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THEWEDDINGOFYOURDREAMS SAY"IDO"WITHMANJIT'S

Sunday 22nd March Time: From 11am

Sunday 12th April Time: From 11am

Promotion Dates: Sun 22 & Sun 29 March and Sun 12 & Sun 19 April 2015

Sunday 29th March Time: From 11am

Sunday 19th April Time: From 11am

Cricketmagiccastsaspell

Accordingto the International Cricket Council, 1,016,421 people attended the 49 matches over 44 days across Australia and New Zealandto witness tl1eir teams battle itout for the Cricket WorldCup ride for 2015. While tl1ere were only a handful of games whichcouldbeconsideredclose,the magic of cricket kept all,especially tl1ose from thelnclian sub-conrinent, spellbound.

My takeaways from the 44 daysof cricket:

You can tal<e the cricketout of India buc cannot keep the cricketfan away.

Of tl1e 1,000,000 pluswho attended, those wearingthe blue t-shirtswere seen ar almostallmatches. lnclians from all over theglobe descendedon Australia andNew Zealandtoenjoy thebattle between the bar and theball. While attendingtl1e variousmatches,I ranimo family groups fromIndia, cricket tragics from theUS, famer-son duos from me Middle East, all following the Indian

cricketteam as meytravelledaround the twoconntries.There were local lnclian Australianswho took weeksoff work to either be at the groundsor be glued to tl1e television coverage. All this provided an an1a7jng atmosphere atmatches, especiallythe Inclia-South Africa match at theMCG whenmoretl1an 86,000 people - mostly Indian fans - cheered from the beginningof the match till tl1e end. Even the great SachinTendulkar admitted that hefeltlike donninghis pads andgloves,so strong wasthe excitementin tl1e air.

,Vhile Channel 9, as me local free-to· airTV, playedtrue toformby televising only Australia-centric matches,payTV didmanageto offerlive coverage of all the marches. More man just telecasts, it was greatto heargood cricket commentary from icons such as Brian Lara, RahulDravid, HarshaBhogle, Sourav Ganguly andso on. Compared to the commentary onChannel9,it was a refreshingchange tohearreal professionalsbehindthe microphone. Yes,some of the commentary on pay TVin Hindi did leave a lot to be desired, bmitdid lighten upsome of the more boringmatches.

On tl1e negacive side, also partof Channel 9, weretwo of their anchors who are eimer silly atbest or snipid at worst. Morning anchor KarlSrefanovic's

comments to lncliansupportersprior tothe India-Australia semi-final, and ShaneWarne'spost-wininterview with the Aussie cricketers, are t\VO regrettable episodes from the tournament.

Onthe grand finalday, with India bundled ouc andtl1e contest being betweenneighbours Australia andNew Zeal.and, it was greatto see thelocal Indian Australiansdiscardtl1eirblue gearin favour of thegreen andgold. While they may have fumbledthrough tl1eirrendirionof AdvanceAustralia Fair,therewas nodenyingtheir passion for Australia as Mitchell Stare bowled Brendanl'v[cCallum in mefirst over. And yes, the sight whichwill remainwith me foraJongtime, is the dholplayer in Australian coloursleadingtile sound effectsin thegreatSouthern Standat tl1eMCG,with me locals joiningin tl1e hhangm.

The loud cheers for special guest SachinTendullG1rat tl1efinalceremony also warmed the heart. Admired for his contriburion tocricket,Sachin's acknowledgement was in sharp contrast to the boos which rangmrough tl1e MCGwhen ICC Chair N. Srinivasan was introduced. Australians wear their emotions on meir sleeves and their clisdain for aUegations of tainted behaviour was clear to note.

Now we wait for tl1e Ashes tobegin!

STORE-WIDE!

EASTER LONG WEEKEND TRADING HOURS

SPIRITUAL

TriveniSatsangYatraofAustralia

Thurs19Mar-Wed8April

Shri Shiva Mandir Minto invites devotees to join and host Satsang Bhajan, SatsangShri RamKatha,Shri Mad BhagwatKatha, MataKi Chowki. Sunder kand paath etc. at their temple and home Details GoravAggarwal 0434 004 174

ChinmayaMissionevents

Mon6 April- Sat11 April Freepublic talks by SwamiTejomayananda: Life isa gift,Livinganart

Sat11April Devotional songs Swara to lshwara

Sun 10May Youth workshop: Ateens guidetosuccess

16-17 May:Theatrical production

Rama:Prince ofPower Details Br Gopalji 0416 482 149

BAPSspecialevent

Thur 16April ·Wed 22April

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (40 Eleanor St, Rosehill) invites youfor RarnayanParayan andKirtan Bhakti in the presence of Sadguru Param PuJya Mahant Swami andSant Mandal. Mahaprasad willbe served every day Details 029760 2277 or info@apac. baps.org.

Amma'sAustralianTour 2015

Mon 13 April 10am; 7.30pm

Tues 14 April 10am; 7pm

Indias'hugging saint'Amma is coming toSydney Her FREE programs will be held on two dayswith a Devi Bhava held at 7pm on the second day ofthe tour Held at Sydney Boys High School. Enter Gate 2, Cleveland St, Moore Park. Details http://www ammaaustralia.org au/

DANCE

SydneyDanceFestivalofClassical

IndianDance

Sat18 April 2pm-9pm

See performances ofKuchipudi, Odissi, Bharatanatyam andKathak dance. Held at LennoxTheatre, Riverside Theatres, corner Church and Market Streets,Parramatta DetailsKalpana Sriram 0411 015 396

Tukre'byRaghavHanda

29April·2May

FORMDanceProjects and Riverside

Theatres will present thecontemporary dancework, Tukre' that explores how culturallineagecan be communicated and shared through objectsand movement. Tukre'(meaning pieces in Hindi) will see RaghavHanda, an Australianchoreographer and dancer of Indian heritage, aeate a memory map ofhis ancestry through musicand dance.Theperformance is an explorationof theconnections between our past, presentand future as wellas the importance of family-evenwhen they are thousandsof kilometres away

Details 02 8839 3399or wwwriversideparramattacom au

FILM

BehindtheBeautifulForevers

Sat 25 April1pmandSun26 April1pm RiversideTheatres will be screening theplay Behindthe BeautifulForeverscaptured live from Londons NationalTheatre Audiences will be transported to urban Indiain playwright David Hare's adaptation ofKatherine Boas award winning book Thebookwas written after Boo spentthree years in Annawadi, India recording thelives of its residents Details 02 8839 3399 orwww riversideparramattacom au

FESTIVAL

Ugadnicelebrations

Sat 18 April 3pm

Telugu Association of Canberra celebrates Ugadhi at Albert Hall, 100 Commonwealth Avenue,Yarralumla, ACT Details: tacuqadi201S@qmail.com

ValsakiMela

Sun3 May

ThePanjabi Sangeet Centre Sydney presents its annualVaisakhiMelaat

Blacktown Showground Featuring Bhangra, Gicldha, folk music, rides, competitions food stalls and more

Details: Devinder Dhaira 0407 434 867, Harklrat Sandhar 0432 2D9 323

GirmitDiwasfestival

Sat9May 12pm-12am

2015

In memory of theindentured labourers whocame from India to workIn Fiji. Celebrationswillfeatureentertainment, children'sactivities andfoodandmarket stalls Jointhe fun atWhitlamCentre, 90A Memorial Avenue, Liverpool.

Details:Sashi Lal 0406449 474

MISC

IndianandNepalesenightmarket

Sat 11 AprilHurstvilleCity Council is hosting an Indian and Nepalese night market along MacMahon Street, Hurstville, from 5 00pm to 9 00pm. Highlights include street food, liveBollywood DJ performance accompanied by Dahl player,cultural dance performances, Henna tattooing, boutique clothing and accessories, freeYoga class, free children's activities suchas facepaintingand a jumping castleplus a free screening of an award winning Indian movie feature.

Forfull calendarof What'sOn listings (nation-wide) check out: www.indianlink.com.au

You can also submit yourlisting online

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'GlobaI viIIage'. It's a term we hear aImost every day. It means that our world is now virtually one single community, brought together by rapid advances in things like travel. telecommunications and the internet. And to successfully compete economically with other nations in this global village, and to stay one step ahead. Australia needs to develop its infrastructure.

This means investing in better roads. Better raii. And better technology to connect it all. Italso means we needto start planning now as to how we're going to pay for it all.

One way is to look at growing our economy in new and innovative ways. And another is to export our world-leading health, education, communication and financial services across the globe.

Thisis one of the key discussion points raised by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, renowned Australian scientist and author, in a recently filmed talk on the 2015 Intergenerational Report.

To see Dr Karl's talk, and to form your own view, search Challenge of Change.

CelebratingTamil NewYear

Revellers takepartin thefourthannualSydneyChitnh1:·ra:1�

spiritofcelebration resonatedintheair.

Addedtothis,the sentimentofculmraJ solidarityaswellas songanddancetotopitall,made itamemorabledayattherecently heldSydniyilChithiraithThir11vizfla, orSydneyChithiraifestival, markingtheTamilrewYearat RosehillRacecourse.

Nowinitsfourthyear,the colossal,day-longeventis notable,andworthyofpraise, forsolidifyingtheculturaltiesof theTamilcommunityinSydney.

OrganisedbytheTamilArtsand CultureAssociationInc.(fACA), itishailedforbringingtogether

Tamilianstraversinggeographical boundariesincludingIndia,Sri Lanka,MaJaysia,Singapore,South Africa,Mauritiusandotherparts oftheworld.

Thisyear,theTamilNadu government'sculturalentity,Ta.mil NaduEyalTsaiNatakaManram, steppedforwardandprincipally supportedthefestivities.The organisation'sChairmanand veteranSouthIndianfilmmusic directorDeva(a.k.aThenisaith

Thentmg,aJongwithhisensemble of20renownedfolkartists, deliveredmanyTamilculmralfolk performancesforthegathered spectators.ActslikeKaragam, Kaavadi,Poika!kJ1dhimiAtta111 (dunlfl[)Ihorsedance),Kaa!i,J\Tay,mdi lv[elam,andKaiSilav1b11AttaJII,left theaudiencespellbound.The ensembleisregularlyinvitedco performintheIndianRepublic DayParndeandtheirtalentand skillwerecertainlyevident.

PresidencofTACAAnagan Babusaid,"Thisisaunique festivallovedbytheSydneyTamil communityforitsfolkflavour. Theyfeelbackathome.This festivalisgrowingyear-on-year andthisyearit.�specialasthe TaniilNadugovernmenthas joinedwithusinpromotingTamil folkartsonforeignsoil.1thank aJIoursponsors,stallholdersand manyothersupporterstohave madethishappen."

FoodstaJlsatd1evenue suppliedattendeeswithdelicious Tamilcuisines-theid!ianddosa werenottobemissed.Kidswere comfortablyengrossedinvarious amusementgames.

TACAalsoreceivedsupport fromocl1erorganisationsincluding theAustralianTamilBroadcasting Corporation,SBSTamilRadio andmanyothers.TheCommunity MigrantResourceCentre(C1IB.C)

ParramattaincludingExecutive DirectorMelissaMonteiro,the EthnicCommunityCounciland SydWestMulticulmralServices werealsorepresentedatthe festival.

Astheevencwasheldin westernSydneyjustpriortothe NSWISeateelection,d1erewas astrongshowingfromlocal politicians.Specialguestswho attendedtheeventincluded ParliamentSecretaryforJustice DavidClarkeMLCandShadow MinisterforMulticulturalAffairs MichelleRowland.Laborparty membersJohnRobertson,Julia FinnandSusaiBenjaminwere alsopresentalongwiththeir LiberalcolleaguesGeoffLeeMP, TonyIssaandDeputyMayorof HornsbyGurdeepSingh.

Chithiraimarksthefirstmond1 intheTaniilcalendar.The Chicl1iraiFestivaJisacelebration duringthemonthofChitirai (April)inMadurai,India.leisalso

oneofdielongestcelebrations indieworldasitlasesforthe entiremomh.Legendhasitdrnt thefi.rst15daysofmefestivaJ arecelebratedforGoddess-deity Meenakshiandthenext15days areforAlagar-anavatarofLord Mahavishnu.

Before starcing his career as a standup comedianin November2004, PapaCJ did his MBAat Oxford andworked as a management consultant in London.

Travelling inEngland,Papa CJ sayspeoplewouldsayto himthey knewabout Indiabecause they'd seenS/11111dogMillionaire.

Hewouldreply,"AndI know about Englandbecause I've seen 1'1 Bean!"

And when non-Indians talk co him today aboutthe(freakish?) concept of arrangedmarriages and the bigweddings,hepoints out to them chatitistheif'systemchatis arranged - orover-arranged- down cothelastdetail,withplacesettings andplannedmenus and rehearsed walksdowntheaisle,whereas our weddings arechaotic parrieswith hundreds of peoplecomingand going, andwhere che dinner is more like a food fair.

"I like comesswith die stereotypes chat people have about us,"PapaCJ says.

CJ stwiibled into stand-up whilesmdyiogin England. He lovedgoingto the Edinburgh Festivaland took a shotat d1eUS contest La.stCo,nicSta11di11gwhere he managed co gee into the finals ("Theremusthave been a diversity clause," he jokes).

Moving backto India,where stand-upwasn't a thing, he claims hestarted itaJJ off,wich hisfirst fewshows atDelhi'slVIochaBar, Within tenmonths, he'ddone some250 gigs

"The stand-upscene in India is prettymassive at die momentI've done gigs aJJ around the country, and peoplepayanywhere from Rs300toRs3000tocome and listen. The corporate circuit is pickingup coo."

