SAY IT AGAIN

USMAN KHAWAJA: LESSONS FOR US ALL AS PEOPLE OF COLOUR

Usman showed us how it should be done. PAWAN LUTHRA on the infamous Long Room incident

Peter Hunt wrote: We can all learn from the values Usman Khawaja lives by. Wonderful human being.

Michael Hennessy wrote: He’s a great player, and even more importantly a wonderful human being!

Ashir Alam wrote: Reminds us of the great Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhonialways calm irrespective thesituation

Joseph La Posta wrote: Wonderful role model for all Aussies!

Abbas Raza Alvi wrote: Well done and timely written article. We should demonstrate the contributions of the multicultural population of Australia.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S 2022 STATE LEAGUE TENNIS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

RITAM MITRA spoke with Ashwin Vijayaragavan, tennis professional, who took out a South Australian honour second time in a row this year Sanyam Chauhan wrote: Proud of you, brother.

Sheron Jayasundara wrote:

Congratulations.

Tania Clark wrote: Thank you Ritam, it’s a beautifully written article. Anup Prasad wrote: With our Indian company Infosys running major Grand Slams including the Australian Open, more can be done re-investing in players to potentially see an Indian Number 1 ranked player in the future. The mindset with Indian parents is in a safety career first, to be producing doctors and engineers. A shift is required over time where our tennis players can claim to be hitting well engineered clinical shots on the tennis court, getting them to the coveted position of Number 1. It is excellent to see Ashwin bringing the game of tennis to limelight, and his talent in the game being acknowledged. It is a wonderful sport, keep up and keep acing. 15-Love !

Ancient Geological Links

VIVEK ASRI reported on a geological study which found strong parallelism in the geographical characteristics of India and Australia

Barry O’Farrell AO wrote: The Australia-India roots go much deeper! New research finds that Australia and India may be made of the same mitti (soil)! Geologist Jaganmoy Jodder wrote: Yes, indeed we do have remarkable geological similarities throughout the Earth's history, now similarities in volcanism dating back to 3.5 billion years ago.

Satish Kumar wrote: The connection is deeper and more intriguing!

I bought the material from Babbarra (https://babbarra.com/) in May ‘21. In 2023 DFAT brought two of the women to India and they displayed their textiles and designs in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru. As it happened, one of the women who visited was Deborah Wurrkidj, who designed my cloth. It’s called ‘black plums’. I loved the colour and thought it a great India-Australia combo, highlighting our indigenous peoples at a time India had elected its first tribal President!

Barry O’Farrell AO, describing the jacket he wears on our cover and on pg10

Desis For Yes

VIVEK ASRI (online) and SAGAR MEHROTRA (on radio) on a new initiative that is taking the message out to the South Asian community about The Voice to Parliament.

Khushaal Vyas wrote: Grateful to Indian Link for their coverage and giving myself and Desis For Yes space to answer some FAQs about the referendum and the case for voting yes!

Nishadh Rego wrote: Thanks for sharing the launch Indian Link Media Group. We appreciate your coverage. This is a collective effort and if anyone is interested in getting involved, feel free to drop us a line at desisforyes@ gmail.com or DM us.

Jyothsna Rao PhD wrote: Fabulous.

Menaka Iyengar Cooke wrote: I have been doing Table Talks and Conversations re the Yes Vote for the past 6 weeks. Material is supplied by YesTogether23 and is clear and affirming.

Tito Scohel wrote: Great to see Indian Diasporas for Yes. There are so many similarities between Indian and Aboriginal history, culture and spirituality....

Danielle Lopes wrote: I am Anglo Indian and speak on behalf of my father. You have been lied to regarding The Voice. The colonists are lying to you once again and you are falling for it. You must research as you will doom every citizen of Australia if you fail to do so.

Explaining The Voice Referendum

As the Yes and No campaigns ramp up, RITAM MITRA explained what it all means

Charmaine O'Brien PhD wrote: Thank you for acting to inform people about the function and importance of this referendum.

Allen Shrimpton wrote: An absolute YES to ending the divisiveness that prevents First Nations People from being treated equally. Look at the youth incarceration rates. It needs to be stopped.

Sharon Rundle wrote: Thank you Ritam Mitra for your clear explanation, it’s most helpful.

