Download - Indian Down Under August - September E-paper

The Indian Down Under PO Box 99 Thornleigh NSW 2120 Ph (02) 9875 2713 Mobile: 0414 155 402 Email: [email protected]

VOL 25 No. 1Print Post Publication No. 23572300014

Annual Subscription incl. postage & handling $17 Newsagencies$1 inc GSTAugust - September 2012 Free at Indian Outlets

VOTE 1

forINDIANS

TIDU’s exclusive coverage on Council

Elections in NSW. It is a welcome sign

for the Indian community that there is

now interest in the local politics. The

candidates discuss what drives them to

be community representatives.

Pages 12-14Beth Shalini Perera, Holroyd

Susai Benjamin, BlacktownRaj Datta, Strathfield Gurdeep Singh, HornsbySukhwant Sidhu, Parramatta Charisma Kaliyanda, Liverpool

02 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER August - September 2012

August - September 2012 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 03

Editor's Letter


Editorial/Advertising Enquiries: 02 9875 2713Postal Address: PO Box 99, Thornleigh NSW 2120.Email: [email protected]: www.indiandownunder.com.au

EDITORIALPrincipal Editor: Vijay BadhwarAssociate Editor: Neena BadhwarNorth America : Parveen ChopraCorrespondent Sports Editor: Kersi Meher-HomjiDelhi Reporter: Ritu Ghai

WRITERSThird Eye: Rekha BhattacharjeePolitical Columns: Karam Ramrakha, MallikaGanesanFilms and Art: Neeru Saluja, Abhishek Sood,Monica Daswani, Sumi Krishnan, DevakiParthasarthy, Neena Badhwar, Rekha RajvanshiBody-Mind-Spirit: Dr Sunder Das, KanakaRamakrishna, Faith Harper, T Selva, Dilip MahantySport: Kersi Meher-Homji, Dilip MahantyFiji Diary: Karam RamrakhaCookery: Promila GuptaChildren Section: Esther Chudhary-LyonsClassical Music: Sumi Krishnan, Kris Raman,Lokesh VarmaTravel: Vijay Badhwar, Kris RamanHumour: Melvin Durai, Santram BajajSeniors Column: Santram BajajBeauty: Devaki ParthasarthyCommunity: Neena Badhwar, Kersi Meher-Homji,Vijay Badhwar, Sumi Krishnan, Neeru Saluja,Savitha NarayanPhotographers: Neelesh Kale, Raj Suri and JordanAnjaiyaGraphic Design: Nayanesh Gandhi, Dinesh Verma,(Bhagwati Multimedia) Bharat Bhushan Chopra

Subscription Coupon

Name

...............................................

Address.....................................

...............................................

...............................................

Post Code ................................

Annual Subscription $17 including

GST, postage & handling.

Send to TheIndian Down Under,

PO Box 99,

Thorhleigh NSW 2120

There is often a comparisonmade between China andIndia, the two fastest

growing nations in the world, theeconomic giants of Asia on whomthe world depends to sell theirraw materials. While there isamazement at China’s infrastruc-ture development, which spursdiscussions on how large powerplants are constructed one aweek, efficient road networks andsuper fast trains extended tonooks and corners of the country,there is disappointment at India’slackadaisical approach on ade-quate energy production and effi-cient delivery structure.

Mega power failure thismonth that plunged most of northand eastern India in darkness forwhole days is an embarrassingincident that cannot be easily side-lined with little consequence tothe minister (Sushil KumarShinde) who was rather promotedfrom Power to the importantHome portfolio in a major cabinetreshuffle.

There were traffic jams onroads; the trains came to a haltand the passengers were trappedinside the Delhi Metro; the busi-ness and industry came to a stand-still as the West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamta Banerjee

declared a holiday. Six hundredmillion people were affectedacross 20 states. But a Delhi jour-nalist nonchalantly reported thatthe life was not seriously disrupt-ed as most of the people in Indiastill used kerosene lamps!

The power outage was causedby, according to the minister,overdrawing of electricity byUttar Pradesh. It is akin to plug-ging too many heaters in onepower point/circuit which blows afuse. But this was a big fuseindeed that blacked out a big partof India.

India is the seventh largestpower consumer in the world. Its

efficiency in energy productioncannot be estimated as nearly 30per cent of the power produced islost by theft. The rest is highlysubsidised for farmers who con-sume nearly 22 per cent of thesupply and the domestic sectorthat uses 24 per cent. The indus-try makes up for the lossesincurred from subsidies.

While India has a variety ofpower plants – thermal (coal andgas), hydroelectric and nuclear,the cheapest production is fromgas-fired plants. But one suchplant in Dabhol by Enron suppliesthe most expensive electricity inIndia mired by allegations of

bribery during the times ofNarasimha Rao government.Another experiment in Jaitapur inMaharashtra of six nuclear plantseach of a capacity of 1650 MW isunderway with French collabora-tion and, once completed, willaddress power shortage in Indiato a large extent.

India’s development is hin-dered by widespread corruptionand skulduggery in every project,be it communication, mining orinfrastructure development. But,unfortunately, even the generalpublic has become numb to thepain as lately it is hardly payingheed to clarion calls for action byAnna Hazare and Baba Ramdev.A public awakening is long due.

On the local front there is alarge representation fromIndian subcontinent candi-

dates for the Council elections inNSW on 8 September. This is asign of growing up for the com-munity, who, earlier, were tooengrossed either in settling painsor locked in within their ownsmall associations. The time isripe to represent on the widerAustralian landscape. The com-munity will benefit from theirrepresentatives who understandtheir language and cultural sensi-tivities.We wish them all the best.

Time to think for the nation

Mega power failure this month that plunged most of northand eastern India in darkness for days is a shameful incident.

Endemic protests could lead to flirting with chaos: President

In his maiden address to the nation on theeve of 66th Independence Day of India,President Pranab Mukherjee made a

veiled attack at “endemic” protests warningthat the country would be “flirting withchaos” if its democratic institutions comeunder assault.

Mincing no words in underlining the dan-gers in undermining institutions likeParliament, he said legislation cannot bewrenched away from legislature or justicefrom judiciary. He described Parliament as“the soul of the people, the Atman of India”.

The President’s comments came againstthe backdrop of anti-corruption protests ofAnna Hazare and now Baba Ramdev.

In a speech that covered India’s emer-gence as a stable democracy and its economicgrowth post-Independence, the new Presidentalso warned that if progress fell behind risingaspirations of the youth “rage will manifest”.

Earlier last month in his acceptancespeech after his election to the post, Mr.Mukherjee had said that trickledown theoriesdo not address the legitimate aspirations ofthe poor. In Tuesday’s address, he said ifIndian economy has achieved critical mass,then it must become a launching pad for thenext leap. “We need a second freedom strug-

gle; this time to ensure that India is free forever from hunger, disease and poverty.”

Mr. Mukherjee said, “Anger against thebitter pandemic of corruption is legitimate, asis the protest against this plague that is erod-ing the capability and potential of our nation.

“There are times when people lose theirpatience but it cannot become an excuse foran assault on our democratic institutions,” hesaid. The President, a veteran parliamentari-an, said the institutions were the visible pil-lars of the Constitution and if they crack, thenthe idealism of the Constitution cannot hold.

“They are the interface between princi-ples and the people. Our institutions mayhave suffered the weariness of time; theanswer is not to destroy what has been built,but to re-engineer them so that they become

stronger than before. Institutions are theguardians of our liberty,” he said.

The President said when authoritybecomes authoritarian, democracy suffers;“but when protest becomes endemic, we areflirting with chaos.”

“Democracy is a shared process. We allwin or lose together. Democratic temper callsfor dignity of behaviour and tolerance of con-trary views. Parliament will live by its owncalendar and rhythm.

“Sometimes that rhythm sounds a bitatonal; but in a democracy there is alwaysjudgement day, an election. Parliament is thesoul of the people, the ‘Atman’ of India. Wechallenge its rights and duties at our peril,”Mr. Mukherjee said.

He said he was saying this not in a spiritof admonition but as plea for greater under-standing of existential issues that lurk behindthe mask of the mundane.

The President said the young thirst forknowledge that will lift their skills; and foropportunity that will put India on the fasttrack to the first world.

“They have the character; they need thechance. Education is the seed; and economyis the fruit. Provide good education; disease,hunger and poverty will recede.

President Pranab Mukherjee addresses thenation on the eve of the 66th Independence Day.


Perspective

By Neena Badhwar

Was there a lost decade in therelations between India andAustralia? Yes it was. From

2001-2011, every Indian, every politi-cian, academic, diplomats of both thecountries, businessmen involved intrade, all had a view that the relationsbetween India and Australia were not onan even footing. Added to that was theIndian student problem which had esca-lated the tension between India andAustralia.

Australia’s stand on India’s nuclearpolicy and having declared a ban on sell-ing Uranium to India in the late 1990swas a chafing issue. While the tradebetween the two nations kept on risingslowly, the Indian student problem kepton escalating and reached a flashpointwhen the Indian television channels inIndia started to report extensively aboutthe attacks on Indian students inAustralia, accusing Australia of being aracist country.

The government, diplomats, commu-nity leaders all bandied together to findsolution to the problem as every one feltthreatened by the environment they wereliving in. They all agreed that it hadbeen a hard journey to settle and make asuccess of their life here yet the olderIndian Diaspora felt that callingAustralia a racist country was not inorder.

Australian education industry took abattering as its image in India was beingsullied every day as the Indian TV chan-nels reported each and every episode ofviolence, mugging and robbery blamingthe Australians.

Accusations flew across the twonations but when the dwindling educa-tion industry hit the Australian hip pock-et, solutions had to be found urgently.They all sat across the table to sort theproblem out and along with it came theother issue to the fore like the Uraniumban, the bilateral trade, cultural dia-logue, even Hindi language.

The current Labor governmentagreed to not only to lift the Uraniumban but also took strong measures to cutdown on vocational education. Theshoddy colleges promoting themselvesas visa factories to Indian studentsclosed like dead flies.

The exploiters became the victimsthemselves and as the traffic of studentsdecreased so did the episodes of vio-lence.

The whole phase of student problemproved to be a silver lining in terms ofIndo-Oz relations which are improvingas each day passes.

On July 17 was the launch of‘Beyond the Lost Decade’ - a timelyreport from the Australia IndiaInstitute’s “Public Perception & PolicyChange Taskforce” on the AustraliaIndia Relationship and the way forward.The report compiled by the six-memberteam of academics, diplomats, journal-ists outlines many recommendations tounderpin Australia-India relationshipwithout the nagging tensions and badpublicity as slowly the perceptions ofIndians in India of Australia are improv-ing who now rank Australia as a top tencountry, well governed, ready to dobusiness, tourist-friendly, providingquality education destination.

The report has been a collective work

of Dr. Sanjaya Baru, director for Geo-Economics and Strategy; MaxineMcKew, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow withthe university of Melbourne and an advi-sor on education; GopalaswamyParthasarathy, Visiting Professor at theCentre for Policy Research in NewDelhi; John McCarthy, national presi-dent of the Australian Institute ofInternational Affairs and HighCommissioner to India from 2004-2009;Ashok Malik, a leading columnist writ-ing for Times of India and HindustanTimes and Christopher Kremmer,author of four books on the history, pol-itics and culture of Asia and a foreigncorrespondent of the ABC, The SydneyMorning Herald and The Age.

It recommends measures to buildtrust and improve perceptions of eachother in the fields of education, diplo-macy, media and security that include:doubling DEFAT’s public diplomacybudget to $10 million per annum, a newIndo-Pacific Division within India’sMinistry of External Affairs, extendingpost-study work rights to internationalstudents, training Australian schoolteachers in Hindi language in anticipa-tion of it being added to school curricu-lum, as an act of goodwill extendingvisas to students caught up in changes tothe regulations following the student cri-sis, an Australian education rating sys-tem that can downgrade states that fail toprovide security and education standardsfor international students, invitations torepresentatives of Indian army regimentsthat fought at the Gallipoli to participatein commemoration ceremonies plannedin 2015 as 100th anniversary, anAustralia-India senior editors’ dialogue,

permanent naval attaché positions to beestablished in both capitals, regularPrime Ministerial visits between NewDelhi and Canberra, visas on arrivals forsome Australian travelers to India ascurrently permitted to citizens of NewZealand and a setting up a one-stop por-tal serving all aspects of trade, diplomat-ic and educational, people-to-people andcultural relations between India andAustralia.

Launched in an impressive sessionconducted in a conversation format byMaxine McKew, the

report draws conclusions and propos-es recommendations for action that willcreate more robust Australia-India ties inan era of greater convergence in inter-ests, shared challenges, and expandedopportunities for practical co-operation.

It recommends measures to buildtrust and improve perceptions of eachother in the fields of education, diplo-macy, media and security.

The report ‘Beyond the Lost Decade’sums up that Australia needs to do morethan just persuade Indians that it’s agreat place to live, work, study andplay; it also needs to combat ignoranceand negative perceptions of India inAustralia.

With political will, public educationboth India and Australia can becomegood reliable friends and partners andthe migrant Diaspora in Australia canlive peacefully and contribute to theirsecond home in a safe and a positiveplace.

No more of those insecure times ofthe student crisis era as this report istimely to improve the relations betweenthe two countries.

Beyond the ‘lost decade’

Journalist Ashok Malik, IABBV Hindi School Co-Ordinator Mala Mehta, Writer andjournalist Christopher Kremmer, former Indian High Commissioner to Australia GParthasarathy, current Indian High Commissioner Biren Nanda, IIATA treasurer

Pradeep Khanna and Indian Consul General in Sydney Arun Kumar Goel.

The panel at the media conference: John McCarthy, former Australian HighCommissioner to India, Maxine McKew and G. Parthasarathy.

On July 17 was launched ‘Beyond the Lost Decade’ - a timely report fromthe Australia India Institute’s “Public Perception & Policy Change Taskforce”

on the Australia India relationship and the way forward.


Assam on the brink of ethnic meltdownBy Rekha Bhattacharjee

‘Two people dead as Assamprotests in Mumbai turn violent.’

The media reports about thespiralling conflict in Assamcontinue to trickle in with

sickening consistency. The malaiseof communal disharmony betweenindigenous Assamese people andvarious ethnic immigrant groupsfrom Bangladesh is now alsothreatening to tear the social fabricin distant parts of India.

Even as some socio-religiousorganizations and individuals takeon themselves to address the ethnicconflicts in distant lands, Assamcontinues to sit on a volcano whichmay be on the verge of anunprecedented eruption.

Decades of neglect, ill-devisedsocial engineering and giving pettypolitical gains priority over thenational interests has pushedAssam to the brink of a conflictwhich now threatens to scorchother parts of India too.

Even as the violence betweenthe indigenous Bodos and the so-called Bangaldeshis continues tosimmer, allegations of mayhem bysome immigrant groups over thegory Assam events are findingmention in the national media withincreasing frequency. Almost 100people have perished in the vio-lence triggered by the brutal lynch-ing of four Bodo youths allegedlyby enraged illegal setters in Joypurvillage in Kokrajhar which is oneof the Bodoland TerritorialAutonomous Districts (BTAD).

How did we land in this high-ly-disturbing quagmire which ismarked by not one but variousethno-communal discords? To findone universally accepted answer to

this complex query would be nextto the impossible as various inter-est groups have myriad of answerspointing towards totally oppositedirection.

But one issue every punditcommenting on Assam wouldagree is that there has been a massmovement of migrants from thenearby (and largely impoverished)Bangladesh with whom Assamshares international border.

“Large scale illegal migrationfrom Bangladesh over severaldecades has been altering thedemographic complexion of thisState,” Lt Gen S K Sinha the for-mer Governor of Assam hadwarned in a report sent to thePresident of India in November1998.

“It poses a grave threat both tothe identity of the Assamese peopleand to our national security,” therespected Army veteran wrote inhis typical, no non-sense manner.

“Successive Governments atthe Centre and in the State have

not adequately met this challenge,”Lt Gen Sinha says in his frequentlyquoted controversial report.

Controversial, as there is aschool of the so-called secularintellectuals who want the problemto be seen from an entirely differ-ent prism where anyone using thephrase ‘illegal immigrants’ inAssam’s context runs the risk ofbeing labelled a die-hard Hindufascist.

A number of commentatorssupporting the cause of Bengali-speaking migrants have jumpedinto the debate.

“To make matters worse, lead-ers of the Bodo community, largesections of mainstream Assamesesociety, and a section of the mediaand the political class took it uponthemselves to allege and prove thatthe responsibility for this humantragedy lies squarely on “illegalBangladeshi migrants” and that theundifferentiated masses inhabitingwestern Assam are“Bangladeshis”,” Banajit Hussain

wrote in an op-ed piece in aChennai-based national dailyrecently.

“However, in the prevailingatmosphere of jingoism and xeno-phobia, it is not enough to juststate that migration of East Bengalipeasants in the early decades of the20th century is a well documentedhistorical fact,” the academic fur-ther wrote in his write-up.

Not many among the nativeAssamese population would, how-ever, concur with BanajitHussain’s arguably flawed narra-tive. They blame the ‘myopic’policies of the post-1947 Congressgovernments and also Assam’s firstPremier/Chief Minister Sir SyedMohammed Sadullah for bringingin Bengali farmers en masse as apart of his ‘Grow more’ campaignin the pre-Partition days. TheBritish did nothing to stop suchsocial-engineering which is nowmanifesting itself in the shape ofsocial discontent.

It is widely believed andaccepted that to expedite the inde-pendence of India Pandit Nehruwas willing to part with Assam toPakistan but for the opposition byAssam’s first Independence chiefminister Gopinath Bardoloi active-ly assisted by dedicatedCongressmen who appealed toGandhiji.

The apathy shown by PMNehru continues to be the corner-stone of the ruling CongressParty’s Assam policy to date. Thecritics of the Congress role in set-tling Bangladeshi migrants inAssam often allege that India hasto be the only country in the worldwhich not only allows mass infil-tration by foreigners but also helpsin legalising their residency status.

The changing demographic sta-

tus of the districts close to theBangladesh border, support theAssamese argument about theCongress ‘collusion’. Even thoughreligion based figures from 2011Census are not available yet, six ofsuch Assam districts are alreadyMuslim majority with other fourlikely to be declared minority dom-inated when religion based Censusfigures become available.

In the raging debate over ille-gal immigration, Congress hasstood steadfast in its support forBangladeshi migrants. The currentruling party not only brought inthe Illegal Migrants DeterminationTribunals (IMDT) Act in 1983 todetermine the residency status ofany person suspected of being anillegal immigrant. The Act, whichis blamed for actually impeding thedeportation of infiltrators fromAssam, was struck down bySupreme Court in 2005.

During 22 years of dubiousexistence of the IMDT Act, lessthan 1,500 illegal Bangladeshiswere actually deported fromAssam while West Bengal, whereForeigners Act was in operation,deported 489,046 illegal migrantsbetween 1983 and 1998.

The apex court was scathing inits verdict to declare the IMDTAct as against the Constitution. Italso held the Act responsible foractually made it possible for illegalmigrants from Bangladesh to con-tinue to live in Assam. The illegalBangladeshis also affected, theSupreme Court noted, the lan-guage, script and culture of thelocal people.

“The law had encouraged mas-sive illegal migration fromBangladesh to Assam,” said theSupreme Court.

Continued on page 32

Independence Day - a time to celebrateBy Rekha Bhattacharjee

India’s 65th Independence Daywill be celebrated with flag-hoisting ceremonies in

Canberra at the Indian HighCommissioner’s residence and thatof Consul Generals in Sydney,Melbourne and Perth.

Hoisting of the Tri Colour andsinging of the National Anthemfollowed by the reading of thePresident of India’s speech, cultur-al items followed by a morning teadraws a number of people in spiteof being a working day.

In India, celebrating freedomhas children dressed in tri colourhues. The Prime Minister inspectsthe guard of honour outside RedFort before delivering the tradi-tional speech on IndependenceDay from Red Fort, New Delhi.

We are reminded of our firstPrime Minister Pandit Nehru’swords that

“India will be what we are;our thoughts and actions will

shape her. All of us talk of Indiaand all of us demand many thingsfrom India. What do we give herin return? India will ultimatelygive us what we give of love andservice and productive and cre-ative work.”

We the Diaspora should striveto be a source of pride for India.

The 20 Million and more per-

sons of Indian origin in 136 coun-tries have strong bonds of solidari-ty. In India, this is being celebrat-ed by Pravasi Bharatiya Divaseach year on the 9th January.

We are proud of India’svibrant democracy and theresilience of our democratic insti-tutions.

Indians in Australia are proud

of India-Australia trade and peopleto people ties. Australian multicul-turalism is built on the ability forus to maintain our cultural linksand at the same time participatefully in the wider Australian com-munity.

Indian community in Australiaconsists of highly skilled profes-sionals who have become very

successful in their chosen careers.We contribute much to the richdiversity of the nation.

The history of IndianImmigration to Australia can betraced back to 1800s.

In the states of Australia,Indian community continues tomake great contributions in theareas of Public Service,Education, Science, Engineering,Medicine and arts.

In Queensland, Indian links goback to the European settlementdays. The Indian people havemade great contribution to thedevelopment of tropical agriculturein Queensland over many years.

The contribution made byIndians in Australia have beenimportant across the whole spec-trum of economic activity in thiscountry - just as Australia’s cul-ture has been enriched by contri-butions from one of the world’soldest civilizations.

Indians in Australia areproud of India-

Australia trade andpeople to people

ties. Australian multiculturalism is

built on the ability forus to maintain our cul-tural links and at the

same time participate fully in

the wider Australiancommunity.

The Third Eye by Rekha Bhattacharjee

Analysis

Decades of neglect, ill-devised social engineering and giving pettypolitical gains priority over the national interests has pushed

Assam to the brink of a conflict which now threatens to scorch other parts of India too.


India

PM moans lack of consensus, vows to fight corruptionNew Delhi: India's economicgrowth has been hurt due to lackof political consensus on manyissues, Prime Minister ManmohanSingh declared Wednesday.

Addressing the nation onIndia's 66th Independence Day,Manmohan Singh also vowed tobattle corruption while ensuringthat sincere officials were notaffected by baseless allegations ofwrongdoing.