This year marks Papa CJ's Australian comedyfestivaldebut as the firstIndian comedian to be invited toperform asolo show at the Melbourne Internacional ComedyFestival.

Established in 1987, the MelbourneInternacional Comedy Festival(]VfICF) is the thirdlargest comedyfestivalof its kindin theworldand one of

thelargest cultural events in Australia.Theeventrakes place annually overfourweeks andplays host to hundreds of localand international artists;in 2014 the festivallisted469 shows and 6,488 performances (including 159 free performances) by2,228 artists.

This year'sedition of l\illCF hasnotewordiyrepresentation fromIndia. The flag bearers include Rohan Desai,RuchirAsh besides Indiancomedycircuit favourite PapaCJ,aswell as international actswith links to the sub-continent including Arj Barker, Hari Kondabolu,Vivek Mahbubani,Sameena Zehra and Australia'sown SurenJayemanne.

"Wework in a bubble in India," PapaCJ says. "It's great to be able to come here, representing India, and tosee thatwhatwe'redoing at home is relevant onaworld stage."

He hasperformed at theJust for Laughs festivalin Canada and hasbecome a regularon stage at the EdinburghFringe Festival. He has visited Melbourne before,but these showswillbe his Australian comedyfestivaldebm.

Butsurely'PapaCJ is not the comedian's real name?"Papa CJ isnot the name I,;vas born with but is thename I have taken," heexplains."As a teenager I \\�tnessed a brutal assassination involvingan international mafia cartel. I have since been under a witness protection program by the International Courtof Justice in The f-lague soI cannotreveal my true identity." 0-,'i/e hope he's joking!)

His newshow,'Naked' is different co the kind of work CJ usuallydoes,in matit is a narrative,largelyautobiographical. ''Myregularstyleinvolves plenty of crowd-work, where l chat withd1eaudience and buildfrom there."

''\Xfirh 'Naked', I talkaboutd1e human experience. And whileI usemylifestoryin theshow,I talk about experiences diat mostpeople havehadandemotionschatmost peoplehavefelt. Everybodyleaves myshow feeling marduringa part of it,I was talking abouttheirlife andnotmine"

"'Naked' is a showd1at

straddles the realms of stand up comedy, theatre andstorytelling," PapaCJ continues. "ln this journey, one brick at a rime,I removethewaJJschatmost human beings keep between themselves and others, exposingmyself with aJJmyvulnerabilities and allmypain. Forme it isboth terrifyingandexhilaratingat the san1e time and bythe end, while I am completelynaked,I am also completelyfree."

PapaCJ hasperformedon a plane,on a train, on abus,on a boat, in apolice station, in the emergency room of a hospital while holdingthe head of agirl getting32stitches on it, and even at gu.npoiJ1t! Hebas toured sell-ourshowsacrossthe globe and lastyearwon the '.Asia'sBest Stand-upComedian'awardfrom Top 10Magazine.

So, howdid this Indian tea-planter'sson becomeone of India'smostsuccessful comedians?

"There are so many reasons whyI do stand up. For one, it isthemostamazinghigh ever. In years past,adventurerswent outiuto the unkuownin search of goldwithgreathopebutnot knowingwhether or not they would findit. As aprofessional comedian, l go out intothe unknown knowingthatI have to find and deliver comedy gold every 15 seconds! But byfar d1e best part of my job isnever havingto set an alarm cowake up in themorning. Ever."

He adds, "I love d1e honesty d1ac is involved incomedy.The interesting thing in comedyis the inward journeyit forcesme to take - what ismyge11ui11efeel about diisparticularissue?"

CJ likes to thinkof himself as an 'Ambassador of Happiness'. "I hadan 86-year-oldwoman come tome aftera showiu Kol.katta and say,'God blessyouson,1 haven't laughed so much in30years.' The other complimentI get frequently, whichI reallyappreciate, iswhen people tell me that l make them proud co be Indian. l personally consider mysdf to be in the happinessbusiness and not the comedybusiness. I getgenuinejoy out of seeingpeople laughing and

happy. Thar iswhyin addition to pure stand-up, I domotivational speaking,havefoundeda d1arity for underprivileged children and do freeshows in hospitals as wdL"

Another audiencememberonce called him a'blessingcollector'.

"Shesaid, 'You justgo around theworldbringinghappiness into people's lives andcollecting blessings.' That reallyiswhat I do it for. The laughter on d1e faces of people and the blessings I receive aremy return on investment."

And whatwould he advise peoplewhowanetogetin on the act?

''\Vhar areyouwaiting for? Get our there anddo it. Drop me a line if youwane,I'll geeyousome stage rime!"

ComedyZone Asia: Rohan Desai

Almough theMelbourne InternacionalComedyFestival is mainly avehicle fo.r headline stand-up and cabaretacts,the event is also an opportunity for up-and-coming localand internationalacts.

FellowIndian comedian Rohan Desaihas already made hismark at d1e2014edition of MICF.The 25-year-oldwon aguestspotafter winningtheRAWComedyIndia event in NewDelhi in 2013.

"GoingtoMelbournewas my firstinternationaltrip," Desai says. "Jcwas amazingtogo to tbe RAW Comedy Final.Toperform in a stadium of 2,000peoplewas just great!"

Desai grewup in Surat,Gujarat, fourhours awayfromthenearest comedyclub. He tried hisluck around different open micnights before bittingthestand-upscene wid1 a bm1g. Hesayshe's "still figuringouc thewhole comedy dung", but tal{eS his inspiration from comedians helooks up to. "Stewart Lee, Obviously,like many Indians,Louis CK, and JerrySeinfeld," Desaisays.''I also take inspiration frommovies. Don Hertzfeldc, from the US, makes diese short films and he has a really odd sensibility which l enjoy."

After appearing in Melbourne, Desai earned aplace on the

ComedyFestivalRoadshow

Indian tour. ''You'reperforming in all these differentplaces and I gotto travelwith the Australian comedians,to gain experienceand learned fromthem on the road," Desai says.

Desai believesthereis great enthusiasmforcomedyamong Indians and thattliesceneinIndia is slowlyexpanding, "It's avery excitingtime for comedy in India," hesays.''Therearepeoplewho talk more about the culture the urban youthcan relate to-Facebook, Bret1ki11gBad;thenthere arepeople who performHindi comedy;then there arepeoplewho have a more traditional stagestyle;then you havepeoplewho are experimental all the rime. It's growingso fast. The best thingis -youcan do whateveryoulike!There's an audienceforeverything, as longas youdo itwell."

At MICF, Desai willbe performingaspartof the 'ComedyZone Asia'program, feacuringtop up-and-coming comedians from across Asia and d1eir different comedystyles.

"If you're expectingjust a lot of Indian references it's not that," Desai says of bisperformance. "It'sveryuniversal.It'svery accessible, and hopefully funny. Ir's just me being a nervous guy."

Desai says hewould describe himself as "an oddguy"with "averystrru1gewayof enjoying comedy", He recentlyperformed at India's largestcomedyevent -the Weirdass Pajama Festival. "The bestpart is nor only performing,but seeinga lot of othercomedywhichopensyour mind todifferentpossibilities," Desai says.

Ond1e recent All India Bakchod controversy,Desai is frank."It'snor thecomedians' fault," he says. "People don't underscru1d the style of comedy. Icwas expected people would get offended,but not that cheywould takelegal action! Theproblem is India has outdated laws. It's just an easywayfor thesepeople to getpublicity and attention by taking(die AIB group) co court. \Xlbenyouintroducenewideas to a traditional culture,you'rebound co have suchissues."

India's comediansbareallaheadoftheirperformances attheMelbourneInternational ComedyFestival

RAWComedyNational Grand Final: RuchirAsh

DesaitellsIndianLinkhisRAW Comedy successor,Kolkata's RuchirAsh is".reallygood" and he looks forward to seeinghim perform inMelbourne.

Whenthe 18-year-old arrives nextweek,itwi.llbe his first time in Australia.Ash,who is travelling withbisdad, says he's "really excited" about comingDown Under.

When heentered the RAW Comedy Indiaevent hewas still eirperimentingwith hiscomedy as a university student. "TheKolkata finaJwas an unrealexperience," Ash says. "The response Igot from theaudiencewas beyond anythingI hadexpected.The thrill of performingisunreal!"

Ash says hisparents are supportive, bur "\,fy mum doesn't knowwhat comedyis; she hasn't seen me perform.Shedoesn't really understand or know about standup."

He reveals his biggestinAuences includingLouisCKandIndia's Rajneesh Kapoor. "I loveBill BurrandJohn Oliver because they usecomedyto tackleserious issues ratherthan just punch-line humour. Allforms of comedy are okay,but 1personallywouldnot wanttogo into'roast' comedy," Ash says, alludingto theAlB controversy.

J\sh reveals hehas already startedwocking on material for theRAWComedy Final. "I've tried toevolve. I don'tthink I'm goingto repeatmuch material from theheats. Youget too accustomedtoit,stop believing in yourownjokes,"hesays. "I'm justgoingtotrycobemyself and hopeitworks."

"I've seenthe audience on YouTubevideos,and it's a comedian's dream- just thinking about performingis exciting!"

Homicidal Pacifist: Sameena Zehra

Someonewhoknows a lot about performingisSameenaZebra. Afterworkingas a professional actor foralmost20years,Zebra

made the switchtocomedy. "All of my life inAuences mycomedy," Zebrasays, "No topicis off the table."

After beingborn inKashm.ir, Zebra moved to London as a baby. Afterherparentsdivorced when shewas about seven,she movedback to Kashmirwithher mother.

Zebra'scomedic influences range across different genres of comedy from Lenny Bruce to JoBrand andJosie Long.And thoughshe may be pe.rceived as more of a rarity - a successful female in a male-dominated industry-Zebra doesn't engage \'lriththe idea,vomen are,or shouldbe, treated differently in comedy.

"Throughcomedy Ihave met interesting, generouspeople," she says. "I'mvery confident and outgoing, so nothinghasever been said to my face,butI don't knowif I've missed outon shows becauseI'm awon1an."

"Women still getlesserwages, women are still fighting to be taken seriously acrossaJIfields.

I think it distracts from the comedyitself tofocuson that," she continues. "I don't think of myself as a'female, Asian comedian',1want tobe thought ofwith no qualification,just as a 'comedian'.

Zebrais conscious of participatingin 'Asian-only' gigs in the UK, sayingsheprefers to take partin interviews, shows and gigs that are about"crossingthe. divide".

"Ioftenwon't do 'Asianonly' gigs," shesays. "Bm l did oneshowfor\X1omen Against

FtmdamentaJism,which is a cause close to my heart, and thewomen in the audience said to me, 'We need tohear peoplelikeyou; yoms is avoicewewant to hear.' J\nd timebit home to mehowit canbe important foryoungerwomen and mentosee someonelikerne."

"I grewupin India, but I'm veryBritish andwestern in my thinking. I'm proud toconsider myself a feminist. Idon'tbelong to any stereotype,1want to talk about human beings;it's about engagingand having a conversation."

Zebra'sshowat lvfICF, 'Homicidal Pacifist',is a political and satiricalperformance about her "cull.inglist". ''I'ma pacifist," Zebra says, ''But I'm alsovery angry. The showis my attempt to putthosetwoconflictingelements together. It's tongue-in-cheek, dark humour."

In the show,Zehra outlines the individualswhoshouldbe 'culled' from the htm1anrace. "Ir's notgroupsof people,just the individual ones. Like peoplewho purspoonsin the fork section of a cutlery drawer -I hate that!"

She taJks aboutsex,the bmqa, Charue Hebdo. "Ir's very personal, frommy point ofview. And everythingI say has to be the truth. lfit'snor the truth, it doesn'twork.Myaim is to make people uncomfortablewiththe world and affect change."

Eat Praline, Die: Suren Jayemanne

Closer to home,Australian-born SurenJaymanne says hisSri

Lankan and Malaysian background has slow!)'beglln to influence his comedy and change theway he looks at theworld.

"Growingup I never really saw myself as South Asian,I wasjust another kid,"Jayemanne says. ''It didn't really stand out to me chat I wasdifferent.More recentlyI'venoticed achangein society, ashift to an 'us and them' mentality.SlowlyI've starred to incorporate that into my comedy. Originally mycomedywas shorter jokes not based on persouaJ experiences, things observedor interpreting things differently. As I'veprogressed, I'm talking more personally,it's more about tl1eway I see theworld."

"If you kind of come from adifferentbackground to the standardwhiteAngloSaxon,you don'twanttorelyon stereotypes forcomedy,"Jayer11aru1esays. "But now I have more experience,I feel like I can do icwith meaning."

Jayemanne admits he still works parttime as an accountatlt tl10ugh his passion is comedy. "I think of my accountingcareer kind of like the Carwash or Los Polios in BreakingBad," he says. "It's like tl1e front or legit partof my business."

Originally influenced by Americancomedians like. Mitch Hedberg,Steven Wrightand DemetriMartin,Jayemannesays afterperforming in Australia and watching andlearningfrom others, "i\,fy inAuences have becometl10se on the localscene. I'ma real fan of the Fear of aBrownPlanetguys(Aamer Rahman and Nazeem Hussain) and I'm starting to incorporate more of thatinto my comedy."

ln 2014, Jayemannewas handpicked for MICF'sprestigious

'Comedy Zone', a showcase of Australia's best emerging comedians. This ye.athe's malcing hisFestivaJdebut, fresh froma sold-outrun at theSydney Fringe.

