Hindi language campaigner winsIndiangovernmenthonour

TheSydney-based Hindi languagecampaigner

MalaMehtahas won this year's Pravasi BharatiyaSamman (Overseas Indian Honour).

She was one of 15 diaspora memberswho were conferredthe award bythe Vice President of India HamidAnsari.

Tbehighesthonour conferred on overseas Indians, the award is presented bytbe Government of India annually as pareof the Overseas IndianConference in eadyJanuary.Theevent was held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, chis year. Theotherrecipients this year wereGuyanese President Donald Rabindernauth Ramaotar;KamaljeetBakshi from ew Zealand; Ashraf Palarakunnummaland BharatkumarJayantilaJShah. from UAE;Essop EsoopGoolam from SouthAfrica;RajmalM.Parakh from Oman;JusticeDoraikannu Karunakaran fromSeychelles; SanjayaRajaram fromMexico; Lord Raj Loomba and athuRarn Puri from Britain; Mahendra anji Mehta fromUganda andNanclin.i Tandonand KamleshLulla from theUS.

Also from Australia, lastyear's winner LisaSingh acceptedher award thisyear.

MalaMehtais a well-loved personalityinSydney'sIndian community. As founder of the fodo Australian Bal Bharatiya Vidyalaya,Malahas campaigned bard for theinclusion of Hindiin theAustralian schoolcurriculum. Severalhundred sn1dems atber Sydney-based schoollearnthe Hindilanguage onthe weekends, scarring from age live andmany continueup rotheYear 12 level.

J\fala has also been responsible for taking to primary schools acrosstbe Sydney region, an awareness of Tndiaand its culnu:e as part of the'1ndiaCalling" program.

"This is agreat honour forme butreallyI accepted the award on behalf of allthose who have travelledtheHindi journeywith mein Australia,"MalatoldJ,,ditm Unkon thephonefromIndia.

''AsI walkeduptothestage, allI could see weremybachchas andwishedmy HindiSchool parivaarand otherswho had taken thisjourney withmehad been there toolI missed mydadwho would have felt only as a dad can.

1 wouldhaveloved to ha\Temy mum andchildrentheretoo but washappy that they were watching it live."

Of course dotinghusband TeddyMehtawas in the audience asMalareceived the award from Hamid Ansari,anold friendof theMehras fromwhenheserved asIndia'sHighCommissionerto Australiayea.rs ago.

Mala was thankfulfor the government's acknowledgement of the efforts forthe Hindi language in Australia.

"This is the first government Ln Indiathat has extended supportco ourcampaign and I am ever so grateful,"she said."I amelatedalsobecause theawardcame at snchan opportunemomem.I've just startedwork withtheAustralian Curriculum, Assessment and ReportingAuthority (ACARA) onthedevelopment of the new Hindicurriculum,andI needed the support of theIndian go\Ternment.The awardwill on.I)' boost my efforts."

Soon after thee\Tentin early January,MehtaanendedtheWorld Hindi Day celebrations inNew Delhi on 10 .January.

"Iwas amazed coLnteract

7�9 January,

2015 with many foreign dignitaries who spoke in Hindi -the ambassadors of Uzbekistan, Khazakastan,Romania, Iran, Thailand I couldn't help thinking, this isexactly what my life'swork has been about!"

The year has begun on a great note forMala. HerHindi students from HSC2014finished with exceptionally high ATARs (andoneeven topped thestate inHindi);news has comein tbat twonew centres will commence Hindi teaching (\X'aitara PublicSchool and John Purchase PublicSchool),andon a personal noce,herson announced weddingplans.

The HindiSchool'smotto, H11t11 HongeKa11tyaab(I.WeShallOvercome) hasindeed stoodin good steadfot Mala in her 30-year crusade for Hindi.

Our heartiest congratulations, Mala.