In a speech directed primarilyat the domestic audience, theprime minister -- making his ninthspeech from the Red Fort -- madeno reference to Pakistan or anyother country.

The prime minister said Indiawas unable to create the environ-ment for rapid economic growth"because of a lack of political con-sensus on many issues".

"Time has now come to viewthe issues which affect our devel-opment processes as matters ofnational security."

The economist-turned-politi-cian, who became prime ministerin May 2004, did not dwell on theissues that were eluding a politicalconsensus.

Again, without elaborating, hereferred to "domestic develop-ments which are hindering oureconomic growth".

Despite 20 years of widelyacclaimed economic reforms, thepolitical establishment is stilldivided on certain growth issues.In recent times, the governmenthas faced flak from the oppositionon allowing foreign direct invest-ment in retail trade, stronglyfavoured by the US.

Speaking a day after yoga guruBaba Ramdev ended his fastagainst corruption and blackmoney, the prime minister said hisgovernment would take steps to

battle corruption."We will continue our efforts

to bring more transparency andaccountability in the work of pub-lic servants and to reduce corrup-tion," he said, reading out a pre-pared speech in Hindi from a bul-let proof cubicle.

"But we will also take care thatthose measures do not result in asituation in which the morale ofpublic functionaries... gets affect-ed because of baseless allegationsand unnecessary litigation."

He hoped that the Rajya Sabhawould soon pass the Lokpal andLokayukta bills already cleared bythe Lok Sabha.

India, he said, cannot escapethe global economic crisis. But thecountry's GDP growth would stillbe "a little better" than last year's6.5 percent.

The 12th Five Year Planwould lay down measures toincrease the economic growth ratefrom 6.5 to 9 percent in the lastyear of the Plan, he added.

Manmohan Singh, however,warned that controlling inflationwould had become tougherbecause of this year's poor mon-soon.

But this would not lead toproblems in foodgrains availabilityas "we have a big stock of food-grains".

"This period of difficulties willnot last long", he added.

In a reference to Assam, whereethnic violence claimed over 70lives, he said authorities weredoing everything possible to pro-vide relief to everyone.

Manmohan Singh also outlinedhis government's successes.

He said almost all villages hadbeen electrified, and the govern-ment's target was to provide elec-tricity to every household in India

in the next five years.The government was also for-

mulating a scheme to give awayfree medicines through govern-ment hospitals and health centres,he said.

Over the next five years, eightcrore Indians will be taught skilldevelopment by a specialisedagency to cope with the needs ofan expanding economy, he added.

Half the rural households todayhave bank accounts, he pointedout. "It will be our endeavour toensure tha all households benefitfrom bank accounts in the nexttwo years."

The prime minister also calledfor speedy infrastructure develop-ment, and said the planned Indianmission to Mars "will be a hugestep for us in the area of scienceand technology".

While lauding the improvementin situation in Jammu and Kashmirand the falling violence in India'snortheast, he said that Maoistsremained a major issue of con-cern.

"Communal harmony has to bemaintained at all costs... The inci-dents which occurred in Pune inthe beginning of this month pointto the need for much more workto be done in the area of nationalsecurity."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh giving his Independence Dayaddress to the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi

Disbanding Team Anna was collective decision, say members

New Delhi: While some of itsmembers appeared perplexed overthe disbanding of Team Anna, anofficial statement of the groupMonday said the decision was takenkeeping members "in loop".

"After meeting some of thecore committee members and dis-cussing with others, Anna Hazaredisbanded his core committee today(Monday)," an official statementfrom the spokesperson of the nowdisbanded team said.

The statement said that forma-tion of a "preparatory committee"is under way for the next phase ofthe movement.

"The committee was formed tonegotiate Lokpal bill with the gov-ernment. Since the movement forLokpal has now become a move-ment for total revolution, the corecommittee met its focused responsi-bility. In order to prepare for thenext phase of the movement, apreparatory committee is underway." "This would be very inclu-sive. It would include people withmass base and representing various

sections and movements. Namesare yet being discussed. This com-mittee would only prepare a planfor the next phase of the move-ment," the statement said.

Team member Kiran Bedi inher comment on Twitter said,"Read Anna's blog. Do not knowwhat all it means? For we all hadvery useful preparatory meetingwith Annaji wherein he gave usefulguidance!"

Team member Santosh Hegde,former Supreme Court judge andex-Team Anna member, mean-while, told a news channel that hewas surprised by the decision todisband the group.

"I was against the politicalmove... If at all it his decision togo in for a political party, he musthave decided to end the group."Anna Hazare, in his blogannounced disbanding Team Anna,and also warned team members thatthe political party that was to beformed should not become likeother existing parties, with moneyand power as its aim.

While disbanding Team Anna, Anna Hazare hinted at forming a political party

Ramdev ends fast with chants of 'Congress hatao'New Delhi: Raising the politicaltemperature, yoga guru BabaRamdev on August 14 accusedPrime Minister Manmohan Singh ofshielding the corrupt and asked peo-ple not to vote for the Congress inthe 2014 general elections as heended his five-day fast against cor-ruption and black money.

He, however, made it clear thatthe anti-graft stir will continue andhe was not going back defeated.

Ramdev broke his fast with limejuice given to him by two children.

"I am ending the fast but the agi-tation will go on till our demands aremet," Ramdev told a massive gather-ing at the Ambedkar Stadium in cen-tral Delhi where he and his support-ers spent the night after policedetained them Monday while march-ing to parliament.

"We will continue to fight forour rights, for bringing back blackmoney," the yoga guru told his sup-porters before flying back toHaridwar where he runs a yoga cen-

tre. Delhi Police had appealed toRamdev and the crowds to vacatethe stadium due to security reasonsahead of Independence Day celebra-tions.

However, before leaving the cap-ital, Ramdev, in a politically-lacedspeech, lambasted the prime ministerand the Congress-led UPA govern-ment and sought to rally the crowdaround the slogan of "Congresshatao, desh bachao".

"He (Manmohan Singh) shouldshow political will and honesty andif he does not show it, he will be

deemed as corrupt. If he can'tremain politically honest, then heshould leave the post," Ramdev saidin his speech that lasted an hour.

Holding the Congress responsiblefor price rise and poverty, Ramdevasked people not to vote for the"most corrupt party". Not even oneCongress member deserved to beelected in the 2014 general elections,he said. Ramdev's remarks evoked asharp reaction from the governmentand the Congress.

In an oblique critique of themethods used by Team Anna andBaba Ramdev, Pranab Mukherjeewarned Tuesday in his first publicspeech as India's new president thatanger against corruption was legiti-mate but there will be chaos if streetprotests become endemic.

Congress spokesperson ManishTewari said the government hadbeen spelling out its steps to tackleblack money for the past few yearsand it would be wrong to accuse itof inaction.

US downplays Manmohan Singh's visit to IranWashington: Downplaying the significance of IndianPrime Minister Manmohan Singh's upcoming visit towestern sanctions hit Iran, the US has hoped he wouldconvey to Tehran the importance of meeting its interna-tional obligations.

"We would hope, as we always do when our partnersand allies are involved in any kind of intersection withIran, that the larger points are made about the impor-tance of Iran coming back into compliance with its inter-national obligations," State Department spokespersonVictoria Nuland told reporters.

Tehran could do so "using the opportunity that the P-5+1 (five permanent members of the UN SecurityCouncil plus Germany engaged in diplomatic efforts withIran) has offered for diplomacy to actually make realprogress", she suggested when asked about Manmohan

Singh's trip to Iran Aug 28 to attend the Non-AlignedMovement (NAM) summit.

The visitors to Iran could "also express concernsabout the other alarming trends that we've seen withregard to Iran, including its support for terror", she saidgeneralising her comments.

Asked if the US was not troubled about the fact ofManmohan Singh's visit to Tehran to attend the NAMsummit, Nuland again downplayed the meeting suggest-ing it may just fizzle out.

Manmohan Singh's visit to Iran, the first by anIndian prime minister in over a decade since Atal BihariVajpayee's trip in 2001, is considered significant as itwould underline New Delhi's strategic intent to deepenties with sanctions-hit Tehran in the face of US pres-sures.

Baba Ramdev is trying to fill thevacuum left by disbanding of

Team Anna


Worshippers return to Wisconsin gurdwara

Washington: A week after a gunman killed sixpeople in a Wisconsin gurdwara, mournersstreamed into its prayer hall, bowing before theHoly Book, the Guru Granth Sahib, for thetemple's first official service.

Outside, members raised the American flagfrom half-staff and hoisted a new Sikh flag inan elaborate ritual surrounded by hundreds ofpeople who had come from around the world ina show of solidarity.

Sunday's service came near the close of aweeklong outpouring of sorrow and support forthe Sikh community and an emotional funeralservice August 10 for all six victims that filledthe Oak Creek High School gymnasium to over-flowing.

The six were killed August 5 when a whitesupremacist shooter opened gunfire at the gurd-wara near Milwaukee. The gunman who per-ished too was identified as Wade Michael Page,a 40-year-old army veteran with reported linksto the white supremacist movement.

Besides the policeman who took 9 bullets onhis body before another officer tackled the gun-man, another hero identified is Satwant SinghKaleka, the president of the assaulted gurdwara.He stood up to the rampaging white supremacist

with a knife and fought to the very end and suf-fered gunshot wounds while trying to take downthe gunman.

While the motive of the shooter is not clear,it is certainly a hate crime and the US lawauthorities are investigating it as a domestic ter-rorism.

Sikhs in America have been a victim ofmistaken identity (as Muslims) since 9/11because of their turbans and long beards. Thecommunity has faced more than 700 attacks orbias-related incidents since then. The first per-son murdered after the 9/11 attacks was a Sikh,a gas station owner in Mesa, Arizona, namedBalbir Singh Sodhi, who was shot five times byan assailant.

Estimates of the number of Sikhs living inAmerica range from 200,000 to 500,000. Manyleft their homes in the agricultural Punjabprovince and arrived first in the West andPacific Northwest in the late 1800s.

The controversial and lax gun laws in theUS have led to huge number of killings routine-ly and occasionally a mass killing like this oneor a month ago at a theatre showing the latestBatman film in Aurora, Colorado, which tookthe lives of 12 people and injured many more.

Satwant Singh Kaleka, president of the gurdwara (right) near Milwaukee, who stoodup to the rampaging white supremacist with a knife and died a hero.

Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh passes awayChennai: Union minister andformer Maharashtra chief min-ister Vilasrao Deshmukh diedhere Aug 14 after a prolongedillness. He was 67.

Deshmukh passed awayaround 2 p.m., sources at theGlobal Hospital said.Deshmukh was awaiting liverand kidney transplants. Hisfamily members, including his three sons

(one of them being Bollywoodactor Riteish Deshmukh), wereby his side when he breathedhis last.

Deshmukh, who was unionscience and technology minis-ter, was rushed to Chennaifrom Mumbai on Aug 6. Hehad been in the ICU since. OnJuly 19, Deshmukh was in New

Delhi for the presidential election.

Vilasrao Deshmukh

India

When Haryana’s home minister turned fugitive

Chandigarh: Till earlier this week, he wasHaryana's powerful minister in-charge ofhome affairs with the entire police force athis beck and call. In a matter of just threedays, Gopal Kanda became a fugitive him-self, running away from the law.

But the suicide by 23-year-old GeetikaSharma, a former flight attendant of his now-defunct MDLR airlines, in Delhi in earlyAugust last week was the game-changer. Shenamed Kanda in her suicide note and theSirsa legislator was stripped of his portfolio.

Always a controversial figure, his ascentfrom a school drop-out and petty business-man to one of the richest and most influentialpeople in Haryana's politics - all within aspan of just two decades - shows how Kandaused the system for his own gains.

A billionaire politician now, Kanda's pen-chant for high life could be seen from hissprawling fort-like farmhouse on the outskirtsof Sirsa town and touted to be worth Rs.100crore, as well as other properties in Gurgaonand nearby places. Added to that were hisflashy businesses - an airline, casino andhotels.

On the run from Delhi Police afterGeetika committed suicide last week in herDelhi apartment and named him and anotherexecutive, Aruna Chadha, as her tormentorswho drove her to commit suicide, Kanda hasalways managed to be a newsmaker for allthe wrong reasons.

When Hooda, compelled to take the sup-port of independent legislators to come backto power in Haryana in October 2009, decid-ed to induct Kanda as a minister in his gov-ernment, it was a known fact that Kanda hadcriminal cases pending against him.

Geetika Sharma named Gopal Kanda inher suicide note

Indian rush to contest council elections

By Neena Badhwar

Local Council Elections havebecome a hot battleground forcontestants from the Indian

subcontinent, seemingly in their newincarnation. More than twenty candi-dates are in the arena, some proppedby major parties in a vote dividingstrategy or to attract the migrant votewhile there are several others contest-ing the election on their own as inde-pendents from various councils.

The sudden Indian interest in poli-tics, albeit at the lowest rung, is a wel-come sign that the community is nowmaturing and is not merely contentbeing in stupor of the bread and butterissues of survival.

They have now graduated fromlocal community politics to the widermulticultural issues, realizing fullywell that standing on the sidelinesalone is not good enough for thegrowth of the community.

There are 152 councils in NSWand elections are being conducted in150 among them. Of these, 136 arebeing conducted by the ElectoralCommission. There are 3791 candi-dates in all standing in the electionswith 4.7 million eligible voters on theelectoral roll who must vote to electtheir favorite candidate and put themin the local council office as council-lors or even for the top job as theirmayor. The candidates must beenrolled for the council area or theward they represent. And they shouldhave two nominators to nominatethem to go through the electoralprocess of standing in the elections.

While there are large isolated areasin the west which need not be man-aged by Councils, in Sydney there isplethora of issues like local roads andparks, libraries and developments thathave to be managed by the localShires. The issues affect the residentsat the grass root level and oftentimesare inflamed by conflicting intereststhat need to be resolved for the over-all benefit of the community.

The councils seem to function stillin old archaic modes of providing forthe services without realizing thechanging landscape and the newlyarrived migrant communities that aregrowing and have different set ofneeds than what is currently available.

The Indian Down Under talked tosome of the candidates who have beenworking for months doing the roundsat various community events to woothe voters. Many among them areyoung, vibrant, energetic and willingto take the plunge.

Beth Shalini Perera

Beth Shalini Perera, who, inciden-tally, used to be one of TIDU’s youthwriters, is contesting for Holroydcouncil – E Ward and represents theMulti-Cultural Unity Party. “I amlooking forward to injecting energyand my unrelenting dedication into thecommunity which is quite sizeable innumber being almost 20 per cent inand around Westmead, SouthWentworthville, Merrylands,Granville, Mays Hill and Holroydarea,” says Shalini.

“Most of these voters are in the 25– 39 years age bracket with youngfamilies. So their issues are goodchildcare facilities, car parking aroundtrain stations and I sincerely want tosupport small local business. Butabove all I have listened to concernsof personal safety by these people andthat is my major concern too. I havedone a lot of work and it has beenquite exhausting for the last one monthwhen I have gone door to door andshop to shop talking to people andfinding out what they would wantfrom me. Luckily, I have very sup-portive husband in Ritchie Perera andit is quite exciting to put in my worthin helping to improve the quality oflife of my people in my electorate,”she says.

Shalini was born in Fiji and cameto Australia with her Indian parentswhen she was one month old. She isnow married to Ritchie Perera of SriLankan origin and understands themultiracial community structure in thearea.

“The only way for us to move for-ward is when we all work together andaim as one community to achieve andmove forward regardless of race,colour or religion. We all came herefor better life and we must work andaim for it by contributing to the socie-

ty in ways that benefit us all as one,”she says.

Shalini has done a degree inCommunications and works forAusgrid and has been involved incharity activities for Red Cross,Father Riley’s Youth off the streets,Cancer Council, I-India Project andWorld Wild Life Organisation.

Gurdeep Singh

Gurdeep Singh is running as aLiberal candidate from Ward ‘B’ ofthe Hornsby Shire Council.

He runs a Civil Engineering com-pany in the Shire and likes helpingpeople as a service provider.

“I would like to diversify into adifferent way of serving the communi-ty as a great supporter of Liberal poli-cies. We need to be transparent andaccountable and aim to help improveamenities,” he says.

“Specifically for the Indian com-munity I would like the recently set upmigrant Resource Centre to contributemore to the multicultural communitiesand their related needs. As a councilorI will make sure that more funds areallocated and provided for the seniorcitizens of the Indian community sothat they can appropriately spend timeand engage in meaningful activitiesfor a healthy old age,” says Gurdeep.

Dilip ChopraDilip Chopra has been a pioneer in

the Indian community having servedas a Councillor in the Hornsby Shirein the last term. He is running for thecoveted job again, seeking reelectionas a candidate for the Liberal partyfrom Ward ‘C’.

“I have always been an advocate ofmulticulturalism and communitytogetherness. As a former Vice-President of the UIA I have strived topromote the importance of IndianAustralians and their contribution to

the area. While serving the councilwith dignity and serving the shire indifferent sectors such as aged care anddisability I have always spoken up formy community in our shire meet-ings,” Dilip says.

Liverpool is one area which hasstrong Indian presence in terms ofpeople and a strong Indian businesscommunity with shops and businessesdealing in Indian clothes, wares, foodand spices. People from all overSydney come to shop in Liverpool asit has turned into a ‘Little India’ of thewest. There are two candidates ofIndian descent from this area.

Charisma Kaliyanda

Young Charisma Kaliyanda repre-sents the Liverpool Labor team. Shefeels that the Indian community is anintegral part of Liverpool. “We feelthat the Council should reflect thediversity of the community it repre-sents. Our team seeks to do so and wehave two candidates of Indian descent,myself and Rajesh Kumar.

“Our main aim, if elected to theCouncil, will be to bring local govern-

Community


Community


ment back to the community. We needto keep services such as childcare,libraries and parks in public hands sothat they can be accessed and enjoyedby everyone. We believe that it is inthe best interests of the widerLiverpool community to have qualityservices that are affordable and acces-sible. The Liverpool Labor team alsowants to return the focus of theCouncil to traditional local govern-ment functions such as road mainte-nance, town planning and waste dis-posal,” Charisma says.

Balaji Venkataraghvan is on LaborParty ticket standing from the EastHolroyd City Council from the Eastward that covers areas of Merrylands,Merrylands West, Mayshill,Parramatta, Westmead,Wentworthville and SouthWentworthville. He is originallyfrom Bangalore but of Tamil back-ground.

He is an active community leaderwho is confident, ambitious, pro-active with energetic outlook and ispassionate for the arts, the film andcultural activities. He also stronglybelieves in advancing the cause of thedisadvantaged people.

"I am extremely concerned aboutover development with Holroyd CityCouncil without adequate infrastruc-ture. There has been rapid change inthe structure of the population withinthe Holroyd City Council region andthis rapid change has not reflected inchange of service for these people,”he says.

Susai Benjamin

Labor Candidate Susai Benjamin isstanding from Ward 3, BlacktownCity Council.

He is a well-known communityleader, a solicitor and an advocate forthe people in the Blacktown area.

Since his arrival in Australia fromIndia in 1987, Susai has been workingfor the community and planned theestablishment of Toongabbie LegalCentre Inc (TLC) in 2007.

He brings nearly 25 years’ experi-ence as a NSW public servant. Overthe years, he has served as anExecutive Committee member of theEthnic Communities Council of NSWand as a Board member of MigrantResource Centres in Blacktown andParramatta. He also served as the

Board member and later the Presidentof Multicultural Arts Alliance ofNSW.

Raj Datta

Raj Datta is the Labor Party leaderfrom Strathfield. He has been work-ing hard for the last six months walk-ing the Strathfield streets form door todoor. Raj is running on the leadingticket of Labor for the Mayoral posi-tion.

“I have practically met every resi-dent of Strathfield. The Labor teamwill work for all.

We will not just work for the cho-sen few but each and every resident inall the nooks, corners and the streetsof Strathfield.”

“We want to provide a clean, effi-cient, effective local governmentbased on common obligations, com-mon purpose, loyalties and commondestiny.

We aim to deliver a better commu-nity space, local services and facili-ties, transparency, integrity and com-munity empowerment. We will deliv-er improved focus on public safetyand accountability,” says Raj.

The Indian subcontinent communi-

ty is close to 10 per cent of the totalpopulation in Strathfield area. Hismessage to the community is: “Don’tvote for a party which is out to exploitthe Indian vote.”

Rajiv BhandulaRajiv Bhandula is standing as a

Liberal candidate from StrathfieldLocal Council.

Says Rajiv, “I could see a signifi-cant growth in Strathfield of people ofIndian heritage.

Consequently it requires an appro-priate representation for our commu-nity in the council.

We have this active action plan‘Local for Locals’ – a program underwhich we encourage street basedevents so that the new residents canmix with the old residents.

Other major issues are the exten-sion of M4, work to eliminate trafficcongestion in Strathfield and alsostopping the current ACU approvedplan.”

Neria Nidea-Soliman,

Neria Nidea-Soliman, is ofPhilipino origin and has similarvisions of a multicultural communityas her Indian counterparts. She is run-ning from Ward 5 BlacktownCouncil. Her slogan is to listen to theconcerns of the people.

Says Neria, “Ward 5 needs

change. It is looking for ethnic repre-sentation. It is looking for new ideasand committed people who can deliv-er. My slogan is ‘Neria Live’ and Iam always there to listen and deliv-er.”

Among other candidates in theCouncil elections are: Rajiv Dixitfrom Burwood, young Aisha Amjadfrom Pakistan from the Hills Shire(North Ward), Esha Narayan (TheGreens) and Rajesh Kumar (Labor)from Liverpool South, SajeshNarayan (The Greens) from LiverpoolNorth, Seema Garg (I) fromBankstown North, Varun Nayak (I)from Mount Colah, Satish Kumar(Labor) from Blacktown Ward 3 andthe Desi team of John Niven,Sukhwant Singh Sidhu and Vidya Raofrom Parramatta Arthur Phillip Ward.

As the Indian subcontinent com-munity is one of the fastest growingmigrant communities in Australia, itis a welcome sign that there is aware-ness now to represent the communityneeds.