"'Eat PraJine,Die' is areference to the faceI'vegrown upwith food aJlergies,"Jayemanne says. (As achild hewas aJlergic toeggs, sesame,nutsand shellfish.) ''The show is a collection of stories about thetwo things I feel have influenced andshapedwho I am today- growing upwitl1 food allergies and growingupwitl1 an ethnicbackground.Thecat.'llysc was going co tl1ebig 10yearhigh school reunion. It prompted me. co reflect on where. I'mati.n life, what it is time's led me to this point."

"Over past fewyearsI've outgrown a few of the allergies," Jaymanne says. "I had prawns for the first ti.mein December.My mum'ssignature dish is samba! prawns so chatwasexciting."

Jayrnannesays as achild he used to joke around as a kind of defencemechanismtobeing 'different'. "Thinkingback,food alle.rgiesmadememore unique than mycultural background," Jaymanne says. "Now it seems society notices chat more."

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival and its RoadshowreguladytoursSouth EastAsia and India, and searches forlocal comics inAustralia. He.re's hopingthey continueto tmcovernewcomedytalentso the Indians can take on Melbourne more often - notjuston the cricket pitch!

KiraSpucys-Tahar,Gaurav Masand,RajniAnandLuthra

Clockwise from top: RuchirAsh;Rohan Desai; SameenaZehra;SurenJaymanne

Nat.raj ProductionsAustralia Presents

City

Date/Time ...

Venue � Category ...

Adult ...

Sr.Citizens6S+& Kids3-12yrs(Kids below3freewithno seats) ...

Two generations - so near yet so far apart Wllb HindiMusicalTheatricalDrnmr1

Rohini Hattangadi

("Kas1u1i)a"ofOscarWinningMovieGANDIu,WinnerurOrlUsh.c\<.<1dcm) orfilm&Tcl1.,'Visio111\r1> (BAYI)\)A,>ard,FllmfaroandNaUonalFilmA"a.rds)

first limo in Australia, performing live on stagc Wiittena.ndDirectedOy Prashant Tupe DialoguesandStagePlayOyDr.Sanjay Patole

Perth Melbourne Sydney Brisbane

RobertBlackwoodHall, UNSW(UniversityofNSW) SleemanSportsComplex, TheRegalTheatre,474 Hay Building2,Monash TheScienceTheatre(F13), "ChandlerTheatre",corner Street,Subiaco,WA6008 University,Clayton,

GauriMainiwentfrom highflyingHRexecutivetoorganicsoapmaker

Th.is isoneof themost interestingcareer profiles [hatI have come across amongtbe Indian community in Australia. Afterdecadesof service in the HR industry working wicl1 someof [he biggest corporate giants, Gauri Mainigave itall up to become asoap maker.

Today,she is theownerof asmallbusinessvenmrecal.led A WickedScrub and creates completelynarnral and organic soap bars, cleansersandother tream1ents for the skinand hair.

"A WickedScrub is abonr treatingyourself wickedly well," Main.i says. ''It isnot just about beauty; it is a celebration of cl1e beauty cl1at in abundantin us and in nan1re."

Gauri Main.i grew up in Gujarat, but wicl1 her dadbeing in cl1e police force, the farn.ily shifted towns frequently. Herparents,like otl1er Indian parents,encouraged her in academicsand pushed her co be independent.Though mey wanted her to take upa career intheservices, Gauri's heart was set on a businessdegree. She graduated with anMBA degree

Ifrom XLRI,oneof India's premier business schools.

Marriageand children followed and memoveto Australia happened in 2000. Her boss at Larsen &Toubro calledher "mad"toleave hercareer in India behind.

"Hegavemea book which I haveeven today -Hopeforthe F/0111ers,"Main.i says. "I clunk the caterpillar who is constantly looking formore is me. Until he realises that he needs to hang upside downandwait till his metamorphosis imoa butterAy, hecannotfly.Trouble is,I don't know if I amAyi.ngyet!"

After an initially slow transition period,Mai11i'scorporatecareer rookoff in Australia. But,in spite of havingit all, therestlessness continued. She wantedto be in the not-for-profit sector,butwas considered'toocorporate'by many. So, one day,shequit. and hasn't looked back since.

Beingacrave! buff, Mainihas always hada love and fascination of namralsoaps.Wim noprior experienceand completely selftaughc, shemade her firstbatchof oatmeal soaps. It wasloveatfirst sight, touch andsmell.

Thenshebeganexperimenting withomernatural ingredients creating soaps from natural salts, goat'snlilk,aloe veraand so began the journey of A Wicked Scrub.

"I th.ink itwas initially just mind blowingcoseehowI was

so gullibleconsuming exorbitantly priced cleansers, creamsand treatmentsformy skin and hair without payingany attention cowhat is in it," Maini explains.

"The main inspiration behind A WickedScrub is that weallneeda licclebit of push topamper ourselves, toslow down and enjoyeachother. I hope cl1rough my products peoplefeel liked1ey cando mat."

Mai11i iscompletely self-caught when it comes to theprocess of making soaps and oilier beauty products. Bueshe isnot willing to compromise on qual.icy and works in closeassociationwith local artisansandproducers roensure highquali.tyand pure ingredients for herproducts.

''I don't want co use preservativesor emulsifiers.Just plain narnral ingredient.s,as close to the sourceor farmas possible."

Itis acommonfact mat allergies,especially skin associated onesl.ike eczema, are extremely common in Australia. Oauneal or goat's milk soap is recommended for peoplewho suffer from these conditions as it hydratesand moisntrisesthe skil1 in anatural manner, wimour tl1e presenceof any irritatingchemicals.Though mis isnot acu.re for the problem, using natural productslikethese can greatly help to reducethe

intensity of mesymptoms andgetrelief.

Apart from local producers, l\fainialso worksin close association with producers fromaround theglobe co ensure that she uses only the best andtop quality ingredients for herproducts. While d1ecold pressed neemoil comes froma village in Kutch,theshea butter isfromKwabena. Hergifthampersandtrays comefromAnnof A.n Assorted Affair, while mebody brushes are from Import Ants whoworksin closeassociation with women in SriLanka.

One of the best-selling products is the bodyscrub, which isan indulgent,bespoke,natural andorganic blendof beeswax, essential oils, saltsor sugar. l\,faini also dabbles witl1 cleansingand essential oils; her favourites includepurerosegeranium, rosewooda.nd jasmine wllich can be found in many of her products.

A Wicked Scrub runsas an online store. Gauri Mainidoes not waneto scale up for profit's sake as sheprefers to retain her personaltouch and create indulgent products for allat an affordable price.

nnatestren

InstinctiveartistPinkyBhattina tributetowomanhood

inkyBhatt, a Limca Bookof Records holder for her 130-foot paintingon women's empowerment titledStreeShakti, is a self-taught artist. Shedraws inspiracion from her surroundings, includingboth theUiban and ruralspaces of Sydney(Australia) and Ahmedabad (India) between which she divides her time. She paint.,; thefirst Australianswitl1 as muchelan and energy as shedoes thetribalwomen of Kutch.

Asa child,Bhaccwouldgaze atlongweaves of Kalamkari paintingsportraying scenes from the Ramayana and the N[al1abharata Ln hues of red, yellow,olive, blackandivory at her homecown in Khanpur, Ahmedabad. It is onlynatural that hercompositions reflect thesecolours. However, Bhatt refuses to restrictherpalette or style and has introducedbluesand whites,whichdepictthebmhmand (universe) and shimmerysouls respectively.

HerlacestSydneyexhibition at theTap Galleryin Darlinghurst, is entitledStm Shakti, again.

Withthcitdotted textures and patterned backdrops,Bhatt's works arereminiscent of Indian Madhubani andGondpaintings.

ForBhatt, artis norjust limited tothecanvas.She finds art everywhere aroundher,"In a salad bowl,cushions and curtains, and in namre".These are her real tutors and theyurge herto seek inspiration from within herself andpaint freelywithoutbeing overtlyconscious. Ir is perhaps because of this sincerity thac her art finds collectors fromEurope andAustraliato herhometownin Gujarat, India.

Bhatt'swomen aredetermined anddriven,merrilygoingabout theirdailychores.

''Thar is tl1eir trueshakii- their stoicism and colerancein the face of adversities,"she reiterates.

Thepenchant fordetailwith respectcoclothing,ornaments and tl1e settingprovide a context to

hercanvasses, which make them easy to relate co. She spendshours in libraries to research herwomen, and wants herpaintings co reach out toaUage groups. That said, I hopeshepaint.� women of all formsand frames in future,nor

restrictingherself to slender and lissomemuses as most of her canvasses exhibit.

I ask heraboutwhatisnexton thecards and she says dreamily, "To devote myself completely to art".

"Andwhatwill yourinspiration

be?"I ask.

"I findmymuses everywhere," Bhattreplies.She turns her attention toward the gaHery owner andwavesa handin her ilitection, "In Leslie, for instance!" "It couldbeyoutoo,youknow" shequips at me.

RakaSarkhel

u 1n can ance...

Theinaugural'Short+ SweetBollywood'dancefestivalhelpsunearthnewtalents

There was kathak, hiphop, hhangraand classic Boliywood.

Thedancers were solo,duets and groups, youngsters and adults.

They strutted their stuff in frontof anaudience and apanel of judges, competingtowin awardsin a numberof categories.

This was'BollywoodShort + Sweet', a new addition to the Shorr+ Sweetmovementthatis devotedro theten-minutetheatre format.

Festival Director Aishveryaa Nidhi (picntred),anactor, direcror andplaywright whoha.spresented at Short + Sweet herself on multiple occasions, helped conceive dieBollywoodevent that debutedthisyear.

Itmayhavebeenthenewest versionof the world's biggest 'little' festival, but in terms of thepresentationsthemselves, perhaps there was nothing d1at wasshortandsweet:thefestival was a robust attempt to showcase thevariety and spice of all diings Bollywood.

Eachten minute routine enthralled andentertained withits foot stompingbeats and variety of dance styles.

Elements of the cricket mania thengrippingtl1e community crept in hereas well:Monsuun Dance, in aninventiveopening style,depicted theJndian cricket team, then waved die Indian Aag atthe end of their amazing medleycalled Ho1vzatBol!J11Jood. They won die Most Innovative Style award.

JohnBosco infusedpersonal style tohisKyonkit11111hiho and hadthe audience swaying with his digitisedmoves.Bosco also tickled the audience with his clever oneliners and call outs for claps to accompanyhini. He tookhome theBestNewTalent award.

The Boliywoodl'vfayuris were arguably the most chilled out performers in the contest. Well into theirfifties, they knew they couldn'tcompete with the tbttmkas of ilieir competitors, so they

concentrated their efforts in other department.5, such ascostwnes. Their get-up, a showcase of diedifferent sari styles fromacross thenation, was a finetribute coIndian womanhood."Wle didnot evenexpect tobe apart of the finals,"declared DeepaBhatnagar, an enthusiastic'Bollywood 1110)1//rl, adding,"Wedid it all for fon!"

A little older than theMayuris,Dave and Kanchan Passiwere adorable with their golden oldieJo11Jadakiya 11Jonibbanapadega.

And what dance competitionwould ever be complete withoutBaby Dollespeciallywhen it's coupled with bhrmgrabeats. Rajkirna and Nishan, the siblingduo transformed theatmosphere with their vigorous Punjabi routine.

ShabnamTavakolfromthe SwastikInstitute of Dance, who tookhome the award for best female dancer, mesmerised with her stupendousl\Jeredholnas11n. Herbrightred lehenga, incredible expressions and near-perfect kathakmoveskept the audience spellbound.SwastikDance School also ended the eveningwith a vibrant grouproutineon Rridha 11achegi. Simplymarvellous!

Rochelle, oneof the outstandingdancersfromdie group, mentionedthat she bad no idea what thelyrics meant; alJ she did was feel the music.

Other Swastikdancers were also successfulonthe night:Smririe Bhardwaj wasdeclaredBest New Talent andAkashAroraandAjesh

Shanna,Best Male Dancers. The best choreographer award went to S\vastik's SumatiLekhi.

Judges Sunjay Sudhir (Consul General of India), Anupam Sharma (producerdirecror)and RajSuri (entrepreneur)seemed roconcur ontheiroverall choice of Swastik, whichscooped the pool of majorprizes,including Best Overall Production and thePeople'sChoice (audience vote) awards. Harclly surprising, given the anioumof effort and

passion that went imoSwastik's presentations:they practised daily for two hours, for some three months,prior to the event.

Earlier in the three-day event, it was the ymmger dancers whocompeted in a contest entitled Fast +Fresh.The line-up of these performers was full of energy and Aair. ShiamakShowKids,the littledancers from die Shiamak Dawar Dance School,ended up endearingto borh diejudges and the audience withtheir exhilaratingmoves andexcelJent coordination.ThePrabhati Banerjee group, runners-up, impressedas well.

Super-cutefive-year-oldRaina Jain won many a fanat theevent, asher parents beamedwithjoy at her performance. ]\,[um RubiJain coldlndirmlink,"Itgives us so much satisfactionandjoy to see ourlittle wonder dancingonthis platform."

It wasinterestingto note the

mainstream venue, FuseboxTheatre atTheFactory, Marrickville,rather tl1an aregular community hot spot.

Quitepleasedwith thismaiden effort, Aishveryaa has promised to return "bigger and better" next year.

Thisisnot the firstlndian link at Short + Sweet, a movement foundedbyMarkCleary in Sydney in2002.Presentations at the festival have included entries from Sydney's Indian community ever sinceitsinception,and recently, the movement made in.roads into India as well.