IBY RADHIKA BHATIA -

Arrheendof Decemberlase year, studentsaround rhecounttvwere franticallylogging onto theneetoperform rhefinal task of their lastschoolyearcollectingtheirATAR. I know this becauseatthe verysame time one yearago, 1was oneof chose frantic students.1 wasinIaclia and it wasfartooearlyin themorning whenI wasroughlyshakenawake bym;rparencs and handed an iPad.The Boardof Studies page glared at me menacingly. One tense minute passed.Myparents srood over me, waitingas thepage loaded. I surpassed myaim.Igm into law.

It's a lot easier for me to talk aboutmyexperiences,looking backar myownHSCyear.I've justfinishedmyfirstyear of university,doingacoursel love, andnot once since unistarted haveI been askedmyATAR.

The HSC has becomea clisrant memory.

What 1 do remember of that yearisthefreepass I was given at home.Allof a sudden I was unassailable.I yelled at mypoor, innocentlittlesister, andir was her Emir. I stayed uptill 3am, andit was okay.Dishwashing duty was no longer mine.The smdy was left in aconstant stare of disarrayand myroombecame ano-entryzone. All becauseit was 'Radhika's HSC yea:r'.

Schoollife also changed.All of a sudden,1 was notsurrotmded bypeers,butbyopponentsin themost important race of my younglife.The toprank ,vasin contention.'How manyhoursof srndyingclidyoudo last night?'

'How much of that3000word essayhaveyoucompleted?' 'How many1narks clidyouloseinthe latestrnarhs test?'

Andthen,as soonas I found ommyscores: How manyof my friends got onto theclistingu.ished achievers list?How many gotonto theall-rounders list? How many got99+ ATARS?

Everyone'sexperienceof his or her final year will be different.

Year 12finishers look backatthefinalyearofschool

BurIcan guarantee youthat everyonewill go through some sky-high upsand rocky downs.I can alsocellyou,witha claritythatonlypresentedir.,elf followingthewholeordeal,that forme, thoserockydowns would not have beenquite so rockyif I had liftedjusr a littlepressure off myself.

'So what?' I wouldquestion my stressedan.cl angry2013self.

'What does it matter if you lost a couple of marks in tliat English essay? There will be more essays (nor necessarily acomforting thought,I admit) where, after a chat to your teacher and a litde hard work, you can more than redeemyourself.Seriously former Radhika, just calm clown.'

Duringthis year, family becomes a fantastic support base. However, sometimes this support can rranslate into an unspoken pressure. So nowI address rhe parents.Those few parents who belong ro the 'tiger mum or dad' category: bearing downon their children,imagining an end of year result that diey can boast about for years.You know who youare. Please srop.This year is not going tobe easyfor your children; that is undeniable.Bur, if youstep back and lee your childjust do theirthing, it can definitelybe pleasant.

ObviouslyI don't condone letting go completely.Sometimes a lirtle push away from the suddenlyfascinating outside world andtowards themounting pile of homework isexactlywhat an easily distracted teenager needs. But this yearis already heavy with anever-before-seen amountof work and a thus far unparalleledlevel of stress. Adding morepacks to diesaddle willonlyslowyour child down.

All of the students I've interviewedhave done incredibly well in their final yearof high school. Butthat isn't rhe only parallelf can draw. Each one of chem managed tO march hard workwith anabundance of extracurricular activities and relaxation.t\ndfor them,itwas a fantastic year.

So, ro everyone starting the HSC,theVCE, the SACE, or finalschoolexams: GoodLuck. Thisyear will be a big one; that isundeniable.Bur big doesnot necessarilymean bad. Make sure you enjoyit!

Mahendra Chitrarasu

ATAR: 99.9, SACE

Subjects: Biology, Chemistry., English smclies, Psychology, integrated learning School: Rostrevor College

Appurva Raaj

ATAR.: 96.60,SACE

Subjects: EnglishStuclies, Chemistry,Mediasmclies and Psychology School: Ladyof theSacred Heart College

NehalJain

ATAR: 97.35, (37 TB)

Subjects: MachsHigher Level, PhysicsHigher Level, Economics HigherLevel,Chernistry Higher Level, EnglishStandardLevel, Hindi StandardLevel School: GlemmgaInternational HighSchool

