals for those in need or isolation.

Indian Link spoke to some community representatives on their efforts to assist international students and others caught up in this turbulence.

of conerns: Covid19@aussizz.com. They have also created a COVID 19 Crisis FAQ booklet for onshore and off-shore applications “We are helping with the enquiries even if they are not our clients,” claimed Girish.

His request is for everyone not to panic as a result of Scott Morrison’s comments. “The next six months will be tough for everyone in the education industry but there are many universities and community organisations that are willing to help. We are not alone. It is times like this that we need to help each other,” he said.

Clayton, Doveton and Dandenong. Sunny also provided food and groceries to the students that were in need.

According to Sunny some students do not have food/groceries or means to buy more, many have visa status concerns and a few cannot afford their college fees.

“They are feeling demoralised as the situation around them worsens,” Sunny observed.“I request them not to despair even though it will not be easy; they should stay at home and be safe. My pledge to these people is that I will continue to help them with food and basic essentials as long as possible.”

Nirankari Mission Rowville, Global Organisation for Divinity based in Knox, Vidya Subramanium and Rowena Ann Hansen from the Filipino community are supporting Sunny in providing basics and treats to medical staff and health care workers in age care facilities and Maroondah Hospital.

university community liaison officers and/ or apply online to get their applications assessed. “The Government will consider the unprecedented circumstances and offer alternatives like bridging/temporary visas for those affected until the pandemic settles down,” he told Indian Link. Meanwhile some universities have announced relief in the form of financial support schemes for international students experiencing hardships.

Mihir Shah: Echoes Global Education Mihir Shah believes that the statement from the Prime Minister could have been worded better as the impression it created was not the desired one. People should not expect the Government to bail them out, however, his statement will have long-term implications in the education industry.

“Student intake in Australia will plummet once the market is back to normal as other countries like UK and Canada will take advantage of this situation and the stand taken by the Australian Government,” said Mihir. “They will make a big issue of it and capitalise on the student intake that will move to them as a result.”

According to him there is much insecurity - even fear - amongst international students at the moment. Starting a dedicated helpline for them will help alleviate that stress to some extent. He also praised Australian universities that are extending fee payment schedules, offering credits for next semester or offering payment plans to help people to tide through these challenging times.

Mihir is offering free consultation to students affected by the COVID 19 restrictions.

His email: Mihir@echoesglobaleducation.com

Sunny Duggal: Sant Nirankari Mission “There are around 100,000 Indians on temporary visas and only around 500 registered with the Indian Consulates so far. It is difficult to extend support if we don’t have details or contacts. We are asking people to register themselves ASAP so we can assist them,” said Sunny Duggal.

Mr Raj Kumar, Consul General of India in Melbourne, along with Sunny recently visited Indian student facilities around Melbourne to understand the issues being faced by them. They visited South eastern suburbs of Endeavour Hills Cranbourne,

AP Singh: Gurudwara Sahib Blackburn “Prior to COVID 19 many students used to visit the Gurudwara Sahib, eat the langar and take food away for the rest of the week,” AP Singh told Indian Link. “They may not have cooking facilities or have limited money or time. When the religious place shut down, temporarily, we continued to cook for those regular students. Soon the word of mouth spread and the demand increased. From 50 packs we went to 250, all of it cooked fresh.”

“Anyone can pick the food up from the Gurudwara, 5-7pm. We will continue to assist seniors, students and people in health sector and essential services if they need food. Our local council has approached us to list us in their directory and inform everyone of the service we are providing. The congregation (sangat) is requested to support us financially or by donating ingredients so we can continue our efforts to reach people when they need it most,” he said.

(Please text or call 0430595189 to provide your details and place your orders before 2 pm, 7 days a week.The packed vegetarian meal can be collected from the front gate of the Gurudwara.)

Vasan Srinivasan: Mental Health Foundation Australia According to Vasan Srinivasan, Vice chair of the Mental Health Foundation Australia, announcements have been made at Federal level for students and visitors with concerns over their visa status to consult their

Everyone we spoke to concurred that we all have a duty of care for these students who are away from their homes and insecure about their future due to circumstances beyond their control. We as a community need to help them financially as much as we can as that is the need of the hour.

SYDNEY Guru Nanak Free Kitchenette (GNFK) It was Guru Nanak Free Kitchenette’s designated weekend to operate (it is active twice a month). Lucky Singh and her husband Balbir were up early, organising the grocery shop from Parklea Markets. The purpose-built professional kitchen in the backyard of their Glenwood home began its big cook after Sikh prayers as usual for all volunteers.

By midday the meal was ready and arranged on tables up the front. International students began to drop by to pick up their boxes.

They’ve been doing so for some months now, but with recent COVID-related difficulties, the number of students has increased.

Also dropping by this Saturday, were people from old age homes and other seniors, including one from as far as Holsworthy.

Volunteers began driving out to the homes of people who had called ahead and requested food. Meanwhile, the van was filled with biscuits, muffins, fresh fruit, juices, tea and coffee supplies, and Lucky and Balbir drove out to Blacktown and Westmead Hospitals where they have been serving food free to anyone who needs it, including hospital staff and families of patients who may have been waiting around for hours without a full meal.

Also coming here to see the Singhs as usual, were more students – this time to pick up dry supplies such as rice, flour, dals, sugar, fresh fruit, long-life milk, toiletries.

Replenished with more boxes from home, the Singhs then drove out to the CBD’s Martin Place where they have been feeding the homeless for years now. Video clips from

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Little India

Hindu Council of Aust

GHARS

this seva (service) - sometimes with free gifts of blankets thrown in - have gone viral in Sydney’s Indian community. This time round though, it was different. Their usual diners had already been calling, because other charity services who have been helping them have ceased operations due to COVID scare. Having fed the waiting crowds and chatting with a few regulars, the Singhs began the drive back home as the clock pushed 11.00pm.

A message appeared on the Guru Nanak Free Kitchenette’s Facebook page. It was from an Indian person, quarantined in a city hotel, who could not eat the repeat cold dinner left outside his door. A friend from Perth had suggested to him to reach out to GNFK. Do we have any boxes left, Balbir asked Lucky, pulling up on the side.

Yes, she replied.

Back they drove to the city. They organised with the police detail at the hotel to have three meals, fresh fruit and juice bottles delivered to the person in quarantine.

The policeman on duty opened the boxes for a check.

Observing his face as he did so, Lucky asked tentatively, would you like a box yourself? Yes please, he said.

The Singhs left their last 12 boxes for him and his mates.

In all, 500 boxes of Indian food were distributed that day by GNFK. The home-based charity was launched by the Singhs in 2012, after they saw a similar operation in Canada.

“We functioned with no outside help save extended family and a Facebook page, feeding the homeless in Martin Place once in three months,” Lucky Singh told Indian Link, and added, laughing, “It did not go down well in the early days, with few takers for our home-cooked Indian vegetarian meals!”

Today they perform this seva every fortnight, and have added a raft of other NATIONAL EDITION

Guru Nanak Free Kitchenette

Little India

services. They’ve also added a growing team of volunteers – not just from the local Indian community, but also from the mainstream, and from China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Fiji.

Local businesses such as Sharma’s Kitchen and Curry Masters have been donating supplies for years now, and monetary donations have begun to come in. Every time a Facebook post goes out after seva, the calls come in – when’s your next food drive?

“We are guided by the Sikh principles of Sarbat da bhala (May everyone prosper) and from what we saw our devout Sikh parents do all their lives,” Lucky said. “Thanks to all our volunteers - our cooks, our drivers - we do believe that everyone will prosper, and that it’s really a wonderful world out there.”

Little India Australia, Harris Park NSW On any regular day, the Little India precinct in Harris Park is a beehive of activity as large crowds of Indians and Indophiles gather from across the city. They’re out there to replenish their weekly supplies at one of the many Indian spice outlets, to buy Indian outfits for an upcoming occasion, or to purchase an Indian gift of jewellery or similar artefact. The overwhelming reason though is to enjoy the Indian cuisine on offer at the 15 or so food outlets there, whether dosas or curries or Indian-Chinese.

These days though, there is an eerie quietness at Harris Park much like in the rest of the city. While take-aways and grocery shops continue to see their patrons drop in, the buzz has been replaced by a sense of despondency, especially as the student community struggle to come to terms with the new reality. These very young people who smilingly served others as they shopped or ate, have been stood down as their employers themselves see reduced business.

The Little India business community has

Blackburn Gurudwara

come together in this hour of need to help international students by making available cooked meals and food rations.

According to Gurmeet Tuli, President of Little India, of the 15 restaurants in Harris Park nine have come on board in this charitable initiative. “Seven are active as they all have been allocated a day of the week, two are on stand by in case any restaurant cannot handle it. We are pleased to be able to help at this difficult time.”

He added, “The number of students reaching out has increased dramatically.

We started with 25 takeaways, now we are providing 400 packs a day. We do have capacity to do more, and are considering introducing pre-bookings so it can all flow better. Our sincere request though, is that this is a service for genuine, needy students –and for others not to misuse this service as someone needy may miss out.”

Tuli confirmed that social distancing rules are being followed strictly as students gather at dinner time. “Of course, if the government announces new guidelines we will need to comply,” Tuli observed. “At that time, subject to rules, we may have to set up a distribution point. Our aim ultimately is to reach out to those in the Harris Park community that find themselves in a position of need.”

Hindu Council of Australia’s Hindu Benevolent Fund and Karma Kitchen The Karma Kitchen of the Hindu Council of Australia (HCA) has been serving freshly cooked vegetarian lunches to needy people in Sydney’s west since 2015. In recent days it has seen an uptick in activity as it reaches out to those facing hardships in COVID lockdown.

Jay Raman of the HCA told Indian Link that packs of cooked food as well as raw supplies are currently being sent out to students as well as seniors and families in

lockdown who are unable to help themselves “We’ve created an online support request form on our website hindcouncil.com.au so please reach out if you need help,” he said. “We’ve established two hubs so far to organise our services - in Harris Park and Blacktown - and are looking to open a third in Liverpool. Here we are currently packaging fresh meals as well as basic grocery.”

Their ‘care kits’ being assembled at the Harris Park Community Centre consist of supplies such as rice, lentils, flour and cooking oil, long life milk, cereals, tinned veggies, dry vegetables such as potatoes and onions, salt, sugar and spices, as well as some items of toiletries.

“With social distancing restrictions it is taking longer than usual but so far our dry groceries have gone out to some 120 students and isolated families, driven to them by volunteers,” he revealed.

Alternate accommodation is being organised for students and others who may need it such as stranded Indian tourists.

“We’ve just sorted five cases, organising private homes as well as motels, and are considering the hiring of a hall if the need arises, with beddings etc provided by us.”

Another need that has been identified is counselling for students, for which outreach is being considered.

“We’re thankful to the Indian Consulate for the help it is providing at this hour,” Jay Raman noted. “We’ve also reached out to our long-time supporters and sponsors of the Diwali Mela. A renewed call has gone out for donations in cash or kind to the Hindu Benevolent Fund to help fund these activities.”

The Fund has so far provided financial help to those affected by disasters such as the Fiji cyclone, NSW drought and most recently, the bushfire crisis.

Preeti Jabbal, Rajni Anand Luthra, Pawan Luthra APRIL 2020 9

WORSHIP

Live-streamed sermons Thanks to technology, Fr Manish Kuriakose of St Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in Sydney can continue to meet his congregation weekly BY EMIE ROY

"P

lease pardon me if sound and lighting is not perfect.”

When he uttered these words at the beginning of his weekly sermon on Sunday 29 March, Fr Manish Kuriakose became a role model for a community that looks up to him for leadership.

Only days before, the Prime Minister had announced the closure of places of worship, and the Premier of NSW had urged everyone that could work from home to do so.

“I am working from home too,” Fr Manish Kuriakose told his congregation with a smile, who had all joined him live on Facebook.

It was the first virtual sermon for St Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in Sydney’s Seven Hills district.

Unprecedented times do call for unprecedented measures.

New work conditions in the current global pandemic are challenging for everyone, but they are particularly difficult for the clergy who help the community to meet their spiritual needs. Many Christian denominations are observing 50 days of Lent these days, in the lead up to the ‘passion week’ remembering the events that led to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. At this time of increased religious

10 APRIL 2020

observances at church, Fr Manish Kuriakose knew he had to try something innovative.

As he preached the gospel live on Facebook for nearly an hour, he was meeting the needs of his dedicated parishioners without a break in service, while complying with the recommendations of the government.

He set up a small video station at his home, and all he had in the frame was the holy cross, the Bible and himself.

“What I endeavoured to do was to connect the community,” said Fr Kuriakose to Indian Link. “Thanks to social distancing measures, most people are at home with their families, and they are starting to feel some social disconnect.