And who is better to understandthose needs than the one who canspeak the same language.

Good luck to all!

Group photo of Labor Team Liverpool

Wendy Waller, runinng for MayorLiverpool Council

Raj Datta, first Indian running forMayor from Strathfield on

Labor ticket.

Community


By Dr Shyam Bhati

Every year we ritually gatherto pay obeisance to independ-ence heroes of yesteryears

who lost their lives in winning free-dom from British rule. True, theywere great heroes and the sacrificesthey made for India’s independencewere immense and ultimate. Theydeserve to be remembered and asIndians, back home or abroad, weall need to pay respect to theirheroism.

But how?Will those heroes in their heav-

enly abode be happy if we rituallylit lamps, recited ‘Jan Gan Man…’and replayed Nehru’s famousspeech “Tryst with destiny” withoutunderstanding a bit what it means tobe a person of Indian origin inAustralia?

I asked a young man after one ofthese functions to explain what hethought of current IndianIndependence Day function that hehad just attended in one of the nice-ly decorated halls. “Oh uncle, I didnot get you? Nice dresses, mixedwith loud Bollywood tunes and alldance numbers of little kids beinggroomed as future stage artists bytheir mothers, who wanted them tosee on stage and get photographedfor family album. Is it not interest-ing.”

I asked him again what hethought of the British period ormodern India, living in Australiawith his parents who probably hadimmigrated twenty years back. Hisreply was: “Who cares. I am inAustralia now and that’s what mat-ters to me.”

Exactly who cares what hap-pened sixty five years ago if that’snot relevant any more to the contextin which we live our everyday life.This is not an affront to all the bravesoldiers of independence move-ment, Quit India movement and allthe satyagraha that were done priorto 1947 in India.

But the question is what theyoung men, women and we as expa-triate Australians of Indian originmake of their sacrifices in 2012 liv-ing in Australia. Is performing allthese rituals and routinely remem-bering them enough? Or we justwant to pat our back and say, oh weare great Indians because we cele-brated another Independence Day ina land away from home.

Come on, get real, guys.Independence Day celebration is nota ritual we do and forget till the nextone comes along.

In one of the functions a rathervocal lady told me, history is impor-tant. Of course history is importantbut in what way. Just to rememberand forget it later or to evaluatewhat we have done so far and whatwe could possibly do in future.History is history. It is past and past

is relevant if we can take somethingfrom the past and improve our pres-ent and possibly formulate a strate-gy for future.

It is not history but the contextin which we use history to under-stand the present is important. Andthat context cannot be understood ifwe just pay lip service or may beBollywood service to martyrs offreedom struggle. Certainly it is anoccasion to get dressed in the best ofcostumes with latest fads beingexhibited in their full splendour.Girls and women like to get goodhairdos, nails, may be make over,buy heavy chhammak challo sareesfrom George Street in Liverpooland get their latest ornaments ondisplay to match their dresses. Guyslike to wear their latest Kurtas andpyjamas to look Indian and wearHindi accent in Aussie slang. Andwe all offer our dance steps on‘Sheila ki Jawani’ and ‘Munni bad-nam hui’ to our dead heroes.

What a nice offering of colourand latka jhatka. “Aha maza aa gayabhai bada… kya achha laga humaaraprogram aapko”. The best ever tillthe next one, when may be Sheilawill be substituted by Jalebi bai orChhanno or who knows anotherAnarkali will leave Salim ki gali andcome to Australia.

One of the important ways inwhich the Independence Day is cel-ebrated is to indulge in kickboxingthe British who occupied India after1857 particularly. British bashing isstill our favourite pastime becausethey occupied the ‘Sone ki chidiya’Mother India and pushed it downthe poverty line.

Yeah yeah, I am not a fan of theBritish. They did horrible things.They destroyed Indian cottageindustries, killed many innocentpeople to sustain their empire, putin place an education system whichkilled our Indianness and introducedthe babugiri which is still manifestitself in IASs and bureaucracy thatwe have endured in last 65 years orso.

Clearly, what can one expectfrom a colonial power. They camewith an objective to rule India andexploit its resources to their benefit.They were very successful in theirmission. Our people helped them.The rajas and the nawabs of riyasatsand jagirs sought British help to set-tle their old scores and ultimatelyended up being part of the DarbarRaj of the queen of England HHQueen Victoria. Who is to beblamed for that? The Rajas, theNawabs or the British?

So why don’t we recall thetreachery of some of our own peo-ple who directly or indirectly helpedBritish to establish their Raj in Indiaand learn some lessons there. Ohthat’s not convenient. How can weblame ourselves when we are cele-brating Independence Day. May be,

some sceptics say. We are greatIndian patriots. We remember onlygood things about Indians and onlybad things the British did.

Coming to the British, we onlyrecall what evil they did to India. Imean the atrocities in JalianwalaBagh, Quit India Movement, SaltMarch and after that the partition ofIndia. I will come to the partition abit later. But we forget convenient-ly what good the British did toIndia. But for the British we wouldnot be a single country but manyriyasats or rajwadas or nawab’sjagirs.

People in India would still beruled by the rajahs and the mahara-jas whose characteristics weredescribed by writers like DiwanJarmani Das in his book. So we gota unified country which has beenruled by a democratically electedparliament and sustaining multi-party system.

No one celebrates Indian elec-tion commission, which is doing thebest work in the world to keep theworld’s biggest democracy goingstrong in spite of all its weaknesses.British did give India a system oflaw and put in place a commercialsystem which gave impetus to Tatasand Birlas in their enterprise. Wejust ignore that. If Indian laws arestill lagging behind the world it isbecause we can’t agree on what pol-icy direction India should take andhow we should go about reformingour market regulation? Do we adoptLalu’s way or go by what businessneeds for growth and development.

Certainly the British did notforesee that democracy could resultin having more than 25 percent oflegislators with criminal back-ground, but neither did the constitu-tional experts who drafted the greatdocument.

Another charge on the British isthat they created Hindu-Muslimrivalry and were instrumental in thepartition of India. Yes, the Britishdid have ulterior motive in partitionof India, but so did our leaders ofthe time who were desperate tobecome president and prime minis-ters of the sovereign states.

Poor Bapuji! He died for thesake of Hindu Muslim unity but westill indulge in communal riots.Immediately after independencemore than one million people losttheir lives in partition riots. If theBritish are to be blamed for that, sotoo our power hungry leaders. Butno one blames them. We areIndians, how can we blame our ownwhen the British are there for thebashing?

How many times we have hadcommunal riots after independence.Does anyone remember what hap-pened in Ahmedabad in 1969, inMoradabad in 1979-80, in Delhi in1984, in Meerut in 1987, inBhagalpur in 1989, Mumbai in 1992or Gujarat in 2002? Thousands died

in communal riots during these peri-ods and the British were nowherenear those places. So who do weblame for that?

Well, it was a culture engi-neered by the British which ourpoliticians followed to a tee to sus-tain power. But we are patrioticIndians. Bharat desh has alwaysbeen mahan in our eyes. We can’tblame ourselves can we?

Ok, may be I have strayed frommy main issue of what we can makeof our Indian heritage in Australiawhere we live now. Australia is ouradopted country. Why did we comehere? May be to join a family mem-ber who was already here or may beas an economic migrant in search ofbetter prospects or may be juststrayed into the country as touristand liked it so much that decided tostay here or may be came from Fijior Kenya or Uganda after the polit-ical conditions made it hard for usto stay there.

Whatever may be the motive orthe reason for coming here, the factis that we are in Australia and livingas Indo Australians. Certainly weare proud of our heritage and past,but we can’t live with our heritageforever when the world around us ismoving so fast. Even the Indians inIndia have moved on with globalisa-tion and liberalisation while here westick on to the same old Indian valuebeliefs and system of the old India.

Or, perhaps, we get emotionaland nostalgic on patriotic days aboutour Mother India and ourIndianness erupts. That’s fine byme. But how do we deal with that?Should we try to know the differ-ence between where we were andconsider ourselves somewhat luckyto be in a country where no streetriots takes place ever, no trainscatch fires, not many people die inroad accidents at the hourly rate,everyone gets vaccinated, educationis compulsory and not just in namebut in deed as well and there is apotent social security system whichcan take care of people in need.

Or, do we just keep on playingon our nostalgia and keep onsinging and dancing desh bhaktisongs. We must move on and whilecelebrating our heritage, our cul-ture, look at ways how best we cancontribute as NRIs in a constructivemanner with our expertise backhome to improve the failing infra-structure and help start a movementto introduce into the citizens ofIndia a sense of responsibility of thecountry and not just be corrupt andselfish amassing wealth and wastingit.

India has come into untoldwealth yet it is fritting it away with-out any remorse as our Indian politi-cians flaunt garlands made of croresof rupees. There should be changeof awareness at the grass root levelwhich should form into a movement

of sorts to lift the country from aselfish mentality to a nation that isproud not only of its riches but howit spends in building a proud nationwith much better amenities, roadsand other infrastructures.

One only has to look to China tosee how it is building its cities. Oreven countries such as Thailand andKorea have better roads, trains andhighways and they made all thoseimprovements decades ago.

While Mukesh Ambani is in theForbes rich list does the Relianceboss care about his Mumbai whichhas gone to the dogs while he buildshimself a two billion nine-storeyhome.

For the mother country our feel-ings and emotions are intact andwill remain probably that way tillwe die. But that is not going to helpus or our children or the mothercountry in anyway.

May be we need to develop aperspective which will paint a real-istic picture of India in our kids andnot feed them with its ‘Sone kichidiya’ illusion. Let us tell themIndia is a vast country with vastproblems, nothing like the placethey live in. There are ultra rich likeAmbanis and Birlas but unfortunate-ly 40 per cent of the population livesbelow poverty line. There are prob-lems of corruption, population,health, caste system, dowry system,education and economic problemsas well.

Like every country India is deal-ing with these problems within ademocratic framework like its nextdoor neighbours. Past 65 years orso have compounded these prob-lems in many ways but particularlythrough population growth.

Of course kids have all themeans to check this information ifthey are willing and eager to learnelse they may be content to visitIndia for fun or family and may becheap shopping. May be as a com-munity we can formulate a strategyto help in pockets where we canpossibly do and some of us aredoing it very well, Hats off to themand their commitment.

It is people with this kind ofpassion who need to be celebratedand honoured on IndependenceDay.

As a community we need to cel-ebrate our contribution to Australiain various fields and to India, inholding its head high as expatriateIndians. But let us get real, we can’tsustain this notion of British bashingfor long. It’s time to give it up. LetIndia and Indians own responsibilityfor what they did in last 65 yearsand what they will do to themselvesin future. Not forgetting ever thatwe also owe it to our adoptive coun-try which is Australia and try to begood citizens who contribute in apositive way.

That’s a healthy tribute to ourdead heroes of Independence.

India’s Independence Day, a time to introspectWe must move on and while celebrating our heritage, our culture, look at ways how best we as NRIs can contributeour expertise back home to improve the failing infrastructure and help start a movement to introduce into Indians a

sense of responsibility of the country and not just be corrupt and selfish amassing wealth and wasting it.


Bollywood

By Neeru Saluja

Girls swoon when they flex their mus-cles on the reel screen. But when theyflex their muscles in real life, they

call for big trouble! The macho men ofBollywood have often mixed their on screenpersona with real life situations. The heroesand police come face to face, but unfortu-nately their heroism is not applauded bywhistles here.

Bollywood celebrities have often comeunder the limelight for all the wrong reasons.While some of them are just involved in scuf-fles with the media, others have beenengaged in serious police cases. Though theybelieve they can get away with their celebri-ty attitude, when it comes to crime, no one isspared.

Here we profile the top five Bollywoodbrats:

Bollywood’s Fight Club

Girls swoon when these Bollywood bratsflex their muscles on the reel screen. Butwhen they flex their muscles in real life,

they call for big trouble!

Salman Khan

Salman Khan is theKing of Bollywood’sFight Club. Year

after year, he has been sur-rounded by controversiesand is not ashamed of hisstature. In 1998, he wasawarded a jail term for hisinvolvement in the 1998black bucks killing case. In2002, he was arrested for

rash and negligent drivingwhen he killed one personand injured three. In 2008,he fought with Shah RukhKhan at Katrina Kaif’sbirthday. In 2010 a casewas filed against Salmanover vulgarity of content ina reality show 'Bigg Boss'hosted by him.

He also has a history of

physical abuse with his ex-girlfriends.

After their break-up,Aishwarya Rai accusedhim of physically assault-ing her. He also allegedlybeat up Somy Ali in a hoteland threw cold drink onher. Another rumour is heslapped Katrina Kaif in hisvan.

Fardeen KhanPoor Fardeen Khan.

Apart from beingFeroze Khan’s son

and a few mediocre films,he has nothing much tohis credit.

Except being caughtwith cocaine in 2001. Hewas charged by a specialNarcotic Drugs andPsychotropic SubstancesAct Court, but pleadednot guilty for the charge.After ten years in 2011,he heaved a sigh of reliefwhen the court droppedthe charge of possessionand decided to try him foronly attempting to buycocaine.

Saif Ali KhanThe Nawab of

Pataudi, unfortunate-ly, doesn’t have a

very noble past. In 1998, hewas charged with poachingtwo blackbucks in Kankaniduring the filming of 'HumSaath Saath Hain' alongwith co-stars Salman Khan,Tabu, Sonali Bendre andNeelam. Though thecharges were finallydropped, the case madeheadlines for a very longtime. In late February thisyear, he assaulted an NRIfrom South Africa at a hotelin Mumbai while diningwith friends. Saif managedto break the man’s nose andfiled a counter complaintagainst the NRI business-man.

Shah Rukh KhanThe King of Khans -

Shah Rukh Khanmay have con-

quered Bollywood but hehas not been able to con-trol his temper. He hasbeen in the news a lotrecently for his tempertantrums. He has alwaysbeen in war with fellowKhan, Salman.

Earlier this year, heassaulted Farah Khan’shusband Shirish Kunder ata party after he mockedhis film (Ra.One). Then inMay he got into a scufflewith the security guards ofthe Mumbai CricketAssociation who were try-ing to stop him fromentering WankhedeStadium after an IPL

match. SRK’s verdict wasthe security guards weremishandling his daughterand her friends. The result– SRK has been banned

from entering the stadiumfor five years. His team,Kolkata Knight Riders,won the IPL 5 champi-onship though!

Sanjay DuttSanjay Baba is

Bollywood’s youngstar trouble. After his

mother Nargis’ death in1981, he admitted to hisdrug addiction and was sentto rehab in US. He was firstarrested in 1982 with 357gm of cocaine and was sen-tenced to 17 months impris-onment.

In the 1993 Mumbaibomb blast case, he wasjailed for illegal possessionof weapon and links withthe underworld. His drugaddiction past gave way tohis filmi future.

He spent 16 weeks injail until he was granted bailby the Supreme Court.From 2006 to 2008, he

spent seven months in dif-ferent jails. In 2010, he wasdenied a US visa because of

his conviction under theTerrorist and DisruptiveActivities Act.

Bollywood


By Neeru Saluja

He is the poor little richman of Bollywood. Anordinary lad of Delhi is

now one of the world’s richestman in the entertainment indus-try. The King of Bollywood,Shah Rukh Khan is listed in theForbes list and has an estimatednet worth of $540 Million (INR25 billion).

With just 70 films in hiscareer, he is the richest actor ofBollywood. Apart from films,he owns production companies,Red Chillies Entertainment andDreamz Unlimited, and alsoco-owns IPL Cricket teamKolkata Knight Riders. Hisvast fortune includes severalluxury cars, homes in Mumbai,Dubai, London and several realestate investments.

Mumbai is one of theworld’s top 10 centres of com-merce in terms of global finan-cial flow. Amongst the richestin the city, Bollywood celebri-ties are swimming in cash.Actors like Amitabh Bachchan,Aamir Khan, Salman Khan,

Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumarand actresses like AishwaryaRai, Kareena Kapoor andVidya Balan are amongst themost expensive and richestcelebrities.

Gone are the days whenonly films brought in money.Today’s stars have hugeendorsement deals, TV showearnings, movies overseasrights and investments. HrithikRoshan is promoting thebiggest brands, Akshay Kumaris a craze in overseas markets,Aamir Khan and SRK demandRs 5-10 crore per film, whileSalman Khan is said to havebeen paid 90 crores for the firstepisode of his popular show‘Dus ka Dum’.

The heroines are no less intheir assets. Despite being crit-icised for being overweight,Aishwarya Rai has signed a 10crore endorsement deal with anIndian jewellery brand. She isin no hurry to return to filmsbecause she knows her value onreturn. After getting marriedinto the Bachchan family, theirperformances and appearances

have become a lucrative deal.Kareena Kapoor and VidyaBalan are being termed as the‘new hero’ of the Indian cine-ma, delivering hit after hit andbeing paid at par with theirmale counterparts.

But not long ago, the filmpersonalities who lived richlifestyles in their heydey havehad an insecure future. Thebest example is of Bollywood’ssuperstar Amitabh Bachchan.The angry young man becamethe greatest superstar inBollywood for a decade in the70s. But the 90s weren’t thebest time of his life. After aninjury in filming, a stint in pol-itics, a few hits and lots of flopmovies, he set up the AmitabhBachchan Corporation Ltd(ABCL) in 1996 which eventu-ally collapsed financially andoperationally after being thesponsor of the 1996 MissWorld pageant in Bangalore.This was the greatest slump ofhis career, he lost millions andthe company was declaredfailed. The Bombay HighCourt restrained Bachchan

from selling off his bungalowand two flats till the pendingloan recovery cases of CanaraBank were disposed of. Not tobe believed in those days, buthe recovered from his slumpand rose to fame once againafter becoming the TV host ofthe famous quiz show ‘KaunBanega Crorepati.

But all haven’t been aslucky as Amitabh Bachchan,who even approaching 70 stillreigns the industry. There havebeen a few who have died pen-niless towards the end of theircareers. The superstar of 50sand 60s Bharat Bhushan alwaysacted with top heroines likeMeena Kumari, Madhubala,Nutan, but at the end of hiscareer he struggled even to getminiscule roles. He onceowned the poshest bungalowsof Mumbai, but had to move toa chawl in the slums ofMumbai. He died pennilesswhile requesting an auto-rick-shaw driver to take him to hos-pital. Khan Mastana,Mohammed Rafi’s co-singer inthe immortal patriotic song

Watan ki Raah Mein Watan keNaujawan Shaheed Ho died abeggar at the Haji Ali Dargah.

When actress Vimmi died,there was no one to even claimher body at the hospital and it issaid Meena Kumari’s bungalowhad to be auctioned to pay forher pending medical bills whenshe passed away. Glamorousactress Parveen Babi, knownfor her western looks and hour-glass figure, lay dead for sever-al days in her flat.

Though Mumbai is the cityof light and dark, it seems as ifBollywood glitz and the latestrich list will always outshinethe glum. If they can’t flextheir muscles on the silverscreen, they can always showoff crocodile tears on the smallscreen. If they become fat towalk the ramp, they can alwayssell noodles for kids on televi-sion. If they can’t own a gym,they can own a cricket team.Last but not the least, they canretire after marrying a richbusinessman. If you sing theright tune here, you have hitthe jackpot!

Bollywood stars are swimming in cash. But the entertainment nagri in the past has

proved a fickle muse to the earlier generations of stars.

Shah Rukh Khan: Forbes estimates his net worth at Rs 25 billion.

Hrithik Roshan is endorsing biggest brands, another source of big money besides movies.

AishwaryaRai: Despitebeing criticised forbeing overweightafter childbirth,AishwaryaRai hassigned a 10croreendorsementdeal with ajewellerybrand.

Bharat Bhushan: He romanced top heroines of his time,but died penniless while requesting an auto-rickshaw

driver to take him to hospital.Vimmi: When this actress died, there was no one to even

claim her body at the hospital.

Meena Kumari: Her bungalow had to be auctioned to pay for her pending medical bills

when she passed away.

Bollywood’s rich brigade


Bollywood

By Ritu Ghai

Elegance and history walkhand in hand in theintriguing models of these

Vintage cars that have an entireera attached to it. And as thepassion for these rare modelsgets converted into a craze, con-noisseurs spend more money andtime to restore these treasurepieces into its most originalform. The result always invokesawe and adoration in the eye ofthe owner and the admirer.

A rich tapestry of historyruns throughout India with over3500 vintage and classic carsfrom the 1930’s to 1960’s,owned by businessmen andscions of royal families of India.And the colourful land ofRajasthan enchants many withits collection of classic wheels.

History is witness to the factthat the introduction of automo-biles in India, around 50 yearsbefore independence, broughtabout a special touch to the richand the famous. The thrill andthe passion towards these fourwheeled discovery led to manypeople emptying their coffers toacquire the most unique andgrand vehicles such asMercedes, Bentleys, Jaguars,which soon became a symbol ofpower, status and royalty.

It is also known that one outof every four Rolls Royce builtin the pre-Independence era wasimported to India. Maharaja ofGwalior, Maharaja of Indore,Patiala and Rajasthan during theRaj developed a penchant forcars and this led to an upsurge inthe British automobile industryin a big way then.

Connoisseurs andCollectors…

Even today the elusive imageof these veteran owners lurksbehind the vintage cars passedon to their heirs.� Vikram Singh of

Rajasthan owns the Mercedes290 (1936), Jaguar Mark V andII, XK 120, Triumph, Bentley.� Lakshmi Raman swears

by his Rolls Royce wraith,Jaguar mark IV s type, mark 10,Buick 8, Chrysler Windsor.� Dhananjai Singh

Khimsar stands proud with mgtc, Rolls Royce, Jaguar mark Vand II while Vikram AdityaSingh owns Masuda, Jaguarmark IV, Buick 8, Impala.