Rahul Malhotra ATAR:99.7,SACE

Subjects: Biology,Chemistry, Physics,Maths Smdies,ESL Stuclies,HindiContinuers School: EynesburySeniorCollege

Prajna Vidyasagar

ATAR: OP2, Queensland (equivalent to98-99)

Subjects: EnglishExrension, English,MathsC,MathsB, Physics, Chemistry. School: SaintJohnsAnglican College

AbhishekGoyal

ATAR:99.95, HSC

Subjects: EnglishExtension,

EnglishAdvanced,Machs Extension l,2UnirMaths Chemistry, Physics,Biology. School:JamesRuseAgricultural High School

SangitaIyer ATAR: 99.85, VCE

Subjects: English,Machs Jv[ethods,Australian Hisrory, BusinessManagement, Psychology, French. School: Sacre Couer

What were your expectations going into the Year 12? How clid reality compare?

Rahul: Iknew chatir wouldbe achallengingyear.Therewould beassessments andtestsand time wouldhavetobemanaged efficiendy. Realitywas not much different! SoI was kind of prepared.It turnedoutchat teachers wereveryhelpfol, andI hadagood circle of friends who supportedeachother.

Nehal: Myexpectations were quire sirriilar to reality.Just as I hadrhought,Year 12 was much harder andfaster paced, with moreassessmenrs I hadevet done before.But Ilearnt how to managemytime and it all worked well.

Appurva: I wascollege vicecaptainso tl1ere wasa lot of excitement.I was doingsubjecrs chatI reallyloved.Ididn't really worryaboutthe social aspectI became quireclose witl1 allmy friendsbecause we weregoing chroughthesamethingWegrew closer byhelpingeach oilier out. If someone hada baddaywe'd talk about ir andsupport each other.I tl1ought itas going tobe chebest year of mylife.1 was really sad whenitended.

Prajna: T rhought Year 12 would be just like Year 11, quitechilled.Bur it wasquite stressful,competitive. You see die competition andyouwaneto bear ochers, youwantto bethe cop.My familyand teachers really helped me though. I wasnot used tothis amount of studyandsrress.My suppott system reallyhelpedme bringit together.

Mahendra: Therewas that sort of outsidepre.�sure,it's going m be hardetc,etc.But it sort of Aucniatedhow difficultit really was.Itwasn'tlikeI hadtogive up goingout, taU,ingto my friends, that sort of thi.ng,in order todo well.lewaslike makea decision between,sometimes, going to a partyor workingonsomething due soon.Bur having those other things in your life made you realise that school gradesaren't the most important thinginthe world.

Abhishek: I didn'texpectmy HSC year to be roo difficulL I foundthat movingintoYear 11wastougher thanYear12. Therewas a bigjumpinthe syllabusbetween Years 10 and 11.MovingintoYear 12,1wasn't tooworried.Mygoalsweren't focused a.roundgettingahigh ATAR.I justwanted to do the bestI coulddoforeach subject, andthen theATARwouldcome with it.The most important thing to concentrateonis learningthe contentfor eachcourse and dien marks came withthat.

Sangita: Everyonebuilds it upbut it's really notdiat biga deal.I imaginedhavingto smdy several hours everynight.But it didn'tendupbeingthatbad. J\,fostweekendsI wasn't even workingreallyhard at it.I was just waitingfor it togetmore intense. Youneverreally realisethat the workloadincreases.Youjust rake it on.TheyteUyou it'sa bigdeal, bmthey don't tell youtoget on widi it.

Whatdidyoulearnabout yourself?Didyouexceedyour expectations?

Mahendra: Everyyear youlook back andthinkabouthow much you'vechanged. Lookingbacknow, 1 diinkit'sbeen apositivechange. 1'm quirehappy.Itwasn't somuch mar l got aparticularATAR, but more matItried doi.nglotsof different things.