The idea was to create a common platform where they can feel the connection as a community, while abiding by the rules of physical distancing. These are important weeks when our congregation would normally spend a lot of their time at church. Now that they can’t do it, I tried something in my own way”.

His qualifications in psychology as former Asst Prof at the Dept of Psychology at Bangalore’s Christ Academy Institute For Advanced Studies came in handy, as he also shared a tip or two on how to proactively manage COVIDrelated stress.

The video

fetched more than 2.5 k views in a matter of two days; and more importantly the appreciation of the congregation and goodwill of the wider community around the world.

The plan is to continue weekly sermons through social media, during the time of the pandemic when social distancing measures are in place.

St Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church was formed in 2006 and Fr Manish Kuriakose joined as vicar in November 2019.

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Simple steps to help stop the spread.

Cough or sneeze into your arm

Use a tissue

Bin the tissue

Wash your hands

Together we can help stop the spread and stay healthy.

For more information about Coronavirus (COVID-19) visit health.gov.au Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra

NATIONAL EDITION

APRIL 2020 11

12 APRIL 2020 30 JANUARY 2019

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INNOVATION

A simple key to open doors safely A Monash Uni student has created a device to avoid touching virus hotspots – and is happy to give it away for free BY RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA

I

f you’ve been paranoid about touching that door handle in these COVID-19 days – or that lift button or ATM touchpad – there’s now a solution in sight.

Muthu Vignesh Vellayappan, a PhD student in Engineering at Monash University, has invented a device to keep your hands safe when you are out and about.

The hand-held device he calls ‘Safety Key’ attaches to door handles and helps you twist them open, so that your fingers make no contact with the surface at all.

“The coronavirus is known to stick around for a few days on steel and plastic surfaces,” Muthu told Indian Link. “While we all practise recommended hygiene procedures and social distancing, the Safety Key can go a long way in stopping the spread of the virus.”

He recommends that you use the device - no larger than a mobile phone - every time you go out, and at your last destination, give it a good wash with regular soap as you wash your own hands.

The cost to produce it? Less than a dollar.

Best of all, if you are interested in owning one, the inventor will send you the specs to create your own.

“The Safety Key is 3-D printed using PLA, a low-cost polymer that is as easily

NATIONAL EDITION

obtainable as it is durable,” Muthu revealed. “If you have access to a 3-D printer, I will send you the G-code to create one for yourself.”

Two copies can be created in a matter of two hours.

The idea for the Safety Key struck Muthu in early March as the COVID scare had just set in, and he saw viral videos of people sneezing and spitting on door handles and inside lifts (allegedly to spread the virus deliberately).

“I wondered if there was a way in which we would avoid touching surfaces like door handles, light switches, toilet flushes and hand dryer machines,” he described.

“I designed an early model and ran it past my supervisor Prof. Neil Cameron, head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Monash Uni. He encouraged me to continue.”

Muthu designed a few models. “The first one could only open door handles of a particular thickness, and so that had to change clearly. It was also some what large in size. With repeated modifications and optimizing, I came up with a design that was satisfactory.”

The entire process from woe to go, took about three weeks.

He printed off 15 copies and gave them out to staff and fellow students to test.

The feedback was encouraging.

Putting the word out on LinkedIn, Muthu began to see interest, such as from Griffith University.

“I’m particularly keen to have COVID front-liners like health workers and security personnel use the device.”

So he’s not looking to patent it?

“The patenting process will take 2-3 months. The impact has to be immediate.

The need of the hour is to minimise the transmission of the virus. So I’ve decided to go public with it.”

There is at least one other hands-free device that has been produced recently but it requires the use of the forearm to push the door open and is not portable.

“The design of the Safety Key could be used to make a die for injection moulding,” Muthu observed. “This could easily help in mass production, at very low cost.”

The Madurai lad finished his Bachelor’s degree in India and completed a Masters’ degree in Malaysia before joining Monash in 2017. He is currently months away from finishing his PhD based on the design and development of heart patches to replace heart cells damaged in a heart attack.

In 2018 he had won the Audience Choice Award at the nation-wide science communication contest FameLab, describing his PhD to a lay audience.

Muthu Vellayappan with his Safety Key

“The Safety Key is 3-D printed using PLA, a low-cost polymer that is as easily obtainable as it is durable. If you have access to a 3-D printer, I will send you the G-code to create one for yourself.”

APRIL 2020 13

STUDENTS

Yr 12 2020: Studying online W

Students as well as teachers are adapting to changed conditions

hile the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations will proceed as usual in 2020, the ever-evolving situation of the coronavirus outbreak in Australia has forced Year 12 students to be flexible with their study routines.

Changes have been made to the number and weighting of formal assessment tasks and many high schools across the state are transitioning to full or partial online learning systems.

Year 12 students across NSW have generally welcomed the board’s decision.

“I am glad the HSC is continuing, to ensure that every student can receive a fair ATAR,” Gurnoor Kaur of Girraween HighSchool told Indian Link. “I trust that the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) will take appropriate measures such as postponing the HSC slightly to ensure that it is conducted fairly and in a manner that is beneficial to all students.”

Although students are determined to continue their work for the examinations, many have expressed difficulty in studying at home instead of face-to-face learning at school.

“Maintaining focus at home can be challenging as the online system is still developing and has many errors,” said Pranav Patki, a Year 12 student at

Reyen Shah

Gurnoor Kaur

Chatswood High School.

His sentiments were echoed by Reyen Shah of Normanhurst Boys High, who said that it is difficult to learn and obtain help from teachers while following personalised schedules at home. Reyen also worried about the prospect of NESA guidelines discontinuing online face-to-face teaching, expressing that the decision would have “no pros, only cons.”

Students are not alone in their concerns about overcoming the challenges associated with online learning platforms. English Advanced HSC teacher Preeti Gupta, who

instructs two classes, articulated the lack of class vibe and difficulty in translating lesson plans of 55 minutes into writing for students.

Nonetheless, Preeti remains hopeful. “In three decades of teaching, I have never had such a rapid rate of submission tasks. Two days in a row, I was hit with 50 emails within a couple of hours of setting work and asking for feedback,” Preeti said.

When she asked her students how they managed to finish their work so fast, their reply was that they “had no co-curricular commitments.”

With the advent of home-schooling,

students are allowing for extra study time while proactively creating strategies to cope with transition in learning environments.

Gurnoor, who has found it difficult to manage stress and anxiety in the current situation, is implementing simple activities into her routine such as playing with her pet, minimising exposure to the news and social media, and connecting with friends digitally.

Pranav has also established set routines to complete each subject in an equal amount of time while citing the benefits of using a calendar and timetable.

As final year High School students attempt to adjust to the frequent policy changes by schools, the education board and the government, uncertainty continues to loom over the students and the broader community.

“I hope both the Department of Education and NESA will continue to make decisions in the best interest of students, and maintain communication with universities to ensure that this pandemic does not have a major impact on the future of young people,” Gurnoorsaid.

Getting through the HSC is a challenge for anyone in any year, but this year’s change in study conditions will be one that the class of 2020 will remember for the most unique reasons.

Namita Gohil

What to watch if you’re missing Uni life Online classes can’t make up for the fun of campus life?

Binge-watch these shows and movies.

GREEK Set in the fictitious Cyprus-Rhodes University in Ohio, this American comedydrama is all about fraternities and sororities.

Less about academics and more about social life, Greek introduces us to siblings Rusty and Casey Cartwright in an endearing show about family, love and friendship across four years of university.

3 IDIOTS Based on Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat, 3 Idiots is a Bollywood cult classic. A coming-of-age comedy about the pressures of the Indian education system, the film stars Aamir Khan, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi as stressed-out engineering students. This film evokes the nostalgia of late-night studying, hostel pranks, drinking on rooftops and of course, young love.

RONNY CHIENG: INTERNATIONAL STUDENT Before Ronny Chieng became famous as a correspondent for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, he starred in this Australian comedy series about life as an international student at the University of Melbourne.

It’s partly based on his own experiences as a law student there, poking fun at Aussie tropes like chugging beer, auditioning for

14 APRIL 2020

the comedy revue, and playing Australian football.

A spin-off of TV series Black-ish, Grown-ish is an American sitcom about the Johnson family’s eldest daughter going away to college. With each episode, we’re reminded of the painful awkwardness of making new friends, the stress of deciding a major, and how it isn’t always easy to leave your family at home. Driven by the charming Yara Shahidi, Grown-ish is a funny, feel-good watch.

COMMUNITY With a stellar cast, six solid seasons and

unabashed references to pop culture, it’s no surprise that this show has developed a cult following. Community is about friendships formed in a study group of seven misfits such as a lawyer with a fake degree, a single mother who wants to start her own business, and a billionaire with nothing better to do.

MAIN HOON NA With a talented cast of Shahrukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Zayed Khan and Amrita Rao, Main Hoon Na is a comedy-romance-drama set against the India-Pakistan border conflict.

SRK plays an army officer who is undercover as the awkward student at a prestigious

college. Its appeal lies in its strong narrative, catchy soundtrack and memorable scenes.

After all, who can forget the iconic shot of Sushmita Sen in her red saree?

STUDENT OF THE YEAR In Karan Johar’s signature style, Student of the Year is about young love and romance in a typically Mumbai college setting.

Entertaining, beautifully shot and seemingly larger than life, it was the debut film of Alia Bhatt, Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan back in 2012. Watch this for all the things we love most about Bollywood and our college days.

Rhea L Nath

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NATIONAL EDITION

4/3/20 2:30 pm

APRIL 2020 15

KIDS

Talking to your kids about COVID-19 Use positive communication and maintain an attitude of hope

BY JYOTI SHANKAR

T

alk about hope when talking to your children about COVID-19, says counsellor Madhavi Nawana Parker.

The very low number of paediatric patients with COVID-19 has perplexed doctors and epidemiologists the world over. While it is a relief that children are escaping the worst of this pandemic, their lives have been disrupted as much as those of adults. Children like familiarity, and a major change to routine such as this could manifest in reactions like anxiety, clinginess, withdrawal, shyness, aggressiveness or returning to outgrown behaviours such as thumb-sucking or bedwetting.

Madhavi Nawana Parker, Managing Director of the Adelaide-based Positive Minds Australia, lists some helpful ways to bring a semblance of order in this strange new world. A social emotional development specialist who has worked with children for over 20 years, Madhavi has published extensively on building resilience and confident thinking in young people.

“In these times when there is too much information and discussion on media as well as among children about COVID-19, parents need to keep explanations very simple,” Madhavi tells Indian Link.

“Children are by nature very optimistic but

16 APRIL 2020

as parents, we could end up talking too much because of our own anxieties.

Instead, convey a sense that things will be alright. “Children need the confidence that grown-ups have a good handle on it,” says Madhavi.

The shift from regular school attendance to online schooling has been the biggest change in the lives of families with children. With school holidays on the horizon, working parents are worried about the implications of this extended lockdown. Madhavi says that parents need to respond to their child’s reactions in a supportive way. “Explain that there is a sickness going around and the way we get rid of it is by being super clean. We have got to wash our hands really well. We don’t hug or high-five anyone.”

TODDLERS For toddlers and pre-schoolers who do not understand anything about the disease, we need to be the people to help them practice social distancing. Though they aren’t likely to understand what is happening in the community, they will notice changes in those closest to them.

Not over-explaining to this age group is best. “Children of this age create phenomenal stories in their head,” says Madhavi. “We don’t want to get them obsessed with hand-washing and ‘the sickness’.”

PRIMARY SCHOOL KIDS Kids of primary school age are already getting excellent information from teachers, says Madhavi, acknowledging

the wonderful job they do in conveying developmentally appropriate information.

“Reiterate to children that doctors and researchers are working really hard to find an answer and for now they need to follow the rules of hygiene and social distancing to bring the problem under control,” she says.

worried about this,” and then answering based on facts, keeping explanations to a minimum. “If children keep coming back to the same conversation, try ways to move on to other topics, breaking the circuit of their worry with positive and happy things.

Be present and engage in the things you love to do as a family.”

OLDER KIDS In general children, digital natives as they are, have adapted well to online schooling.

Madhavi reminds us that though this works well for many, there are children who are not technologically comfortable or capable, and children with learning or neurological difficulties. “Understand your child’s anxieties, abilities, personality and temperament, and provide extra support where needed.”

Are electronic gadgets a constant source of stress at your home? Relax the rules a bit at this time, Madhavi suggests.

“Don’t put yourself under pressure to find what the right formula is at this point in time. Give yourselves a couple of weeks to adjust to new routines and then sit down as a family to discuss these issues. Yet it is important to emphasise the need for a balanced life, so spend time in activities such as exercise, walking the dog or playing in the garden.”