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killedwhileoutfor awalk in Elk Grove,California, apartof Bern's constituency,in a suspected hate crime that isstillunsolved.

"Since theSeptember 11th attacks,toomanyAmericans, especiaUy Sikh, Hindu and ArabAmericans,have beenwrongfully subjected to harecrimes and discrimination,includingthe shootingof t\VOSikhAmericansin myowncity,"Berasaid.

"Religious tolerance is a fundamentalvalueof ournation andwemustdoeverythingwecan topreventthese crimes motivated by bias againsta victim's religious beliefs,"hesaid.

"Untilno,v,Anti-Sikh hate crimeswerenotrecognizedbythe FBI," said RajdeepSingh, Director of Law andPolicyattl1e Sikh Coalition.

"Yearafter year,Sikh Americans were beingtargeted forharassment andviolencebecauseof their distinctidentity.

"Fortl1e firsttime,theFBI nowofficially acknowledges that Sikhs are targetedforbeingSikhs. While refinements areneeded to the agency'strackingsystemand training standards,wearemaking progress," hesaid.

'Diamond' made of 10,000 blood slides a hit in Kochi fair

A hugesparkling'diamond' made of 10,000discardedbloodslides strungtogetherby stainlesssteel wire andneatly stacked ina bricklike manner, hasbeen thecynosure of alleyes attheKocbiMuziris Biennale.

Thecreator,PrashantPandey, hastermed the installation A,1ha, aSanskritword thathastwo meanings: it refersboth to the pursuitof materialwealtl1, as weU as to thequest formeaning Explainingthethemeof his work,Pandey saidArtht✓recalls and recounts tl1ecountless sacrificesmade duringsuccessive colonisationsand thequest for land, domination,wealth and power.

Ithints at theway inwhid1 colonialism intertwinedreligion witheconomics.

It also raises questions about the price of progressandthe relationshipbetweenworldly possessions and the purpose of life. (Adiamondisatmiversal symbolof wealth,powerand vanity.)

"As I hailfroma family of marblesculptorsinJaipur,I used toplaywithwastemarblechips after thescnlpnireswerechiselled. Thisis howmy fascination for discarded materialswasborn,"said tl1e30-year-oldPandey.

"My desire hasalwaysbeento workon the changingideologies of hrnnanemotions.I feelit isn_1y responsibility asan artist to look at byproductsof human activiryand to regeneratethatwastein orderto createsomething new," hesaid. TheartistcoUecteddiscarded bloodslides from unknown people,mostlyfromRajasthan,

andindudes someof his own slides too.

"Myinterest lies inworking withmemories andreminiscences of thepast. Iwantedtousethis torepresentthehistoryof this beautiful sitewhichiswhyI used wastebloodslides. Bloodsignifies bothlife anddeath,glory and sacrifices in the historyof Kocbi. A,thaisan effortat recollectingall memories toged1er inoneform," he said.

JicishKallat,curatorof theKochi MuzirisBiennale,said that in stark contrasttohis familytraditionof chippingawayatstone to create staniesof gods andgoddesses, Pandeyworkswith tl1atwhichis discardedandoftenostensibly "impure".

Indian migrant's story wins Folio literary prize Indian-AmericanwriterAkhil Sharma haswontl1esecondannual Folioprizeforfiction fora novel which marts anemigrant family's heart-wrenching searchforme 'American dream'.

Sharmawonmeprize forhis secondnovel,H:1111ify Life, an amobiographicalwork,whichtells thestoryof ayoungboy,Ajay, and bis familywho emigrate from DeUii totewYork in searchof a betterliJe.

AU is mrnedupside downwhen hisolderbrotherbas a dreadful swim.mingpoolaccidentand needs rotmd-the-dock care frommenon.

\'(/illiamFiennes,whochaired tbe panelof judges,praisedtl1eno,7e1, currentlyabestseUerintheUS, as"lucid,compassionate,quietly funny".

"fiJFllify[4eisamasterful nO\Telof distilledcomplexity: abomcatastrophe and survival; attadlment and independence;the

tension betweenselfishnessand responsibility.

"Weloveditsdeceptive simplicityandrarewarmth This is awork of arc thatexpandswitb eachre-readingand a noveltl1at willendure," hesaid.

Itwaschosen from ashortlistof eightbooks,whichindudedwhat wasthebookmakers' favouritefor theprize,Ali Smith'snovelHotvTo BeBoth.

Sharmasaidafterwinningtl1e 40,000-pow1d(nearly $60,000) prizethatwritingthenovel,which cook 13 years tocomplete,was a frustratinganddifficultchallenge, often "likechewingstones",witl1 ar01-mdninewasted yearswhen itdidnotgowell, accordingto a G11ardia11report.

''I'm gladthebookexists,I just wishI hadn't been tl1e guywho wrote it," he said. Sharma, a formerinvestment banker, saidbewasprofessionally happy thatpeoplewerereadingthe storyof caregivers, buc admitted chathethoughtabomgivingup. However, hestuckwitl1it.

''I couldn't bear theideaof havingspentallthoseyearsand tl1ennotlunggoodhavingcome Outof it.

''Intheend,I feel thebookitself isgood, ir doescertain thingsthat are artisticaUyimpressive.SoI feel goodaboutthat."

Partsof tl1ewritingprocesswere fun,be said, butmuchof itwas not. "I'm 43. I startedwritingthis when 1was30. So I spentmy 30s writingthis thing I really feellike I shatteredmy youth."

Theprize, sponsored bythe FolioSociery,wascreatedlastyear withd1eaimof celebratingthe year'sbestEnglish-languageworks of fiction, regardless of form, genre andgeography.

ThefirstwinnerwasAmerican shortstorywriterGeorgeSaunders forTenthofDecef!lher.

FBI to trackhate crimes against Sikhs, Hindus, Arabs

SixUSlawmakers alongwith leading advocacy groups have welcomedthe inclusion of Sikh, Hindu, andArab American communitiesin theDepartmentof Jusrice's harecrimes tracking effort.

Tlus is the finalstepinthelongfougbteffort to encourage the US federalgovernmentto finally begin tracking andquantifying hatecrimesagainsttheseat-risk communities.

TheFederalBureauof Investigation (FBI)recently updateditshatecrimesdatabase and FBI trainingmanual in order tostaretrackinghate crimescommitted against tl1ese groups- mat system isnowfully operational.

AmiBera, the lonelndianAmericanmemberof tl1eUS Houseof Representatives,along witl1feUow Housemembers

JoeCrowley,Bill PascreU, MikeHonda,GraceMengand JohnGaramendiattendedd1e event.Theselawmakersled a Congressionalefforttoencourage tl1eDepartmentofJustice and FBI todocumenthate crimes against Sikh,Hindu, and Arab Americans.

Theyspearheadednumerous letterstotl1e DOJ andFBI and introduced aCongressional resolution inthewakeof the tragic August2012 massacre inOak Creek,Wisconsin, andsubmitting testimonyurgingactionon hate CDl11e5.

In 2011, t\vo elderlySikh Americans, GurmejAtwaland SurinderSingh,wereshotand

''Thefederaltrackingof antiHindu,anti-Sikh,and anti-Arab hatecrin1esis animportant,if long-overdue,development. Even asourcommunity grows, Hindu Americansremainuni9uely vulnerabletoharassment, bullying, andviolence,"said Harsh Voruganti, AssociateDirectorof Public Policy, Hindu American Foundation.

The updated FBImanual "marks asteptowardsensuring accurate reportingof hatecrimes committed againstSikhs,an importantstepthatwill ultimately aid d1eSikhcommtmiryaswe continueto address d1eroot5of anti-Sikhbias,"saidJasjitSingh, executivedirectorof theSikh AmericanLegalDefense and Education Fund (SALDEF).

Updateof FBI hatecrimes trainingmanual co include Arab, Hindu, andSikh categories "ismoreimportant nowthan everwid1the recent spike in hateviolencetargetingouc commwuties," said Lakshmi Sridaran,Dii-ectorof Policyand Advocacy,South Asian Americans StandingTogetlm(SAALT)

"Onrworkaheadwillbeto ensureourcommunities are informedof thesecriticalupdates andareablero build trustwithlaw enJorcement sothathate crimes targetingSouth Asians,Muslims, Sikhs,Hindus,J\,(jdd.JeEasterners, andArabsare appropriately documented andprosecuted;' she said.

Cancer treatment breakthroughs byIndian-American researchers

Queen'sUniversity cancer researcher MadhuriKocihas discovered abiomarker thatwill help leadto betterpredictionsof thesuccessof chemotherapy in ovariancancer patients.

Biomarkers areanindicatorof a biologicalstateorcondition,and

Artha:IndianartistPrashantPandey'ssculpturemadeofdiscardedbloodslidesattheKochiBiennale

thediscoverycouldlead tobetter treaanent optionsinthefight againstovariancancer,accordingco apressreleasefromtheuniversity.

"Recent successesinharnessing theimmunesystem tocombat cancer are evidence for the significantroles of acancer patient'simmune responses in lightingcancer,"explainsIndian AmericanprofessorDr.Koci.

'1vfanyof these successesare based onboostinganti-cancer immunityviadifferenttherapies. Suchtherapieswouldproveto be most effectivewhencoupled withmarkerspredictingapatient's evenmalresponse toaspecific therapy".

DrKori's study,conducted on over200 ovariancancerpatients, utilised acombination of cuttingedgedetectiontechnologies for identifyingsuchmarkers.

Amajorimpactof thisdiscovery isthatthesenovelmarkers, when used at the tin1eof treatment initiationin the specific type of ovariancancerpatient,willhelp oncologistsmakedecisions on additionaltream1entneeded in thesepatients,thusincreasingtheir potential forsurvival.

Ovarian cancer .leads co apprnximatel)r152,000deaths among women worldwide each year,makingitaleading cause of gynaecological cancer related deaths inwomen.

Meanwhile,anIndian-origin researcherattheStanford Universityin theUShasfounda method thatcancausedangerous leukemiacells to matureinto harmless immune cells knownas macrophages.

Assistantprofessor of medicine RaviMajetimade the key observationafter collecting leukemiacellsfromapatient and tryingto keep the celJs alive in a CL1lmreplate.

'Wewere throwing everything atchemto helpchem survive,"said Maje.tiinapaper chatappeared inthejournalProceedings of the ationalAcademyof Sciences.

B-ceU leukemiacellsare inmany ways progenitor celJsthatare forced costay in animmaturestate.

Duringthestudy,:tvfajetiand post-doctoral scholar Scott McClellanfoundthatsomeof the cancer cellsin culture were changingshape andsizeintowhat lookedlikemacrophages.

Theteamconfirmedthat methodsshowntohavealtered the fate of the mouse progenitor cells yearsago couldbeusedto transform thesebuman cancer cells intomacrophages which can engulf anddigestcancercells and pathogens.

B-ceU acute lymphoblastic leukemiawithamutationcalled thePhiladelphiachromosomeisa particularlyaggressivecancerwith pooroutcomes.

"Sofindingpotentialtreannents is particularly exciting,"Majeti added.

Majetiandhiscolleagues have some reasonto hope that when the cancercells becomemacrophages theywillnot onlybe neutralised butmayactualJyassistinfighting the cancer.

"Becausethemacrophagecells

came fromthe cancer ceUs,they willah-eadycarrywiththemthe chemical signalsthatwillidentify the cancer cells,makingan immuneattackagainst the cancer morelikely,"l\fajetiexplained.

Theresearchers'nextsteps would be coseeif theycan find a drug chat willprompt thesame reactionandthatcould serveas thebasisfora therapy forthe leukemia

Online hiring firm Talview wins British contest

Onlinehiringstart-upTalview has won the GreatTech Rocketships contestin Britain to explore businesslandscape of Europe. TbeUS-based start-up, promoted and run by Rls, isan automated interview platform to assist organisations screen and hire techies faster.

Set upinMay2012as Interview ]\faster, thecompany'sirmovative videoplatform is based onthe concept of asynchronous ,1ideo interviews.

Recruiters the worldoveruse

Talview's tool co hire talent for Fortune 500 inIT, engineering, pharmaandBFSI (banking, financialservices andinsurance).

Cognizant, ABB,\Vockhardt, Teamlease Cipla, ABC Consultants,andJSWacesome of Talview'sclientsamongocher global firms.

It is funded byMayfield,a leadingSiliconValJeyVennire Capital fund.

Talviewwas one of fivestartupsto win the contest organised recently by the UKTrade & Investment inpartnership with TechHubandiSpirir.Thefour other winningstartups in the contestareCongruent Solutions, FRILP.com,ToneTagand Agrinrn Infotech.

TheBritishgovernment also offered Talview free work space in the start-up facility (fhe Landing), which isa partof themediacity inManchester. Tbe companyplans to make Britainheadquartersof planned European operations.

Talview also bagged a oneyear membership inTechHub, providing it access to icscoworking centres inBoston, LondonandBengaluru.

Kipling's birthplace to become tourist attraction

Theheritagebtmgalowinsouth MumbaiwhereamhorandNobel laureate Rudyard Kipling was born willbe converted incoa tourist attractionbytheMaharashtra government.

The bungalowis situatedinside theshadycampusof SirJJ School of Arc,closecotheUNESCO \Vorld Heritagemonument, CbhatrapatiShivajiTerminus and otherheritagebuildings like Crawford.Market and theMwnbai Police Conunissionerate.

State EducationandCultural Affairsl\finisterVinodTawde hadproposed chis week chatthe government wouldensme the bungalowemergesasan important couristhotspotandpeople getthe

opportunity to appreciate it.