Abhishek: Irealised bow muchI likespendingtimewithmy family. Throughoutdie year Iwould procrastinatestudyingbyspending time wimmyfamilyin me lounge roomwatchingT\ZIndirectly,I learntmoreaboutwhatgoesonin d1eirlives-mymum,dad,sisters. Ilike spending time with diem. Evenduringdieexamperiod,1 usedtositdownwidimymum andwatchTV whileweatedinner. We watchedreruns of TheB;g13,wg Theoryandcomplained that d1ey playedthesameepisodeeveryfew days. Ievensat andwatchedsome Jndian dramas.Ididn'teven know what mey were caJled,justsome crimeserialsonYoutube.Exceed e."qJectationsdidyousay?Yes, definitely Ineverexpectedtodoas wellas I did.I don't dii.nkI studied hardbmmy studytechniques, especiaJlygroup studying,were effective.

Rahul:I learntthatI must believe inmyself. I would often doubtmyself,butI knownow that if l workhard,applymyself, l can overcome any challenge that life throws at me.l feel confidentto trynew things, and experiment. I've learned that I havegood timemanagement skills andcan organise myself well!DidIexceedmy expectations? \):.1eU, I've always wanted to do medicine so I knew I'dneed a highATAR 1 pushedmyself hard and maybeIcould've gotten ahigher scorebur I'mhappy. Gettingthe Governor'sCommendationas wellasDux of theschool, were born thrilling, diough.

Sangita: I'vesort of beenthe kind of persontosailalong somewherei.n themiddleof the group.I wasnevet· thekindof person d1at received many,awards. Tocomeout of d1eyear asDux of theschoolis kind of insane.It taughtmematif 1 apply myself, l cando well.Youdon'thaveto be diesmartestpersontosucceed.

Nehal:You know,lookingback,I learntthatIcanwork hard. Ican try new anddifferentmingsand do them well.I'vealso learned dieimportance of activitiesodier thanstudies-extracurricular activitiesandevenphysicalactivity. Theseaspectsreally helpedme last year,and perhaps diat'swhyl finished well.

Whatwentwrong?Didyou makeanym.istakesthroughout theyear?

Nehal:iYlistakes, of course! Perhaps the biggestone was losing interest in one of my subjectsand thennotworking as much onit. Whichsubject?Mad1s!

Rahul:1 did make mistakes,yes. There were timesI didnot score \veil, but Itold myself to stay positive.Nopoint gettingbogged down by one bad mark, better tosee itas achance to improve yourself.

Appurva: I probably hypedit up waytoomuchinmy head.I would bereally hardon myself, likeI'd say, 'This isn'tgood enough for Year12'.IthinkI underestimated my abilities to do well.Ijust pm mrself tmder an unnecessary amount of pressure.

Mahendra: Of course therewere mista_kes.Year12 was something new.I wasn'tsmashing everything atthe beginning of the year.It was all alearningcurve.The way1 saw itwas,it's not really importantwhatgrade youreceive, but appreciate the learning that's taking place. BylearningI meannew ways of thinking.It's inevitablediatyou're goingco mal(e mistakes,butdon't stress over it. The sunis goingtorise tomorrow,lifegoes on. That's die way I took it.

Prajna: I hada hardtime answeringEnglishquestionsin Year 11.I want to tell people, especiallyinYear 12,if you're having a hardtime, keep writing, and keeppractising.Write your own questionseven, andpractice them, mat's whathelped me.This workedwidiMaths as well.1 woulddo a1Ithe questions in my Maths textbook and dienI looked formore.Itmadememore confident.Alsotry different types of questions; this will give you meexposure toexam style questions.

Sangita: I've hadtimeswhereI've srudied morethanI.neededto, or stayed uprevisingdungs diatI never ended upneedingtoknow.1 wouldn't getenough sleepbefore exams sometimes.I would stayup doing I don't even know what1 was doing- readingor beingon dieinternet.Justprocrastination, really.

Didyoufeeltherewasmuch competitionwithin yourcohort?

Mahendra: Notreally acruaJly. For the group of friendsI hung outwidi,it wasn't somuchthat youwouldbeprotectingyour answers.If someone asked you something,you would let him or her know.