MINDFUL LISTENING Another tactic for parents Madhavi recommends is to use reflective listening.

This is essentially mirroring back to them what they have said themselves, for example, “So it sounds like you are feeling

In a COVID-19 world, the respite offered previously by school and work to both parents and children, is now missing. Spending all week together in a confined home space has started to have repercussions in the form of irritation, anger and domestic violence in extreme cases.

“I want to remind parents that their mental health is paramount in this time, as this will reflect on their children’s mental health,” Madhavi says. “Find ways to be alone, to relax, listen to music, read, meditate, exercise, phone a friend or watch your own TV shows. Let the kids know that if at the end of the day, you need a break and they have to sit and watch TV by themselves, so be it.”

Summarising, Madhavi says, “My primary message is to give hope. Hopelessness leads to anxiety and depression and consequently helplessness. Don’t over-talk when answering their questions, stick to the facts. Keep information focussed on hope, on hygiene and on facts. Keep children off the news if you can but keep them connected to nature and to each other by whatever means you can.”

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LOCKDOWN

Virtual weddings in ‘coronial’times Couples have had to choose between postponing or scaling down their Big Fat Indian Wedding. There have been takers for both.

BY PREETI JABBAL

I

n 1992 Meena’s wedding was lavish, long and attended by hundreds. Fast forward to 2020 and her daughter Sheena’s nuptials were the polar opposite. The bride, groom, celebrant, Sheena’s elder sister and brother-in-law were the only ones in attendance. The rest of the family including Meena and her husband - the bride’s father - witnessed the tying of the knot on Skype.

An Indian wedding with just five people?

Shock! Horror! How was it even possible?

That’s how many people we would expect not to turn up at the event. Seriously, that is how many people generally go to choose the bridal lehnga (traditional wedding outfit) between all the siblings, aunties and cousins.

Sheena, unfortunately, had no such luxury. One year of preparations, detailed planning, multiple shopping trips to India and hundreds of RSVP came to a naught with the Federal Government restrictions on limiting the numbers at weddings to 5.

The decision was made, recently, to ramp up efforts to control community transmissions of the dreaded COVID virus.

With that one announcement Sheena’s dream wedding turned into a nightmare.

“I was so upset I cried all night,” said Meena as she recounted her experience to Indian Link. “My heart went out to Sheena as I know how much blood and sweat went into the planning. Yet I was amazed at how she took everything in her stride. I know she was hurting but she stood firm in her decision not to cancel or postpone her wedding yet abide by the new regulations.”

“This is a classic case of circumstances beyond our control,” Meena added. “We are yet to be reimbursed the deposits paid to the venue, florist, photographer and caterer, and our insurance has refused to cover anything, but our daughter is the happiest person in town as she got to marry the man she loves.”

Vandana Rammi Chhabra echoed similar sentiments. Her son’s wedding was scheduled in the first week of May. They decided to postpone all the wedding events to a future undecided date in the wake of the new restrictions.

“The young couple have been very resilient through this difficult time,” Vandana said. “My husband is a medical professional and he predicted the restrictions in advance based on his experience and observation of other affected countries.”

Her son maintained that everybody’s health and wellbeing was far more

NATIONAL EDITION

Dave and Chandan have opted to postpone…

important, and the community needs to be safe. He did not wish to expose his wedding guests to even the smallest chance of contamination.

Vandana confessed that initially she was like a child who wants the moon. She had seen the effort put in by her children Dave and Chandan - and though she knew they had made the right decision, her heart found it difficult to come to terms with it all.

In any case cancellation was not an option for them as the venue was not willing to consider a refund, however, most of the providers were willing to work with them in future once the curve flattens.

“I know it’s not going to be easy to coordinate everything again and work around availability and dates of the vendors and venues, but I am now relieved that we came to the conclusion quickly to postpone everything till things settle and restrictions are lifted,” said Rammi optimistically.

In Karan Gandhok’s daughter’s wedding both postponement and cancellation were totally ruled out. “In our culture it is considered inauspicious to cancel a wedding and even if there is a death in the family, the wedding still goes ahead,” explained Karan.

Karan found out on the morning of his daughter’s sangeet ceremony that the opulent venue they had chosen was unable to host the 400 guests that were to attend due to phase two restrictions. He had to change the venue to another on the same

…whereas Michael and Pallavi downsized

day and restrict the numbers to 100.

“A year of planning, shopping, setting the theme and dancing rehearsals all went belly up in a second,” recalled Karan. “It’s funny how we Indians believe in accepting our destiny, but during weddings and funerals we tend to get very emotional.”

According to him his generation was raised on stories of great-grandparents living in trenches during wartime and grandparents suffering during the partition.

The recent COVID restrictions are certainly not the end of the world.

“If you put it in perspective, this is nothing in comparison to those difficult times. All the Government is asking us to do is to stay at home and be safe. I agree people’s plans got thrown out of the window but at least we now have a story to tell our own grandchildren. This is a wedding no one will forget ever,” he said philosophically.

Karan’s family decided to go ahead with the wedding but with smaller numbers and do away with the reception altogether. The bride and groom intend to celebrate their first anniversary exactly as they had planned their reception. Karan’s mother and brother, who were here to attend the wedding from overseas, are now stranded indefinitely in Australia due to travel bans and flight cancelations.

Archana Shridhar, who recently postponed her daughter Pallavi’s

wedding that was to be held in the end of March, agrees with Karan. “It is definitely not the end of the world and we all need to keep our spirits up and find solutions rather than wallow in sadness,” she said.

Michael and Pallavi have exchanged their wows in a civil ceremony with only two witnesses as per current restrictions but the family intends to continue the celebrations with a traditional wedding ceremony when it is safe to hold one with all their guests in attendance.

“What’s a wedding without people - we have postponed our plans and we will do it when we can have all our friends and family attend,” she said with conviction.

She is very proud of how her children have handled the situation and the strength they have shown despite their disappointment.

She sent an email to all her guests to keep the economy ticking and supporting the vendors and small businesses that are affected at various levels by event cancelations.

Karan seconds Archana’s opinion wholeheartedly. According to him the bigger casualties after all this will be businesses and bankruptcies will be the norm. “Small businesses rely on deposits as their cash flow and we need to support them and ensure that we bring the community spirit back. We have to reboot the economy and at the same time be prepared for the effects of COVID that are likely to last for a long time,” he said in conclusion.

APRIL 2020 19

ONLINE BIRTHDAYS

EAT, PRAY, LOVE A new age begins for PREETI JABBAL in the true sense of the word

Y

ou can take the butterfly out of the social but not the social out of the butterfly. My milestone birthday happened to be smack bang in the middle of stage-2 restrictions due to the COVID response in Australia and boy, did I party!

Before you socially responsible kind start dobbing me to the cops let me tell you it was not that kind of a party. Not in the traditional sense but it ended up being the most memorable one I have ever had.

The original birthday party that I had meticulously planned for months got cancelled due to the COVID scare, and I bawled my eyes out with disappointment. But I got over it quickly enough. I mean, here was my chance to officially stall reaching the big number so what was I complaining about? I choose to remain 49 for a few more months till the virus settles.

As a true blood social being, nothing ticks me more than interacting with a variety of people. My heart stood still in shock when ScoMo announced this alien concept called social distancing. I mean, our species have no knowledge of how to go about that. From being so busy that my own husband needed an appointment to catch up with me, to cooking for him day and night, I had no idea homebound domesticity was on my cards!

Anyway, as the cliché goes, if life gives you lemons then make lemonade, so I tamed the social beast in me and trained it to sit at home and do some ‘glamorous’ chores like cooking, washing and cleaning. My inner masterchef surfaced as I reluctantly bid farewell to my regular restaurants and pulled down the Uber eats menus from my refrigerator.

I even found faith!

The day before my birthday I joined a group of pious family friends to conduct an hour-long online session of mool mantra prayers seeking blessings and protection from Coronavirus, in conjunction with a similar worldwide initiative. Hopefully God has deployed some angels our way!

On D-day the sun shone bright, the take20 APRIL 2020

away coffee beckoned, the cash gifts in my purse crackled with excitement but I resisted all temptations and did not cross the Lakshman rekha of my door. When the doorbell rang however, I stepped out to be met with my first beautiful surprise.

My beautician friend stood 1.5 meters away from my door. She then broke into a complete song and dance routine in true Bollywood style around the trees in my front yard. As she sang Tum Jio Hazaaron Saal and blew me kisses from afar, a random passer-by stopped to ask for an encore.

My special day had begun.

The rest of the day my phone did not stop,

my WhatsApp lit up with notifications and the FB timeline flooded with messages.

People had more time on hand, so wishes were more creative than the lazy HBTU. The doorbell went again in the evening but this time a handsome bottle sat on my doorstep. I sanitised it with alcohol to discover it was Veuve Clicquot my favourite champagne. “Dropping off a little something on the way to our essential grocery run,” said the note on the not - so - little bottle.

Awww! How thoughtful and contactless!

An hour later the doorbell went off again but by now I had my makeup and prettiest dress on in anticipation. It was

time for a surprise from big brother. Sitting innocuously on my doorstep was a box of the most delicious and humungous coffee cake (another favourite) ever. With no one else but my immediate family of three to share it with, I happily ignored the fact that it was going to be a moment onmy lips and a lifetime on the hips.

Then started the four-hour virtual party.

My sister-in-law hadset up a Zoom session with my closest friends in Melbourne and my family around the globe to offer a toast on my reaching the golden age. The aforementioned cake was cut, the now chilled champagne popped, and the best silver dug out from its boxes in celebration.

A collective toast comprising of all manners of beverages from cola to green tea to single malt whiskey was raised in multiple households. It was BYOB time!

I Zoom-ed with my aunt in London who I had not met since September 2018 and my uncle and cousins in Shimla who I had not seen since my last trip to India in 2016. It was all very emotional yet joyous.

Speeches and conversation flowed easily along with the bubbly during thosehappy hours.

A new age had begun in the true sense of the word!

Every one of my family and friends had been impacted in some way or the other with the COVID restrictions either financially or psychologically but it was time to forget all that and enjoy the moment and be thankful that we were safe and healthy.

Imissed the real hugs and kisses but not the love that came from all directions from this global, virtual milestone get-together.

Later that night I donated to a GoFundMe initiative to assist Indians stranded in Melbourne in order to give back to the community that has given me so much.

For all my fellow Aries and Taureans, if your birthday is around the corner, let the virtual celebrations begin with Zoom, Google hangouts and Houseparty!

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BIRTHDAYS ONLINE Social distancing doesn’t have to dampen your big day

W

hether you’re a big fan of birthdays or not, it’s a day of fun and best wishes from loved ones. With social distancing measures significantly narrowing options to go bar hopping or throw a party, how are people celebrating their big days?

For 24-year-old Aishwarya Reddy, a HR professional with EY, the day began with a cake delivery on behalf of her colleagues while they worked from home. And since her birthday fell on the same day as Ugadi (Telegu New Year) on 25 March, she decided to dress up for the occasion.

“My parents always gift me new clothes on this day,” she told Indian Link. “Since I didn’t have to go to the office, I spent my birthday in a saree this year!”

In the evening, she gathered with her four flatmates for drinks and a unique birthday twist: social-distancing karaoke.

Maintaining the 1.5 metre distance recommendation, the friends performed all the latest Billboard hits in their living room.

“I’d send you a video, but you’d want to mute it!” she exclaimed with a laugh.

Earlier this month, Nidhi Kaushik and her husband had booked Armidale Bowling Club for the ‘mad scientist’ themed birthday party of their 11-year-old daughter Vidhi. When stage-1 lockdowns by the federal government closed these public spaces, they decided to shift the party to their own home for a small gathering.

Two days after sending out messages about the change in venue, stage-2 lockdown came into effect. Not letting it come in the way of their daughter’s birthday, the Kaushiks came up with a fun solution.

“We decorated our house in a science theme and invited all Vidhi’s friends online,” Kaushik said, “We showed them live science experiments, played birthday games, danced, and cut the cake. All the

NATIONAL EDITION

Happy birthday, Vidhi Kaushik

kids loved it so much that they want to do it more often.”

Instead of birthday presents, the Kaushiks requested their guests to inspire at least one donor from their family to donate blood when the current COVID-19 crisis ends. It is a cause close to their heart ever since they lost their young child to leukaemia.

Of course, virtual birthdays aren’t just for the younger crowd.

Four months ago, Zia Chaney had big plans for a weekend getaway with the girlfriends to commemorate a friend’s 50th birthday. When lockdowns in India forced them to stay indoors, she came up with a unique proposition – a cocktail party hosted on Zoom.