Allthe artefactsin the house would bepreserved anddisplayed withfundingfrom the culmre department whichwould also repair,restoreandmaintainthe woodandsconestructure,he added.

OncardsisaKiplingmuseum,a library,literaryand culmcalevents co attractdomestic and foreign touriststo the birthplace of the amhorof classics like TheJungle Bookand Kivi, and manypoems like if. andMandal'!J'· He was conferred with theNobelPrize forLlreramrein 1907- the fuse Englishwriter sohonoured.

The site of thebird1 of Kipling, born on December30, 1865 co Englishartsteacher, illustratorand curatorJohnLockwood Kipling andAliceKipling,wasactually another structureadjacentcothe existingbungalow,whichhasbeen

knownas'KiplingBungalow' since over acenmry now.

The bw1galowcan1e up inside the campus of dieSirJJ.School of Artwhich,vasfounded in 1857after ahandsomedonation of Rs.100,000by Mwnbai businessman and philanthropistSir Jamsecjee Jeejeebho)'-

The schoolwas taken over by the government in 1866 and Kipling's father,appointed its first dean,lived in the bungalowonthe campus.

The original btmgalow where Rudyardwasbornwaslocated barely a few metres fromthe e,'(isting'KiplingHouse' was demolishedand rebuiltandagain crumbledaway,while the 'Kipling House' which came upa.round 1882 underwent arestoration in phases from2002-2008, besides an earlier restoration several decades ago.

Later, it became the Dea.n's Bungalowwhere subsequent heads of theprestigious School lived till around 2002, after whichit remained lockedandvacantand soonbecamecliJapidated.

However, there isametalplaque with thelegendengraved ''Rudyard Kipling,son of Lockwood Kipling, fusePrincipal of SirJ.J. School of Arc, wasbornhere on30.12.1865", anda bust of theauthorpointsat hishistoricand literarylinkswith thecampus.

Heleft for Englandafter spendingliveyears of his childhood inMumbai,and later rentrnedtoLahoreattheage of 16,and subsequently,asaNobel laureate revisitedhisbirthplace in 1930.

Hepassed awayin aLondon hospitalinJanuary 1936attheage of 70.

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An open letterto Karl Stefanovic

Pleasedonotoffer'humour'asan excuse

I

BY SANAM SHARMA

Dear Karl, The apologyyou offeredon air recently in response toyouruneducated tidicule of the'Indian community' ahead of the IndiavAustraliaCricketWorld Cup semi-final, is even more insultingthan your otiginal comments. Anapologyhas to be heart-felt,genuine,andLtn-conditional. Andfrankly,yours issimplyunacceptable.

\Vhat you offeredwasa mere justification. Tousemore'Australian' termsforyour benefit,you just tickeda box, mate (perhaps under duress fromyouremployer).

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Wehelpyouachievea betterlife and pursueyourdreams

Youwant tl1e Indian communityto acceptyour "uglymtecings" as mere banter comtesyyour "wayward,misguided sense of humour"?Well, there is another term thatbestdescribesa

If we everlosework or faced a redundancy,wewentaroundlooking for otl1erwork.Ai1ywork.Perhapsa fewextra shiftsata 7-11.Wenot

aculture of "entitlements" bestowedupon you. wayward,misguidedsense of humour- insanity. And you can only be cmed of insanityif youseek help. Andforyoursake I hope youare on to it.

Asyou'veprobably guessedbyoow, l affiliate myself to theAustralian Indian community. I am sure thatbynowyou would have been duly educated about the various achievements of the Indian communitywithin Australia. SoI will not delve into that.1 am going toendeavour to educate youa bit more on beinga migrant.

line up in Centrelink queues. We takepridein earningan honestday's living. And workingfor it. Wecakeptidein tl1e fact chatwecontributeback co thenationthataccepted uswith open arms and offeredwonderfulnew opportunities.

I, andquiteanumber of my friends within tl1is lndiaa community,arrived

However, our begimungs were pretty humble.And yes, for me and most of my fel1owmigrantfriends, it involved doingodd jobs to get starredin a new land. \Y/edrovetaxis. Some of usworkedingas stations (7-11s included) Otherscleaned dishes, labouredin factories, drove trucks, couriervans, and so on.

Butwe allworked.

Andworkeddamn hard. Andalwayswitha smile. No jobwasbigor small.

Everythingwas an opportunity. And today when we look back at those dayswecall them "character building"-a term not easy to affiliate with easilywhen you growup in

''societalstereotypes anddistinctions and not co promote them or sellthem as being 'fum1y'.Pleasedo not offer humour, banter, or anyother'casual' occurrenceasan excuse. The hurtandinsult

Andyes,wecan takea joke.And banter aswell. But there isalways afine linewith thesed1ings. It'sok tonudge tl1acfine line occasionally.Bur, in your case,you breached that line not onlywith your comments but alsoyour apology.You sit in thatstudiowitha responsibilitytoqueU inAustraliaas rnigrants. Aslawful, skilled migrants.Weowemost of whatwe have todayto tl1iswonderfulcountrycalled Australia.And let me tel1 you,wenever take anyof it forgranted.

mustbe judged from the perception of theperson or communityfacingthat 'fLmnybanter'.The 'idiot' dishing it out is not the benchmark.

If youfeel thisletter is a bit of an over-reaction, then good foryou, because your remarks mademe feel livid. I tl1ought of not reactingcoyour slurs but you knowanotl1ergood thingthatlivinginAustralia has taught me-onemust standupand speak for things that one feels are not right.

Soir would have been pretty"unAustralian" of me tonotvoicemyconcerns. Regards, Sanam

Frankly,your apologyissimply unacceptable Whatyouoffered wasamere justification You justtickedabox, mate,perhaps underduressfrom youremployer

Ifyoufeelthisletter isabitofanoverreaction,thengood foryou,because yourremarksmade mefeellivid

Schoolsmusthelp thegrowthofresilienceandhumility, notjustinstudentsbutalsoin teachersandparents

0ne of the besr lessons students can learn at schoolis to understand the issue and nature of entitlement.Thereare of coursevery basic entitlements for students thatshould characterise every classroom: respect from theteacher,safetyfrombullying, a stimulatingenvironment,and a sense of purpose, validation and order. These aspectsof entitlement areenrirelyappropriate, though sometimes absent. A teachercanrespecttheseaspecrs of entitlementbypreparingfor lessons,becomingan expert on their subject matter,developing ongoingskills inpedagogy,and through learning to believe in thestudentstheyreach.Most classroomscelebrate th.is formof entitlement asanextensionof tl1e humanright to an education.

However,thereare aspects to entitlement as practiced in schoolsthatcan create arrogance, reduceresilience,encourage selfishness and engender a false sense of security.These aspects of entitlement areevidenced in the approach some teachers can have to tl1e classroom and meir students, and that some parents can have witl1 respect to schools.

Negative aspects of entitlement can be seenwhen lazy teachers 'outsource' learningto students. This cantake the form of endless lessons based aroundthe'read and summarise' approach. Negative entitlement can also be seenwhen a reacherhas asense of ownership overa particularclassroom space even though another reacher may need tl1e space. This sense of entitlement is particularly selfish when theroom in question is needed for a student whocannot climbthestairs due to recent surger)'- but is not givenup.

Entitlement can come across

work and whoare only available outside of classfor veryrestricted times.

namre of work and the nature of a 'professional' person.

in a subtlemanner.Forexample, teachers whohavea practiceof failing coclean a whiteboard in a roomthey have just used, or who fail coensure a classroom isleft tidy, appear to beparticularly selfcenrred and lacking in a\vareness of otl1ers. Here the sense of entitlementextends co a sense of space. Moreover, there are teachers who will notreplyto emails, take weeksto mark smdent

Noclong ago l was on a lunch break at an interstate conference whenI wasmarking work sent bya smdent via email during theholidays. A senioreducator chidedme and said that I was setting avery poor example. She added that teacherswho ran extra classes in the holidays for students were trndermining theprofession becauseteachers deserved holidays. Thenextday a majornewspaper carried a story celebratingateacherwho was runningholiday classes at school for herYear 12 students, prior co majorexams. I showed tl1e article to the critic who shook herhead and said, "That teacher is placing herself indanger for being called a paedophile."Sadly,this critic was ina senior position within an educational institution.

Theselfish sense of entitlement asrecountedhere andpracticed by some teachersprovidesa negative role-modelfor students about the

Parentssometimes can also do mings, or bringan attitude thatbrings outtheworst, from a skewedsense of entitlement. Here I amdistinguishingbetween all responsiblepiuentswantingwhat is bestfor theirchild andmore broadly for aU children,whilst understandingthe limitations of resources,time,and energ)'.

From tl1e perspective of parents, the worseaspects of entitlementareevidenced by a sense mat their cluld must be in a particttlar team,competition or class. le can also be seen when a parentcannot bear theirchild beingdropped from an extension classorextracurricttlaractivicy, even thoughthe child doesnot meritbeingthere and anomer child is moredeserving.

egativeentitlementcan also taketl1eformof unreasonable expectations. lt can be seen when a parentdouble parks in front of cheschool,placing me cluldren of otherfamilies in danger. It

can also comewhen there is a demand for attention butno commensurate understanding when limitedresourcescannot fulfill everydemand immediately. A misplaced sense of entitlementis alsoevidentin tl1e atcicude of some smdents. This can be seen when they seem unableto adapt tocircumstances mat arisequite often and are predictable,suchasa failure in technology. Itis alsoevident whenmey are hastyto complain whenexpectationsare not met, cannotworkif there is no air conditioningor are reluctant to workwith others, share ideas, time orspace.Theseindicate a lack of resilienceand alack of humility. Resilience and humility are character traits that an education shouldinstil, foster andgrow.

A sense of entitlement thatis misplaced, arrogantly asswned ornot tempered byempatl1y, patience and kindness,orthat is poorly rolemodelled b)'teachers andparents, is Likely to undermine what a trueeducation can provide.

Beating the babyblues

Awayfromhersupportnetwork, anewmothercanfeeldauntedandoverwhelmed

iBY � KALYANI WAKHARE

It left a deep impact on me, but also helped shaped wbo I am today.

Veiled beneath adegree of uncertaintyandstigma, post-nataldepression is often misunderstood or disregarded. I suffered from th.istoa significantdegreeafter the birth of my firstchild,almostbordering on the line of clinicaldepression.

Asa new migrant, with no family supportcloseby andno network of friendswith babies, I often feltlonely,dauntedand unable to cope withmydaily routine. I wept for no reason and felt no interest whatsoeverin gettingoutof the house.

I sharedthese feelings with myhusband who thoughtI was simply missingmy family who were onlyabletobearound until mylittleonewastwoanda half months old.

The symptoms justgotworse, instead of better, over time.I hadnothingnewtolook forward to; the change-feed-and-comfort routine just wenton and on for what feltlike eternity! I was supposedto be happybecause1 hadalittlebundle of joy inmy life. '1sn't it natural for amother todote onand belostin love with her newbaby?"Iwould th.ink,and thiswouldbringmore guilt imo my heart.

Butno matter bow manyprebirtb classes I attended, or books I readon parenting,notl1ingcould prepareme for reality.

My life had turned from that of a busy professional woman with great careeraspirations, to being a full-timemotherandcaretaker witl1heavysleepdeprivation and nome-time at all! Recouping aftera difficultbirthand with absolutelynoadultaround meco havesome sort of conversation, I wasalmost ready togiveup.My mother,apsychologistherself, feltterriblyconcerned, buther long-distance counsellingover tl1e phone wasn'texactlyhelping. All she couldsay, ultimately, was, '.)use come to India for a few months.'

As temptingas this sounded for me,escapingand rllllningaway from the situation wasn'tgoing to helpandI knew this within.

Itwasnot practical toleave my husband for monthsand takemy little infantfrom winter in Sydney tO summerinMumbaieither. I decidedcostay on.

We had heardabout athome-

counsellingand decidedtotryit. Ic worked reasonably well,with fortnightlyone-on-onesessions in the comfore of my home.Bm these were limited. The counseUor thenadvisedme to go to new mothers' therapy sessions.The thought of packing allthe baby thingsandreaching tl1e therapy group venue was scary in itself, let alone leaving my baby witha nannyfor two hours.Also,I didn't even have adriver's licenceattl1ac stage.The whole ideaseemed impossibleto me!

Andtl1at'swhen my husband gave mestrengthand solid support.

He organised ataxi for my weekly sessions, helped meget things readyand organisedtl1e nightbefore.Well, before1 knew

it,I hadstarted enjoyingdie sessions! I looked forward to Wednesdays,and l even mought aboutwhatI'd wear!

The sharingand stories from othermums mademe feel less alone: 1 am not the only one'. iVfostmotherstherewere on antidepressants already.They were surprisedwhen I sharedthatI was nottakingany medication,and thatI haddecided to build my wiUpower to beat this.

Gradually I began coseetl1e bright side of things. 1 started going to the beauticianand for coffee by myself overthe weekend, leaving thelittle one coplaywith herdad,who gladly obliged.

Atthe end of eight amazing weeks, my little one had grown

upand started givingme smiles. Itallmade thepain of motherhood worth it. 1 organised a morning ceawim the lovely mod1ers in the groupand we all recapped our journey and shared bow things had looked up eventually.

I gotacontractfrommy University totutor students one day aweek,andth.ismaderne feel absolucely elated.Asmuch as I loved beingamum, nowit was timeforthegre)'cellstobe stimulated and for me co embrace theoucside worldandgiveback what I learned asa sn1dent!My mothervisited us brieflytocare for her granddaughter:, andfinally we wentcoMelbourne wben Ananyawassixmonilis old to celebratelifeas newparents and

how we had emerged victorious throughtl1e whole post-natal depression journey.