What Australians Think About India

RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA on Australians’ perceptions about India as per Lowy Institute Poll 2023, which, in various categories typically ranged in the ‘mediocre’ region, except in one

Rahul Sen wrote: Interesting read on changing perceptions of India in Australia, in contrast to what I have observed here in New Zealand.

Sriraman Annaswamy wrote: Here’s a simple datapoint that might help with understanding the “perception change” with respect to India. In the last 6 months (my company) has received more requests to advise on Indiabased Digital GCCs particularly focused on Advanced analytics and AI than in the preceding decade. That’s how radically perceptions with respect to India have altered. Many of these polls, surveys and rankings are weighed down by historical perceptions. It will take at least a decade to see a significant movement on the dial, that’s the problem with them.

Caption Contest

What’s going on in our very own (ex) Captain Cool MS Dhoni’s mind?

Raghu Rules wins a free movie ticket for his response: Nation’s crush playing Candy Crush.

Saurabh Patel wrote: Why are none of the Rahuls performing well?

Padmini Sunder wrote: What am I doing flying cattle class when I should be travelling in business class!

Rajul Sheth wrote: Autograph photograph done, now give me some good food and top up my drink.

Lakshmi Ganapathy wrote: Sorry, can't stop now, gotta reach half century on this Jelly level.

Sagar Mehrotra wrote: Bas, chal raha hai.

Niranjan Ramjee wrote: Lagta hai ke food trolley ane wali hai.

Where In India

This place is known as the mini Switzerland of India. Where in India?

The answer is Khajjiar, Himachal Pradesh

Readers Anagha

N.Meher, Bhakti

Garach, Tripti Joshi, Mansi Kaushal, Suumit Saahni, Tashu Sharma and Nitin Setia got it right.

Where In Oz

This city is famous for its Baywalk Bollards. Among the 104 sculptures are a Koori family, English explorer Matthew Flinders and a Portuguese explorer. Where in Oz?

The answer is Geelong, Victoria.

Readers Anagha

N. Meher, Bhanu

Kothari and Harish

Ramanarayanan got it right.

Time to bid farewell as my tenure as Australia’s 21st High Commissioner to India comes to an end. I am thankful for all the opportunities, support and friendships. Sad to leave but thrilled about the next stage of growth in Australia - India ties – I will be watching from Down Under.

Get the best of Indian Link straight in your inbox. Scan the QR code to sign up to our weekly enewsletter barry O’Farrell, you’ve just returned from three years in New Delhi as High Commissioner of Australia to India. Your tenure was bookended on one side with the worst pandemic in 100 years, and on the other, successful visits by two prime ministers to each other's countries. Somewhere in between, a very successful economic and trade agreement was also signed between India and Australia. Welcome back, Barry, and thank you for joining us at Indian Link. Terrific to be back and terrific to be talking to you face to face again.

When I interviewed Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong a few weeks ago she promised to build on her Hindi vocabulary of one word, Namastay. you had to share your knowledge of Hindi words with her, what would the range be?

My favourite Hindi word is Mazboot (strong). I just think it's got a great sound about it. And of course Karenge (to do). So my three favourite words are Namashkar or Namastay, Mazboot and Karenge, because 'strengthen the relationship' is one of the things we want.

Were you the person who hashtagged the term Dosti (friendship)?

I was the person that put together the four Ds. I was tired of the three Cs - Cricket, Commonwealth and Curry. And I am not sure India was particularly fascinated about Commonwealth either. We all agreed on cricket. So, we thought of the four DsDemocracy, Defence, Diaspora, and Dosti. But I know that PM Modi took it to another level. And if he says, out with the Cs, out with the Ds, I'm not going to complain or argue with him.

Looking back at the last three years, what would you call this chapter of your life?

A remarkable adventure. Being Premier of a state is quite an honour, but can I tell you that representing your country, as an Ambassador or High Commissioner overseas, takes it to another level. So it's a highlight, if it's not the highlight of my life.

When you were sounded out as being the potential High Commissioner, what went through your mind?

It was a phone call out of the blue from the then Prime Minister who I thought, after about 10 or 15 minutes, must have had a lot of time on his hands because it was going on and on. And I just assumed, as it happened from time to time across all sides of politics, after I left it, people would ring me occasionally for my views on India. In the in the end, he said are you up to it? I said up to what? And he said, being the next High Commissioner. I said you haven't