“We were five couples, so there were

ten of us on call although we all live in the same city. We dressed up, poured ourselves a drink in our living rooms, and talked for almost an hour,” she said. “It was nice to see everyone, and the birthday girl felt really special.”

Zia and her friends hope to recreate the virtual catch-up more frequently, especially as the lockdown has provided more free time for these working professionals.

“It’s something to look forward to when you are house-bound to this extent.

Otherwise you hardly get to see other human beings,” Zia said.

Adityaveer Singh’s 25th birthday falls on the last day of India’s 21-day lockdown.

An assistant manager at Cushman & Wakefield Bangalore, Singh initially had

birthday plans with two friends who were flying down from Delhi. With all domestic flights cancelled, he will have to make do.

“If I can’t throw a house party, I’ll just have to use the app,” he joked.

He refers to House party, a social networking app that has become very popular this last month. Allowing for video chatting with a group of up to eight people, the app’s unique feature is push notifications to all friends when a user ‘joins the party’ (opens the app).

Also, it has games like Trivia and the Ellen DeGeneres-inspired Heads Up. Friends can jump in and out of ‘rooms’ to meet new people – like a house party.

“Maybe my birthday can actually be fun at home,” Singh said.

Rhea L Nath APRIL 2020 21

INDIAN NEWS he said the tent would be “much safer.

Inside the hospital the same air is being recirculated. The tent will have good air flow, make things much better.”

Hospitals lack personal protection equipment (PPE) and medical staff have held protests at some hospitals.

“There are not enough masks, and if you are given one, you have to keep it for a week,” Kumar said.

Other vital equipment like respirators are in short supply, with Governor Andrew Cuomo demanding 30,000 of them from the federal government, which had only 20,000 in emergency stock. Kumar blamed city and state leaders for the debacle.

“Ventilators are a basic necessity and they should have had spares - it's common sense, it is like when you drive a car, you keep a spare wheel; it is basic.”

“You have 10 million people in the city (metro area). People are living on top of each other that could lead to a health crisis like this and because of this there should have been emergency preparedness by the Mayor or the Governor. They knew all this,” he added.

The lessons of the last big tragedy to strike the city, the 9/11 terrorist attack, happened not long and “they did not learn any lessons from that”, he added.

“They are blaming (President Donald) Trump, that he is not delivering. Why are you blaming him when you knew this was the hub of all the world, that is New York City. Don't you think we should be ready 24/7 for the emergencies?”

US Medical team translates COVID-19 information to 30 Indian languages Dr Krishan Kumar of New York, Emergency Doctor and President of the NY Chapter of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.

Photo: IANS

New York City was clearly not prepared for this,says Indian-American doctor on COVID-19 frontlines "It's horrible, horrible… people are dying in the emergency room (ER)," said an Indian-American doctor on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, describing the grim conditions at hospitals here where patients are lined up in the hallways, freezer trucks are parked outside to store bodies and the ambulance crews received orders to not bring in cardiac arrest cases they couldn't revive.

On the night of 2 April, as the confirmed coronavirus cases in New York City reached 51,809 and death toll 1,562, Dr Krishan Kumar told IANS that the hospitals were not prepared for the magnitude of the pandemic and were running out of beds and even basic supplies like masks.

Kumar, who works in the ERs of two hospitals, in the city's Brooklyn and Queens boroughs that are hard-hit by the pandemic, said,“People are staying in the ER for hours together. Many times people are dying in the ER. There is no floor space upstairs (to move them). There are no beds open.”

The starkest reminder of the crisis is the order issued by the city to Emergency Medical Service (EMS) ambulance staff to not bring in people suffering cardiac arrest if they cannot resuscitate them in the field.

“When the EMS brings the patients to the ER, they are either dying or nearly so there is no more CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) in the ER,” Kumar said.

22 APRIL 2020

For the younger doctors it is very traumatic to see this and they are deeply affected, he said.

A professor of emergency medicine in the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, who was formerly the medical director of the Fire, Police, Emergency Medical Services Academy and trained the city's first-line responders, Kumar is bringing his expertise on health emergencies to city hospital ERs in the time of crisis.

He is also the president of the New York chapter of Association of American Physicians of Indian-Origin.

The number of infected people in the city, the epicentre of the pandemic in the US, has been increasing alarmingly, and the city scrambled to increase the bed capacity Kumar, who has been an emergency doctor for 48 years, 36 of them in the New York City area, said the city was clearly not prepared for it.

Already “people are lying in the hallways, we are lining people there,” he said.

Field hospitals are being set up on the lawns of the Central Park, in a convention centre and the Billie Jean Tennis Centre where the US Open is played.

In addition, a Navy hospital ship has been brought to the city and 20 hotels are to be taken over for hospital use.

In the Brooklyn hospital where Kumar works, he said,“By next week we will have a tent outside the hospital (and) we will start seeing patients in the tent. It is coming to that stage now.”

Given the conditions inside the hospital,

A team led by a first-year Indian-American medical student from the Harvard Medical School has launched an initiative to help immigrants in the US with information regarding the coronavirus pandemic by making it available in 30 different Indian languages.

Led by Pooja Chandrashekar, the team of over 150 medical students is developing COVID-19 fact sheets and translating them into 30 languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic is burgeoning, there has been a real lack of accessible health information available in different languages,” Chandrashekar explained.

“The goal of the project is to translate accessible COVID-19 information into different languages that we then provide to community-based organisations and clinics,” she said.

Through this initiative, the team hopes they can empower certain populations, especially those who are most vulnerable, to know when and how to seek care if they show symptoms or require assistance.

Chandrashekar's team is developing and translating fact sheets on important topics like COVID-19 Prevention, COVID-19 Management, COVID-19 for Children, and COVID-19 for Pregnant Women.

Besides Indian languages, the fact sheets are being translated into other languages like Spanish, Mandarin Chinese (Simplified), Mandarin Chinese (Traditional), Farsi, French, Arabic, Filipino, Korean, Malay, German, Russian, Vietnamese, Italian, Portuguese, Armenian, Creole, Swahili, Navajo, Indonesian and Greek.

India to get $1B emergency funding from World Bank The World Bank has announced that India will receive $1 billion in emergency financing to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The assistance will support better screening, contact tracing, and laboratory diagnostics, procurement of personal protective equipment, creation of new isolation wards, the bank said.

It is the bulk of the first package of $1.9 billion fast-track aid that was approved by the Board of Executive Directors under a fast-track programme.

The rest of the aid will go to 24 other countries and the bank said that new operations are moving forward in over 40 countries. Initial approvals include $82 million to Ethiopia, $20 million to Cambodia, $20 million to Ecuador, $100 million to Afghanistan, and $200 million to Pakistan.

Overall the bank said that it expects to deploy up to $160 billion over the next 15 months to help countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery.

In addition, the bank is working to redeploy resources in existing projects worth up to $1.7 billion.

World Bank Group President David Malpass said,“We are working to strengthen developing nations’ ability to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and shorten the time to economic and social recovery.”

Indian businessman donates building for quarantine in Dubai An Indian business based in Dubai has donated one of his buildings to be used as a quarantine centre for people infected with the coronavirus. Ajay Sobhraj, founder and chairman of Finja Jewellery, announced the donation in a letter to the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) titled ‘To support and give back to the city that cares’.

Calling Dubai his home for over two decades, Sobhraj donated his building in Jumeirah Lake Towers to be used in the country’s strategy against the pandemic.

The building spans 77,000 square feet and can accommodate up to 400 people. To meet necessary health and safety standards for a quarantine centre, the building underwent maintenance like deep cleaning, sanitisation and air conditioning servicing.

These standards were confirmed by the Dubai Media Office.

“I believe that in such challenging times, it is imperative for the community to come together and support the country we reside in to overcome this pandemic,” Sobhraj said. “I am extremely pleased to offer my assistance to the government during this critical period and support the city that has continued to contribute to my success and growth for the past 25 years.”

The country is currently amid a 10day national sterilisation program aimed at sanitising all public facilities, streets, public transportation and metro service, as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus.

ir i er e fli stranded passengers

r

National passenger carrier Air India has mobilised massive resources to operate international charter and cargo flights.The airline repatriated stranded foreigners from India and also brought back critical medical

www.indianlink.com.au

A sanitisation chamber at the entrance to an office building in downtown Bhopal India, 4 April 2020.

Photo: AP

cargo from Shanghai.

All these flights are being operated adhering to all safety protocols laid down by the DGCA, the airline said in a statement.

Air India is scheduled to operate 18 charter flights to fly back German, French, Irish and Canadian nationals stranded in India amid the nationwide lockdown, as requested by their respected embassies.

While the Germans and French will be flown to Frankfurt and Paris, the other two nationalities will be taken to Heathrow in London from where Canada and Ireland (governments) would be making further travel arrangements for them, the airline stated.

On a special Air India flight that flew out stranded European and Canadian citizens from Mumbai,all crew members including the pilots wore the mandatory COVID-19 coveralls for over 20 hours at a stretch (to/ fro and ground time at Frankfurt). They will now remain in self-quarantine for 14 days.

Chartered flights started from March 31 with German nationals flying to Frankfurt.

Earlier, AI had ferried Israeli nationals to Tel Aviv as well in a chartered flight.

In the first week of April, Air India commenced cargo flights between Shanghai and Delhi, carrying vital medical cargo.

Air India has been instrumental in rescuing stranded Indians (mainly students and pilgrims) from China, Japan and Europe.

Indian-American teen raises funds for sanitation kits for the homeless An Indian-American teenager in California is raising funds to provide sanitation kids for the homeless community. Shaivi Shah, a sophomore at Tesoro High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, wanted to provide help after constantly hearing about all of the catastrophes the coronavirus has been causing.

“Because of its rapid growth, all types of people globally are being affected, especially the homeless community. They lack sanitation, money and basic necessities, especially during this time where remaining clean and germ-free, is crucial,” she explained.

Also, the shortage of hygienic products and the continuous price increase is another hurdle these people are facing, she added.

According to the New York Times, about 50 per cent of the homeless population is 50 or older which means they are at most risk for this virus causing severe health problems, Shah said.

For those reasons, the teen came to compile low-cost sanitation kits to be distributed to homeless people. The kits include hand sanitizer, hand soap, lotion, and a reusable mask.

The 15-year-old has already delivered 150 kits to four different homeless shelters.

She raised these funds through a GoFundMe page online. Since starting the campaign, her page has raised nearly $1,600 with a goal of raising $2,000.

“My hope is to expand this project and reach the eyes of many citizens so that I can not only donate in different parts of California but also other states that are in tremendous need,” she added.

NATIONAL EDITION

Supreme Court employees contribute partial salaries for PM CARES Fund Employees of the Supreme Court of India have donated parts of their salaries to form a corpus of Rs 1.06 crore towards the PM Citizens’ Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation (PM CARES) Fund as the country fights the pandemic.

With the exception of class IV employees, other officers of the court have come together for the cause of humanity said a circular issued by the apex court. Gazetted officers will contribute three days’ salary, non-gazetted employees will give two days’ salary, and non-clerical employees will donate one day’s salary.

All 33 Supreme Court judges, too, donated Rs 50,000 each towards the PM CARES Fund. Justice N V Ramana, who is scheduled to become Chief Justice in April 2021, contributed Rs 1 lakh along with Rs 1 lakh each to similar funds managed by the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Justice S Ravindra Bhat contributed food packets to migrant workers stranded at the border of the National Capital Region (NCR) after the three-week lockdown was announced.

Many members of the legal fraternity are coming forward with contributions, such as senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi who pledged Rs 1 crore to the PM CARES fund.

Taj Group to provide rooms for medical personnel Rooms in seven Taj Hotels will now be provided to medical staff combating the coronavirus pandemic in Mumbai, Goa, and Noida. An official spokesperson for the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) which runs the Taj Group of hotels confirmed this, emphasising the company’s commitment to the medical fraternity.

“During these trying times, we at IHCL are keenly aware of our responsibilities towards our community,” the spokesperson said, explaining that the company deeply values the contributions of the medical community and will continue to work with them and local authorities as the country navigates the ongoing health crisis.

Several medics and paramedics have already posted pictures of their comfortable stays at these hotels on social media after a long day of working at the frontlines of the pandemic.

The hotels include Taj Mahal Palace and Taj Land’s End in Mumbai, Ginger Noida City Centre, and Ginger Madgaon in Goa. Through this initiative with hotels close to medical facilities, medics can cut down on commute time and not worry about spreading germs back to their families.

‘Doodh Duronto Special’ to ensure supply of essential commodities In a bid to maintain the supply of the essential items across the country, Indian Railways recently dispatched a “Doodh Duronto Special” with 2.4 lakh litres of milk from Andhra Pradesh to Delhi.

The train leftReninguntastation in Andhra Pradesh to Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi along with 23 tonnes of mangoes and 23 tonnes of muskmelons as well as two parcel vans.