Lookingback, Icandefinitely say that stickingaroundand fightingthe depression was che best thingI did.Today,this incident gives me immense confidence co faceadversityand I teU all tl1e newmums I meet, or mums-co-be,to not betoo hard on themselves, to depend on their networkof friendsand family, and call outfor any help - including jL1sthavingaconversation,vith anotheradult.

New dadsplayareally important pare coo; they musebe supportiveand keep reiterating what a goodmum ilieir wife makes. Believe me, itmakesa world of difference!

TheseedyunderworldofIndia'sfinancialandentertainmentcapitalhasprovidedfodderforaplethoraofbooks

hisgirl£riend, actressMonicaBedi. Thebooks istitled/1'!)1J,,Ta111eis AbuSalem.

ByfarthebestbookontheMumbaimafia

CHITRA

SUDARSHAN ,-/

While trawling throughbooks aboutMumbai a fewmontl1sago, I was astmrnded bymenumber of books written about theMumbai underworld, theircrimebosses andDons.So ubiquitousis their presence, both in theliteratureon tl1e city as well as inBollY"voodmovies,that this reviewerfelt it deserveda whole column!

The MumbaiMafiabas often been romanticised inBollY"vood movies;yet its tentacles holdthe movieindustryin avice-likegrip and has become as much a part of Bollrvood as it has of the metropolisitself.\Xihohas not heardof HajiMastan,Dawood Ibrahim,Varadarajan Mudaliar (Varadabhai), KarinlLala,Yusuf Patelor AbuSalem?

TheIndianMafiabySrikanta KGhosh (1991) is one of the earliest books on the subject. It wasoneof the earliest exposes on thegrowinginAuenceof tl1e mafiaup to that time, comprising broadly of antisocials,gangsters, goo11das,musclemen, dt1dasand otherlumpen elements of the underworld, thrivingon crime andvice,on industry, business, politics,education andsociety at large.

The most definitive contemporary works ontl1e subject arethebookswritten byS ZaidiHussain,whois aMumbai-basedcrimereporter whohadworkedwithmeIndian ExpmsandMid-D'D His books include Fro111Do11gritoD11bt1i:Six Dect1desoftheMumbaiMafia(Roli, 2012);B!t1ckF,idrg(Penguin2001); and TheNfajiaQ11eensofMumbai (Tranquebar 2011). InD011grito Dubai, he traces the rise (andfall) of me most feared crinle bosses in Mmnbai, from HajiMastan rothe D-Company thatwas createdby the protegesof DawoodIbrahim. The reader wouldbe surprised tolearnthat l\fastan was tl1e son of a police constable, who built a rumouredbillion-dollar empire that henowcontrols from Dubai andKarachi ZaidiHussain'slatest book is a detailedbiographyof awell-known underworldfigure AbuSalem who rose swiftly from the ranks of meD-Company His lifeis thevery stuff of Bollywood movies: aman capableof extreme cruelty and extremepassion for

Written withJaneBorges, Zaidi Hussain's 1\tiafiaQ11eensofi\if11111bai is a compellingaccou.nc of the womenof theunderworld: tl1e wives,girlfriends of mobsters, madams of brothels, andother ambitious women whowere keento scale the heightsof notoriety:womenwho acted as advisersbehindtl1escenes,or womenwhotookoverwhen meir husbandswere killed. One suchwas Gangubai, agirlwho escapedfromher smallvillage to me streets of Mumbai and eventuallybecame thematriarch of Kamathipura, Mumbai's red lightdistrict.

TheMostDangerousManinthe World(2008) isan interesting biographyof DawoodTurn.him by GilbertKing.The book begins by jmtaposing Ibrahim and Osama bin Laden, andKing argues tl1atbin Laden is apauper bycomparison!The

AnilKapoor

Ifitwasn'tforthisbooktherewouldbeno ShootoutatWada/a. SanjayGupta

adaptedbySanjay Gupta intotbe movieShooto11tat lf7rldalastan:ing Johan Abraham; BlackFtiday was adapted by Anurag Kashyap into a movie,and aftera court battle was releasedin 2004.MeenalBaghel, another investigativejournalist, wrote an accountof a sensational murderin Mtunbai,whichwas nirned into amoviebyRaj Gopal Verma calledNot"LoveSto,y.

tDt.DECADES OF. 1Yj�MARA

Mumbai's mafia andtl1e underworldhave changed and adaptedwitb theiinancial capital'schangingcharacter. Theirbeginnings canbe traced back cotl1e early yearsof India's lndependeoce when tl1eMaharashtragovernment's prohibition policy led to bootlegging, and tl1e associated businessof matka- an illegal gamblingracket. In the 1960s, Varadarajan Munuswamy Mudaliar (aka Varadabhai), Haji Mastan and Yusuf Patel were the big players. The collapse of me textile industry inMumbai aroundmat timeledtotl1e riseof Dawood Ibrahim and his cohort.

former controlsamulti-billiondollar empire andhisD Company isone of tl1emost politically connected gangsin the world,controlling someof memost lucrative drug andnuclear smugglingroutes. The aumor traces Ibrahim's links with meISI to 1991, andalleges that me communal riots unleashedin Mumbai in 1993 canbe attributed to hisD Company; henowlives 'like a king' in Karachi, andis purportedtohave bailedout Pakistan's Central Bank duringthe eris.is in 2000.There areseveral such connections he draws in the book,includingthe allegation mat Ibrahim had a role to play in the kidnappingof Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, andworkedwith AQ Khan in theillegal smugglingof nuclearmaterial.

Anomer crimereporterand Editor of lnvestigationsforMid-

Dqy, who had also worked with the IndianExpressand Hi11dusta11Ti111e.r,Jyotirmoy

Dey CJ-Dey) wrote abook Kallaas:AnA-ZGuidetothe U11dem1orld,which was, as the title suggested, a complete guide to tl1eMumbaiMafia. Hewroteanotherbook called Zero Ditr!, anexposeon police informers. He amassed awealth of information on tl1e subject by talkingto the police,gang members, informers andtl1e dons themselves. His books alsogive an exhaustive list of euphemisms that the underworld usesto outsmart law enforcers. (These were later used byVikramChandra with greateffect in his gangland-novel SamdGa/Iles).Soclose wasJ-Dey to tl1e truth that this fearless journalisr wasshotdead by four unknown hitmen in2011;he was workingonbisthirdbookon underworld(anditsconnectionto me oil mafia).

Bollywood's fascination wim meunderworld - despite itsvice grip on the industrytoday - has producedseveralmoviesfrom the abovebooks. D011g1itoD11bt1iwas

Thewatershedevent, however, is the Stock Exchange serial blastsof 1993thatleft257 dead andhundredsmaimed; it changedthefaceof organised crime inMLm1bai. Until then, tl1e w1derworld had attracted Hindu andMuslim unemployed youths. DawoodIbrahim's involvement in tl1e serial blasts, however, (promptedby theISi, according toKing),changed it forever: most Hindus drew aline mere andlefthisgang. His trusted lien.tenantChotaRajan formed hisowngangin SouthEast Asia. Also, whereasmostof themob leadershadhailedfrom Mumbai and its surrounds until the 1992; today mostof them come from outsideMaharashtra,mostly fromUP andBihar, and theiruse of katt1.r(hand.madepisrols) has proliferated.

\"v'hereas oncegoldand silver smugglingwas lucrative, today ha111a!t1 andmoney laundering, illegal trade in sophisticated arms and illicit drugs are the favoured activitiesof organised crime inMumbai. Excortion, filmfinancingandthe smuggling of computer parts are now tl1eir breadand butter. Dons ateno longer simply satisfied with a shareof profitsfrom tl1e Bollywoodfilmindustry -they want partnerships, anda sliceof overseas rightsforfilm andmusic distribution.Their transnational linkagesinto legitimate businesses likehotels,realestateandme movie industry, havemade itmore difficultfor law-enforcement agenciescorein themin.

S. HUSSAIN ZAIDI

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A touchofHolimastiextends to thekitchen

FOOD s!

The rollingpins were out with a vengeance as a large group of fun-lovingwomengor together to celebrate Holiby learningtocook some traditional andmodern sweets.

The recipes andi11strucrions were providedby well-known hobby cook SuneeriMisra from Rowville and the event was hosted byDr Ina Takkar at her residence inGlenWaverley.

An apron competitionwas held wid1 some uber cool designs on display including ones that said, Bemy lamb chop andI have PMS (Power. i\foney. Sex).The winning apron was a sizzling pin-up girl design donnedby Sanjoo

Kohli from Wheelers Hill.

Sharingrecipes andcooking wim goodcompany was great fun. Itwasalso atimeto tall,, socialise and catch up widi each ocher.

Cooking wim lots of laughter and goodconversation around you,never fails to lighten up me mood.Agreattimewashadby all.

SuoeetiMisra shares me recipes wim our readers.

''Cookingwith lotsoflaughter andgood conversation aroundyou,never failstolightenup themood

1 cupalmond meal

1 cup sugar

2 ½ cup milkpowder

600 ml thickened cream

1 tsp green cardamom powder

!•• •

Mixalltheingredientstogether

Placeinasiliconcontainerand microwaveforabout8minutes atmediumor60%power. Takeoutandstir.Putbackin microwaveforafurthereight minutes.

Repeatafterstirringoruntilthe milkcaketurnspinkishbrownin colour. Allowtocoolandcutintopieces.

Fordough: 1cupself-raisingflour 2cupsmilkpowder

400mlthickenedcream

Forfilling:

100gmsgreenpistachio,soakedin waterandpowdered 1tspgreencardamompowder

Pinchsafuon

Forsyrup: 1kgsugar 750mlwaterforsyrup

Tomakefilling,mixallingredients together.

Tomakethesugarsyrup,boilwater andsugartogetheruntilone-string consistencyisreachedwhenaspoon isliftedofffromit

Tomakedough,kneadtogetherselfraisingflour,milkpowderandcream untilaroti-dough-likeconsistencyis reached.

Dividedoughintoequalpartsand shapeintoballs.Flattenandputfilling insideandshapethemintosausages.

Deepfrytillgoldenbrownanddunk themintheboilingsugarsyrup. Coverwithlidandleaveforten minutes.

Takeoutcarefullyandallowtocool downbeforecuttingintohalves.

It'san unlikelycombination, buttrythesweet,juicyflavours ofawatermeloncurry

practicallydenotes anydishwhich bas a gravy co it. Andwhen die dish does not have a traditional name,we call it a curry.

Thisrecipeis for awatermelon curry. Yes, you heardright - a watermelon curry; rind and all!

Whar is acurry?

It is an ageold question that has been debatedfar andbeyondwith no hope of an answer in sighrl

As far as Wikipediagoes,rhere is a definitive meaning co acurry: 'Cunyisadish111hose01igi11sarei,1 So11thandSoutheastAsiancuisines. Theco111,no11featureisthei11corporatio11 efcovrplexcombinations o spicesor herbs, 11s11alb1inc/11dingfreshord,ied hotchillies.'

Now, the hisrory of the cerm 'curry'is also veryinreresting.The wordwas coined by theBritish Raj for the thick, meaty stews charwere resplendentwith spices andherbs. Some saythatthis is derivedfromtheTamilword'k.an' whichusually denotesmeat. So if youheaddown coTamilNadu andsay kari,itacn1allymeans meatpiecesratherdian 'curry'. There are a couple of otber explanations too, but all of rl1ese are vague and in disagreement, soI guesswewill neverknowthe real history.

Ir's thesame storywith 'curry powder'. Traditionally, Indians don't use any spice blend called currypowderwhiletherest of d1eworlduses it in tonnes.

For an Indian, a curry

This curry is a far cry from the rich, spicy gravies. The watermelon curry is a famous dish of Rajasthao and can be enjoyedwithbothph11/kas(Indian wheat Rat bread) and rice.

Yes,there is sweetness from tbe watermelon, bur then there is awholelot of Aavourfromthe spices thatpenetratedeep into themelon piecesro give you a delicious,refreshing andlightdish.

This isa curry that stands as a perfect example to thefact tbatspicesdonot mean hear but Aavour. Thecumin,caromseeds, nigella seeds and dried chillies release all their Aavour into the oil and cut into thesweemess of the melonpieces.The soft rind of rl1ewatermelon adds just the right amount of bite andtextureto an other\Vise soft dish.

Themosc beautiful part of this curry is the factthatyou can use the rindpartof the watermelon. Usually cur our in chunks and thrown away,thewatermelon rind can bedeliciousif cooked io the right manner. It is ju.icy, succulent andmoist, absorbingevery bit of tbe flavourlike a sponge.

Next time, think twice beforecuttingaway therind. Add it co the curries that you make at home, vegetarian or non-vegetarian, andenjoy the deliciousness of thehumble rind.

1kgseedlesswatermelonwithrind 2tbspvegetableoil

½tspajwain/caromseeds

½tspcuminseeds ½tspnigellaseeds(blackonionseeds) 3driedredchillies,brokenintosmallpieces 4clovesgarlic,finelychopped Salt,toseason 1/4tspturmericpowder

2tspfreshcorianderleaves,finelychopped

I f

Cuttheouterdarkgreenlayerofthe watermelonrindkeepingtheinnerwhitishgreenrindintact.Removetheredfleshofthe watermelonfromthewhitishrind;diceboth separatelyandkeepaside.

Heatoilinapanandaddthewholespices; ajwain,cumin,nigellaanddryredchillies. Whenfragrant,addthegarlicandsauteon mediumheatforabout30seconds.