Executive Director of theClarks Group of Hotels, ApurvaKumar, has an exotic collectionof Ferrari 304 and SauravKakkar, the icon of the TelecomIndustry in Rajasthan, boastswith his Ford model 210 PlyMount. Adding grace to the fleet

of royal cars is the 76th custodi-an of the House of Mewar, HisHighness, Shreeji Arvind SinghMewar of Udaipur with hisgrand collection of vintage carshoused at the former Mewarstate Motor Garage within thegrounds of Grand Hotel.Feasting our eyes further aresome of the biggest collectors ofVintage cars - Pranlal Bhogilalof Ahmedabad, Vijay Mallaya,Sharad Shanghi ofIndore andLakshmi Raman who feels thatIndia is rich in heritage with notonly the buildings but the royalcars as well.

Further enhancing theVintage grandeur are ShatrunjaiSingh Chundawat of Deogarh

district in Rajasthan who own asmall 16 horse power SunbeamTalbot (the same model thatLord Mount Batten was last seenin Shimla before partition ofIndia ) Jaguar S Type (previous-ly owned by famous actressWaheeda Rehman) and a MarkIV Jaguar. Highlighting the age,grace, lines and curves of hiscars, Shatrunjai Singh feels thatrestoration of the cars is animportant attribute of vintagecars and the effort that convert apiece of junk into a gleamingmasterpiece is inexplicable.

Return of an era...In the early days, special

coach builders and designerswere commissioned to carry out

lavish specifications thatappealed to the owner of the car.The spirit continues to live andgrow as the ancient beautiesfrom the 1930’s to the 1970’sare being worked upon andrestored into the form in whichthey first rolled out of the show-room. Their proud owners woothem with a passion that refusesto curb. Further Vintage carshows and rallies showcasemodels like Austin Seven, origi-nal Morris Minor, Buicks,Lagondas, Chryslers, Pontiacs,Chevrolets, Bentleys, Mercedesand Jaguars to command atten-tion of admirers that range fromcelebrities to people of promi-nence.

The sheer excitement of get-ting the car restored, reliving themystic of an era gone by andthen displaying them is a nostal-gic experience. And there aremany people behind this onerousyet interesting task.

Seamlessly blending theintriguing models with stylishsensibilities is Vikram Singhwho started this trend that soonbecame a craze. Highlighting thesocial objective of these cars, hestates, “It gives employment toskilled craftsmen, creates wealthfor the nation and a database forfuture automobile engineers".

Echoing his views isShatrunjai Singh talking aboutrestoration of these cars being anoccupation for people who loveand understand cars - the denter,the carburettor mechanic, thespeedometer repairer, the buickhorn tuner, the crank shaft spe-cialist, the upholstery man, thesuspension specialist and others.

“These people may not betrained professionals but areskilled persons chasing a pas-sion. For example, 80 year-old-Abdul Bhai who tunes old cars,Hamid Bhai who dents or NalinBhai who adds coils springs toan old car. They all are skilledand trained by important restor-ers such as Satish Jangid ofUnited Restoration on Ajmerroad, Bhupender Bhai or TutuDhawan. May god bless theseRestorers of ours,” laughsShatrunjai Singh while beamingwith joy over the future of theseold beauties being secure in suchcapable hands. Rajasthan issprinkled with royalty all overand coupled with a rust free anddry climate, makes it a perfectplace for such a work.

But restoration requires lot ofefforts. It’s not easy to get spareparts and these have to be hunt-ed from all over India or import-ed from US and many timeseven fabricate the part if therestorers are unable to get themfrom anywhere. It’s like actuallyliving that phase. After thiscomes, from the study of thecar's history, its original shapewhich is done from books or ifone can grab the cars’ manual.Therein starts months andmonths of work to finally get thetreasured piece looking brandnew without loosing its originallook. The restorer has to takecare not to overdo things and trybest to restore the cars to theiroriginal glory.

Vintage cars are not aboutcars alone. It’s about sentimentsand respecting the past. An artform that symbolizes the glam-our of a mystic era and stillhides in itself many untold talesand an incredible past.

India is home to Vintage Cars

Bentley 6 unrestored

Lakshmi Raman with Jaguar Mark 6

Bollywood


By Ritu Ghai

What made RajeshKhanna so popular? Hewas not very tall, defi-

nitely not slim and certainly notthe essential ‘hero material’. Butwomen drooled over him and menenvied him, producers lined up tosign him and fans went in frenzywhen he turned his face in thefamed angle and raised his handin his trademark style.

Rajesh Khanna had that ‘spe-cial something’ that is hard todefine and even harder to forget.

Charisma undefined, actingprowess unsurpassed and his songnumbers unparalleled, ‘Kaka’, ashe was fondly called, captured thehearts of people with his youthfuleffervescence and , his songs, hisextraordinary energy and never-say-die-spirit.

As the crowd swelled in num-bers to bid adieu to their favouriteactor the other day, it didn’t takelong for even the new generationto realize what a true blue super-star he was.

Even the mortal remains ofRajesh Khanna in the glass casketattracted a mammoth crowd, whofollowed their cherished ‘hero’ onhis last journey from his home‘Aashirwad’ in Carter Road,Mumbai to Paramhans crematori-um in Vile Parle. Braving therains, celebrities and people ush-ered in to pay respects to thedeparted soul.

His daughter, son-in-law,grandson and wife, Dimple, trav-elled on the cavalcade that carriedhim. Rajesh Khanna was aSuperstar and died a Superstar.

Despite the major setbacks inhis personal life or even when hiscareer whittled down in the late70s and 80s, he never lost thetwinkle in his eyes or the mischiefin his smile.

Born as Jatin Khanna inAmritsar on Dec 29, 1942, hewas adopted and raised by awealthy couple related to his bio-logical parents. He attended StSebastian’s Goan High School inGirgaon and went to KishinchandCollege where he was very activein theatre. Even at that time hewas aware of his talent butunaware of where it would takehim one day.

The makings of a great artistwere first recognized when hewon the All-India Talent contestin 1965 from among 10,000 par-ticipants. His first released filmwas Chetan Anand’s ‘AakhriKhat’ in 1966. After a few of hisfirst films bombed, his first breakas a hero came in Raaz. Thenthere was no stopping after thatand post ‘Aradhna’ in 1969, this

man was the chosen one to givebox-office 15 consecutive hitsbetween 1969 and 1972, a recordstill unbeaten.

Success followed more suc-cess and directors actually madefilms with him in mind. Eventhough he was known for beingexcessively late on shooting loca-tions and also buttonholed as anarrogant person, Rajesh Khannacreated magic with his acting andonscreen chemistry with Mumtaj,Asha Parekh, Sharmila Tagore,Tanuja and Rakhee.

Who can forget RajeshKhanna in the open jeep and woo-ing the coyish Sharmila Tagoretravelling in the toy train crossingBatasia Loop. The song, ‘Meresapnon ki rani kab aayegi tu…”from Aradhana still resonates inthe hills of Darjeeling.

Tinsel town is awash withmany more sparkling songs sung

by Kishore Kumar and directedby R.D. Burman but given a faceby Rajesh Khanna and his on-screen heroines. People stillbreak into a dance as they watchKhanna and Mumtaj singing ‘JaiJai Shiv Shankar…’ and loversdouse themselves in the eyes oftheir beloved as they hum theirresistible romantic number‘Pyaar diwana hota hai…’ filmedon him and Asha Parekh. RajeshKhanna was a ‘hero’ whether on ajeep or walking away singing‘Zindagi, kaise hai pahelihaaye…..”.

Rising popularity led to mobhysteria when he looked into theeyes of his heroines endearinglyand spoke unforgettable dialogueslike, “Pushpa, I hate tears…”.Women fans actually wrote himlove letters in blood and evenmarried his photographs.

His mannerism became his

trademark style, his clothes afashion statement in an era whenbrand names and designer wearwas not known.

1973 brought wedding bellsand the ‘super-star’ married 16-year-old Dimple Kapadia in 1973

during the peak of his career. Butthe actor, known for his onscreenchemistry with heroines, couldnot do much to save his off-screenchemistry with his wife and aftermany years of marriage and twolovely daughters, they partedways in 1982. His last block-buster hit was ‘Avatar’ in 1983.

His songs, boy-next-door-looks, endearing smile, lovablestyle and revered movies madehim popular with countless fanswho had never ever seen him inreal life. And to the lucky fewwho had the chance to meet him,see him or even touch him, hewas eternal. Almost like animmortal being who just could notdie.

The morning of 18th July,2012 came as a rude shock tomany and all his songs playedrepeatedly on TV and radio, as ifcajoling people to accept his deathand envelop him in their hearts.

Indeed‘Subaah aate hai;raat jaate hai;waqt chalta hi rehta hai rukta

nahiek pal me ye aage nikal jaata

haiaadmi theek se dekh paata

nahinaur parde pe manzar badal

jaata ha hain jo …….’

‘Anand mara nahi’! Anand marte nahi’ For thousands of fans his journey has ended but for Rajesh Khanna, I believe the journey has begun. The

superstar has left for the heavens to make his mark up there. And knowing him, he is sure to bring a newtapestry in the holy abode. He will continue to enthrall his new audience with the same vigour and thistime without the pain of illness or the fear of death. Rajesh Khanna has become ‘Amar’ and for his mil-

lions of fans on earth he has left ‘Amar Prem’ in their hearts.

Rajesh Khanna made a hit pair with Sharmila Tagore, but mar-ried Dimple Kapadia, the Bobby star when she was just 16.

Rajesh Khanna gave popu-lar writer duo Salim Khanand Javed Akhtar their

first break as screenwriters in hisfamous film Haathi Mere Saathi.� His present home

'Aashirwad' was earlier called'Dimple'. He bought this homefrom late actor Rajendra Kumar.� Rajesh Khanna had done

180 films in 40 years from 1966-2011.� When Rajesh Khanna was

at the zenith of his career, a text-

book prescribed by MumbaiUniversity contained an essay onhim titled 'The Charisma ofRajesh Khanna'.� He holds the record for

grabbing the maximum numberof Best actor award in BengalFilm Journalist AssociationAwards (4 awards) and mostnumber of nominations in BFJAawards (25 nominations) for BestActor. He won Filmfare BestActor Award thrice and wasnominated 14 times.

First Bollywood Superstar


Religion

By K. Raman

“Vina Venkatesha Nanatho Nanatha,Sada Venkatesam smarami smarami,

Hare Venkatesam prasida prasidapriyam Venkatesam Prayacha prayacha”.

Temples are treasure houses of Bhaktiand divinity. Most of these shrines aretreasured masses of wealth, some

among them madly hoarding extremeamounts of cash, gold and land holdings. Justlike the Vatican and other religious institu-tions, a handful of Indian temples are richbeyond comprehension; among them,Tirupathi (Kali Yuga Vaikuntam), which isone of the richest shrines worth a mind bog-gling one lakh crores of Indian rupees(Rs.1,00000,00,000,000).

One thousand and nine hundred years agothe ruling Pallava king sang the praise ofLord Venkateswara with no inkling then thatmany centuries later the temple he construct-ed would attain such magnificent stature,both in sanctity and wealth.

Vishnu is Shankh, Chakra Gadha Pani,but the hearsay is that the main TirupathiSwamy idol has neither conch nor SudarshanChakram, except for a Copper replica conch,Chakra attached to his hands. His feet are notvisible; they are sunken in the ground.

In the early hours of each morning, oil issmeared on the location of his feet and skil-fully covered with a cloth and a Kavacham.There is a slight damage to his chin which,too, is covered by the application of cam-phor. So is the dominant bulging on his fore-head which is covered by the ‘Namam’.

It is a practice here that the Nirmalyam isthrown into a well and is not given to devo-tees. Priests in charge of the worships are ofVikhanasa origin and not Sri Vaishnavites.The main gopuram/dome is copper based onwhich gold sheet is fixed. Most of the wor-shipping paraphernalia as well as the Utsavamoorthy (Kautuka Bera) are made of sterlingSilver. Surprisingly, hardly anything is doneon the main deity (Dhruva Bera) as pooja,whereas Kautuka Bera gets all the attention.

Total income of this shrine on an averageper year is over five billion Indian Rupees.After meeting all expenses and commitmentswhich include huge payouts to charities, edu-cational institutions, hospitals etc, the netmoney that goes to the bank as savingsexceeds 40-50 million Indian Rupees.

The deity box, commonly known as‘Hundi’, receives 25 million rupees per dayfrom devotees who visit the shrine. The col-lection is not only in Indian rupees but inmany currencies of the world, varieties ofcoins, precious jewellery, gold and silverbiscuits and many one kilo bricks of gold.This is a daily occurrence.

Sorting and evaluating the collection isthe job of a group of expert counting staffwho tirelessly work day in and day out.There are occasions when the Hundi over-flows.

25,000 pilgrims visit the shrine daily,while on special days the visitor numbers goupward of 100,000. Tirupathi’s local popula-tion is 24,643 (2011 census), so a lion’sshare of the visitors come from many cornersof the earth. The jewellery possession of theLord is worth of 250 Crores of rupees andhis entire ornaments’ gold content weighs amodest 640 kilos. The temple Dome(Vimana) known as ‘Ananda Nilayam’ iscovered with thick hammered solid goldsheets.

A precious offering made to the lord issacrificing one’s own crown hair. Pilgrimstonsure their hair, the daily collection ofwhich is a princely quantity of one tonne hairof various hues and textures. This offering isdone as an act symbolic of renouncing thebuilt up self-ego.

Early in the piece the crown hair wasshaved off free by a team of barbers, but nowthey charge a fee for the shaving job. Thehair collection is auctioned every two monthsand the income from this source is 30 millionrupees. Most of the hair is used to make hairwigs (toupee) crafted in India, Singapore,Hong Kong and Middle East. This is a bigflourishing business, the income shared byvarying business houses involved.

Recently, I heard that the vital ingredientused in making bread for our daily consump-tion is called 'L Cysteine'. This is a dough(bread, chapati, Nan, Parantha etc) condi-tioner as well as a facilitator to get an extend-ed shelf life for the bread manufactured. Thischemical in question used to be extractedfrom the feathers of duck, chicken and otherfeathered creatures. Now the extraction ofthe ‘L Cysteine’chemical is done fromhuman hair, the main supplier of the rawmaterial is the temple of Tirupathi.

On the charity side the temple financesthe running of many schools, Veda

Pathshalas, orphanages,hospitals, refuges and manyother noble institutions. Inthe temple ‘Bhojana Shala’the catering section cooksand feeds (Anna danam) onan average of 30,000 visi-tors daily (15,000 each mid-day and night). These mealsare steam cooked from solarpower and in the processsave 17 lakhs Rupees peryear and, most importantly,avoids atmospheric pollu-tion.

Tirupathi ‘Laddu’,‘Srivari Laddu’, is worldfamous. The word Ladduoriginated from the Sanskritword ‘Ladduka’ (smallball). At the temple premis-es 1.25 lakhs of Laddus aremade daily. It currentlyweighs 178 grams each (lit-tle more than the size of agolf ball), while it used to be725 grams each in weight(size of an Ostrich egg) dur-ing an era not that far back.The shortage in supply and increased demandfor Laddus flourished black market trade ofLaddus when each delicious gold ball wassold for Rs.50. Even the black market supplyin not keeping up with the demand.

One Laddu is given free to each devoteeand every devotee can buy two additionalLaddus (Rs 25 for small Laddu, and Rs 100for the large version). Annual Laddu revenueis 11 million rupees. Super large Ladduknown as ‘Kalyana Laddu’ weighs 500grams. They even made 32 kilo Lalddu onspecial occasions. Tirupathi Laddu traditiongoes back to 300 years. Archakas make theLaddus in a special kitchen called ‘Potu’.

They use 5000 kilos of besan flour,10,000 kilos of white sugar, 600 kilos ofcashew nuts, 150 kilos of cardamom, 300litres ghee, 400 kilos of sugar candy and 540kilos of raisins. Plans are now afoot by theDevasthanam Administration to patent theunique Laddu to stop counterfeits interferingin its trade.

The lord’s vigraha is ‘Swayambhu’ (self-evolved), stands six feet tall, of blackGranite-like stone. It is the most ornamenteddeity of places of worship. The prominent‘V’ mark ornamenting the Lord’s forehead(caste mark of Vishnavites) is made of pow-dered and moistened camphor. You may seethat his eye balls to a large extent are coveredwith this characteristic marking. This is doneon purpose - to avoid getting everythingscorched in his gaze.

The Lord has numerous crowns to adornfor various occasions. Of these, the onemade in Antwerp is incidentally the mostexpensive single jewellery of the world, put-ting in shade others, including the crown ofthe British Royalty. The eye catching, big,flawless solitaire three inches diameter emer-ald which forms a part of the necklace is oneof its kinds. He wears this ornament perma-nently around his neck.

The dominant forehead marking of thelord is called ‘Namam’. It is a common termused in Tamil, ‘Namam podal’, when one

swindles another.The army of employees who work for the

temple is a battalion of 17,000 individuals.The temple is Swayambhu sthala (self-evolved) and it is said that the ‘Beeja’ of thetemple was laid by Aadi Shankara. It is theBeeja that attracts pilgrims like a magicalwand. For all abhishekas water coming from‘Akasha Ganga’ –water fall, situated fivekilometers from the temple, is used becauseit is believed to be Mother Ganga fallingfrom the Sky (Akasha).

Let me conclude this with a story involv-ing the Lord. As we are viciously entrappedby the dreaded credit card, the lord is in atight situation too. To marry his consort, hehad to borrow a huge amount of money fromKubera, the lord of wealth, to meet thedowry commitments. Dowry was rampantand uncontrolled then. Even though the Lordknew that the exorbitant interest rate washard to pay on a regular basis, he agreed tothe terms set up by Kubera.

Once in a year a ceremony is held herewherein the descendants of Kubera, arrive tocollect at least part of the interest moneyaccrued over the year. Prior to the ceremonythe deity is imprisoned behind gold bars,even his legs are tied up with a gold chain toavoid escape. To bail out the lord from sucha pathetic situation the large number of pil-grims present there pitch in and pour outhuge chunks of money, so goes the belief.This goes on year after year. Still the lord isin a hopeless situation with no end of debt inimmediate sight.

There are corruptions of kinds rampant inthis house of Lord too, including the infa-mous disappearance of the lord’s 300 goldcoins, in which case people allegedly pointedtheir fingers to a prominent priest, named‘Dollar’ Seshadri, who incidentally stands tillthis day next to the lord, bathes, decoratesand even feeds prasadams to him.

Who will not lick the fingers if one couldput them in a honey pot. Can we attribute itto the distorted rules of ‘Kali Yuga’?

Tirupathi Balaji is in the World’sRichest Gods list

The presiding deity Lord Venkateswara, or Balaji.

The main goupram of the temple in Tirumala, near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.

Community


By Manju Mittal

Bollywood has lost one of the

most iconic and legendary actor

of the big screen Rajesh Khanna.

Super star Rajesh Khanna will

not be forgotten for his unique

and iconic contribution to

Bollywood. The best tribute

which can be given to him is cel-

ebrate is death as he celebrated

his life.

“Yeh sham mastani” was

organised by Arun Nanda and

supported by Voice of India

Monica Geet Mala on August 4

in Sydney. It was a balmy and

melodious evening for listeners.

Show had started on time. Ajay

Bajaj paid heartfelt tribute to

Rajesh Khanna and introduced

MC Shailja Chandra to the audi-

ence. Charming Shailja dressed

in black top and red trousers in

1960’s style like Rajesh

Khanna’s one of the heroines.

Shailja welcomed the audience

with local artists: Dharmender

Singh, Arun Nanda, Dr. Reena

Mehta, Suhas Mahajan, Meena

Mahanty Kumar and Riaz Shah.

The show started with the song

‘Yeh Sham Mastani’ by

Dharmender Singh, he enter-

tained the audience with his

beautiful song, a singer of his

vocal talent definitely satisfies all

our musical cravings. Arun

Nanda surprised & delighted the

audience when he sang ‘Zindgi k

safar mein gujar’, his melodic

voice touched the heart of the

audience. He sang another hit

song “Yeh jo mohabbat hai”,

he was at his best and audience

could relate with that & relive

the magic moments of the 60’s.

Dr. Reena Mehta ( Asha of

Sydney) has over years of expe-

rience as lead singer, she has per-

formed at different venues, pri-

vate functions and various organ-

isations. Reena sang hit number

“hume tumse pyar kitna” from

Kudrat. Suhas Mahajan has spent

years in Sydney singing on stage

entertaining us with his versatile

voice. His beautiful song “Yeh

sham kuch ajeeb” was just amaz-

ing. Meena Mahanty Kumar stole

everyone’s heart by singing solo

“ Jiya jaye naa” and duet

“Gunguna rahe hai ..!” Riaz shah

entertained us with two beautiful

Rafi songs.

My favourite moment was

when Dharmender Singh brought

his young son Tanuj Singh on

stage and had him sing “O mere

dil ke chain”, he has an amazing,

energetic voice, his voice is a

blessing. The audience applause

helped the entire participants to

give their best to make this trib-

ute a special one. The way all

singers performed it shows their

hard work and truthfulness for

their work. Singer did great jus-

tice by singing for more than 3

hours. I was impressed by Ritu

Bhamra’s poetic creative inter-

ludes, a compere has the uncanny

ability of keeping the audience

engaged and Ritu is good.

Whole event was conducted

gracefully by Shailja Chandra

who kept all entertained and her

video presentation on Rajesh

Khanna’s life was superb and one

could see a lot of labour had

gone into putting together the

highlights from the life of Rajesh

Khanna and our favourite scenes

and songs of his movies. In the

end Madan Lachha played guitar

and made audience sing along as

they clapped and eagerly partici-

pated. Rajesh Khanna truly was

there and relived him in our own

special way

Organisers of the event Arun

Nanda, Shailja Chandra and

Manbir Kohli have done excel-

lent job by doing overall man-

agement making the whole event

well disciplined. Lighting &

Sound effect were great. The

stage decorated by Ratna was

very impressive. The delicious

catering was looked after by

Mehra da dhaba topped up with

kheer and gulab jamuns. Rajesh

lived like a king and left like a

king and the food laid to us also

was quite a royalty all paid for

by the organisers. I had an amaz-

ing time from the beginning to

the end. Whoever was there that

night was lucky to be a witness

to an entertaining event. It was

an amazing tribute to an era of

the great Rajesh Khanna and we

all come from that.

Sydney pays tribute to the great Rajesh Khanna in...