Utmost precaution was taken while loading the train, an official said.

Services of passenger, mail and express trains was suspended on 24 March till 14 April 14 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak but the railways continued with its freight and special parcel train services to ensure the supply of the essential items across the country.

Meanwhile, the base kitchens of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have begun to provide hot meals to various categories of needy people across the country.

The food is distributed by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) with the help of NGOs, with social distancing procedures and hygiene practices duly followed.

IRCTC has base kitchens in Katihar, Rajendranagar, Sealdah, Howrah, Prayagraj, Jhansi, Kanpur, New Delhi, Paharganj, Mumbai Central, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Pune, Sholapur, Bhusawal, Itarsi, Ahmedabad, Khurdha Road, Balasore, Vijaywada, Bangalore, Hubli, Thiruvananthapuram, Chengalpattu, Katpadi and Mangalore.

Veteran artist Satish Gujrat passes away Renowned artist and architect Satish Gujral passed away on 27 March. He was 94.

A recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of India, in 1999, the highly celebrated painter was the younger brother India's former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral.

His death was mourned by noteworthy dignitaries such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Satish Gujral Ji was versatile and multifaceted. He was admired for his creativity as well as the determination with which he overcame adversity. His intellectual thirst took him far and wide yet he remained attached with his roots.

Saddened by his demise. Om Shanti,”the PM tweeted.

Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu tweeted, “Saddened to learn about the demise of eminent painter, artist, sculptor, muralist and one of the pioneers of Contemporary Indian Art, Shri Satish Gujral. The nation will always remember his contributions in the field of art and culture.

May his soul rest in peace.”

Gujral, a well-collected artist, dominated the art scene in India for the entire postindependent era. He produced fantastic burnt wood sculptures (two are at the ITC Maurya, New Delhi) and showed his works across the world, including cities like New York, Tokyo, Berlin and Montreal.

He won equal acclaim as an architect, going on to design the building of the Belgium Embassy in New Delhi.

“Even today, I slow down my car whenever passing it. He understood the richness and practicality of Indian architecture and did not need to borrow western ideas. His own language evolved from our traditional architecture,” said artist Probir Gupta on the building.

For artist Veer Munshi, Gujral will be always known for working on important socio-political issues: “The way he tackled Partition and migration is commendable. I will remember him for his sense of humour and how he would enjoy talking in an abstract manner.”

IANS APRIL 2020 23

SCHOOL

Homeschooling Issues to consider What you should be mindful of if your kids have started to homeschool lately BY MOHAN DHALL

M

ost children are now schooling at home even though a complete shutdown of schools should have been ordered weeks ago in the current health crisis.

Parents began taking the precaution of keeping their children home, despite the government giving confusing and contrary information about social distancing and school closures early on. This opened up a whole new debate - on how to manage schooling from home.

Schools for their part rapidly attempted to deploy technologies to enable homebased learning, such as Google Classroom, Zoom video conferencing, google hangouts and the like. Some schools do have reasonably robust learning management systems like CANVAS, which enables the upload of files into modules, allow students to email their teachers, and also allowfor a basic discussion board. These can be quite useful for more mature and independent learners.

Here are the issues that you should be considering in your family at this time of home-based schooling.

HOW MUCH WORK IS DONE IN A SCHOOL DAY? Home schoolers have long argued that a school day need be no more than about two hours of focused learning. In a regular school day of six teaching periods there are 24 APRIL 2020

at least seven different transitions where students are moving between classes, to lockers, to recess or lunch. Each of these transitions takes about five minutes.

Given these are absent at home, time can potentially be more focused.

Allowing for a period of direct instruction and some questioning from the teacher, the actual practice element or application of ideas through doing academic work may take about twenty minutes or so in a short class. So actual school lessons may involve about twenty minutes of independent work at a time.

Social interactions and peer-to-peer learning are crucial elements of each classroom and need to be replicated as far as possible.

HOW TO MANAGE THE INTERNET Even the best online systems will have some freezing, time lags, feedback sound, failure to load on different devices and the like. It is highly likely that students will have varying degrees of success getting uninterrupted lessons.

Further issues will arise with the use of share documents which can allow for collaborative learning, but also lend themselves to ‘copy pasting’ and one person doing more work than others.

Moreover, in order to get buy in and attention from each student, a teacher will generally ask questions – but this is extremely difficult to manage in the online space if a class has any more that twelve students.

How to maintain engagement will be a real challenge, so expect your child to be

bored, sometimes confused and uncertain about what is happening, and finding the learning frustrating. Whilst some teachers will try and maintain interest through using programs that feature gamification, or linking to videos – the novelty will wear out after a while, and watching endless videos is not the best form of education that can be delivered online.

filling. Any expectation that students do the assigned work should be matched by an equal expectation that teachers mark the work in a timely manner. Since online learning means that something should be produced as evidence of learning, then marking should be done as far as possible in real time with evidence of authentic or meaningful feedback.

MANAGING LIMITED DEVICES

MANAGING THE TECHNOLOGY

For many households there will be a lack of access to the type of hardware required to have the full experience of online learning, even supposing it has been well designed, considered and delivered. Most households have one main device - meaning that families are going have toprioritise who uses the device and for what length of time.

This of itself will be an issue to manage.

Children everywhere will simply miss out and parents should anticipate and address it with the school, as well as having a plan around use.

Parents always have to manage their children’s time on devices, the issue of distractibility when there are multiple tabs open or multiple conversations, eye strain and issues of posture. These issues become foregrounded in a home-based schooling system. A further issue is managing where in the home the actual schooling is done.

It is generally advised that children sit in a common area of the house and use headsets/earphones, however this is not always practical. Working in bedrooms however can be problematic as supervision is not as easy and there are the distractions of the space.

ACCOUNTING FOR WORK DONE In my experience it takes time for students to do authentic work (not just recall or regurgitate), write considered sentences, solve problems showing full working, draft essays and so forth. If a group of students is given set work, very few will finish in the allocated time. This means that students will have to do a lot of work on their own. It should be the expectation of parents that work done is marked quickly by the teachers otherwise the assigned work becomes activity for the sake of time

MANAGE EXPECTATIONS It seems to me that parents should generally have low expectations of what can be expected in terms of home-based school via online learning being delivered by schools. Over time this will improve, but an extended Easter holiday seems wise. A focus on some traditional learning (such as reading) and including children in managing household tasks may help - such as tidying, washing, mowing the lawn, vacuuming and cooking.

www.indianlink.com.au

HOMESCHOOL

The Pandya family

School at home I miss my friends Learning at home has been an exercise in responsibility and time management

Y

ear 2 student Shubh Pandya had just finished his second day of homeschooling when we spoke to his family.

His mum Dhara had done a few tasks with him, including making slime from scratch, so he had spent time measuring and pouring and stirring.

“It was a fun task for him, but it incorporated calculation and maths and investigation,” his dad Niraj told Indian Link.

With schools across Australia strongly encouraging students to stay at home from school (with the exception of children whose parents have to work), families are adapting to a new style of learning. Schools provide lesson plans, sometimes personalized, which the parents facilitate at home.

Shubh’s family was relieved to have the option to homeschool, as the young boy has a history of respiratory infection problems.

“Dhara and I are confident we will be able to handle it well for Shubh, even though we have a younger child at home not yet at school,” Niraj revealed. “With the Class Dojo app we are able to keep in touch with the school community.”

For older kids like Vidushi Trivedi in Year 9, learning at home has been an exercise in responsibility and time management.

“I sign in at 8.30 am through the school’s Canvas page to start my day and then do my subjects in the same order I would do them in school (including recess and lunch breaks but smaller). School has given us a plan that goes until 2 pm but I work until 4, giving me that extra 2 hours to do anything I may need to complete and log what I did during the day. We hand in

NATIONAL EDITION

The Wakhare family

“I don't like studying at home; in class we don't do this much.”

Avishka, 8 our worksheets digitally to our teachers.”

She added, “We have a certain amount of time for each subject each week (eg. English is 4 hours a week). This gives us freedom to do our work and figure out our own breaks.”

Students receive alternate tasks as a replacement for tests and can even hand in videos of assignments like a video essay.

They receive descriptions of exercises and worksheets to complete and are encouraged to utilise online resources as well.

And there are other benefits too.

15-year-old Ananya Wakhare, Year 10 student, said, “I like that I don’t have to get up early, I’m loving the sleep-ins. I don’t miss the travel either! Regarding the schoolwork, I’m enjoying how easy it is to shift from class to class and to hand in things online.”

Of course, many students don’t feel like this can replace face-to-face learning.

“I miss school because you get

explanations for the work you are doing from teachers,” Vidushi explained. “The best we can do is watch YouTube videos on the topic, but it is not the same. It’s especially hard to study subjects you aren’t strong in, without any explanations.”

Another sore point is the loss of social interaction. “I miss being with friends, getting help from them or even doing group projects with them.”

Shannon Rawat, a Year 6 student in her first week of home-schooling, feels the same way. “I prefer school because we can ask questions directly. We can interact with our friends. The overall experience is better,” she said.

Ananya added, “I miss seeing and being with my friends too. I also don’t like constantly sitting in one space; I like moving around and getting fresh air before classes. You can get into really lazy habits when you’re at home like eating junk food and sitting in bad postures while working (because no one can see you).”

Eight-year-old Avishka Wakhare has a different gripe altogether. “I don't like doing study at home, in class we don't do this much.”

While parents admit that this new routine can be challenging, they see it as valuable time spent with their children.

“I love being able to connect with the kids in this manner,” said Melissa Domingo Rawat, mother of Shannon and 5-year-old Jaden, “I believe this season is one we will look back on fondly in years to come - that time when the world stood still and we suddenly met each other on a whole other level.”

Rajni Anand Luthra and Rhea L Nath APRIL 2020 25

LOCKDOWN

Social distressing E

Working in retail in COVID-19 times: A personal recount by SIMMI SINGH Thanks to a virus the entire world is living in fear, barring the ones who still visit stores coughing all over the place, standing too close, wanting to shake hands and stepping closer when you step back.

veryday I step out of the house to go to work now, it is with trepidation. I am no longer fresh and bristling with energy but fearful and confused. I work in what is considered ‘Essential Retail’.

As I say goodbye to my family who are social distancing by working and studying from home, I am grateful they are safe and at home.

They do not know the fear that I do!

Friends who work in frontline have similar stories. Some of their workplaces are taking things seriously, some are slack.

With the situation changing rapidly people are being impacted in various ways.

I am, however, the risk to me and them!

I am the one dealing with a variety of people, touching potentially hazardous surfaces and breathing potentially unsafe air. I have little choice but to do so to avoid joining the hundreds waiting outside Centerlink.

My boss sends messages of ‘support’ telling us we can afford to pay the bills,while quoting fresh statistics of job losses in other industries.

21-year-old Alysha works in a bank.

Her parents do not want her to go to work. She is fearful she will lose the opportunity so early in her working career. She is equally worried for her frail grandparents who live with them.

She is undecided what to do.

49-year-old Sharee works in telecommunications and has asked her employer how she will be supported should she contract the virus; she’s still waiting for an answer. Her immediate supervisor speculated that they might ask her to use her own sick and annual leave in that situation and she will need to pay her own medical bills.

19-year-old Ravi works on the cash counter at a local supermarket and had just started living on his own with friends as roommates. They’ve all moved back with their parents, as they have no security of hours anymore to be able to afford the rent. Ravi had his hours slashed from 20 to 4.

39-year-old Vik has worked in retail for nearly twenty years. He is the sole bread earner with two little children.

After work, he enters the family home via the laundry door and has a shower first. He then puts his clothes in the washing and wipes every surface that he has touched. His children cannot understand why they cannot hug their dad anymore. He just does not wish to expose them or take any chances.

Meanwhile, every person who steps through the door looks suspicious to me!

Has he self-isolated after travelling from another country? Is she running a temperature? Is that cute kid a carrier?

Did I touch anything I shouldn’t? It is no longer a joy to offer service nor sell.

I wear a mask that sometimes mists my prescription glasses; I change gloves three times a day at least; I got the masking tape out and marked the spot so people know how far to stand from me and I confess its more than 1.5 metres. One can’t be careful enough.

It does not deter some people though; they come straight up to me, way too close even for normal comfort and demand service. Obviously they don’t read the news or think nothing will happen and are willing to take chances.

Either way I am the one at risk!

The discussion at home is no longer about the next social outing or my friend’s wedding or my own upcoming milestone; it’s about bills, sanitation and sanity. My worry nowadays is will I live to see my own landmark birthday?

I am normally the strong one in my family, so none of the above is familiar territory. Up until now I did not know what living in fear meant.