Addthewatermelonrindpiecesandturmeric powder,mixwellandseasonwithsalt.Cover andlookforabout6-7minutestilltherindhas brownedandsoftened.Donotaddanywater. Inthemeantime,blitzhalfthewatermelon fleshpiecesandkeepaside.

After7minutes,addtheblitzedwatermelon pulpand½cupwater;mixtocombineand cookcoveredtilltherindhasbecometender. Thenaddtheremainingfleshpiecesandcook onhighfor3-4minutes.

Garnishwithchoppedcorianderleavesand servewarm.

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He combines both Astro logy and numerology to n1ake accu rate predi ction by horoscope, palmistry, Hand reading, face read i ng, date of birth and suggest.He \JVill pred ict past, present & future and will provide you with suggestions.

Too many people have suffered at th e hands of the wrong rn formation being presented. He ha s been abIe to over turn a11 of these injustices and turned it all around with true light of the angelic rea lm. Solution offered by him: Definitely help you in finding the reme,dies for problem1s related1 to:

ARIES tvlarch 21 - April 19

This month you will be concentrating onthe relationship area of yourlife.Things may have been a little stressful last month, but you will beplanning some special nights in or out Children may cause you someconcern, as there may be some issuesthat need your attention. Plan ahead with any businessideas,there will be paperworkthat needs your attention.The cards are indicating a time when you will bethinking about re-decorating.

TAURUS April 20 - tvlay 20

Loveisinthe air for you this month and you will wantto takeyour romantic interest tothe next level.You arefeeling sexy andfull of passion.This isalso awonderful timeto spend time and energyon yourcareer.You will berewarded and recognised foryour efforts. The cards are showing that you will do bestto avoid excessive drinking and heavyfoods. A positivetime withfinancial stability and progression

GEMINI tvlay 21 - June 20

This month you will belooking ata clearout.There will be afeeling ofwanting tothrowouttheold and bring inthenew.Youwill be making somemajorplansaround your property andtherecould be somethings that need your attention.Yourpartnermay not be feeling too well, andthecards areindicating atimewhenyou will be planning arelaxingget away. Yourfinances are also improvinglater thismonth.

CANCER June 21 - July 20

There maybesome conflict intherelationship area ofyour life this month. Reconnect with your partner and spend somequality timetogether. Passion and renewal is needed.Workwill be a little demanding and yourcolleaguesmayalso be slightly irritating. Therearesome who aretrying too hard to please your bosses Therecould bean increase in financesand a promotion. An eye checkis needed so makea booking.

LEO July 21 - Aug 22

Thismonthyou will beplanning some parties and reunionswith friends you have not seen forsometime.Work will be stressfulyou will berequired to workovertimeand will also be working todeadlines.Thecards areindicatingthatyou needtostay clear ofany confrontationsor conflicts in theworkplace.There will be somefamily matters that need your attention.Youmayfeel a little fatigued and stressed out.

VIRGO Aug 23 - Sep 22

You seemtobeworrying aboutthings for no reason andthe month will startwith a lotofstress and tension There is somegreatnews with regardtoyourwork/business, and you will definitely be making progresswith regardto projects and business associates Relationshipswill needsometender, loving care so make sureyou takesome timeouttogetherand plan ashortfamily breakThecards indicatethepurchaseofanewcar.

LIBRA Sep 23 - Oct 22

This month you willbebusycommunicating with yourfriends and relatives.You seemto bebuzzingaround likea social butterfly.There will be somelovely qualitytimespent with your loved ones. Life has beentreating you well lately and you arefeeling quitehappy in your current situation. Thecardsare indicatingthatyou maybe looking to makesomeinvestments You will needto makesomewisedecisions regardingthefuture

SCORPIO Oct 23 - Nov 21

This month you willbesorting out your work situation.Therewill be someimportantdecisions to make around whatyou wantto do andthereis some confusion around whereyouarecurrently.The cards are indicating a timewhen you will be changing your mind quite a lotYou will get some good news about study and courses. You will betrying to savemoney.You arealso keen tofind a new partner

SAGITTARIUS Nov 22 - Dec 21

Youneedtokeepyourappetite undercontrol,asyou will bequite tempted bytheadvancesofmembersoftheoppositesex.Atwork theremay besomeinterestingllalsons and encounters Thereare some department changes and you may beoffered an opportunity toprogressin yourjob.Financeswill bestable and you will beable tosave and makesomelargepurchases.Supportyour partnerwho may befeeling unwell and stressed.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 19

This month you will befeeling hot and sexy.Your mind will be dizzy with love and pleasure. You will meet some interesting people and you may even starta relationshipwith someone who you meetby chance.There will besomefamily responsibility that needs attention. Property matters and paperwork need to be kept upto date.There will be some plansto travel. Finances will be getting better, butwatch yourspending.

AQUARIUS Jan 20 - !=eb 18

Your partner maybefeeling restlessand wantto make some changesintheircareer.Children will betheappleofyoureyethis month as they producesome excellent resultsat school.Therewill besome proud moments and prizes.Makesureyour car has had afull service asthereseem to beafew problemswith tyres.The cardsareindicating you will plan to makesomeimprovements in your garden area.

PISCES !=eb 19 - tvlarch 20

Thismonthyou will betryingto sortoutsomeplanning and building regulationsfor aproperty.You may haveto gothrough somequestionsthatwill betaxing and stressful.Therewillbesome interest inanother property purchasetoo.Workwill beinteresting astherewill besomeemployees leaving soon.Yourhealth needsto belookedafteras you have been sufferingfrom a lot ofstress lately. Startwalking regularly

TMETAWAIFGOESTOTMEBEERBAR

BARKHAA

STARRING: SaraLoren,TahaShah, Puneetlssar,PriyanshuChatterjee

DIRECTOR: ShadaabMirza

Pakeezahgoes to the beer bar. Or some suchtaglinewould serve this fairly watchable melodrama's purposes.

Melodramaasa genre inIndian cinema has goneout ofvogue.Debuta.nt dfrector Shadaab·M]rzaweaves an emotionalyarn about agirl's journeyfromthepristine Himachal hinterland into abeerbar run by an incredibly benign South Indian manwho could be oneof those caringmadams in the films about fallenwomen set in kotbas.

To his credit, thedirector doesn't over-romanticisethe bargidBai:khaa's tmnultuous life story,atleastnot initially when sheis shown tobequitea tease.

The scenes showing the rich pampered lawyer'sbesorredsonJatin (TahaShah,stiff and not just in the upper-lip) frequenting the bartodartlovelorn looksat his object ofadorationare metwid1 adisarmingmix of amusement and annoyance by Barkhaa.

The scenes featuringthe mismatched couple'stragic game of seduction in the bar are effective inputtingacrossa senseof incredulityabout the crueljokes playedby destiny especially inmovies about well, d1e cruel jokesplayedby destiny.

A largepart of die film's effectiveness dependsonleadactress SaraLoren,who isemotively motivated, understands the camera and thepowerof heightened emotions expressedon screen,and is powerfully empowered toconveyaweald1 of emotions through her eyes andvoice.

But the film'sfinestperformancescomes fromAshiesh Royas the levelbeaded unbelievably kind barowner. Roy in1parts ananiralease to hisover-sweetenedpart in

afiJmwhere everybody strains to makean impact.

Regrettably,Loren's strongperformance is saddJedwithbizarrecoincidencesand unconvincingtwists and turns in the narrationwhich plot to diminishherscreen presence.

The story rends toveer dangerously closeto the d1eatrical,especially aftermidpointwhen theproceedingsbeginto veer absurdlyclose to theoutrageous.

Yet, there isa semblanceof sincerityin d1ewaythelifeof bardanceris humanised without making herlook angelic.

The fiJm refuses coglamorise and caricamrisethebar dancer theway Farah Khan did inHappyNe,vYeCll:

At d1e sametime,d1e narrative won't tolerate a bardancer beingdubbeda prostitute.

There'samomentof terrificawakening where AsbiesbRoy'sbatowner's characterlashes out at someonewho tries tobuy d1e heroine's sexual favours for anight.

Eventually Barkhaa'sworldbegins co fall apart.Thesame, unfortunatelyis trueof thefilm.

Butin takingthe lifeofa ta1JJt1if from om of theornatekothainto the harshglareof the beerbar,Barkhaa succeeds in portrayingacinematic journeyworth undertaking.

There is alsoa.reformistzea.lin the script d1at B.R. Choprawould have approved of in theway the film's hero insists onmarryinga bar girl who isamother of alittlegirl.

If only reallifehadsuchsolutions tooffer distressedwomen andvictims of socialhypocrisy.

Barkhaarainsdowna rhapsody of drama and romance. A heart-wanningat times, touchingtaleof an innocentgirl'sjourney into theworld of deceit,compromise and corruption,itechoesRa Kapoor'sRa111Teri

Ganga,\{ailiandKamal Amrohi's Pakeezah in ilieway therespectable genteel upper classisshowncoexploitwomen of meagre means.

SaraLorenisnoJv[eena Kurnari. Butshe kills mepartmuch bettermanMandakini in

Raj Kapoor'sfeveredfable. Breastsareleftbehind.ThisGangais not111aili.Just maligned.

SUBHASH K.JHA

�Jll(I DEPUTY MAYOR

Liverpoolc1

Y<:Oll1ct ffl'!ll1"1Nf'ltlf'f'W411T'f'I

Damandeepis aqualified Homeopathwithatrack recordofyearsofsuccess intreatingvarious ailments

Homoeopithgistheufestmedicine withAl1solotelg no_sideeffects.

TreAttherootcAase notjustthesgmptom

GUS BALLOOT

Itiswith greathumilityItakeontheroleofDeputyMayorforLiverpoolCityCouncil.Iwishtofirstly, thankmyfellowCouncillorsforentrustingmewiththisimportantrole.IalsothankPeterRistevskifor hisworkintheroleasthe previous DeputyMayorandcongratulatehimonhisachievements.Ilook forwardtoworking with myfellowCouncillorsandthecommunityintakingourgreatcitytoeven greater heightsandamexcited bywhatthefuture holdsforourcommunity.

GreatnewsforresidentsasCouncilrecentlycommencedconstructiononthefinal stageofthe$21 million upgradetoKurrajongRoad.TheupgradeswillseetheroadextendedfromKookaburraRoad Northto Sarah HollandsDrive.Thiscomplex and significant projectwill includetheconstructionof afour-lane urban roadbetween Kookaburra RoadNorth andSarah HollandsDrive,a75-metrelong concretebridgeoverCabramattaCreek,installationofmajorstormwatermanagementsystemsplus streetscaping includinglandscaping,shared pathsandstreetlighting.Oncefinished,theextension ofKurrajong Road andtheassociatedworkswill providedirecteast-westlinksbetweentheHume Highway,Casula andCowpastureRoadinCarnesHill,greatlyimprovingtrafficaccessandconditions. ConstructionofthefinalstageofKurrajong Roadisexpectedtofinish bytheendof2015.

GUSBALLOOTDeputyMayor emai :cllrball oot@Iiverpoo

GUSI-IINGABOUTAGASI-IE ON

INDIAN LINKRADIO

He'sapsychiatristbyprofession,andalsoawell-knownactorinIndia's 'thinking'cinemaandtheatricalcircles (Nishant, Gandhi, Gangaajal). He's alsohadsuccessinyourregularcommercial fillums (Trimurti, OilAashna Hai,Jism2).

Yet,thespianDrMohanAgasherevealedonIndianLinkRadiorecently,that hetakesitwithagrainofsaltwhenpeoplecomeuptohimwiththedraboneliner,"Aapkokahindekhaha/(Seenyousomewhere)''.

"Someactorsareovershadowedbytheirstardom,whilesomeletthe charactertakeover,"DrAgashesaidwithcharacteristichumilityandmuch wisdom.

InaleisurelychatwithbroadcasterPriyankaTaterliveinthestudio,he spokearticulatelyaboutthebusinessoffilms,the'psychology'offilms,andhis experienceswiththegreatsandthenot-so-greatsofcinema.Healsospokeof hislatestwork,thecriticallyacclaimedandawardwinningMarathifilmAstu(So beit) basedonAlzheimer'sdiseasewhichhescreenedforaselectaudiencein Sydney.

Whilehecleverlyside-steppedqueriesabouthistimeworkingwiththe 'stars'(becausewhathappensonset,staysonset!),hewasmorethanhappy tojuxtaposehisexperienceworkingwith"ManikDa"akaSatyajitRayonthe onehandandSubhashGhaiontheother.

Waybackin1980,whileatworkontheDoordarshantelefilm Sadgatibased onMunshiPremchand'sbook,veterandirectorManikDa,DrAgasherevealed, wouldhaveeveryscenesketchedoutindetailonpaper.Fifteenyearslater,you wouldassume,thingswouldhavebeenevenmoresystematic.Butno!Working on Trimurti, allMohangotfromdirectorSubhashGhai,wasaverbaldescription ofthescene,forgetaboutthescript!

Andyes,thisonedefinitelyoughttobeshared:Mohanjioncearrivedonset at9.30amasinstructed,onlytostartworkafulltwelvehourslaterat9.30pm, because"Ghaisahabscenelikhraheythey!"

Nevertheless,DrAgashemadeitclearthatthoughmeaningfulcinemaislike anutritiousdietensuringaperson'screativeandmentalwellbeing,"Bollywood potboilers"areequallyneeded,forsomespiceandfuninlife.

HisownMarathifilmAstu darestodealwiththesubjectofAlzheimer's,in aheart-wrenchingstoryofadaughterandherfather(playedbyMohan)who suffersfromthedisease.