Appurva: There was alittle competition.Li.l(e 'whois at the wp of die class',andwho would getdux for each class.lewas healthycompetition though.And I learnt alot frommy peers. If we had doubts, then we'd helpeach other.Wedidabit of giveand take. I'd teachthem something they wouldn't know andvice versa.1endedupgettingDux of myschool!

Nehal: Yes,theredefinitely was competition,butI'd callit healthy competition, and it was encouraging forus all.

Abhishek: Definitely.There wasalwayslotsof competition cowards mp half of the grade. Especiallyjnthings like Maths andsciences.For me, I ropped the State inBiology. However up until the external exams, competition for the topspot wasquite_fierce.Itwasalways the same five peopleneck to neck atthetopof the class -gettingthesame exact mark or one off each other. After the trials,a lotof my srudybecame group study.I reallyendorsefr.I organisedsessionswith my friends whetewe discussed syllabusand try and teacheachotherbitsof material.Teachingother people is one of themosteffectiveways of learningitself,and fixing problemsorissuesspecificro your understandingof asubject. Usually this would happen just beforeassessments (even internal ones).But it happened considerably more after the u·ials in preparationfor the external exams.

Prajna: Ourfinalyearbrought out aJoeof competition between allthe students.We wanted to beat eachocher.But whatI likedabout my cohort was that we also really helped each other.Weshared notes and discussed questions.I recommend helpingeach other as well asstayingcompetitive.

Did you do anything alongside studying?

Nehal: I was debating club captain as wellas coach. 1 continued to takepart in public speakingevents. In sportI did swimming and cenrusandat the communitylevel,1 participated inthe1vfela.1 figuredit was important to keep upall myusual activities.

Rahul: I kept upmy other activities asbest asI could.I was part of socialjusticegroups, working for thehomeless and for theWorldWildlifeFund.l took part indebatingandat school open days.I keptnpsporting activitiesthroughtennis and cricket.

Appurva: As college ViceCaptain,I organised a lotof socialjustice work.\Xie ran campaigns andraisedawareness for organisations involvedin socialjusticei.e.StVinnies and ran soupkitchens.Wealso organised a silent vigil for asylum seeker children inimmigration, for theeducational rightsof childrenin detention.Itwas called'AChildLikeMe' and Channel 7 Newscoveredus and we havea Facebook Page. I also do Bharatanatyam andKarnatic singing. I performed infestivals aroundAdelaide,likeMela.

Abhishek: Ispentsometime volunteeringatVinrues.We weretrainedaschaperonesfor disadvantagedkidsbetween theage of 5 and16.Theyweremainlykids who wereexperiencinghardships athome.I wishI'ddonemore.I didn'tdo verymanydaysbecause of studies.\'(lewouldgo around to funplaces: iceskating,magic shows,parks.InschoolI wasthe leaderof thecl1atit)'club.SoI spenttimeorganisingfundraisers for things likeDaffodilDay,Pink RibbonDayandtheRedShield Appeal.Itwasa great waytospend time besides studying.

Mahendra: I was Deputy Head Prefect; thatwasoneof the major things.I would helpout with theschool community and the wider community.Themost significantthing,Isuppose, was that weestablished a peer support network.Wegotone or twoprefectscochat toyounger studentsandhelpwith homework. Ir wasprobablythemostsatisfying partof my role; the teachers were keen to continue with ir so ir wasa greatlegacy to leave behind.I also played badminton, tabletennis, debating and was in the 3,dA team for football.

WhatYear 12 perks did you enjoy?

Rahul: My parentstreated meas usual,really, andonlywent easy on me sometimesregarding my share of household cho.res.

Nehal: Achome,I gotgivenfood whereverI wanted,and of course whatever I wanted!ButI did my bit too-I kept myroom clean and helped with the gardening.At school, Ireally enjoyed tl1enew srudy centreforYear 12s,with kitchen facilities so that wehad hotlunches.Irwasprettycool!

Sangita: Webad abigcommon room with akjtchen andcouches tosit on,and astereo where wecould playourmusic.It was a great way to relax and bring everyone together.

Was there anyi:h.ingyouwoulddo differently?