The need of the hour is for employers and employees to work together to protect the health of employees and customers and to keep the workplace delivering essential services.

SOME PREVENTIVE MEASURES FOR RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS TO MITIGATE RISK

Place posters and other signage that encourage staying home when sick, cough and sneeze etiquettes at the entrance to your establishment and in other nearby areas where they are likely to be seen by customers and clients.

Ensure a clean and sanitary environment. Have employees disinfect frequently touched surfaces

26 APRIL 2020

such as doorknobs, tables, desks, and handrails. Provide disposable wipes to ensure frequently used surfaces are cleaned.

Reduce the capacity of customers.

Ensure that people keep 1.5 metres away from others

Encourage tap and pay instead of cash

Provide ready access to hand sanitizer and hand sanitizer stations and request employees and customers to abide by personal hygiene recommendations.

Screen employees everyday to identify

***********

Encourage staff who can, to telework or work online Space workers at the worksite, Stagger work schedules, decrease social

the key symptoms to watch for as fever, cough and shortness of breath

contacts in the workplace (limit one on one meetings)

www.indianlink.com.au

Say no to

e

challenges

Change your workout priorities while self-isolating, says fitness mentor Ash Nath

F

rom gym sharks to workout novices, many people have been inspired to take up fitness challenges in the last few weeks.

As the common adage goes: ‘it takes 21 days to develop a habit’. However, strenuous exercise might be doing more harm than good in these troubling times.

“Many fitness geeks are only thinking of how to continue their workouts while adapting it to present circumstances,” says veteran marathon runner and fitness mentor Ashok ‘Ash’ Nath. “But we’re missing the bigger picture that immunity is kept higher through low to moderate exercise.”

Studies have shown that exercises of low to moderate intensity stimulate the immune system by improving the circulation of blood and immunitybuilding substances in the body. This provides a positive effect for days after the workout.

Conversely, high intensity exercise temporarily reduces immunity by releasing stress hormones like cortisol that run the risk of lowering defence systems for one to three days after the

workout.

A recent viral video from France showed a 32-year-old man training for a marathon at home, running over 42 kilometres along his balcony. On Instagram, fitness challenges have friends tagging each other to complete certain exercises in under one minute and post it

online.

Instead of blindly following trends, Ash advocates re-thinking our fitness goals while in self-isolation.

“Eat around 70 per cent of your daily calorie intake to detox and cleanse your system,” he suggests. “Go for simple, clean food with mindfulness towards

boosting immunity. Spend time with family and rediscover positive habits like reading, cooking and painting. Only then should you assess the intensity, duration, and frequency of your exercise regime.”

According to the 57-year-old running evangelist, it’s better to switch to a relaxing, de-stressing exercise routine.

While low to moderate intensity varies according to individual fitness levels, some common exercises to follow include yoga, easy jogging, and stationary cycling.

Some people can opt for exercises on the stairs at home, innovating based on accessibility.

He recommends an hour of relaxed movement including exercises with body or weight resistance.

As people are mostly going to be indoors, he also suggests adding Vitamin D and zinc supplements to your diet.

“Ask yourself – ‘if something was to happen to someone dear to me, how would I wish I had spent these days?’

Live that life now, not following some 21day fitness challenge that drains you of precious energy,” Ash says.

Rhea L Nath

Pick up a new skill Stuck at home? Use these free apps to learn something new

I

nstead of constantly refreshing your Instagram feed as you round off day twenty of social distancing, why not use all this free time to learn something new? With plenty of apps that offer online lessons on a variety of subjects, maybe this is the perfect occasion to finally pick up that guitar, learn Spanish, or even finish writing your novel – all from the comfort of your room.

audio pieces. By listening to their podcasts on how to script, record, and edit your work, you’ll be able to create your own podcasts by the end it.

Music apps like Figure and Garage Band allow you to merge audio together to create your own music.

For video editing, Replay is free and easily accessible to blend your photos or short clips together with text and music.

For writing inspiration, look out for Wattpad, a community of fiction writing that allows to read other’s stories or even publish your own work for critique.

LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE Duolingo, an American language-learning app, offers over twenty courses to pick up languages like French, German, Japanese, Swahili, Latin and Arabic. The app and website are completely free while you can opt for their premium service for a nominal fee. Their study process includes reading aloud, listening to pronunciations, matching images to words, and even practising with a language bot.

TAKE AN ONLINE COURSE Whether it’s Khan Academy, Coursera or Udemy, there is plenty of material online to develop both hard and soft skills. These platforms cater to more than 50 million students each with online classes available in a variety of languages. You simply need to watch the videos to

NATIONAL EDITION

LEARN TO DANCE

learn something new. With this, you can learn to build a website, learn about financial markets or even re-visit high school trigonometry.

FOSTER YOUR CREATIVITY Apps like Anchor teach you how to produce your own

If you were too shy to join a dance class because you looked silly, what better place to learn than your living room? Apps like Pocket Salsa introduce you to the smooth moves of Latin dance while Fitivity provides lessons for hip-hop and breakdancing. Step Dance Moves teaches the lesser-known dance form of ‘stepping’ while Belly Dance Fitness, as the name suggest, is dedicated to that seductive dance form. For Indian dance lovers, Dance with Madhuri offers crash courses from our favourite Bollywood dance diva while the Learn Bhangra app is a dance/workout all on its own.

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FOOD

Avocados IN toast If you’re taking to baking as a mindful activity while in self-isolation, why not add a twist to your banana bread

BY DHANYA SAMUEL

I

n trying times, people turn to basic comfort foods. Like bread.

Call it a back-to-basics approach, ‘carb therapy’, or view it as an irrational fear that the supermarket will run out of bread, breadmaking offers inexplicable psychological benefits in uncertain times.

Indeed, as we self-isolate in the current coronavirus climate, there’s been a reported rise in the number of online searches for “bread” and “homemade bread”, and #quarantinebaking is suddenly a thing on social media.

As well, during these unprecedented times, the way we shop for food has changed.

Many people have resorted to stockpiling and panic buying, which is totally unnecessary and causes more harm than good to society and to the economy.

Apart from pantry staples, we must really make use of the seasonal and local produce that’s available in plenty for all. Fresh food is key to good health and immunity so make the most of what’s in season at your local greengrocer or supermarket.

When it comes to fresh food, we are spoilt for choice in Australia. In season now, we have Shepard avocados. While Hass seems to be the more preferred variety, Shepard is more versatile as it

stays green even when ripe. To check if it's ready to eat, press gently at the neck with your thumb; if it gives a little, you are good to go. And it’s easily available at all greengrocers and supermarkets like Aldi.

Most people think of three dishes when it comes to avocados – smoothies, smashed avo on toast and guacamole.

But there are so many unique ways in which this flavourful, creamy and nutritious fruit can be used.

Like this deliciously moist Avocado Banana Bread.

Banana bread is a common affair in most households. Not only is it utterly delicious, but also the best way to use up those extra ripe ‘soon to throw’ bananas that almost all of us have sitting in our fruit bowls. It’s easy to make, great for breakfast or the kids lunchbox, and is hearty and healthy.

This one though is different, because it’s more about the avocado this time.

On the way to fetching the avocado, I noticed the above mentioned ‘soon to throw’ banana looking forlorn at me. And that’s how the avocado bread turned into the avocado banana bread.

You can easily convert this recipe into avocado bread simply by increasing the amount of avocados and omitting the bananas. Also include nuts, chocolate chips if you wish;this is an easy recipe to customise. Also, this is an ideal recipe to get your kids involved. The process itself is quite straightforward so the mess is minimal, which is very important when you have enthusiastic kids around in the kitchen.

AVOCADO BANANA BREAD INGREDIENTS: 2 cups self raising flour 1 cup whole wheat flour ½ tsp salt 2 tsp baking soda ½ cup vegetable oil 1 medium size ripe avocado 1 medium size ripe banana 1 ½ cups granulated white sugar ¾ cup milk ¼ cup plain full fat yoghurt ½ lemon, juiced

NOTE: If you do not have selfraising flour, replace with all purpose flour but add 2 tsp baking powder to the dry ingredients.

METHOD: Preheat the oven to 170°C (fan forced).

Grease the loaf pan (refer notes) with butter or line with baking paper. Keep aside.

In a large bowl, add the self

NATIONAL EDITION

raising flour, whole wheat flour, salt and baking soda.

Into a blender, add the avocado, banana, sugar, milk, yoghurt and lemon juice. Blend till smooth and pour into the dry ingredients. Whisk till incorporated.

Pour into the greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or till done. Turn the pan around halfway through to ensure even cooking. Since oven temperatures can vary, check after 45 minutes, and thereafter every 5-10 minutes.

To confirm if the bread has cooked through, insert a skewer in the middle of the loaf; the bread is cooked if the skewer comes out clean.

Cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

NOTE: If you have a small loaf pan, then use two and fill up only till the halfway mark, as the batter does tend to rise.

APRIL 2020 29

TRAVEL

When in lockdown, there’s always Virtual Travel

Explore the world from the comfort of your living room thanks to modern technology BY PETRA O’NEILL

W

hile it’s goodbye to travel for now due to COVID-19 asplanes are grounded, borders are closedand travel plans are on pause – travel is an online click away thanks to virtual reality. Yet many of us don’t know anything about it.

Using social media, I conducted a survey and received quite a response.

My question was: ‘Today was meant to be the final day of my cruise, the cruise that never happened, that got cancelled at the very last minute. Now that we are all cooped up inside, are any of you experiencing virtual travel of places you want to visit? Does it help you decide where to go next or provide you with a sense of escape?’

Over 50 respondents said they were dreaming of their next trip, watching travel documentaries, reading books on travel, rummaging through boxes of old photos and memorabilia to relive past trips but no one mentioned virtual reality as a way of exploring the world.

Even my internet savvy 82-year-old neighbour uses virtual reality to tour her favourite European cities, taking aerial tours of the buildings, parks and life on the streets below.

When I returned from Egypt in September, I described the pyramids of Giza to my daughters and showed them photos. But conveying a sense of scale of their overwhelming size proved difficult.

So, we took a tour of the pyramids using Google Arts and Culture to experience the site as though we were walking around it.

And though cancellation of my trip to South America has meant I don’t get to hike high up into the Andes to view Machu Picchu as planned, I was able to experience 30 APRIL 2020

360 degree images on YouVisit’s virtual tour that includes commentary on the architecture and history of the site.

Virtual touring also comes into its own when you’re tossing up how long to stay at a destination, and is a handy tool when

planning a trip. For example, for Angkor in Cambodia, the largest religious monument in the world, a threeday pass is a must. There is so much to see, and the site is so spread out though most visitors don’t realise that until after they arrive. By using virtual reality to explore the site beforehand, the enormity of the site becomes obvious. The virtual Angkor project provides 360-degree views and narration by historians and archaeologists. Other sites can also be visited in this way including the Taj Mahal that uses interactive digital pathways around the mausoleum, reflecting pool and gardens while 360 -degree images soar above the dome and minarets.

A site that I had wanted to visit for as long as I can remember, the ancient city of Petra took my breath away, but in hindsight I would have benefited from viewing an interactive guided tour of the monuments before I arrived. I would have approached the site altogether differently by knowing its history, and I would have

See the Taj Mahal through interactive digital pathways around the mausoleum, refle i and gardens and 360-degree images that soar above the dome and minarets. better planned my time there by arriving early in the morning to avoid the tourist hordes, and followed pathways to lesser known temples that I could have enjoyed all to myself.

To get you started using a virtual reality tour application, look at Google Arts and Culture, or Google Earth that gives you the chance to fly from the streets of mega citiesto oceans, mountains and rivers, the YouTube channel VR World Travel that provides 360-degree windows into global wanderings and National Geographic VR. And to entice you to visit their countries, some government tourism boards offer virtual reality tours that include stately palaces, lakes, mountains and street scenes.

So, while travel may be off limits for now, you can still take an interactive online tour to ignite your dreams of exploring the world.

Even my internet savvy 82-year-old neighbour uses virtual reality to tour her favourite European cities, taking aerial tours of the buildings, parks and life on the streets below. www.indianlink.com.au

FORETELL

April 2020

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

A structured platform takes centrestage, whether in the family or at work. This could also mean you give up on a new relationship because it doesn’t feel right. An extramarital affair could cause problems and you might just decide to end it. Healthwise, your teeth might need attention. Money is good and you will have extra to indulge in retail therapy. You accomplish more than what you set out to do this month. Look out for happy coincidences.

A difficult month where a loved one could be hospitalised with a serious ailment; discord plagues you and progress on all fronts seems blocked. A break-up in a relationship is but temporary, so don’t give up hope. Work is good this month with your financial situation being especially prosperous. Expect some inheritance as well. New avenues in your personal and professional life make the future a more positive proposition. Wait for problems to resolve themselves.