Yeh Sham Mastani

Reena Mehta and Arun Nanda sang a romantic duet

Sydney’s Dharmender brings Rajesh to life with his Yes Shaam Mastani

Congratulations !

To Qiana Irani and Meher Karai who tied the

knot on August 11 in a traditional Parsi

Wedding at The Hills Lodge in Castle Hill.

If you would have a good wife,marry one who has been a gooddaughter.

Thomas Fuller


On the Occasion of Hindi Divas

Australian Hindi Committee (AHC)

IABBV Hindi School and

ILASA (Indian literary and art society of Australia)

Present

Children’s Photo-Essay Competition for students in yrs 6-12The topic for this competition is “Person who I admire the Most”. Children are to submit a collage (consisting of 2-5 images) and write an original short essay

(125-200 words) based on the given topic in Hindi.

Participants will be able to use photographs, images, pictures, drawings and artworks. The collage and essay must reflect a child’s view of the person they admire

and demonstrate creativity and effort. Please see criteria and instructions for entry below. Top three entries will receive a prize.

Criteria: Submission format: A4 page for photo collage, A4 page for essay

A4 cover page with contact information: name, grade, age, school, phone number, email address, postal address.

Photo collage: Two to five photos, images or graphics Essay: 125-200 words

Please encourage all to participate. There will be a panel of judges for both competitions. Entries will close on 7 September 2012.

We request all Hindi speakers / supporters / teachers / schools / students to join in the celebrations and present a united face to promote India's national language

Hindi. We would like to extend our deep gratitude to the Consulate General of India, Sydney for supporting this event. We also acknowledge the continued support

of Australian Hindi Committee, The Hindu Council of Australia, United India Associations, Australia India Business Council, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Australian

Hindi Indian Association, Hindi Samaj and various other individuals and associations Australia wide; All Hindi Schools and Print, Radio and Television Media.

For further information please contact: For Essay Competition contact: Santram Bajaj (AHIA): 0414 553 739 and Abhishek Sood (IABBV): 0411 653 618

For Children’s Hindi poetry recitation competition contact: Tara Chand Sharma (AHC): 0409 981 355; Mala Mehta, OAM (IABBV): 0412 283 677;

Gunjan Tripathi Hindi Samaj: 0413 886 527; Sanjeev Bhakri Hindu Council of Australia 0414 971 122

For Kavi Sammelan and for participating in the Hindi Skits contact: Rekha Rajvanshi (ILASA): 0403 116 301

Sponsorship

or Donation to recover

the cost of the program will be

greatly appreciated.

Hindi Mela (rnk=ee bujt) Over two days - September 15 & 16, 2012 - At two venues:

Sat 15 September 20121. 4.30 to 7.30 pm Epping Leisure and Learning Centre, 1 Chambers Court, Epping NSW 2121

Kavi Sammelan “Kavi Ke Udgaar Sangeet Ki Jhankaar’ by ILASA(If you are a Hindi writer or a poet you are invited to participate in the Kavi Sammelan)

Sun 16 September 2012 : IABBV Hindi School, Thornleigh West Public School, Giblett Ave, Thornleigh NSW 2120

1. 10.00am-11am Student Session display of student’s work and resources

2. 11am -12.00pm Children’s Hindi poetry recitation competition

1st group of children – Year1 - 4; 2nd group of children Year 5 - 7; 3rd group of children Year 8 - 12

Anybody can participate. Entries will close on 7 September 2012

3. 12pm - 1.00 pm Light Snacks

4. 1pm-3pm Hindi Skits and cultural program

Contact:

Mala Mehta

0412 283 677

Rekha Rajvanshi

0403 116 301

Community


Baltarang 2012 – A Fund

Raiser Event by Ekal Vidyalaya

Foundation Australia

Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation

Australia (EKAL) is organizing a

fund raising event, Baltarang

2012 on 7th October 2012 at

Bowman Hall, Blacktown,

Sydney. It is going to be a fun-

filled evening of dances, dramas

and songs performed by young

local artists, and choreographed

by top Sydney dance schools and

choreographers. All proceeds of

the function will go towards edu-

cating poor children in rural and

tribal parts of India.

EKAL is one of seven overseas

chapters of parent NGO, Ekal

Vidyalaya Foundation, in India.

This is a unique concept bringing

informal education to the poor

children in tribal and remote vil-

lages by providing free, non-for-

mal education. The concept is

single teacher schools with what-

ever accommodation and facili-

ties can be provided by the local

community. Each school pro-

vides basic education in reading

& writing, simple arithmetic,

hygiene and moral values to

around 25 children who other-

wise would most probably be left

illiterate for their lives. Ekal

India is now running over 38,000

such schools, with the overall

aim of increasing the number to

100,000.

With a humble beginning of 30

schools sponsored in 2004, the

local organization has by now

attracted enough donors to spon-

sor more than 500 schools.

Sponsorship of a school for one

year costs a very reasonable

amount of $480. Smaller dona-

tions can also be made, including

sponsoring half a school.

EKAL is a registered charity

with the Australian Tax Office

and has been granted the

Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR)

status. All donations are hence

fully tax deductible. More

details about EKAL can be found

at www.ekal.org.au. Or please

contact Devendra Gupta at 0411

597949 or Jay Shah at 0438 621

590.

Ekal targets for 500 schools and more


Community

By K. Raman

Modern day music enthusiasts maynot be that familiar with Suman(Hemady) Kalyanpur and her

music. She was born in Dhaka,Bangladesh, in 1937. When she turned six,her family migrated to Mumbai, seekingmusic learning opportunities for Suman andultimately moving her into a singing career.

Suman learned classical Hindustanimusic and became proficient in it. Thoughshe was a highly successful musician, in thelater stages of her career, she lived prima-rily as a housewife to RamanandKalyanpur.

In spite of abundant God-given talents,she was a victim of the dirty politics in filmmusic world. Experts of Hindi film musicfound it hard to differentiate between thevoices of Lataji and Sumanji. They bothhad sweet voices, perfection in singingstyle and similarity of tonal quality but suc-cess-wise, Lata ran way ahead of Sumanwith an ever widening gap as years pro-gressed.

Talents cannot be judged by the popularpress verdicts and money earned from thetrade. Suman is an introvert, easy goingand not keen to seek fame and publicity.She sang for her own pleasure and was not

in the camps of music directors. That itselfmade her an unusual musician not fit for thecut throat dirty politics inherent in Hindifilm music career. She never deviated fromher resolve of non- involvement all throughher career.

Of the many talent scouts who spottedher musical gift, Talat Mehmood was thevery first person in that honour list. Heheard her sing in a musical show, was high-ly impressed of her singing ability and rec-ommended her to HMV, the recordingcompany he was associated with. In 1954,just aged 17, she recorded her first song‘Koi pukaree dheere se tuje’ for the film‘Mangu’.

Her big break came with "Na TumHamen Jano" (Baat Ek Raat Ki, 1962) com-posed by the redoubtable SD Burman.Ironically, people thought it was renderedby Lata Mangeshkar but were all pleasant-ly surprised when they discovered the truth.One of her most famous songs, "AajkalTere Mere Pyaar Ke Charche" fromBrahmachari too is usually thought to besung by Lata, which is of course not true.The confusion results from the fact that thequality of her voice is similar to Lata's attimes.

Suman started getting regular singingassignments from 1960 onwards, whenLata was right up there at the zenith then.

‘Miyan Bibi Razi’ (1960), ‘Dil Ek Mandir’(1963), ‘Dil Hi to Hai’ (1963), Jahan Ara(1964), Shagoon (1964), Sanj Aur Sawera(1964), Noorjahan (1967), Saathi (1968),Pakeezah (1971) etc were her successfulfilm assignments to start with. Though shesang under the direction of the then famousand successful music directors, it wasShankar Jaikishan and Roshan who madeuse of her talents to the optimum.

She recorded songs in many Indian lan-guages and predominantly in Marathi,Hindi, Gujarati, Assamese, Rajasthani,Bengali, Oriya and Punjabi.

Even though Lata was her major oppo-nent, Suman regarded her highly and therespect was mutual. Suman recorded duetswith Lataji in ‘Kabhi Aaaj Kabhi Kal Kabhiparson’ with the music director HemantKumar. She recorded duets with Rafi,Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, TalatMohammad and Manna Dey. Some of thefamous Rafi-Suman duets are: Chand taka-ta hai idhar, Parabthon ke pedon par,Ajahuna aye balama, Tumne pukara aurham chale aye, Bad muddat ke yeh ghadiayee,Tujko dilbari ki kasam, Chand Tukdahai idhar, etc. ‘Phoolwa ban mahke’ was afamous song she sang with Geeta Dutt.

It is well known that Suman did notreceive the due recognition for the talentsshe possessed. Maharastra’s then DeputyChief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal once saidthat Suman was sidelined by the industrydespite her immensely proved singingskills. He made this comment while speak-ing at the Lata Mangeshkar Award functionin 2009 when Suman Kalyanpur wasawarded that gong. Her rendition of thesong ‘Haal-e-dil unko sunana tha sunaya nagaya’ in the film ‘Fariyad’ (1964) was aclassic. She never challenged any of the topsingers of her time or pulled strings to top-ple others to gain advantage.

Comparisons between two gifted peopleare not appropriate but between Lata andSuman, the former is miles ahead of Sumanin popularity, money earned and recogni-tions received. With seven Filmfare awardsLata is way ahead of Suman. Moreover,from 1969 onwards Lata opted out ofFilmfare award nomination because itbecame a monotonous one singer race.

Lata’s recognitions list is long - BharatRatna, three National awards, Dada SahibPhalke award, the French knight hood(Legion d’honneur), Doctorates from 11prestigious universities of the world,Asthana Vidushi of Tirupathi, citizen(Honorary) of the United States etc. Incomparison, in Suman’s case, she has theLata Mangeshkar Award (MaharastraGovernment 2002) and the Sur Sangamaward.

Suman Kalyanpur was never a toughfighter in the mould of Lata, Asha or theother big wigs. Being a gentle person withno bad bones in her she always was a truesinger of class and a stickler of her believedprinciples.

Suman Kalyanpur -- as sweet asLata but not as celebrated

‘Na Tum Hamein Jano’, Suman’s first big break as asinger in Hindi films, was thought to be rendered by LataMangeshkar. Her most famous song, "Aajkal Tere Mere

Pyaar Ke Charche" from Brahmachari too is usually erroneously thought to be sung by Lata. The confusion

results from the fact that the quality of her voice is similar to Lata's at times.

� "Na Tum Hamen Jano" (Baat EkRaat Ki)

� "Chhodo, Chhodo Mori Baiyann"(Miya Biwi Razi)

� "Dil Gham Se Jal Raha" (Shama)� "Yun Hi Dil Ne Chaha Tha" (Dil

Hi To Hai)� "Bujha Diye Hain" (Shagoon)� "Mere Sang Ga" (Janwar)� "Mere Mehboob Na Ja" (Noor

Mahal)

� "Tum Agar Aa Sako To"' &"Zindagi Doob Gai Dard Ke ToofanoMein" (Ek Sal Pehle)

� "Jo Ham Pe Guzarti Hai"(Mohabbat Isko Kehten Hain)

� "Sharabi Sharabi Yeh Sawan KaMausam" (Noor Jehan)

� "Behena Ne Bhai Ki Kalai Main"(Resham Ki Dori), for which she wasnominated for the Filmfare Best FemalePlayback Award in 1975.

Kalyanpur's popular songs

The author with Suman Kalyanpur.

Community


A houseful of IITians got

together at the Ernst & Young

Building on August 2 to attend a

panel discussion on “The Future

of Outsourcing and Offshoring in

Australia”. Interest was high as

Australia is a services intense

economy affected by structural

changes driven by rapid globali-

sation of service delivery chains

of major corporations.

The event was presented by

Pradeep Khanna, CEO Global

Mindset & Chairperson Branding

IITAA (IITian Association of

Australia) as the first event in the

launch of a series “Integrating

Australia with Asia” series.

The European sovereign and

financial crisis has been going on

in slow motion for some time

now. The resultant doom and

gloom media coverage has made

us extremely cost conscious.

Everyday we read about closures,

local job losses, outsourcing and

offshoring. We are confused as

our leaders tell us economically

we were one of the best perform-

ing countries in the world.

As consumers, we are delighted

at lower online prices due to

strong A$ and rising online avail-

ability. However, as employees,

we worry about our jobs and

incomes to meet our expenses. At

the same time our corporations

are facing severe cost pressures

in the current macroeconomic

environment. Yes, there are

strong feelings about outsourcing

and offshoring.

The question foremost in the

mind of people attending the

event was – what was the right

balance between lower prices and

maintaining jobs in a globalised

economy?

Perhaps the most emotive ques-

tion discussed that day was the

moral responsibility of the out-

sourcing vendors towards the

redundant labour services?

While there were a range of

responses from the panel, the

answer was best summed by

Pradeep Khanna in his interview

with ABC TVs Ticky Fullerton –

“We as Australians have to focus

on higher-end skills now. And

that is where, when we look at

the emerging opportunities in this

year, we need to be positioning

ourselves for high technology,

biotech areas. So we need to be

moving up the ladder.”

There were two panels with the

first one representing Industry

and consisting of Ross McKenzie

(Executive Director, Global

Services Delivery, Westpac),

David Fincher (Partner, Ernst &

Young), Vijay Gopal (Strategic

Engagement Executive, IBM

GPS, Growth Markets), Venki

Prathivadi (Head, Mahindra

Satyam, A/NZ) and Samit

Chandra (Head of Architecture

FSS A/NZ and S Asia, Infosys).

The second panel was from

Academia and Government and

was represented by Prof Aditya

Ghose (University of

Wollongong), Prof Eng Chew

(University of Technology,

Sydney) and Prof Oscar

Hauptman (University of Western

Sydney) and Vivek Kumar

(Deputy Consul General of India

in Sydney).

The event was also attended by

Emmanuel Nino Ang (Philippines

Special Trade

Representative/Consul

(Commercial)), Philippines

Consul Marford Angeles (repre-

senting Philippines Consul

General Anne Jalando-On Louis)

and Marviana Siregar

(Indonesian Vice Consul General)

IITians discuss outsourcing future

Left to Right (sitting) – David Fincher (Ernst & Young), Vijay Gopal (IBM, IITian), Pradeep Khanna (GLOBAL MINDSET & IITAA,IITian), Ross McKenzie (Westpac)Left to Right (standing) – Samit Chandra (Infosys, IITian), Prof Oscar Hauptman (UWS), Prof Aditya Ghose (UoW), Venki Prathivadi(MSat, IITian), Prof Eng Chew (UTS), Vivek Kumar (Indian Deputy Consul General, IITian)

IITians association

of Australia

Become a Member

Contact:

Sundar Siva

Secretary IITAA

Mob 0422 781 262

www.iitaa.org.au


Community

Ash, even in wax, will doMadame Tussauds opened in Sydney's Darling Harbour in

April, the 14th edition of the house of all things wax and itsfirst Down Under. The Bollywood section with five star figures

will be on display from August to October this year.

By Neena Badhwar

Twentieth century producedmany inspirational leaders,revolutionaries, fighters of

human rights, many great peoplewho devoted their life in servingthe humanity to bring down thesuffering of the down trodden, thedestitute of our society. There area few who come directly to mind -Florence Nightingale who walkedwith a candle in her hand attendingto the wounded soldiers of the war,Nelson Mandela who foughtagainst apartheid in South Africa,Mahatma Gandhi whose exempla-ry life was spent in non-violentstruggle to free India from thecolonial rule, Dalai Lama in Indiafighting to free his homeland Tibetand Mother Teresa who picked upthe sick and the poor people fromthe streets of Calcutta to help themgive the dignity they deserved.

I missed the opportunity tomeet Gandhi as I was born muchafter Gandhi’s demise in 1948, butI had the opportunity to meet theDalai Lama in person in Sydneyfrom up close and Mother Teresain a plane journey when I was ableto spot her sitting simply in theeconomy class. My unfulfilledthird wish, having lost out onGandhi, has always been to seeNelson Mandela.

Recently, I had the opportunityto see Nelson Mandela, not in fleshand bones, I should add, but closeand life-like at Madame Tussaudsin Sydney. Here, one is privy tothese icons from up close and evenable to observe them and feelinspired being in their companyand learn about the stories of theirlives.

Gandhi, Obama, the Queen,Mandela, Dalai Lama, Florence

Nightingale, Mary McKillop arehoused in one such section ofMadame Tussauds museum of waxfigures where one can spend timeand get pictures with them. Thefigures are so very life-like thateven the fine lines, features, wrin-kles and veins show on modelswho look unbelievably real. Theireyes, the expression of the face issomething to admire about in thisunique art of making wax figures.

Zoe Walton, the studio manag-er at Sydney’s Madame Tussauds ,who came from London to set upthe museum in Darling Harbour,says, “Over 800 hours of workgoes into creating a life like figureby over 60 artists which includephotographers, sculptors, stylists,hair, eye and dentures artists asthey work to bring life like expres-sion on the sculpture.

Marie Tussaud, popularlyknown as Madame Tussaud, learntthe art of making wax figures froma French physician Dr PhillippeCurtius in the 1700s when he madethese figures to teach anatomy tomedical students. Marie’s motherwas his housekeeper and she wentto live in Dr Curtius’ house as achild and the doctor saw the talentin the child. As Marie grew shebecame known for her art when theFrench royal family used her forsculpting their figures as it was atime when even photography hadnot yet been developed.”

Marie Tussaud went on tomake wax figures of some for thefamous people of her era likeVoltaire and Benjamin Franklin,including some of the revolution’smost infamous dead like LouisXVI and Marie Antoinette and wasemployed to make death masks ofthe victims of the guillotine duringthe French revolution. She was

invited to London to exhibit herworks as she went around on atravelling tour and finally estab-lished a museum in Baker Street.Current Madame Tussauds inLondon has a house studio whereall the artists are based who makewax figures which are transportedto Madame Tussauds museums allround the world.

Besides going through varioussections and seeing figures ofimportant Australians that includeNed Kelly, Mabo, Shane Warne,Bob Hawke and many more fromaround the world, Tussauds hasbrought out a section onBollywood stars – the heart throbsof millions of Indians and fansfrom overseas.

The five Bollywood starsinclude Amitabh Bachchan, ShahRukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai,Kareena Kapoor and HrithikRoshan. The Bollywood sectionwill be on display from August toOctober this year and is quite inter-active as people not only can enjoybeing with their Bollywood heroes,they also can, if they like, wearsome shiny Bollywood gear, saris,achkan, caps and get their picturestaken with their idols with popularBollywood music playing in thebackground.

All these people at some pointin their life agreed to sit for thesculpting, getting hundreds of pic-tures taken from all angles, meas-urements of their face and body,the position and pose to achievethat real effect. One look at thefinal outcome figure and theresponse is just mind blowinglyreal.

Says Zoe, “The skin colour isreally important to match forwhich oil paints mixed in bees waxare applied, putting in layers after

layers as moles, veins and otherfine details are included, matchingin real sunlight dozens of times bythe skin artists.

“The sculpting process is quitelabour intensive. The eyes, thecolor of the iris is all taken intoaccount and made by special eyemakers who spend weeks in gettingthe details right.

“Even the hair is matched andthen inserted in the head and bodyone by one. The streaks, the haircolour are all done diligently bythe stylist not to talk of the gar-ments worn by the statue whensome of them are donated by theperson.

“To start with they make ametal frame of the body and putclay on top and the clay artist cre-ates a mould out of it once the per-fect expression is achieved. Themould is made up of fiber glass inwhich bees wax is poured layer bylayer and the wax is put on the topleaving the cavity in the headthrough which the eyes and teethare inserted finally.

“The older the person morereal is the expression with creases,wrinkles in the face making thesculpture look more real,” saysZoe. While Shah Rukh Khan looks

quite real, Amitabh Bachchanlooks too young as he was modeledin 2000 when he was visitingLondon. However, the artists havemade sure he has the famous whitebeard and the grey streaks in hishair to make him look older.

Kareena and Aishwarya lookstunningly beautiful while Hrithikwith his muscles and biceps withhis six fingers on one hand looks ahunk and is a great favourite of thevisitors. One does not have to han-ker for a picture with theirfavourite Bollywood star any moreas Madame Tussauds have nowmade it possible for all to have anenjoyable, interactive, educationaland inspiring tour through thisunique museum – a one of its ownkind.

Rubbing shoulders withCaptain Cook, Sir DonaldBradman, Albert Einstein, NicoleKidman, Hugh Jackman, JohnnyDepp and Lady Gaga all under oneroof is something everyone mustexperience.

The Bollywood exhibition wasopened on August 3 with dancersfrom Nupur Group,Road2Bollywood Academy and inthe presence of the Indian ConsulGeneral Arun Kumar Goel.

Sydney CG Arun Kumar Goel posing with wax models of AishwaryaRai and Kareena Kapoor.

Amitabh Bachchan and dancers at the Sydney attraction.

Zoe Walton, the studio manager at Sydney’s Madame Tussauds, posing with the Shah Rukh figure

Community


Common cold and influenza virusesVirologist Kersi Meher-Homji sneezes as he types

Stand up those readers of TheIndian Down Under whohave not suffered from the

above symptoms this freezingAussie winter? I can’t see anyonestanding, so I presume all of youhad common cold with some ofyou shaking hands and shiveringwith fever due to the dreadedinfluenza, popularly (or unpopu-larly?) known as the flu.

Our world is not shrinking butour known enemies are. In prehis-toric times our enemies were hugedinosaurs, dragons and othermonsters. Since then they haveshrunk in size, from worms toparasites to fungi to bacteria toviruses. Viruses are so small(1/100,000 to 1/3,000 of a mil-limetre) that they cannot be visu-alised under a microscope. Youneed an electron microscope tohave a glimpse of your sophisti-cated and nasty torturers.

But what viruses lack in sizethey make up in their ability tomake you miserable. There areover 300 types. Some – especiallythe influenza group – are slipperycustomers. They mutate so fastthat Virologists have to make newtypes of vaccine every few yearsto protect you.