"Ifyouloveyourparents,thenthisisafilmforyou,"DrAgashesaidofthe film.

"DrAgasheliterallysweptmeoffmyfeet;'Priyankasaidlater."Theartist inhimrefusedtotakeabackseat,ashishistrionicswereinfullplayoff-air, whilethesongswereplaying.Hewastappinghisfeet,shakinghisheadand shoulders,rollinghiseyesandenjoyingeverybitofthemusic:•

OfcoursehisexperteyekeptaclosewatchonPriyankaasshedeftlyhandled thelisteners'questionsandkeptthepaceoftheinterviewgoing.

Andwhenhepassed'judgment'onhisinterviewer-"Seasoned ho,"-she knewshewouldvalueitforaverylongtime.

Yourchoice

Soyou'veallseenMyChoice HomiAdajania'sfilmabout women'sempowerment, starringthebeautifulDeepika Padukone,for Voguemagazine's socialinitiativeonwomen.You've shareditonFacebookandTwitter (nodoubtwiththemessage"So inspiring!"or"GoDeepika!"orsome such),impressedwiththeslickly producedblack-and-whitetwominuteproductionthattellsusthat womenhavechoices.

Andnow,youfindyourselfbelieving thenon-believers.

Isawoman'schoiceonlyaboutbody size,wearingskirts,cominghome at4am,andsexualandreproductive decisions?

Whataboutrape,femalefoeticide, domesticviolence,workplace harassment,paygap,theintrusivemale gazeorallthoseotherissuesthata womanhastodealwitheveryday?

Aman,makingafilmonwomen's empowerment?Andamagazine thatcommoditieswomen,makinga statementonempowerment?

Strangechoicesindeed Odd couple DeepikaPadukoneandVarunDhawan?

Strangechoice Oops,sorryfor repeatingourselveshere!

Thetwo,itisrumoured,willfeature intheHindiadaptationofpopulartearjerker TheFaultinOurStars, madeby, surprisesurprise,HomiAdajaniaagain!

"Idon'tthinkitisanunusualpair;• Homisaidrecently."lt'safreshpairing bothactorsareyoungandIthinkthereis aniceorganicbalancebetweenthetwo:•

Whateverthatmeans.

Inanycase,thefilm-makercontinued, thefilmisstillinthescriptingstage,and hewillonlyfinalisethecastwhenthe finaldraftisready.Thestoryisonlybased onthefamousHollywoodproduction, withafreshscriptbyDineshVijan.

"Itisnotgoingtogooutbeforenext October,soitisprematuretodiscuss (casting)now;·hesaid.

Afterthatinitialscepticismhe's probablyrushingbacktothedrawing boardtorethinkhis,er,choices (someonepleasestopusfromusingthat termagainandagainwhenitcomesto Homi!)

Not hurting religious sentiments

TherehavebeenreportsthattheCentral BoardofFilmCertification(CBFC)invited religiousleadersforthescreeningof DharamSankatMein, amovethatthe film'sleadactorsPareshRawaland NaseruddinShahsayisabsurd.

TheBoard'sreasoningseemstobe thatifthereligiousleaders(includinga MuslimmaulviandaHindupandit)give thefilma"cleanchit"beforecertification, itwouldsavethemandthefilm-makers fromcontroversieslater.

TheplotlineofDharamSankatMein revolvesaroundHindumanDharampal (Paresh)whogoesthroughanidentity crisiswhenhediscovershewasadopted asachildandborntoaMuslimfamily.

NaseeruddinShah,whowillbeseen

asaguruofaspiritualorganisationin theupcomingsatiricalcomedy,says noreligionorgroupwillfindanything objectionableinthefilmas"whateveris showninitisfactualandcorrect''.

"Wehavetakencareofsentiments ofallthereligionsandgroups.Weare notmockingreligioninthefilmbutthe peoplewhohavemadereligionasource oftheirbusiness;•theactorclarified.

AnofficialHindiadaptationofBritish satire TheInfidel,thefilmalsostarsAnnu Kapoor.

DirectedbyFuwadKhan, Dharam SankatMein isslatedforreleaseonApril 10.

Naseeruddin maypentell-all on Bollywood

Afterhismemoir AndThenOneDay, whichhasbeenverywell-receivedby criticsandpublicalike,veteranactor NaseeruddinShahisnowallsettodo anencore-thistimeanunflinchingly honestexposeofpeopleinthefilm industry.

"Idothinkthemostinterestingphase ofmylifehasbeencovered.Therestis smooth-sailing.NowwhatIcandoisa treatiseonmyexperiencesinthefilm industry.Idon'tthinkthat'sabadidea;• saidNaseeruddin.

"TherearemanythingsthatIdowant tosayaboutthefilmindustry.Imight writeitinthethird-person.ThenI'dhave therighttobemorecandidwithout beingdiplomaticorhurtingegos,"he added.

The65-year-oldsayshenever expectedthefirstparttobesowellreceived.

"Ithoughtthey'dbeextremely skepticalaboutanactortryingtowrite. Ineverthoughtthebookwouldsellas muchasitdidinmycountry,orthatthe Indiancriticswouldbeanythingbut condescendingtowardsit:'

Notthatthisactor-extraordinaireever doubtedhiswritingabilities.

"Iknewthatthosewhocaredto readthroughmyaccountwouldlikeit. Constructingsentencesproperlyand writingessayshavebeenmystrong pointsrightfromschooldays.IdidknowI hadacertainabilitywithwords.SoIknew

IMITABH BACHCHAN

Iwouldn'tgetwhippedbythecritics:' Hmm,anexposeontheworkingsof theindustry,comingfromanart-house bigwig.Cabweexpectsomepole-khole typematerial?

Certainfilmsneedsupport morethan business

Anotherart-housetypepersonalityhas beeninthenewsrecently,andnotjust forherupcomingdivorcefromdirector AnuragKashyap.

KalkiKoechlin'snewfilmMargaritaWith AStrawissetforanation-widerelease afterdoingthefilm-festivalcircuit.

ItwonanawardattheToronto InternationalFilmFestivallastyearand alsoearnedKalkitheBestActressAward attheTallinnBlackNightsFilmFestival. Ithasalsobeenselectedtoopenthe NewYorkIndianFilmFestival(NYIFF)on May4, StarringRevathiandSayaniGupta

DEEPIKA PADUKONE

besidesKalkianddirectedbyShonali Bose, Margaritaisthepoignantportrayal ofarebelliousyoungwomanwith cerebralpalsywholeavesherhomein IndiatostudyinNewYork,unexpectedly fallsinloveandembarksonan exhilaratingjourneyofself-discovery.

"WhenShonali(Bose)e-mailedmethe script,Iimmediatelywrotebacktotell herthatIlovedit;'Kalkisaidrecently."It scaredthehelloutofmethatshecould eventhinkthatIcoulddothis!"

ShonaIisaysshepickedKalkiforthis specialrolebecausesheisa"risktaker andwillingtopushherself''.

Oneoftheindustry'smostpowerful couplesAamirKhanandKiranRaohave gotbehindthefilmtoensureitgetsa goodscreeningcountry-wide.Thepair haveoftenhelpedsupportsmallbudget filmslikethisonethatarepushingthe boundariesofcinemaincontemporary India,intheprocessgivingtheindustry

WI-IO WORE IT BETTER?

NASEERUDDIN SHAH

somemuch-neededinternational exposure.

Kalkideclaredatthetrailerlaunchthat suchsupportmattersmoretoherthan boxofficecollectionsorthestampingof herfilmasahitoraflop.

Meanwhile,theacclaimedBengali directorrueshowmainstreamHindi film-makersdonotshowawillingnessto movebeyondthetriedandtested.

"Wehavesuchtalentedactorsin theindustryherebutourdirectors andproducersdonotgivethemthe challengesthattheyareupfor;'the seven-timeNationalAwardwinnersaid.

ToseeifKalkihasrisentothe challenge,we'llhavetowaituntilthefilm releasesonApril17.

WhatTweetyBirdtold usthis week

Matchthestarstotheirtweets:

FarahKhan,SonamKapoor,Amitabh Bachchan,SalmanKhan,NargisFakhri, RanveerSingh,KaranJohar,Shilpa Shetty,PriyankaChopra.

"ByebyeNYC Mumbaicalling Yay!Can't waittobehome!!"

''AnAirbuscrashes cricketmatch hysteria nationsawardcelebrations!Life istrulyapendulum oscillatingbetween KhushiandGham "

"OKAAAYYY! 74millionontwitter !!20milliononFB 3million on Blog 40MILLIONhereICOME!!!! BADDDOOOOMMBA!!!!"

'Travellinghome wtme wasAryankhan Gaurin@iamsrktakeabow, whatawell broughtupgentleman he is, waitd4my bags nescortedme2my car"

"Videofrom BajrangiBhaijaanshoots" ''Atthe#FeminaMisslndia2075asajudge:) WearingMonishaJaising, earringsfarah Khanandrings rootsatelier"

"In caseyoumissedit-my'Amazeballs BollywoodRewind';) enjoy!"

"Aspermedia, apparentlyadinnercrowd of8atapizzaplaceisthe sameasa'quiet dinnerataplushsobohotel."'

Malaika

inChristian Dior?

ShareyourviewswithusonourFacebookpage /lndianLinkAustralia

"HeyguysI'm onthe coveroftheApril issue of@vogueindia!Catchmy exclusive interview " NowyouBollywoodjunkiesoutthere (youknowwhoyouare),thisshouldbe easyforyou.

Arora Khan or MarionCottillard

The world'sworstpolice?Checkouttheseworryinganddisgracefultales

Ireally hate that Eminem songthatuses apolicesiren as an instrument Every time it's on thecar radio I have a heart attack. Why are the police foUowingme and whycan't ] seethem?

HocTip:Make sureyou look wildlyoffyour headin your driver's licencephoto so that when traffic cops stopyou and check it, the real-lifeyou looks comparatively calm and sober.

Police are on my mindafterI sawa newsitem aboutcopswho raided abrothel and found four colleagues usingic.

The really badthingwasthat theembarrassedofficers were supposedco be on an important assignment taking a murderer fromjail coa clinic and back. TherealJy,really bad thingwas that duringthe arrests,murderer Baiju Yadav slipped away into the nearb)'rownship(thishappenedin WestBengal, lndia).

The really, really, really badthing was thatthemurderer voluntarily returned to theprison thatnight and coldpolicebosses thathewas a goodguy who hadn'twanted ro go co thebrothel but the nasty cops forcedhim to. \X'hen a convicted murderer is telling people thatin hisopinionyou andyourmates are seriously bad dudes,yourreputations arepretty much shot.

1was speaking withsome friends and told d1em that this was d1e worst "badcops" tale I had heard for awhile,but d1ey allcried to rop ic.

The American said diat New York judges wereso horrified by the corruption of bad copLouis Eppolito chat he was jailedfor "lifeplus 100years", so technically speakingjailers will have to keep his corpse behind bars fora cenmry.Imagine the conversation in,say, theyear 2100. "\Xfho's in cellnine?""Eppolito's skeleton. He's a bit onthe quiet side."

TheAmerican also coldme about aUSpolicemannamed Jonathan Garciawho usedtosell drugs whilein uniform.Wonder whathis standardline was?"Come omwirn your hands up and check out these items available at alow,

lowpriceif you act now."

The HongKongpolice force is angelically purenow but used cobe bad. OneComrnissioner ofPolice was officiaUy described as "anexcellentlawenforcement officer", che only stain on his copybookbeing that he ran a stringofbrothelsindie street ne.xr co police HQ.

In l971, HongKongcivil servantsdecided to checkout the personal property acquired by a suspiciouslyAashy policesergeant named Hon Sum:they found he had a fortune in the bank, two limousines and49 homes.

Being a male-doi:ninated group,

our conversation quickly escalated into a"myofficials are corrupter than yours"contest Themainland Chinese representative, who always has co benumber onein any discussion,heldupcorrupt official LaiChangxingwhostolea world-beating$10 billion,but he wasbeaten by lndonesia'sSuharto, withan estimated cakeof more than $15 billion.

Meanwhile, ifpoliceDOstop youfor speeding,l cancertify d1at attempts to talkyour way out of troublewithscience don't work: "If we factor in tl1e 1,600 km/h speedoftheearth'srotation,we're allspeeding, right?"

MR BILAL

Clairvoyant-Medium-Astrologer

Specialistinalleffectiveproblems.Returnimmediatelyand definitelythepersonyoulove.Fidelitybetweenhusband andwife,happiness,marriage,problemsconcerningsexual power incredibleresults,relieffrombeingbewitched, protectionagainstalldanger,badluck...AlsoIcanhelpyou foremploymentopportunities,familyproblem,exam&court cases100%successisguaranteedIwillguideyouingood waysoflife.Icanevencometoyourhousetoseeifthereare evilspiritsandghosts.Sendmeyourphotobymail.

Allproblemscanbesolvedifyoucallforappointment.

0424769154

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Dr. Abedi Hindi, Urdu

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visits

SYDN EY 13 & 14 April 2015

Sydney Boys High

Gate 2, Cleveland St, Moore Park - onsite parking $5

FREE Public Programs - 13 April, 10am & 7:30pm, and 14 April, 10am & 7pm Devi Bhava (World Peace Program)

M ELBO LJ RN E 16, 17 & 20 April 2015

Sandown Racecourse

Springvale - free onsite parking

FREE Public Programs - 16 April, 11am (all day program) 17 April, 10am & 7.30pm, 20 April, 7pm Devi Bhava (World Peace Program)

Non-Residential Retreat 18-20 April (pre-registration only)

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