Being pushed against the wall, you display extreme courage and take a stand on matters of importance. Unexpected problems in family life or work could crop up. Money matters are handled well this month, though a romantic relationship takes up more of your thoughts. Don’t try to take on too much at one time; watch what you eat. A decision could signify the end of problems. Instead of changing the conditions around you, work on changing yourself. Stay focused on your goals.

The crabs can be bullish as Taurus is the influencing sign this month. A lover returns, much to your delight. Emotional involvements can affect your work.

Money matters will take a while to get resolved. Obstructions from the past will melt away leading to the promise of a better tomorrow. The universe will grant you a new direction for all aspects of your life. Hard work and unexpected opportunities lead to success. Don’t believe everything you hear.

LEO July 21 - Aug 22

VIRGO Aug 23 - Sep 22

LIBRA Sep 23 - Oct 22

SCORPIO Oct 23 - Nov 21

A bit of a rough month as things could go wrong for Leos. Letting go of a painful problem and leaving it in the hands of the universe is the wisest move you can make this month.

Business is good and money comes in. A new business proposal also helps to ease the money situation. Life is teaching you a lesson you have not learnt through repeated patterns. A sacrifice or letting go of a long-held idea is warranted.

This month, the practical Virgo could display dreamy Piscean characteristics as they move into a healing phase. Humane interests and artistic professions take centrestage. If in the early stages of a relationship, involvement will take a while. You might be feeling sensitive.

Money is good and you even express gratitude for it. Any work done in the selfhelp realm will be meet with success.

Don’t take on more than you can handle; wait till you get the right answers.

Your ideas start to manifest as the Emperor card creates the space for things to grow. Unexpected good luck in business is a pleasant surprise as it leads to a long pending decision. Financial gains are also predicted. Tune into your inner voice and listen to messages from within. Success comes from a change in attitude to a more positive mindset. Past emotional wounds see a healing from the universe. Don’t overthink, act impulsively or do too much. Just be for now.

This card indicates that a new cycle is about to begin; it could mean work or unresolved situations. A past lover returns but you may not want to get together again. New changes are required at work to make it a happier proposition for you. A negative situation comes to an end. What seems like upheaval and unpleasantness right now is going to lead to a happier state of affairs all around. The success coming your way is preordained.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 22 - Dec 21

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 19

AQUARIUS Jan 20 - Feb 18

PISCES Feb 19 - March 20

You choose to focus on your emotions this month and pushing for a resolution in a relationship will not work. Sort out your own issues first, then make a move. Your ambition makes you want to play in a bigger field or reach a larger audience, take the support of others to reach your goals. Money comes through work you enjoy, and an ongoing financial problem will get resolved to your satisfaction.

Communicate what you need to the universe.

You are in a space where you want to accomplish your goals and change your lifestyle for the better. You also heal from a past break-up and are open to new people. An unexpected business opportunity leads to more success. You could even team up with someone for a new idea. Avoid overindulging in food or alcohol. Any money owed to you will come to you with another person’s help. Grudges are let go and peace prevails. Be bold about your ideas.

The idealistic Aquarians can also be quite practical, and this month, they worry about getting their finances in order. Any obstacles in a long-distance relationship can be overcome. Work proves to be a blessing and a welcome escape from your relationship troubles. Finances are good but if money is held up somewhere, it can cause some anxiety. A health condition needs looking into before it becomes chronic. Introspect, be honest with yourself - stay detached in an ongoing problem.

A block in your work or personal life can make you anxious, even as you want to make more money. Love disappoints so it’s best to be alone for a while. A new possession makes you happy, even though your finances seem precarious. Re-evaluate your business and continue; don’t drop it for now.

You have the talent you need to succeed; all you need is some help.

The universe is sending it so be patient. Apply positive energy to your goals.

NATIONAL EDITION

APRIL 2020 31

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ADVERTISEMENT

Sanitising and social distancing The new spice shop scene How one spice store, Radhe, is tackling the COVID Crisis

Y

ou could consider the Indian spice shop to be a microcosm of the wider Indian community in Australia.

If you could be a fly on the wall at your local store and observe the goings-on, you would get a feel for the trends and moods within the community.

Ketan Patel, proprietor of Radhe Wholesale and Retail in Sydney, could give you an understanding of the reactions of the community in the current health crisis.

“There have been interesting phases,” he told Indian Link. “First, we had over-buying, where people stockpiled on staples such as rice, atta and lentils. Soon this spread to items such as two-minute noodles etc that might be needed in case of a fuller lockdown, and also, interestingly, traditional immunity-boosting products such as turmeric and ajwain…

Chyawanprash sales spiked up!”

Today though, the panic buying may have stopped, but other trends continue, he revealed.

“Now, we are seeing a smaller number of people than before for sure, but sadly, we still have people dropping in in groups, such as entire families. Do little kids and grandparents have to tag along to grocery shopping?”

SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES IN PLACE For that section of the community still in denial, much of Ketan’s day is now spent in reiterating government regulations about social distancing and self-isolating to control the spread of the coronavirus and prevent COVID-19.

“We are committed to providing a safe environment to our customers and staff,” a notice on the door reads. “In line with the recent ruling on social distancing we are implementing strict shopping policies while we operate: 1. Only one person who is doing the shopping NATIONAL EDITION

should enter the shop.

2. Persons entering must maintain a minimum of 1.5 meter space from others in the shop.

3. Based on the size of each shop, we may need to restrict the number of customers in the shop at any given point of time.”

Ketan told Indian Link, “We’ve altered our normal operations drastically. Only one person is allowed in at a time. Spots are marked outside for social distancing. Queues at the billing counter are to follow the 1.5m rule to decrease social contact. Staff wear masks and gloves, and we have hired extra casual workers to help with stocking, cleaning and other stores operations.”

Extra care is being given to ensure a clean and sanitary environment.

“Our staff clean every 3 hours or so. We use recommended products to disinfect all common touch points like doors, door handles, fridges, racks, desktops, horizontal surfaces, trolleys and baskets.”

Despite all warnings and guidelines, people continue to come out with their friends, roommates and family members, Ketan lamented. “At times, we have to close the main entry point when it gets crowded inside. Some people have just not understood the severity of this situation.”

HEALTH OF STAFF The duty of care to staff members is equally paramount in Ketan’s mind. Employees are

screened regularly for fever, cough and breathing difficulty.

“Staff have been instructed that if they’re sick they have to stay away. Everybody has been provided with a box of gloves even for travel, which they change as soon as they come in.”

He laughed off the rumour that employees were infected by coronovirus and that supplies were affected too.

“This was clearly a sinister ploy to defame both our brands - Radhe Grocery stores and Radhe Chatpata House Restaurants.

We published a clarification on our social media as soon as we learnt about this.”

ON THE ONLINE DEBATE ON PRICE GOUGING There has been palpable anger among customers about price hike in the Indian stores that they are sharing online. Some young customers even are using TikTok videos to express their anger on increased prices.

“That may well be the case, and there might be some operators profiteering from this situation,” Ketan agreed. “But you must understand the basic concepts of supply and demand; and logistical issues such as staff shortage at supplier’s end and currency fluctuations must be factored in.

These are not ordinary circumstances. We must accept this reality.”

He added, “I would like to say that we are

an ethnic company with ethics. Our goal is that our stocks reach every member of our community. Our suppliers have increased prices by as much as 15% and all type of discounts to us have been stopped. We are trying our best to not pass on the burden of increased costs on to our customers, but we also need to look at our finances too.”

WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE FUTURE “There is no need to press the panic button,” Ketan observed. “While I do not want to set wrong expectations around stock, for now we have enough. Sensible shopping is the need of the hour. However, this is a very dynamic situation with new guidelines being issued daily both in Australia and India. Just like others, we are monitoring the developments closely. With India in 21-day lockdown, the supply from there is definitely going to have an impact on stocks availability here in Australia. At Radhe, we are trying our best to find alternative sources/brands to procure all major grocery items, andserve our customers the best we can.”

Radhe is a household name in the community for some time now. Launched in 2006, it has today grown to operate from Harris Park, Blacktown, Quakers Hill, Glendenning and Pendle Hill, the last location also serving as the warehouse and centre for online sales.

APRIL 2020 33

ENTERTAINMENT

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

KAILASH KHER BRINGS MUSICIANS TOGETHER FOR VIRTUAL CONCERTS

BOLLYWOOD AGAINST COVID-19

W

ith corporations and businessmen making large contributions to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund, Bollywood wasn’t going to fall behind.

Here are some of the big names who have publicly announced how they are doing their part to fight the pandemic.

Akshay Kumar has announced that he will contribute Rs 25 crore to the PM CARES Fund.

Hrithik Roshan purchased N95 and FFP3 masks for BMC workers and other caretakers in Maharashtra.

Lata Mangeshkar announced a donation to the Chief Minister’s Assistance Fund in Maharashtra, contributing Rs 25 lakh to help the government.

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli have donatedan undisclosed amount towards the PM CARES Fund and the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund in Maharashtra.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas have donated to 10 charities like the PM CARES Fund, Goonj, Doctors Without Borders and UNICEF. They, too, have not disclosed exact amounts.

Sabyasachi Mukherjee donated Rs 1 34 APRIL 2020

crore to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF). He also promised Rs 50 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund in his home state of West Bengal.

Other big names that have contributed to the PM CARES Fund include comedian Kapil Sharma who has donated Rs 50 lakh; Varun Dhawan who has pledged Rs 30 lakh, and Kartik Aaryan Rs 1 crore.

Meanwhile, other celebrities are donating towards helping daily wage workers who face difficulties from the lockdown.

Ekta Kapoor has donated the equivalent of one year’s salary at Balaji Telefilms of Rs 2.5 crore.

Rohit Shetty has donated Rs 51 lakh to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees.

Rajnikanth was one of the first celebrities to come forward and has donated Rs 50 lakh to daily wage workers in the Tamil film industry.

Salman Khan and the Being Human Foundation will financially support 25,000 daily wage workers.

Yash Raj Films has pledged Rs 1.5 crore to the families of its workers.

Although singer Kailash Kher had to postpone his half-hour online concert, he has announced even better news: a series of virtual concerts featuring his musician peers.

The Teri Deewani hitmaker was set to live-stream a musical performance called ‘Prakash Alokan’ on platforms like Facebook Live, Instagram, and YouTube. Since the initial announcement, he received overwhelming support from the industry.

“Several artistes and musicians have expressed their willingness to join the movement ‘Prakash Alokan’ and spread the light through our music and art forms,”he said.

The musicians are now planning a series of virtual concerts. The announcement comes days after Prime Minister Modi called for the lighting of lamps at 9.00pm across the country to dispel the darkness caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Echoing the Prime Minister's sentiments, Kailash said, “Even though we are in our homes, we are not alone. The country’s 1.3 billion people are together during this lockdown period. ‘Prakash Alokan’ is my humble salutation through music.”

BADSHAH SPEAKS OUT ON PLAGIARISM CHARGES Ever since the release of his latest track Genda Phool, rapper Badshah has faced plagiarism accusations for including lyrics of an old Bengali folk hit but not crediting the original creator. Uh-oh!

His new song mixes rap with lyrics from an old Bengali folk hit, Boro loker biti lo, created by Ratan Kahar.

“After receiving so much information from the Bengali community, I have been constantly trying my best to reach out to him and connect with him and be able to do justice to the situation to all my might.

However, the lockdown situation has not been very helpful, it has been difficult to get through to the village that Shri Kahar is in and I am still trying,” Badshah tweeted.

The Kala Chashma rapper pointed out that Boro loker biti lo is a traditional/folk song from the Bauls of Bengal and these songs are generally open for recreations, reprises and sampling.

Meanwhile, original creator Kahar has stated his unhappiness with the incident.

“I don't have any greed for money, food or anything else. But I live with a pain that even though many people sing my songs, they don't know the proper style of singing it, neither do they know the story behind why I created the songs. I want the artist Badshah to at least give me recognition for my song,” he said. Hopefully the two

musicians manage to talk this out!

SUNNY LEONE STARTS CHAT SHOW ON INSTAGRAM As we get into week three of the coronavirus lockdown in India, actress Sunny Leone has started her own chat show on Instagram.

Titled ‘Locked up with Sunny’, the show will see the actress in conversation with several celebrities. In her first episode, Sunny Leone will be joined by YouTube sensation Anisha Dixit.

“It was my idea to just have fun with our fans and people on Insta. It is all about lighthearted conversations with funny things and details about the guest,” Sunny said.

She announced the first episode with a post on the social media platform, saying there will be new episodes every day. She also shared another post, hinting at the identity of her next guest.