And viruses laugh at antibi-otics. “Give us more, we lovethem,” they seem to say! Beingstrictly intracellular parasites,they multiply only within livingcells. For an antibiotic to killthem, it will have to enter andpossibly kill the host cells thusmaking the cure worse than thedisease.

Common cold is more of anuisance value than dangerous.But influenza can be a killer. The1918 flu epidemic killed millions.Even the mention of names suchas Asian flu, bird flu, swine flumake us shiver as the mortalityrate is high and widespread, espe-cially when it reaches the pan-demic (world-wide epidemic) sta-tus.

The worst aspect of flu is thatit can occasionally lead to pneu-monia, either direct viral pneumo-nia or secondary bacterial pneu-monia, even for persons who areusually very healthy. In particularit is a warning sign if a child (orpresumably an adult) seems to begetting better and then relapseswith a high fever as this may leadto bacterial pneumonia. Anotherwarning sign is when the personstarts to have trouble breathing.

New England Journal of

Medicine stated in 2009 that it isdifficult to tell bacterial from viralpneumonia and recommended thatpatients with influenza who showsigns of pneumonia be treatedwith both antiviral agents andantibiotics.

Typically, influenza is trans-mitted through the air by coughsor sneezes, creating aerosols con-taining the virus. It can also betransmitted by direct contact withbird droppings, nasal secretionsor through contact with contami-nated surfaces. Airborne aerosolshave been believed to cause mostinfections, although which meansof transmission is commoner isnot clear. Influenza viruses can beinactivated by sunlight and deter-gents. As the virus can be inacti-vated by soap, frequent handwashing reduces the risk of infec-tion.

Influenza spreads around theworld in seasonal epidemics,resulting in the deaths of about&10000000000250000000000250,000 people every year, up to mil-lions in some pandemic years. On

average 41,400 people died eachyear in the United States between1979 and 2001 from influenza. In2010, the Centre for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) inthe US changed the way it reportsthe 30 year estimates for deaths.Now they are reported as a rangefrom a low of about 3,300 deathsto a high of 49,000 per year.

Three influenza pandemicsoccurred in the 20th century andkilled tens of millions of peoplewith each of these pandemicsbeing caused by the appearance ofa new strain of the virus inhumans. Often, these new strainsappear when an existing flu virusspreads to humans from other ani-mal species, or when an existinghuman strain picks up new genes

from a virus that usually infectsonly birds or pigs.

An avian strain named H5N1raised the concern of a newinfluenza pandemic, after itemerged in Asia in the 1990s butit has not evolved to a form thatspreads easily between people. InApril 2009 a novel flu strainevolved that combined genes fromhuman, pig, and bird flu, initiallydubbed "swine flu" and alsoknown as influenza A/H1N1.This had emerged in Mexico, theUnited States and several othernations.

The World HealthOrganisation (WHO) officiallydeclared the outbreak to be a pan-demic on 11 June 2009. WHO'sdeclaration of a pandemic level 6was an indication of spread, notseverity, the strain actually havinga lower mortality rate than otherinfluenza outbreaks.

Vaccinations against influenzaare usually made available to peo-ple in developed countries, espe-cially to children and elderly andfor those having serious health

problems. Farmed poultry is oftenvaccinated to avoid decimation ofthe flocks.

The most common human vac-cine is the Trivalent InfluenzaVaccine (TIV) that contains puri-fied and inactivated antigensagainst three viral strains.

Typically, this vaccineincludes material from twoinfluenza A virus subtypes andone influenza B virus strain.

The TIV carries no risk oftransmitting the disease and it hasvery low reactivity. A vaccineformulated for one year may beineffective the following year,since the influenza virus evolvesrapidly and new strains quicklyreplace the older ones. Antiviraldrugs such as Tamiflu have been

used to treat influenza. However,their effectiveness is difficult toassess due to much of the dataremains unpublished.

Symptoms of influenza canstart quite suddenly one to twodays after infection. Usually thefirst symptoms are chills or achilly sensation but fever is alsocommon early in the infection,with body temperatures rangingfrom 38-39 °C (100-103 °F).Many people are so ill that theyare confined to bed for severaldays, with aches and painsthroughout their bodies, whichare worse in their backs and legs.Other symptoms of flu are cough,nasal congestion, body aches,tiredness, headache, sore throat,watery and red eyes and occasion-

ally gastrointestinal symptoms(diarrhoea) – especially amongchildren infected with influenzaB.

It is often difficult to distin-guish between the common coldand influenza in the early stagesof infections, but the latter can beidentified by high fever with asudden onset and extreme fatigue.Diarrhoea is not normally a symp-tom of influenza in adults,although it has been seen in somehuman cases of the H5N1 birdflu.

To avoid these tortures, visityour general practitioner nextApril and get yourself vaccinatedwith the then current strains ofinfluenza vaccine and hit thesneaky flu virus for a six!

Typically, influenza is transmitted through the air by coughs orsneezes, creating aerosols containing the virus. It can also be

transmitted by direct contact with bird droppings, nasal secretions or through contact with contaminated surfaces.

What viruses lack in size they make up in their ability to make youmiserable. There are over 300 types. Some – especially the influenzagroup – are slippery customers. They mutate so fast that Virologistshave to make new types of vaccine every few years to protect you.

“I am at the moment deaf in theears, hoarse in the throat, red inthe nose, green in the gills, dampin the eyes, twitchy in the jointsand fractious in temper from amost intolerable and oppressivecold”

- Charles Dickens


Finance

By Kaushik Prakash

The UPA government lostits most prominent and oneof the most senior mem-

bers when Pranab Mukherjee waselevated to the office of Presidentof India, last month. PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh, whoshepherded India through its glo-rious years of liberalization dur-ing the early 1990s, held the port-folio till Aug 2, when PChidambaram was re-appointedFinance Minister. Sushil KumarShinde now handles the HomeAffairs portfolio held by Mr.Chidambaram. The PrimeMinister regards Mr.Chidambaram as a visionary whoshares his views on India’s eco-nomic standing among G20nations.

Mr. Chidambaram, 67, aprominent lawyer and a graduatefrom the prestigious HarvardBusiness School, is a seven timeMP from Sivaganga constituencyin Tamil Nadu. This will be thefourth time that he is donning theall-important role of FinanceMinister of the world’s largestand fastest growing democracy.“At a time when India’s dreamrun at the world stage in terms ofGDP growth is sinking at analarming rate, it would take all ofMr. Chidambaram’s experiencein the high office to set sail themuch needed lifeboat for oureconomy,” said Dr. RajnishSinha, professor of internationalmacroeconomics at MahatmaGandhi University, Cochin.

The nation has reacted posi-tively to this new appointment ofan experienced hand in the NorthBlock of New Delhi. Mr.

Chidambaram is credited at hav-ing presented the nation’s ‘dreambudget’ in 1997-98. This budgetlargely brought down income taxrates, removed archaic govern-ment surcharges that were hinder-ing economic growth, andreduced corporate tax rates. Hehas also closely worked with thePrime Minister on the previoussix budgets he delivered duringhis stints as Finance Minister.“Chidambaram is a disciplinarianand would never defy any deci-sion taken by the prime ministeron budget proposals," opined anofficial from the finance ministry.

All this comes at a time whenMr. Chidambaram has beenunder serious scrutiny on severalissues and the opposition partieslooking for any avenue to malignhim. Some of the controversiessurrounding him include the 2009general election vote count fraud,2G spectrum scam and Aircel-

Maxis deal.A senior colleague in the

finance ministry said, “Mr.Chidambaram is passionate aboutexpenditure control, tax reformsand realising revenues. Regainingfiscal control will be his top pri-ority.” Dr. Sinha said, “the manwho shielded India from slippinginto economic crisis during theglobal markets meltdown in2008, will have to yet againweave a magic web that will insu-late the nation from volatility.”

One of the major challengeshe faces is the apprehensionexpressed by foreign institutionalinvestors (FIIs) while investing inIndia. Most of this perceptionresulted from rating agenciesStandard & Poor and Fitch Groupwhich downgraded India’s invest-ment rating from stable to nega-tive citing, "heightened risks thatIndia's medium- to long-termgrowth potential will gradually

deteriorate if further structuralreforms are not hastened". Forthe country to reach its 9% GDPgrowth once again, it is impera-tive that foreign investors changetheir perception.

One aspect that would helpchange this perception is quickresolution of General AntiAvoidance Rules (GAAR), whichprevents all Indian companies andindividuals from routing invest-ments from foreign investorsthrough Mauritius or other taxhavens like the Cayman Islands,Monaco etc. This is a round aboutsystem used to avoid taxes. Thegeneral sentiment in the industryis that such laws only hinder for-eign investments and must bedropped.

The other pressing issue thatneeds his attention is the decliningvalue of the rupee in spite offalling crude oil prices. The valueof the rupee has fallen from`44.61/USD in April 2011 to`57.15/USD in June 2012. Stepsneed to be taken to bring downthe nation’s current account

deficit (CAD) and fiscal deficit.With weak monsoon rains,

35% below average, directlyimpacting the economic and agri-cultural growth, Mr.Chidambaram will have to pro-vide sops to the farming sector,which is one of the largest con-tributors to the country’s GDP.He would also need to give a fil-lip to the industrial output index(IIP), which has constantlydeclined in the recent months andstands at a current 3.5%.Exports, another major contribu-tor to India’s GDP, is yet anotherarea that needs to pick up beforethe rupee value can start rising inthe international markets.

The general economic climatein India is that of ambiguity lacedwith creeping pessimism. Thenew Finance Minister, who is notnew to challenges of the currentnature, will need to steer Indiaback on its path of growth. Forthe UPA 2 to come back to powerin 2014 the nation needs to bewell on its path of 9% GDPgrowth. This needs to be coupledwith creating a favorable climatefor FIIs to channel their fundsinto the much needed infrastruc-ture development of the nationwhich would automatically boostexports and arrest the slide of therupee.

Trying times for Chidambaram for the 4th time

Tips to save tax

Tax rates 2011-12The following rates apply from 1 July 2011.

“At a time whenIndia’s dream run at

the world stage interms of GDP

growth is sinking atan alarming rate, it

would take all ofMr. Chidambaram’s

experience in thehigh office to set

sail the much need-ed lifeboat for our

economy.”

Continued from page 9

“There can be no manner of doubt thatAssam is facing external aggression andinternal disturbance because of large-scaleillegal immigration from Bangladesh,” thejudges noted.

Such clear, unambiguous castigationshave little impact on the Congress think-tank is evident from the fact that variousother courts have come down heavily onCongress for enacting legislations to facili-tate settlement of illegal immigrants inAssam.

One of the most scathing judicial cri-tique of government handling of illegalmigrants issue came in July 2008 fromGuwahati High Court. The High Courtbench did not mince words in a caseinvolving 61 illegal migrants. In a land-mark verdict, the High Court opined:“Large number of Bangladeshis in thestate now play a major role in electing therepresentatives both to the LegislativeAssembly and Parliament and consequent-ly, in the decision-making process towardsbuilding the nation”. The gravity of theillegal migrants (“kingmakers” as per theHigh Court verdict) became evident as oneof the accused held a Pakistan passportand had contested the State Assemblyelection in 1996.

The fact that Congress would not do

anything to dislodge the entrenched illegalmigrants (and thus endanger its immediateelectoral alliances) is evident from arecent refusal by the Union Government todelete names of 40 lakh doubtful voters onthe basis of their religious or linguisticprofile as it would be “unconstitutional”.

The Centre was responding to an affi-davit filed in Supreme Court by a NGOAssam Public Works alleging that that thenames of over 4 million illegal migrantsfrom Bangladesh figure on the electorallists and they should be disfranchised anddeported.

“Any so called abnormal growth, inthe electoral rolls does not imply that therolls contain the names of illegalBangladeshi immigrants and the contentionmade regarding presence of illegalBangladesh migrants in the electoral rollsis completely presumptuous,” the Centreasserted in the response to the SupremeCourt.

While it would have been much easierdismissing fact-based apprehensions of theNGO, the Congress-led UnionGovernment would find it harder explain-ing various acts of vandalism committedby allegedly by Bangaldeshi lumpen.

Rekha Bhattacharjee can be contactedat [email protected]

Here are a few items that people canconsider as deductions. Thesedeductions are quite common yet

often overlooked by people looking tosave on tax. Read below for the easiest taxdeductions;

1. Work related expenses. Travel,eating, accommodation – keep thosereceipts.

2. Self-education. Books on topicsyou work in. E.g. marketing books andcourses.

3. Travel expenses4. Gifts and donations are tax

deductable. Making a decent donation at

the end of each year to a charity can helpyou get into a lower tax bracket.

5. You can claim the depreciationin your assets. E.g.; your laptop, your caretc.

6. Claim any losses you made ininvestments to avoid capital gains tax.

7. Get private health care insuranceto save on Medicare levy.

8. Make prompt payments of ATOdues to avoid interest charges and penal-ties

9. Income protection insurance canbe deducted as a work-related expense

10. Consider salary packaging itemsrather than purchasing them yourself

Taxable income Tax on this income

0 - $6,000 Nil$6,001 - $37,000 15c for each $1 over $6,000$37,001 - $80,000 $4,650 plus 30c for each $1 over $37,000$80,001 - $180,000 $17,550 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000$180,001 and over $54,550 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

KaushikPrakash hasan MBA infinance fromthe UniversityofMassachusetts,and is fromBangalore. Aformer banker, he reports inglobal insights in finance, business and economics.

P. Chidambaram has been shifted from Home to headFinance Ministry by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after

Pranab Mukherjee was elected President.


Community

“Find the Dynamic You” was the

main message as Hindu Youth

Australia (HYA) encouraged youth

to explore their identity and furnish

their understanding of Hindu

Dharma. The current HYA team,

filled with many new faces,

showed great initiative and amaz-

ing leadership in preserving, pro-

moting and propagating Hindu

Dharma within Australia. It was

this youthful combination and

enthusiasm that sparked a series of

eye-opening presentations and

insightful workshops at the 3rd

Australian Hindu Youth Conference

held on Sunday 5th August 2012.

Over 120 delegates attended this

landmark event, portrayed to be

one of the most unique youth

events conducted in Australia. In

his congratulatory message, Hon

Victor Dominello MP praised

Hindu Youth Australia’s efforts and

stated that “the activities of HYA

and the annual conference ensure

that Hindu Australians will have a

strong foundation in spiritual val-

ues and become fine adult citizens

of Australia”.

The conference commenced with

traditional Vedic Chanting, Ganesh

Pooja and the honoring of the local

Aboriginal tribe. Dr. Geoff Lee

MP, Shri Viraja Krishnadasa and

Dr. Jennifer Cover provided inspi-

rational addresses praising the

dynamic nature of Hindu youth in

Australia. HYA coordinator Arjun

Nidigallu was the main keynote

speaker at the conference and his

topic was on “Hindu Renaissance”.

Arjun approached this topic from

many interesting viewpoints before

admitting that “Hindu dharma

doesn’t require rebirth, it’s been

alive and well for 150 thousand

years, but rather it’s OUR rebirth in

Hindu Dharma that is required”.

Arjun also introduced a “why,

what, how” model and correlated

these concepts to each aspect of the

conference. He requested the

youth to focus more on the “why”

aspect of Hindu Dharma as this

would “improve our understanding

as Hindus”. He also noted that “all

answers lie in our Dharma” and

mentioned the very reason of

HYA’s existence is to “promote,

propagate and preserve our

Dharma”.

The post morning tea session

concentrated on science and cul-

ture. Aravind Srinivasan used a

practical metaphor to describe the

concept of “Pooja”. He equated

the act of performing a pooja with

that of inviting a friend over and

thus went on to explore when, why,

how and the benefits of doing a

pooja. Sushyanth Subramaniam

complemented this session with his

presentation on “Temples”.

Aligning with the keynote presen-

tation, Sushyanth primarily focused

on the “why” element during his

delivery. With step-by-step reason-

ing, he justified why “we should all

go to a temple out of interest rather

than being forced”.

In the post lunch session, three

parallel workshops were construct-

ed to reflect the practical nature of

Hindu Dharma and delegates were

required to attend all workshops

one by one.

“Body, Mind and Soul – A U M

Meditation”: Yogacharya

Devidasanji took the participants

on a spiritual journey through his

meditation and pranayama work-

shop. He demonstrated the concept

of pranayama and explained the 7

spiritual chakras in the body which

are ignited when any such deep

meditation is performed. With the

aid of Devidasanji, the participants

then performed stage-by-stage

meditation. Participants were

asked to chant the OM mantra and

focus on their breathing throughout

various parts of the body. Many

participants commented on the pos-

itive energy that emanated during

and after performing the medita-

tion.

“The art of Public Speaking and

voice projection”: Mrs. Vandana

Anand facilitated an exciting ses-

sion on the art of public speaking.

The session was an eye-opener for

many high school and university

students, as she stressed the impor-

tance of speech and voice projec-

tion for everyday activities.

Vandana talked about the basic

framework for public speech and

then interactively pointed out the

positive effects of tone, clarity,

expression, gestures and body posi-

tion when delivering messages to

an audience. As an exercise, she

split the participants into smaller

groups and asked them to present

short speeches. All participants

gave each other feedback making

this a very potent learning exercise.

“Improve your mental arith-

metic” Vedic Mathematics:

Anusha Nidigallu conducted a

thought-provoking workshop on

improving mental arithmetic. She

explained several mathematical

concepts drawn from Vedic Sutras

and then illustrated these concepts

with examples. Some of the con-

cepts included finding compli-

ments, multiplication by 11 and

division by 19. The workshop was

highly interactive, engaging and

very enjoyable. Many of the par-

ticipants in the feedback form

acknowledged the relevance and

importance of mental arithmetic in

their daily lives.

The final session incorporated the

core principles of our dharma,

social service and provided a for-

mal round up to the conference.

HYA Coordinator Krishna

Ramarathinam delivered an enter-

prising presentation on “Why

Sanskrit”. The segment com-

menced with a short Sanskrit skit

in which Krishna demonstrated the

present day spoken “Samskrutam”

language. With the aid of some

activities, he then went on to

explore the language history, its

contributions towards Hindu

Dharma, the influences on other

languages, the spiritual benefits,

the scientific benefits and linguistic

benefits. In his concluding state-

ment, Krishna reiterated “Sanskrit

as the underlying foundation for

every aspect in our Dharma” and

urged participants to learn the

“Language of the Gods” (“Deva

Bhaashyam”).

Kailash Satyanarayan opted for

an emotional approach to his

inspiring presentation on “Social

Service”. Commencing with a

heartfelt personal story, Kailash

brought the audience to tears as he

revealed some shocking statistics in

today’s world. He then explained

his idolized version of “A perfect

world” “A perfect family” and

cried out for help in making this

dream come true “Vasudheiva

Kutumbakam” – The World is one

big family.

After an emotional journey, HYA

event managers Pavan Raju and

Manikkam Iyer rapped up the con-

ference with a detailed summary.

Pavan requested participants to

focus on the “Why” Hindu Dharma

aspect in order for us to achieve a

better understanding of our

Dharma. And this “better under-

standing” is what makes us dynam-

ic Hindus.

Hindu Youth Australia is a not

for profit organization and is the

affiliated wing of Vishva Hindu

Parishad Australia Incorporated.

Please visit

www.hinduyouth.com.au for more

information.

Hindu Youth Australia members:

Krishna Ramarathinam, Arjun

Nidigallu, Aruna

Gandhimathinathan, Rohith

Kuntumalla, Pavan Raju,

Manikkam Iyer, Sushyanth

Subramaniam, Kailash

Satyanarayan, Pooja Sashi, Jaya

Teyjas and Aditi Chaudhari

Finding the dynamic you with HYA

Raj Kumari Bajaj (28 December 1942 – 7 July

2012)

Raj Bajaj, wife of TIDU writer,

Editor of Sandesh and President of

Australian Hindi Indian

Association (AHIA) Mr. Santram

Bajaj unexpectedly passed away

on July 7 as a result of complica-

tions that arose out of a minor rou-

tine procedure of getting a stent

put in the arm artery. The family is

still shell-shocked as the cruel

hands of destiny have left not only

the close ones but the Indian com-

munity as a whole very sad, people

who always received special treat-

ment by Raj that of a loving and a

close family member. To Raj the

community was one big family as

she was always the silent force

behind her husband when the

AHIA Senior wing was set up.

Food cooked and served with love

and all other volunteering work for

the organization was done quietly

yet smilingly by her and her group

of friends. These ladies including

Raj were recognised a couple of

years ago when they were awarded

the State Volunteers Awards for

their untiring work. A Beautiful

lady not only outwardly, Raj was a

soft spoken, always welcoming,

compassionate and a beautiful per-

son on the inside. She was an

excellent housewife, mother and a

grandmother who guided her chil-

dren as a devoted parent yet was a

great friend and a confidante. She

loved gardening and always dis-

tributed orchids and was referred

to as the ‘Orchid Lady’ by friends

and the community. She would

generously distribute fruits and

other crops from her vege patch on

which she worked diligently every

day.

There was an old time charm

and care and concern in her char-

acter and as her husband of fifty

years Santram put it at her funeral

ceremony which was attended by a

huge number of friends, “A wife

like Raj, they don’t make any

more.”

Raj Bajaj will be sorely missed

by all – by those who knew her

closely or even those who had a

small encounter and knew her

faintly. Her smiling, kind face left

impression on everyone who came

across her.

Hindi

IIbî mc fUwA =qh F\ze =uF hne

:e> bî lu mthu vrhJth fUu =w&F fUtu =uFt

ni> bî ytdu yt fUh mc mu Gbt btkdlt

atn;e :e, vhk;w bwSu Yumt fUhlu fUe

ytÒtt lné ni> buhe Ce fUwA mebtgü nî>

gn b; mtuatu, rfU bî fUuJ˜ ˜tudtü

fUtu bthlu yt;e nqâ> gn ;tu bî fUh ne

lné mfU;e, gn ;tu CdJtl fUt fUtb

ni> buht fUtb ;tu ytÀbt fUtu Wm fUu

vwhtlu Nheh mu rlfUt˜ fUh CdJtl fUtu

mwvw=o fUhlu fUt ni, Wm fUu ct= Ju stlü

>OO

bî yCe yCe yvle "bovÀle fUe

ra;t s˜t fUh ytgt ne :t rfU buht

mtblt bti; mu ntu dgt>

IIgn ;wb lu ¢gt fUh r=gt ?