Mahendra: Not really, and that's probablyoneof themost satisfyingthings.I had a great time and wentout a lot.l\ifumwould getangry,she thoughtI was going ourtoo much.Whatever mistakes I made weren'tlife changing.

Rahul: I'd probablyget morehelp whereIneeded it,assometimesI was reluctant.

Sangita: I actuallydon't tl1ink therewasanythingI'ddo differently. I balanced my lifewell. BeforeresultscameoutI thought Iwasgoing to regret relaxing all thosetimesI choseto have fun instead of study.ButIreally don't chink1couldhaveworkedharder. 1don'tthink l regret anything.

Nehal: I couldhavedone more work inMaths!Also,1 could have organisedmyself a bitbetter,so thatI could fitinmoreof my extra-curricular activities.

Prajna: I don'tthinkso.I think 1worked as hardas I could.I've never workedchishard before.

Do you have any advice for .funue Year 12 students?

Rahul: Get asmucl1 help as you can, don't beafraid to ask.Don't getbogged down bythe pressure of the siruation.

Mahendra: Realise thatattheend of tl1e dayit'snotso much the grade thatyougeebutmoretl1e personyou've become. lf you can judge your success on thatrather than thegradethatyou've got, that wouldbeanachievement. Enjoytl1e )•ear.Year 12isso much more than just your studies.

Appurva: You've reached Year 12 so youare capable of doing whateverYear 12 tl1rows at you. Don'tget workedup overit.You aremoretlian capableof handling it.Make themost of the lastyear you haveat school.

Prajna: Makesureyoukeep upthemotivation.Inever lost fajth inmyself.Make sureyou share time with yourfamily.And relax! Forpeoplewho are not academically motivatedrightnow, likeI was,startpushingyourself now.You will surprise yourself!

Nehal: Aimhigh.Don't underestimateyourself.You can acrueve if you pm your mind to it.Andof course, keep up thoseexu·a-curricular activities besidesstudying.At home,involve your famjJy;ask for support. Importantly,learn comanage yonr time.

Abhishek: Makesure you pay attentioninschool,especially to your teachers. I know lot.5of people dorncoringso theybelieve there is no point paying attention in class.However,I feelschool offersyou alot of knowledgethat tutoringdoesn't.It'simportant becausea.I.Iinternals aremade and markedin school. Youneed ro know specificnuances, unique focus your teacher places on specific part.5 of the syllabus. Also, studyingr9ups.This is oneof themain reasonsIsucceededin thewayI did.It really helpsyou craftresponses in your own words whenyou're in exams.It alsohelps youtroubleshoot specific types of problems.

What do you want to do now?

Mahendra: I'm takinga gapyear to work andmeet new people. The school offeredme a job asa boarding house coordinator,so I'U do that.Andmaybetutoring.I might pickup a job hereor there. Later in the year l wantto travel, maybeSoucl1 America.I want to enjoythe year off. f'm not a hundred percent sure yetwhat I want to do ac Lilli.

Appurva: Bachelor of Law/ InternationalSrudies atAdelaide University. I wanted to get imo journalismbutI'm not sure.Bue I'm definitelyinterestedinhuman rights.I'dloveto work forthe UN.1 wantto be the voiceof peopledeniedtheirhuman rights. I wantto do my part in helping build a better society.

Rahul: Medicine. Probablyat Universityof Adelaide orat Flinders.Later on,I'dlike to get intocardiology,maybe.

Nehal: Probablymedicine.If not, then software engineering.

Prajna: I want to becomea visionscienceprofessional.Like optometry.My course is a 5-year course integrated witl1M.asters. I wasreading an article about how in old age,eyes andmuscles are thefir'5t partsof the body to deteriorate.l tl1i11k it wouldbe really rewardingtohelpoldpeople with their eyesight.The planisto go places inAfrica andIndia,less fortunate places,andhelppeople out-everyoneneedstoenjoy life, andsightisa big part of that.

Sangita: Arts/Commerceat MonashUniversity.WithinArts I want to do History orEnglish, but I've reallygot to experienceit abitmore beforeImake any big decisions.