“Here is a hint to guess tomorrow’s guest on @lockedupwithsunny brought to you by @starstruckbysl - ‘He shot this image’” the caption read. It was revealed to be none other than celebrity photographer Daboo Ratnani.

Aside from the Instagram show, Sunny revealed that she is also spending time at home with her three kids and homeschooling them.

“I have to teach them, make them learn new things at home. I am being creative enough to keep them busy during lockdown," she said.

MADHURI DIXIT NENE’S DANCE ACADEMY TO OFFER FREE ONLINE DANCE LESSONS With everyone stuck in their homes as a social distancing measure, actress Madhuri Dixit Nene has teamed up with choreographers like Saroj Khan, Remo D’Souza, and Kathak expert Birju Maharaj to offer free dance lessons at her online dance academy, Dance with Madhuri.

She will be giving out two dance classes for free every week to help people relax and work out.

KAILA www.indianlink.com.au

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us on our Facebook page /IndianLinkAustralia “We want to provide people to relieve stress in the sanctity of their own home with an opportunity to relax and enjoy themselves. Dance is one of the best forms of workout, so it becomes a double bonanza to learn and get in shape,” the veteran actress said.

Dance styles offered at Dance with Madhuri include Bollywood, Bharatnatyam, jazz, tap dance, Odissi, and even Latin ballroom. Workout routines include yoga, tabata, pilates and the unique ‘dancercise’.

When users upload videos of their classes, they win a chance at all-access subscriptions at the online academy and even the opportunity to video chat with the dancing diva.

In the past, Madhuri has said she hopes Dance with Madhuri will encourage more people to enjoy dancing without worrying about how they look.

We can’t wait to learn some new moves from our favourite dancing queen…

The 5-minute track has been shot by each celebrity in their own home and released across social media platforms. The band calls themselves the Sur-Viralists and hope that this ambitious project will ‘info-tain’ (inform and entertain) listeners.

“When we started off with the project, we all felt that it was impossible to achieve. But thanks to the marvel of technology and appbased platforms, we did it,” said Vinod G. Nair, who conceptualised the initiative.

Hariharan pointed out that in the current environment where everybody is under lockdown, the spread of rumours via social media is alarming.

“We want to tell people to ignore rumours and to stop their friends and others from spreading them," he said.

Good on you, we say!

HARIHARAN AND BAND CREATE SONG AGAINST COVID-19 RUMOURS

Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan and her husband Saif Ali Khan have announced that they will be donating to organisations working against the deadly pandemic.

But some keen-eyed social media users noticed that the PM CARES Fund was not on their list…

“At difficult times like these, we need to come together and help each other. We both have taken steps to do just that and have pledged our support to UNICEF, GIVE INDIA and the International Association for Human Values (IAHV). We urge those of you who can, to do the same,” wrote

Singer Hariharan has brought together celebrities like chefs Sanjeev Kapoor and Ranveer Brar, music producer Akshay Hariharan, marketing guru Vinod G. Nair, and diamond merchant Punit Gupta to create a song against spreading COVID-19 rumours.

The song, titled Chappa chappa afwaah chale is inspired by Hariharan’s song Chappa Chappa Charkha Chale from the 1996 film Maachis and cautions people against virus rumours (afwaah).

KAREENA, SAIF STIR UP SOCIAL MEDIA

KAREENA KAPOOR KHAN

Kareena on Instagram.

The fact that they have chosen to donate to global agencies over the PM-CARES Fund has not gone down well with a section of social media.

Although many fans lauded the noble gesture, some others were critical of the decision.

One user commented,“What a way to avoid donating to Indian cause and still be called philanthropic.”

Another user trolled,“Obviously you will not give anything to PM-CARES. Why UNICEF? For publicity?” You just can’t please everyone, can you.

ON TWITTER THIS WEEK

What’s Arun Govil - aka Lord Ram - thinking as he watches a re-run of Ramayana with his family?

Send your response to: media@indianlink.com.au TO WIN A MOVIE TICKET!

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Match the following celebs to the tweets that appear below Vir Das, Vishal Dadlani, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff Thank you everyone for showering our film with the overwhelming love! Now let’s win the other #waragainsthevirus Pappa, your contribution to badminton and Indian sports is immeasurable!

Thank you for your inspiring display of dedication, discipline, determination, and years of hard work! They don’t make you like you anymore…

Repeat: Sunday is an INDOORS show of solidarity. It is NOT Diwali.

Goodbye #BillWithers. Thank you for all your music that is my music forever.

Thank you for teaching me to sing soul before I knew what soul was, before I even knew who I was. #LeanOnMe

SUNNY LEONE

What’s Deepika Padukone thinking here?

Ek chutki hand sanitiser ki keemat tum kya jaano, Ramesh Babu… ab toh 20 sec keliye hand wash karne hi padenge.

Varsha Mehra Arora Congratulations Varsha! You win a movie ticket.

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APRIL 2020 35

ENTERTAINMENT

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cine TAL A cineTALK c ENTERTAINMENT

mission, something meant to give a deeper subtext to the basic storyline.

Imtiaz Ali's writing clicks on the second count. Bhumika has been created with precision - a very ordinary woman thrust into a job that needs extraordinary looks and skills. Ali has put a lot into imagining the character, and it shows in the way she towers over everything in this show.

SLIPS INTO PLASTICITY

BAAZAAR

SHE (NETFLIX) STARRING: Aaditi Pohankar, Vijay Varma, Vishwas Kini DIRECTOR: Imtiaz Ali

HH Netflix’s newest offering She keeps you guessing till the end - probably not in the intended way though. Even as the final scenes of the last episode roll, you are left trying to figure out what you just watched. Does Imtiaz Ali's new script mean to hold a deeper context? Or is it simply an erratic mess reflecting the confusion that seems to have overwhelmed him lately, obvious in the last couple of films he directed?

Showrunner Ali has co-scripted She with Divya Johriand the sevenepisode series is directed by his brother Arif Ali (who earlier helmed the 2014 dud Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, incidentally also scripted by Imtiaz Ali). It is Arif Ali's co-director who draws your attention - Avinash Das is a screenwriter-turned-filmmaker who made the interesting little heroinecentric drama of 2017 Anaarkali Of Aarah.

You would expect an engrossing tale of women's empowerment from such a team.

At the core of the plot is Bhumika Pardeshi (Aaditi Pohankar), a

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DIRECTOR: Gauravv K. Chawla constable from class STARRING: Saif aAlilower-middle Khan, Rohan Mehra, Marathi background who is inducted Radhika Apte, Chitrangda Singh HHHHH in the anti-narcotics squad. Bhumika's mission is extremely dangerous.

I can’t recall a single notable (or even The covert operation aims to bring non-notable) down the drugIndian mafia,film andbased whenon shethe plunging and giddying highs of is picked dips up the kingpin Sasya (Vijay the stockone market. youshe remember Varma), wouldDo think has Harshad Mehta? could you forget cracked the case.How Of course, there are the podgy stockbroker who made the twists. thousands of Indians rich overnight and She tries moving on twin tracks. then it all ended in a financial mess in There is the suspense drama that the no time at all? narrative tries setting up as Bhumika Saif Ali Khan’s Shakun Kothari’s pursuesrun heron goal. is destiny theThen samethere lines.

Bhumika herself, as she struggles to Except that Saif as the wily ruthless come to terms with using her sexuality as a tool to wrest advantage in her

The trouble is Ali neglects everything else. Most other players in the drama get almost nothing in terms of character construction. Worse, the drama itself barely sustains a cohesive intrigue quotient through the seven episodes. You tend to get distracted after a point as the story gets repetitive.

Aaditi Pohankar makes most of her author-backed role and comes up with a good-enough performance as Bhumika, using the conflicts of the character well.

Vijay Varma, who shot to fame with Gully Boy last year, is impressive in Machiavellian stockbroker is everything the way he lends screen presence to that Harshad Mehta would have wanted to be. This is Saif’s most gloriously kingpin Sasya.

He is the only other written and performed part, meaty character apart from Bhumika that witty and wicked.

Heinchews into itthat exposing a means anything the drama sacred that Iwell didn’t notice in his goes on. hunger Varma does to sustain lastcharacter over-hyped outing. despite the the all through, Shakun a true-blue factSaif thatas Sasya getsissketchy after Gujju a who won’t let neo-affluence corrupt his while. cultural integrity.

He slips into The trouble with She is that itsGujjufications with the unrehearsed cuteness creator seems wholly overawed by of tycoon, who has long ceased to be the challenge of creating the ultimate, cute to everyone, including his own wife imposing screen heroine. With and children. thatWhen challenge in sight, he ignores debutant Rohan Mehra enters everything else that he pens.

In the the plot as Rizwan there is no Shakun process, the series, its execution Kothari around. We know Rizwan and intentShakun slip intoand a zone of sheer idolizes wants to be like plasticity.

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APRIL 2020 37

BACKCHAT

Life after corona Listing the positives and negatives of a post-pandemic society

next door, or battered its all-weather ally Pak? Has Imran hit the virus for a six?

Did Kim Jong-un fire his missiles to drive the demon away? Was it indeed, a plot to bring down western economy??

BY L.P. AYER

I

Con: On the lighter side, the Crown it seems is no cover against the corona (poor Charles). The corona can even down a Downing St prime resident.

t’s the dawn of the PC era, folks.

No, I’m not talking about the Personal Computer era. That’s some four decades old, and our life is now run by said electronic device(s).

This is not about Political Correctness either, which has dramatically altered our tolerance and attitude for better or worse, depending on who you talk to.

And no this is definitely not about actor Priyanka Chopra, fondly referred to as PeeCee by industry colleagues (and by the paparazzi who rush behind her screaming “Pissy Pissy”).

This is about the Post Corona era.

The pretty looking microbe that is bulldozing the bull market and badgering the budgets of nations, has left everyone wondering what lies in its aftermath.

Many futuristic scenarios have been depicted by scientists, economists, politicians, even stand-up comedians.

Here’s my two bobs’ worth.

PC has Pros and Cons in heaps.

Pro: The environment is the biggest winner. Companies that ask employees to work from home find it profitable, with reduced overheads like rent, power, insurance etc, and may even embrace it permanently. This will lead to fewer cars on the roads and less air pollution. The loser will be Greta, nay, chota, Thunberg and her teeny-weeny followers flunking school on Fridays. Back to school, girls and boys, the climate is ok.

Con: With millions of jobs gone, commercial complexes lie vacant, fewer towers built and less construction work overall. Every cloud hath a silver lining. These empty buildings may come handy when the next virus breaks out (God, oops, China forbid), to be used as

Pro: About the face mask, we’re all realising now why our Jain munis were such visionaries. Today though, creative advertising gurus have millions of mouthpieces as canvases to convey their messages. In true ‘in your face’ style, I might add. I would advocate for smiley face emojis, to cheer the current depressed lot. How about this slogan “I am OK. Hope you are too?” to convey empathy to fellow maskers. Footy clubs will follow suit to issue masks in club colours –hopefully they’ll muffle the barracking and the out-of-tune drunken singing.

temporary hospitals. Or converted into affordable apartments or even as haven for the homeless.

consumption of alcohol, causing a blowout in obesity. With no work to go to and time on hand, a baby boom is likely.

Pro: With our universities offering courses online to overseas students due to restrictions on their return, many of them prefer to stay home and receive their education at less cost. This may obviate the need for their parents to grab properties off the market, reducing real estate values and helping Aussies buy their first homes. At (private) school, the launch of online education will render obsolete the constant need for new buildings; there’ll be no excuse therefore to fleece parents for donations year after year.

Pro (followed by Con): With over a million newly unemployed willing to take up any work at lower wages, some entrepreneurs may consider starting new ventures creating a resurgence in manufacturing.

Will Holden come back? Don’t hold your hopes high though. Now is a wake-up call to stop the galloping globalisation that has led the world to depend on single sources of supply.

Con: Social distancing may spike the

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Pro? Con?: China-badgers have had a field day asking why there’s been no ‘Beijing blockade’ or ‘Shanghai shut-down’. How come COVID-19 hasn’t touched Russia

Pro: The five-guest wedding will be a welcome new social phenomenon (and not just for the bride’s parents who usually have to foot the bill for the wedding party). The guests will typically include the bride, the groom, the priest and the bride’s parents. No room for the bride’s mother-in-law: that category of humans has been weeded out because too many of them have beendowry demanding demons in the past.

Ultimate Pro: My personal favourite is ScoMo’s specification of four square meters of personal space. I have drawn lines in my living room to keep my other half at a safe distance. Absolute domestic peace now. You beaut, Wuhan virus!

Disclaimer: This piece was written on my old Smith Corona typewriter, as my laptop has had a virus attack. At least my old Corona is sanitised and safe.

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