R;lt yl:o ? YfU v˜ fUu r˜gu Ce

lné mtuat rfU buht ¢gt ntudt?OO bi lu

bti; fUtu fUtuô;u ýyt vqAt>,IIbuhe ;tu

=wrlgt ne Wst\z =e ;wb lu !OO

IIbî ;wönthu =w&F fUtu mbS;e nqâ,

vh buhe Ce bscqrhgkt nî>OO

IIbuhu mu \ßgt=t ¢gt ntu mfU;e nî>OO

II;wb lnek mbStudu, Rm mbg ;wb

=w&Fe ntu, dwômu bü ntu> bî Ce fURo cth

dwômu bu yt st;e nqâ> bî Atuxe Atuxe

ct;tü vh dwômt lnek fUh;e> ˜tud bwSu

rl=oge, vÀ:hr=˜, \str˜b ytih l stlu

rfUl rfUl ltbtü mu cw t;u nî> bî mc

mn u;e nqâ, ¢gtürfU bwSu v;t ni, sc

Wànü måatRo fUt v;t a˜;t ni ;tu Ju

Ntk; ntu st;u nî>

bwSu dwômt Wl nÀgthtuâ,

yt;kfUJtr=gtü vh Ce yt;t ni stu c\ze

cuhnbe mu cb =wJtht btmqb cåatü

ytih ôºtegtü fUtu bth =u;u nî> dwômt bwSu

Wl ;tfU; fUu lNu bü aqh ;tlt Ntne

rzfUxuxhtü vh Ce yt;t ni stu cudwltn

rlnÀ:u ˜tudtü vh dtur˜gtü fUe ctiuAth

fUh;u nî> Jn rc˜fUw Cq st;u nî rfU

YfU r=l bî Wl fUe stl bü mu Wl fUe

ytÀbt rlfUt˜lu sc ytQkde ;tu Wl

fUt ¢gt nt˜ fUÁkde>

II urfUl ;wb Yumu ˜tudtü fUtu R;le

=uh Fw t ¢gtuk Atu\z =u;e ntu?OO

IIbuhu nt: bü ntu ;tu bî Rànü YfU v˜

fUu r˜gu Ce lné Atu\zqâ, vh gn ;tu RoëJh

lu yvlu nt: bü hFt ýyt niOO>

buhe gn nbuNt fUturNN hñ;e ni rfU

bî vqhe ;mÖ˜e fUh qâ rfU Rm ytÀbt

fUt ltb buhe mqae bü ni, vhk;w rVUh Ce

fUCe l fUCe dÖ;e ntu ne st;e ni>

bwS vh fUtb fUt ctuS Ce ;tu cý; ni>

;wönü ;tu gt= ntudt, YfU cth sc ;wb

nJtRo snt\s bü mVUh fUh hnu :u ytih

cebth ntu dgu :u - \sht yvlu Nç=tü

bü c;tytu, C˜t ¢gt ýyt :tOO

IIntâ, Jn ath mt˜ vn u ne ýyt

:t> rmkdtvwh fUu Ë ul bü fUiËxl fUtu

snt\s fUu vumüsmo bü mu YfU ztp¢xh fUtu

ZqkZlt v\zt :t ytih Wm lu fUnt :t rfU

bwSu Intxo yxifUO ntu hnt ni>

IInb lu rmzle bü ytv fUu vrhJth

fUtu mqra; fUh r=gt ni, Yöçgw üm Ce

Yghvtuox vh Jurxkd bü niOO, Yumt bwSu

c;tgt st hnt :t> vhk;w bwSu fUwA Yumt

bñmqm lné ntu hnt :t rfU bî bhlu st

hnt nqâ> bwSu Jn mc ysec ˜d hnt

:t> fUñ;u nî l rfU bhlu mu vn u Rkmtl

fUtu yvlu seJl fUe vqhe ;ôJeh mtblu

ytlu ˜d;e ni, vh buhu mt: ;tu Yumt

fUwA Ce lnek ntu hnt :t>

bî lu fUturNN Ce fUe rfU mtuaqâ,

simu fUc bî ceJe fUu =t˜ bü lbfU

\ßgt=t zt˜lu vh Wm vh rcd\zt :t gt

fUc bî lu cåatü fUtu Intub JfUoO l

fUhlu vh ztâxt :t, gt rVUh fUc bî lu

yvlu d{üzTml fUtu McDonald mu

cdoh lnek r=˜tgt :t> Yumu ne fURo

ct;tü fUu cthu bü mtuat :t, vhk;w fUwA

Ce ;tu lnek gt= yt hnt :t, ;tu ¢gt

bî bh lnek hnt nqâ ? gt gn ztpfUxh

dÖ; ctu hne ni? gt= ni, fUiËxl lu

snt\s fUtu rfUme l\s=efUe Yghvtuox vh

u stlu fUe Ce ct; fUn =e :e,

urfUl bî lu Wmu Yumt fUwA Ce fUhlu mu

htufU r=gt :t> ytih rVUh rmzle

Yghvtuox vh Ë ul fUu îz ntu;u ne

IIvihtbirzfUOO yà=h yt dgu ytih mc

mu vn u bwSu W;tht dgt ytih me"t

yôv;t˜ u dgu :u> buhu vqAlu vh rfU

buhu mtbtl fUt ¢gt ntudt, Wàntü lu

dwômu mu fUnt :t,II;wönü mtbtl fUe

v\ze ni, ytv stl fUe rVUf{U fUersgu,

mtbtl fUe lnek> Jn Qvh mt: lnek

st;t, ytv fUu Dh Jt˜tü fUtu =u r=gt

stgudt>OO yôË;t˜ fUu ctnh buhu

vrhJth fUu mc m=ôg Cthe rak;t bü

F\zu :u> bwS mu \ßgt=t Ju Dchtgu ýY

:u>

Fih, yôË;t˜ bü mthu xiôx rfUgu

dgu ytih CdJtl fUe f]Uvt mu mc XefU

XtfU :tOO

II=uFt, yc ;wb Ce CdJtl fUtu

ne If{UurzxI =u hnu ntu, gr= fUwA ntu

st;t ;tu mc bwSu ne dtr˜gtâ =u;u> bî

;tu cth cth yvle r˜ôx aifU fUh hne

:e rfU fUné dÖ;e l fUh ciXqâ>OO

buht fUtb ne Yumt ni rfU bwSu nbuNt

mc fUe =wÀfUth ne rb˜;e ni> ntâ, fUCe

fUCth rnx˜h simu rfUme =w³ Ôgr¢;

fUtu bi u stQâ ;tu ˜tud buht "àgJt=

yJëg fUh =u;u nî >

yc fURo ˜tud CdJtl fUe =e ýRo

;fU˜eVUtü mu ;kd ytfUh bwSu cw t;u nî

ytih fUn;u nî rfU Wànü WXt u stQâ

;trfU Wànü Rm ve\zt mu AwxfUtht rb u>

vhk;w bi cucm nqâ, bî Wl fUu =w&F mu Fw=

=w&Fe ntu st;e nqâ, bwSu Wl vh cý;

;hm Ce yt;t ni urfUl bî Wl fUu

r˜gu fUwA lné fUh vt;e> mbg ytih

ô:tl ;tu vn u mu ne rl"torh; ntu;t ni,

bwSu ;tu fUuJ˜ CdJtl fUe ne ytÒtt

fUt vt˜l fUhlt ntu;t ni> yc ;wb

yvle "boËÀle fUtu ne u ˜tu, ;wb

yvlu Dh mu R;le =qh Jt u yôv;t˜

bü ¢gtuk ytgu scrfU ;wönthu Dh fUu vtm

ne mc mwrJ"tYk ŒtË; :é >OO

IIgne ;tu htult ni rfU nb gr= gn

dÖ;e l fUh;u ;tu yts buhe y"tokrdle

seJ; ntu;e >OO

IIrVUh dÖ; mtua hnu ntu! gn ;wön-

thu nt: bü lné :t, yCe yCe bî lu

fUnt lt rfU mbg ytih ô:tl rl"torh;

:t> bî ;tu Jntâ, vn u ne Rk;\sth fUh

hne :e>OO

IIrVUh ¢gtü lné nbü, ct; ;fU

fUhlu fUt mbg r=gt?OO

IIct; fUhlu bü ;wönü ;fU˜eVU

ntu;e, Wànü Ce ntu;e, stu bî lné atn;e

:e> bî sc Ce ytÀbt fUtu ulu yt;e

nqâ, buhe fUturNN ntu;e ni rfU Wmu vqht

yt=h ytih btl =u mfUqâ> buhe btltu, ;tu

;wb yc Rm mÀg fUtu btl ˜tu ytih

Iltpbo I ntulu fUe fUturNN fUhtuOO

IIfUimu ltpbo ntu mfU;t nqâ? ;wb lu

;tu buht mc fUwA Ael r˜gt ni> bî nh

btb u bü vqhe ;hn mu Wm vh rlCoh :t>

bwSu ;tu Zkd mu atg ;fU cltle lnek

yt;e>OO

II;tu ;wb fUuJ˜ yvlu ôJt:o fUu

r˜gu gn mc fUn hnu ntuOO

IIlnek, ;wb R;le fUXtuh fUimu ntu

mfU;e ntu> nbü ;tu YfU =qmhu fUe yt=;

me v\z awfUe :e> fUCe mtuat Ce l :t

rfU nb YfU =qmhu mu y˜d ntüdu>OO

II\sht yvlu athtü ytuh l\sh Dwbt

fUh =uFtu ;tu v;t a˜ stgudt rfU ytih

rfU;lu ˜tud Yume ne rô:r; bü nî> bî ;tu

gne m˜tn =qkde rfU yc ;wb Wm fUe

ytÀbt fUe Ntkr; fUu r˜gu Œt:olt

fUhtu>OO

IIyåAt gn stu ;wb cth cth

ytÀbt fUe ct;ü fUh hne ntu, gu y˜d

y˜d "btüo bü Rm fUt bnúJ ne y˜d

y˜d ni>OO

IIfUtil dÖ; ni ytih fUtil mne, bî

Rm SkSx bü lnek v\z;e> gn mc ;wön-

tht ytvme btb˜t ni> ;wönthu "bo fUu

ylwmth ;wönthe ytÀbtYk atu t c=˜;e

nî ;tu rfUme =qmhu fUu ylwmth Ju

IzqbmzuOgt I\fUgtbt;O fUt Rk;\sth

fUh;e nik, bî ;tu cm Wànü Wl fUu rsôb

(;l) mu rlfUt˜lu fUt fUtb fUh;e

nqâ>OO

IIbî Ce fUCe fUCe :fU st;e nqâ,

rVUh Ce bî fUtuRo AwÕe lnek fUh;e, buhu

r˜gu IJefU YkzO YfU mvlt ni> bî

yvlt fUtb vqhe ˜dl fUu mt: fUh;e

nqâ simu mqgo yvle rfUhlü rclt rfUme

Cu= CtJ fUu =wrlgt fUu mc =uNtü fUtu

=u;t ni> nt krfU Wànuk yvle yvle cthe

fUt Rk;\sth fUhlt v\z;t ni, scrfU bî

;tu r=l ht; fUe Ce vhJtn lné fUh;e>

gr= bî fUtb XefU mu l fUÁâ ;tu =wrlgt

h¥fU me stgude> CdJtl lY ˜tudtü fUtu

fUimu Cus vtgüdu?OO

IIbî YfU måatRo nqâ, rVUh Ce ˜tud

bwSu btllu mu Dcht;u niâ> CdJtl fUtu

rfUme lu =uFt lnek ni rVUh Ce ˜tud Wm

fUu ytdu "qv ydcúte s˜t s˜t fUh

r=l ht; Œt:olt fUh;u hn;u nî ytih bwSu

yAq; mbS fUh bwS mu =qh Ctd;u nî>OO

II;tu ;wb Rm fUt ct; fUt c=˜t

u hne ntu?OO

IIct; c= u fUe lnek ni, bî ;tu Fw=

RoëJh fUu ne yt=uN bü hn fUh fUtb

fUh;e nqâ> CdJtl fUu cltgu ýY rlgb

;tu CdJtl Fw= Ce lné ;tu\z;u > sc

Ce Jn Rkmtl cl fUh "h;e vh yt;u

nî, yk; bü Wànuk Ce ulu bî ne st;e

nqâ>

bti;; muu rC\zk;

mk; htb csts



Children’s Corner

Children's Corner By Esther Chaudhry-Lyons

India's Independence Day iscelebrated on August 15 tocommemorate its independ-

ence from British rule and itsbirth as a sovereign nation on thatday in 1947. The day is a nationalholiday in India. All over thecountry, flag-hoisting ceremoniesare conducted by the local admin-istration in attendance. The mainevent takes place in New Delhi,where the Prime Minister hoiststhe National Flag at the Red Fortand delivers a nationally televisedspeech from its ramparts. In hisspeech, he highlights the achieve-ments of his government duringthe past year, raises importantissues and gives a call for furtherdevelopment. The Prime Ministeralso pays his tribute to leaders ofthe freedom struggle. A colourfulpageant showcasing India’s cultur-al diversity, symbolic depictionsof the country’s advances in sci-ence and technology, and a jointdisplay of India’s military capabil-ities by the armed forces are anessential part of the IndependenceDay celebrations.

India since independenceIndia is a Union of 28 States

and 7 Union Territories. Eachstate has its own government witha Governor as the figurehead,while each Union Territory isadministered directly by thePresident through an administratorappointed by him.

Languages of IndiaIndia has two national lan-

guages for central administrativepurposes: Hindi and English.Hindi is the national, official, andmain link language of India.English is an associate officiallanguage. The Indian Constitutionalso officially approves twenty-two regional languages for officialpurposes.

There are over 350 languagesspoken and written in India.Every state has its own languageand dialects.

Why India has four names?India, Bharat, Hindustan andAryavrat

India=The British gave thisname

Bharat=He was son ofShakuntla, wife of king Dushyant.India was named after Bharat.

Hindustan=from Indu tohindu to Hindustan or Hindustani,all started from the Indus river,on the bank of which people liv-ing used to be called Indu orHindu.

Aryavrat=This name is due tothe Aryans who entered this coun-try, ruled it, settled here, mixedwith the local people, made rela-tion with them.

The Republic of India has twoprincipal short names, in bothofficial and popular Englishusage, each of which is historical-ly significant. All originally desig-nated a single entity comprisingall the modern nations of theIndian subcontinent. These namesare India and Bharat. The firstArticle of the Constitution ofIndia states that "India, that isBharat, shall be a union ofstates." Thus, India and Bharatare equally official short namesfor the Republic of India. Indianscommonly refer to their countryas Bharat, India depending on thecontext and language of conversa-tion.

INDEPENDENCEDAY 15TH AUGUST

The Mice That Ate Iron

Once upon a time, therewas a rich merchantcalled Naduk. But times

were bad and his business wassuffering. He decided to leavethe city and find his fortune in anew place. He sold off all hispossessions and paid off hisdebts. All that he had left was aheavy iron beam. Naduk wentto say goodbye to his friendLakshman, and requested him tokeep the beam for him till hereturned. Lakshman promised tolook after it for him.

For many years, Naduktravel led far and wide, buildinghis fortune. Luck was with him,for he became rich once again.He returned home and bought anew house and started his busi-ness again.

He went to visit his friendLakshman who greeted himwarmly. After a while, Nadukasked him to return his beam.Lakshman knew that the beamwould fetch him good money sohe was loath to return it. So hetold Naduk that he had kept hisbeam in the store-room and themice ate it.

Naduk did not seem tomind. He asked Lakshman tosend his son home with him so

that he could hand over a giftthat he had bought for him. SoLakshman sent his son Ramuwith Naduk.

Naduk locked up Ramu in acellar in his house. By nightfall,Lakshamn was worried andcame to ask about the where-abouts of his son. Naduk repliedthat on the way to his house, ahawk swooped down and car-ried the boy off. Lakshmanaccused Naduk of lying. Heinsisted that a hawk could notcarry off a fifteen-year-old boy.

A big fight ensued and thematter was taken to court. When

the magistrate heardLakshman's side of the story, heordered Naduk to return the boyto his father. But Naduk insistedthat a hawk carried off the boy.The magistrate asked him how itwas possible. He replied that ifa huge iron beam can be eatenby mice, then a boy could defi-nitely be carried off by a hawk.

Naduk related the wholestory. Everyone in the court-room burst out laughing. Themagistrate then orderedLakshman to return the ironbeam to Naduk and that Nadukreturn Lakshman's son to him.

The National Anthem of India The Indian National

anthem, originallycomposed in Bengali

by Rabindranath Tagore, wasadopted in its Hindi versionby the Constituent Assemblyas the National Anthem ofIndia on 24 January 1950. Itwas first sung on 27December 1911 at theCalcutta session of the IndianNational Congress. The com-plete song consists of fivestanzas. Playing time of fullversion of the NationalAnthem is approximately 52seconds. The lyrics were ren-dered into English byRabindranath Tagore himself.Here is it in Roman.

Jana gana mana adhinaayaka jaya hai!

Bhaarat bhaagya vidhaata Punjab Sindh Gujarat

Maraatha, Dravid Utkala Bangaa. Vindhya Himachala

Yamuna Ganga, Uchhala jaladhi taranga. Tava shubh naame jaage, Tava shubh aashish

maage,

Gahe tava jaya-gaatha. Jana-gana-mangaladaya-

ka jaya hai! Bharat bhagya vidhata. Jaya hai! Jaya hai! Jaya

hai! Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya hai!

English Translation"Thou art the ruler of the

minds of all people,dispenser of India's des-

tiny. The name rouses the

hearts of Punjab, Sind,Gujarat and Maratha,

of the Dravid and Orissaand Bengal;

It echoes in the hills of theVindhyas and Himalayas,

mingles in the music ofthe Y amuna and Ganga

and is chanted by thewaves of the Indian Sea.

They pray for thy bless-ings and sing thy praise.

The salvation of all peopleis in thy hand,

thou dispenser of India'sdestiny.

Victory, victory, victoryto thee."


Right and wrong of alterations

Seneca (4BC-65AD) was bornin Spain. A philosopher,writer of essays, letters and

tragedies,he alsoadvisedNero. Hewas caughtup in manyconspira-cies duringthis periodand wasaccused ofplotting to kill Nero. He had for-ward thinking views on health andfood and has been credited for hisideas on anger and emotions.

Here are some of Seneca’sthoughts:

* Be not hasty with praise orblame: speak always as though

you were giving evidence beforethe judgment seat of the gods.

* Be silent as to the servicesyou have rendered but speak ofthe favours you have received.

* Consult your friend on allthings, especially on those withrespect to yourself.

His council may then be usefulwhere your own self-love mightimpair your judgment.

* Dangerous is wrath con-cealed. Hatred proclaimed dothlose its chance of wreckingvengeance.

* Enjoy present pleasures insuch a way as not to injure futureones.

* It is not because things aredifficult that we do not dare; it isbecause we do not dare that theyare difficult.

* He who is your friend lovesyou, but he who loves you is notalways your friend. Thus friend-ship always benefits, but lovesometimes injures.

* If we desire to judge allthings justly, we must first per-suade ourselves that none of us arewithout sin.

* It is easier to exclude harm-ful passions than to rule them, andto deny them admittance than tocontrol them after they have been

admitted.* It is a denial of justice not to

stretch out a helping hand to thefallen; that is the common right of

humanity.* It should be our care not to

live a long life but a satisfactoryone.

* Whom they have injuredthey also hate.

* If a man does not know whatport he is steering, no wind isfavorable to him.

* I do not distinguish by theeye, but by the mind which is theproper judge.

* If virtue precedes our everystep then life will be safe.

* A benefit consists not in thatwhich is done or given, but in theintention of the giver or doer.

* It is not the man who has lit-tle, but he who desires more thatis poor.

* It is his fault if he beungrateful but it is mine if I donot give.

* To find one thankful man, Iwill oblige a great many that arenot so.

* I had rather never received akindness than never bestow one.

* Not to return a benefit is agreater sin but not to confer one isgreater.

Noble Thoughts by Seneca

Inner Space

By Faith Harper

Most readymade hous-es and housingschemes in Australia

are built on land that is rectan-gle and square in shape. Suchland forms are favourable inVasthu Sastra.

However, the problem aris-es when the property ownermakes alterations on the built-up area or land via renovationto match their convenienceand comfort without takinginto account the effects of thechanges on the environmentand the dweller.

Some extensions arefavourable and some are not,depending on which sector ofthe plot is extended or cut.For example, if the north-eastcorner of the land is cut, itwill affect the family growthand ancestry and it is regardedas inauspicious.

This is because if north-east is cut, the dweller is pre-venting positive energy fromflowing into the property.

But if north-east has anextension, in Vasthu it is

viewed as favourable as itbrings prosperity to thedweller. This is because theextension allows more positiveflow of energy into the plot.North-east is given a lot ofimportance in Vasthu becausethe cosmic rays hit the earth atnorth-east corner of the earth.

Each plot or piece of landis viewed as a miniature earthand the north-east sector actsas an antenna in receiving theenergy waves. Due to this, itis important that the structureshould be properly orientedand designed in such a way asto acquire the maximum bene-fits of nature energy.

The recommended thingsto do to allow more positive

energy to flow into a proper-ty, the owner should ensurethe north-east sector conformto the following:

• Open the North-east• Extend the North-east• Depress the North-eastTo store the positive ener-

gy that has flowed into theproperty, the dweller should:

• Close the south-west• Ensure south-west is

right angle and it is not cut ordepressed

• Elevate the south-westRectification should be car-

ried out when a land is notsquare or rectangular in shapeand this can be done by aban-doning small areas that is pro-truding in the unfavourable

sector of the land. It is rec-ommended that the smallextended areas should be soldor given to charitable groups.

If this is not possible, acompound wall should be builtalong the corrected border andthe excess piece of landshould not be used by theproperty owner for any pur-pose.

Vasthu recommends that anideal house should have somespace between each other sothat the dweller enjoys smoothflow of cosmic energy, venti-lation and light.

However, it is difficult tofind such space in most majorhousing schemes now whererows of terrace houses are

built owing to the lack ofspace in prime areas and foreconomic reasons. Whenchoosing such properties, adweller should make sure toavoid units that face the T-junction which is inauspiciousas it brings financial andhealth problems to thedweller.

T. Selva is the author ofthe bestseller book titledVasthu Sastra Guide. To get acopy, contact Devi at0412623017. He will be inDarwin to present VasthuSastra talks from Sept 26-29.He can be contacted at [email protected] Website:www.vasthusastra.com

VasthuSastra

By T. Selva

Body-Mind-Spirit

It is his fault if he be ungrateful but it is mine if I do not give.

Square and rectangle shapes are good, irregular shapes not so. Extension of land in NW not favorurable.


Santram's Grey Page

The month of August has been com-paratively cooler and there are lotsof people suffering from the usual

‘sneezing’ and cough. There is a risk ofcatching bugs from the fellow passengers inthe public transport. Low humidity in cool-er months also means viruses stay in the airlonger and are more easily picked up.

For us seniors, we need to take extraprecautions, particularly in the windy con-ditions as they are prevalent these days.Avoid exposure to cold weather sip warm.

Do what you can to keep warm; bundleup from head to toe in several layers, pre-heat the car before getting into it and makesure your home is kept warm.

Other suggestions: Sleep under an elec-tric blanket, warm clothing in the dryerbefore dressing and drink warm or hotdrinks, such as coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

If you have any of the conditions likeDiabetes, Heart disease, Lung condition, itis advisable to have the flu vaccine. In mostof these cases it is free. Please see yourdoctor.

Protect your ‘joint' assetsOne of the biggest victims from the

wear and tear of our daily lives is ourknees. Apart from bearing the burden ofour weight, the knees also take the brunt ofan aging body. Some tips to protect yourmost important 'joint' assets!

It's the largest joint in the human body.It helps you stay active, flexible and playsan essential role in facilitating movement.

Know your knees:The knee is a joint that is protected by

cartilage -- a soft, flexible, connective tis-sue that is not as hard as bone, but harderthan muscle. It forms a protective coverand links the two major bones of the leg.Any damage to this cartilage can be painfuland irreversible unless surgery is involved.

Aging and Arthritis: "The health of your knee cartilage can

be affected by many factors," says DrSrinivas J.V., senior orthopaedic surgeon,Fortis Hospital, Bangalore. "In osteoarthri-tis, the knee cartilage is completely wornout, until bone rubs against bone. It's aresult of a slow process of degeneration,either due to an overactive lifestyle orsevere lack of calcium in the body.

In most cases, damage to the knee car-tilage is due to the natural process of aging.But there are ways you can protect yourselfagainst the pain and avoid making the dam-age worse. "First of all, it's important tomaintain an ideal body weight. Being over-weight or obese will only put more pressureon your knees," says Dr Srinivas.

"Exercising regularly will also helpyour joints stay mobile and flexible. Timelydiagnosis and the control of diseases likediabetes and hypothyroidism are importanttoo, because if these diseases run rampantin the body, it could affect healthy carti-lage."

Take precautions:If you're already experiencing pain, Dr

Srinivas emphasizes the need to take pre-cautions. "Don't make knee pain worse byclimbing the stairs or sitting cross-leggedon the floor. Always sit on chairs or araised surface until the pain recedes," hesays. "Avoid walking on hard gravelly sur-faces and performing strenuous exerciseswhen there is pain. Rest is the best reme-dy." In the long-term, switching to lowimpact activities such as swimming andwalking (with less pressure on the joints) isa good idea.

Surgical Options:For people with advanced osteoarthritis,

there is now relief. Knee replacement sur-gery is fast becoming a common procedure.

Remember, caring for your knees is alifelong process. After all, it's thanks tothis joint that we have the ease and freedomof mobility.

Stress and worry could promoteAlzheimer’s

Elderly people with few worries and lit-tle stress are probably better protectedagainst the progress of Alzheimer’s diseasethan their peers who are under psychologi-cal pressure.

While stress alone is not capable ofcausing Alzheimer’s, it can promote thekind of brain degeneration that leads tosymptoms of dementia, according toArgentine researchers attending a recentcongress of the European NeurologicalSociety in Prague.

Alzheimer’s is said to be the most com-mon form of dementia in the world, withthe risk factors found to be age, high bloodpressure, diabetes, and physical and mentalidleness.

But …short term stress can be good forimmune system?

Short-term stress, the fight-or-flightresponse, a mobilisation of bodilyresources lasting minutes or hours inresponse to immediate threats -- stimulatesimmune system, said Firdaus Dhabhar,associate professor of psychiatry andbehavioural sciences and member of theStanford University.

And that's a good thing. The immunesystem is crucial for wound healing andpreventing or fighting infection, and bothwounds and infections are common risksduring chases, escapes and combat.

Investigators were able to show that themassive redistribution of immune cellsthroughout the body was orchestrated by

three hormones released by the adrenalglands, in different amounts and at differenttimes, in response to the stress-inducingevent. These hormones are the brain's call-to-arms to the rest of the body, Dhabharsaid. "Mother Nature gave us the fight-or-flight stress response to help us, not to killus," said Dhabhar.

Eating one’s way to a fresh complexion

How about berries instead of Botox,tomatoes instead of day cream, carrotsinstead of make-up? Many foods are beau-ty aids that make expensive creams andtreatments unnecessary.

Their effects are not immediate,though.

“Foods aren’t medications that workovernight,” noted Hans Lauber, a nutritionexpert and author from Munich.

“Meat, sausage or other animal foodsare wrinkle accelerators.

But there are dietary counterweights:Berries have a strong protective effectagainst free radicals; that is, they’ve got alot of antioxidants.

Spinach, cucumbers, Broccoli are alsohighly beneficial food, he said, with analmost medicinal effect like many othergreen vegetables, which alleviate minorinflammations and thus make for a freshcomplexion and healthy skin.

The carotenoids in tomatoes and carrotsnot only delay skin ageing but also protectagainst the sun. What is more, eating car-rots results in a fresh-looking complexion.

Everyday Heart Health Tips

If you're not convinced about the needto develop an exercise program for yourlife, you can at least try following some ofthese tips in your everyday routine. Takeadvantage of any opportunity for exercise.

Try some today.� Take the stairs instead of an eleva-

tor or escalator. Just start with one flight.Soon, you'll be ready for two.� Park your car at the far end of the

parking lot. The short walk to and from thestore or school helps your heart.� If you ride a bus or subway, get off

a stop before your destination. Walk therest of the way.� If you can, spend a few minutes of

your lunch break taking a stroll, it shouldhelp you stay awake after lunch.� Think of housework as an extra

chance to exercise. Vacuuming briskly canbe a real workout.� Mowing the lawn, pulling weeds,

and raking leaves are chores that can bedone by you as a chance to exercise.� If you have a dog, think of the dog

as an exercise machine with fur. A briskwalk with the dog is good for both of yourhearts. Make it a part of your daily routine.� If you have a family, schedule an

after-dinner walk. Make it quality time.

Don't eat anything when really hungry

Watch what you eat when really hun-gry. It's in our basic nature to reach for alarge portion when hungry. It's never easyto resist that third serving of pizza even ifyou are bursting out of your seams. Theguilt always strikes after the damage isdone. Know the signs of hunger, the cuesfor stress eating, and what triggers yourcravings to tame yourself when hungerstrikes.

Firstly, understand your body clock.Know the difference between actual hungerand stomach contractions. Is it hunger orthirst?

Sometimes your body can send off sig-nals to the brain that you are hungry. Thisis because food has lots of fluid containedwithin it.

- Skipping breakfast is a sin. Don't skipbreakfast, or you'll be starving and crankyby mid-morning. A breakfast with complexcarbs and low fat protein will help stave offsnack attacks.

- Plan ahead. Make sure that you havelow calorie snacks and drinks with you.Take note of what times of day you becomehungry and plan your meals and snacksaccordingly. If you always cave in around4 pm, schedule a snack for 3.30 and drinka big glass of water, too.

- Your body requires a certain amountof fat. Choose healthy fats, like olive oil.Mediterranean people include a lot of oliveoil in their cooking and they have famouslylow rates of obesity and heart disease.

- Do not take drastic steps. Cutting yourcalories too drastically will make yourmetabolism slow down and cause you to beplagued with hunger all of the time.

- Eat volumes of low-cal food.Broccoli, cauliflower and veggie salads willfill you up and help stave off hunger.

- Stay away from sugary snacks andsimple carbohydrates like sticky buns, cakeand donuts. If you eat them your bloodsugar will soar, and then crash and you'llfind yourself irritable, jittery and famished.

- Eat sufficient protein. Scientific stud-ies show that protein leaves people feelingfull longer than carbohydrates.

To keep those hunger pangs at bay, dis-tract yourself and divert your mind fromfood by getting involved in a task or ahobby you enjoy doing the most.

(Disclaimer: The Health tips in thearticle are taken from various well estab-lished and reliable sources and are givento you in good faith. However, readers arereminded to take care and consult theirdoctor if not sure, as no responsibility canbe accepted by the writer of this column orThe Indian Down Under).

Just for SeniorsBy Santram Bajaj

HUMOUR

Health & Well-being

Doctor: Madam, your husband needs restand peace, so here are some sleeping pills.

Wife: Doc, when should I give them tohim?

Doctor: They are for you.


Dr. Anil KonthamDental Surgeon

Now at two locations!

Services include:

�General Dentistry �Teeth Whitening

�Cosmetic dentistry �Dentures/Partial/Full

�Crown and Bridge �Root Canal Treatment

�Total Sterlisation �Wisdom Teeth Removals

�Gum Infection

Free Dental Treatment under Medicare*

(*For patients with chronic medical condition. some limits apply)

�ON SITE PROCESSING OF HEALTH FUNDS

�EFTPOS AVAILABLE

Suite 1B, 1st Floor

40 Panmure St

Rouse Hill NSW 2155

(02 ) 8814 5255

Suite 1, Level 1

38-40 Geroge St

Parramatta NSW 2150

(02) 9635 9525

0449 111 111

Free Quotes!Call Pappu!!

Jaswinder Singh Bhogal !!!0449 111 111


Columns

Every happy occasion is a time for ahearty feast. However, with a view to avoidgaining weight, it is prudent to try bakingrather than deep frying where appropriate.

The important point to remember withthe baked dishes is that they need to beserved fairly straight after baking to presentbest flavors and taste. I like to share some ofsuch recipes with my readers.

Crispy Baked BiryaniIngredients for Base�1 cup basmati rice�2 to 3 bay leaves�1 tsp salt�2 tsp lemon juice�6 cups of waterIngredients for Masala�3 tabs oil�2 onions – chopped�2 Tomatoes – chopped�½ cup frozen peas�1 carrot – shredded�½ roasted bread croutons�½ tsp turmeric powder�½ tsp red chili powder�½ tsp green cardamom powder�Salt to tasteWash the rice under flowing water.

Drain the excess water. Place 6 cups of wa-ter in a pan. Add rice, bay leaves, salt andlemon juice and boil till the rice are done.Remove from heat and drain out the excesswater and keep the rice aside to cool.

Heat oil in a fry pan. Add the onions andsauté till colour changes. Then add the toma-

toes, frozen peas, grated carrot and cook for3 to 5 minutes so that the vegetables arecooked to a tender stage. Then add the crou-tons, turmeric powder, red chili powder,green cardamom powder and salt. Mix welland slow the heat. Once the oil starts to sep-arate, then add the natural yoghurt paste andcook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Now addthe rice and fold gently to mix in the masalaand the rice. Place in a baking dish, coverwith aluminium foil; and cook in a moder-ately pre-heated oven (about 180 degrees).The rice should be done in 10 to 15 minutes.Serve hot.

Baked Beans in Potato NestsIngredients�2 cups of cooked red kidney beans�2 tabs olive oil�1 tabs tomato paste�1 tsp ginger garlic paste�1 green chili – finely chopped�6 boiled and mashed potatoes�1 tabs butter�¼ cup milk�250 grams grated Mozzarella Cheese�Salt to tasteHeat oil in a heavy base pan. Add ginger

garlic paste, tomato paste and green chili.Cook till the oil starts to separate out. Addthe beans and cook till they are dry andcrispy.

Mix the mashed potatoes with butter sothat the mixture is without any lumps. Nowoil a medium sized baking dish and spreadthe mashed potatoes as ½ inch thick base andalso covering the walls of the baking dish.Brush the milk on to the potatoes surfaces.Bake in a pre heated oven for about 10 min-utes so that the shell is cooked. Now add thecooked beans and cover by sprinkling theshredded cheese. Grill for 4 to 6 minutes sothat the cheese is starting to brown.

Serve with mango chutney.

Potato Nabab SurpriseIngredients�6 medium to large potatoes�½ cup home made paneer�3 tabs roasted mixed nuts, coarsely

ground�1 tabs oil�¼ cup fresh coriander leaves – finely

chopped�1 green chili – finely chopped�½ tsp garam masala�¼ cup milk with 1 tsp butter warmed

for brushing�Salt to tasteBoil the potatoes so that they are cooked

tender. Cut off ¼ inch off one end of the po-tato and keep aside. Do not discard this endas it will be used again. Now scoop out theinside of the potato to leave a thin shell.

Heat oil and add the green chili and cooktill it is fried. Then add the paneer, garammasala and salt. Cook for about 4 to 5 min-utes. Remove from heat. Now mix in thenuts and coriander leaves to make the filling.Now peel off the potato shell. Place the fill-ing inside the shell and then close off withthe ¼ inch side of the potato cut initially us-ing tooth pick/s. Now peel off the end of po-tato as well.

Place these filled potatoes in a bakingdish. Brush with butter and milk mixture andbake till golden brown. Serve with tomatochutney.

Tomato CupsIngredients�6 large tomatoes�100 gms mushrooms – sliced finely�2 tabs oil�¾ cup cooked basmati rice�2 tsp butter�Freshly ground pepper�Salt to tasteFor garnishing

�8 to 10 mint leaves washed and finelychopped

�Cut a slice of the top of each tomato.Scoop out the seeds, pulp and the juice.

Heat oil and add the sliced mushroomsand cook till the mushrooms are cooked.Now add the scooped tomato juice and pulpand cook for another 3 minutes. Then addthe cooked rice, freshly ground pepper andsalt and mix well.

Place this filling inside the tomato shellsand then close off with the removed slice us-ing tooth pick/s.

Place these filled tomatoes in a bakingdish. Brush with olive oil. Place in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees and bake tilltomatoes are cooked.

Garnish with mint leaves, serve hotwith raita.

Tandoori PranthaIngredients�3 cups atta flour�1 cup water�½ tsp salt�3 tabs butterMake a soft dough with the atta flour,

salt and water. Keep aside covering with amoist cotton kitchen towel.

Divide the dough into 10 equal portions.Make a ball of each portion and roll out inthe shape of a disk about 6 inches in diame-ter. Apply a thin layer of butter. Now foldthe disk over to make a semi circle. Applysome more butter to the top. Now fold againto make a quarter circle. Now roll out thisinto a round disk again about 6 inches in di-ameter. Grill for a few minutes till it starts tocook. Turn over and cook the other side.Keep in a hot case lined with a cotton cloth.Repeat for all portions.

Apply butter on top and serve with pota-to curry and raita.

By Priya Kaushik

The image of Indian beauty afew decades ago was the vil-lage belle with chiseled fea-

tures, in tight ghagra choli walkingthe green fields and her picture fas-cinated every one as calendar artistsdepicted the perfect hour glass fig-ure with perfect features in calen-dars which hung in every home.This image was copied by the filmworld as story writers weaved theirstories and scripted this village belleand lo and behold a Mala Sinha, ora Waheeda Rahman or a Mumtazturned into that buxom village bellewhile trying to speak local dialect totheir heroes in Indian films.

And then came the nineties, anera of Miss World and Miss Uni-verse as Aishwaryas and Sushmitaswon world beauty titles and changedthe concept of Indian beauty forev-er. Millions of Indian girls copiedthese iconic beauties and the shy vil-lage beauty turned into a modern,young and hip girl challenging theglobal image of beauty. The oldconcept of Indian beauty went out ofthe window. No more she is the qui-et, the subservient Indian woman ,so shy to utter even a word. Nomore that innocent wide-eyed lookas Indian men fell under her charmand the way she conveyed through

her eyes. Even the Indian goddesseshave been depicted in similar fash-ion. One only has to see a GoddessLakshmi or a Durga to see the con-cept of beauty ingrained in us in thesimilar fashion. While the Indiannose ring may have become a fadworldwide, the Indian womanmoved slowly and sure footedlyaligning herself with the globaltrend and concept of beauty.

The definition of beauty defi-nitely changed over the years andwill keep changing, but what con-tributes to the idea of beauty in mod-ern times?

Culture, values, ideas andnorms have always played an im-portant role in the construction of animage of a beautiful Indian woman.But, the world today is moving to-wards globalization and so is theidea of beauty. The business ofbeauty is borderless and so is the un-derstanding of it today. Indianwomen today are more than a ‘pa-tivrata’ or a ‘Bharat mata’ or anyother stereotyped image cast onthem. Some try to break through thegeneral idea of beauty and one suchdrive was the ‘Dove campaign forReal Beauty’. Women of India aredaring enough to experiment andtransform for the sake of beauty toachieve for themselves that aura ofmodern confidence and sense of

beauty.According to a poll 27 per cent

of women admit the biggest pressureto be beautiful actually comes fromthemselves. To top this up, imagesof women in the media leave a deepimprint upon women’s self-percep-tion. Society (19 per cent) and themedia (13 per cent) were next on thelist of top beauty pressures, but justfive per cent of women feel pressurefrom friends, family and partners,the Telegraph reported. Being loved(72 per cent) was the biggest confi-dence booster for women, followedby having a strong relationship ormarriage (53 per cent), liking howyou look in the mirror (35 per cent),being in good physical shape (33 percent), and taking good care of your-self (31 per cent). (Times of India,Dove Real beauty campaign April2012)

The fashion, cosmetics and plas-tic surgery industries are thrivingwith preoccupation with physicalappearance. Indian aesthetic surgeryindustry is the 5th largest in theworld with an estimated $25 millionin revenue annually.

To take the pressure off one’smind is very important and helpsimprove the attitude towards one-self in day-to-day life. It might alsobe a good idea to remember ‘it’s allin the head’.

Image of beauty in today’s world

Baking Delights

By Promila Gupta

The definition of beauty has definitely changed over the years and willkeep changing. What does this painting remind you of?


Body-Mind-Spirit

By Swami Atmeshananda

Aking was seated in hiscourt with his courtiers. Amagician arrived and

begged the king for permission todisplay some of his tricks. Theking agreed. The magician threwup a thin rope above. The ropewent up and remained suspendedin the air without any support.

The magician said to the kingthat his rope had reached the king-dom of the demigods, and that ademigod was coming down tofight with him with a huge army.He, therefore, offered to go upand fight them. He then climbedup the thin rope into the sky anddisappeared.

Shortly, the king and thecourtiers heard piercing sounds ofbattle-cries and of swords clash-ing. Within no time, the hands,feet, and the body of the magicianfell on the ground. Exactly at thisjuncture, the magician’s wife camerunning into the court and, lookingat the fallen, mutilated body of herhusband, began to weep.Surprisingly, she begged the Kingto prepare a funeral pyre made ofwood right in the middle of thecourt so that she may, according tothe tradition in those days, immo-late herself with the dead body ofher husband.

The king ordered that the pyrebe organised and, in full view ofeveryone present in the court, thewife of the magician got herselfburned along with her husband.The court was filled with sadnessand everyone sat there not know-ing what to do next.

Shortly after this, the magiciancame down the rope. He bowedlow at the feet of the king and,strangely enough, enquired theking about his wife. The king nar-rated what happened, but themagician pretended not to believe.He called aloud to his wife, and loand behold, his wife appearedbefore everyone as if fromnowhere!

The above story helps usunderstand an important tenet ofthe Advaita Vedanta philosophy.This philosophy posits Maya asthe bewitching power of Reality –Brahman, which performs a twofold function – that of veilingReality and projecting somethingelse in its place which is not real inthe absolute sense. The natures ofMaya’s actions are like the feats ofthe magician. Her acts have nosupport, like the rope hangingfrom mid-sky. Upon the support-less rope, the curious display ofthe magician was enacted - the bat-tle, the death of the magician, hiswife burning herself, and yet boththe husband and the wife were, infact, alive. Nothing really hap-

pened. There is birth, decay, death,

change, formation and deforma-tion, and phenomenal transforma-tion. But, in fact, nothing hap-pens; all is an illusory appearance.Only the Absolute exists in itseternal, majestic glory. Theappearances are an outcome ofdelusion. Maya clothes our divinenature with an ill-fitting garment -the ‘puny ego’ – or ‘unripe ego’.Again, it is Maya that coversBrahman with this world illusionwhich we mistake for reality.

Swami Vivekananda says: ‘Weare deceived by poverty; webecome wealthy and are deceivedwith wealth. We are ignorant. Weread and learn and are deceivedwith knowledge. No one is eversatisfied. This is the cause of mis-ery, but it is also the cause of allblessing.’

Struggle is intrinsic in life –both to the worldly and to the spir-itual – but what differentiates aworldly person and a spiritual per-son is this: a spiritual person seeksfreedom from the world whereasthe worldly person seeks freedomto enjoy life.

To clarify the above statement,I will quote an interestingencounter that took place between

Swami Vivekananda and RobertIngersoll, an agnostic and power-ful orator of America. One day,during the course of conversation,Ingersoll told the Swami: 'Ibelieve in making the most of thisworld, in squeezing the orangedry, because this world is all weare sure of.' He would have noth-ing to do with God, soul, or here-after, which he considered asmeaningless jargon.

'I know a better way tosqueeze the orange of this worldthan you do,' the Swami replied,'and I get more out of it. I know Icannot die, so I am not in a hurry.I know that there is no fear, so Ienjoy the squeezing. I have noduty, no bondage of wife and chil-dren and property, so I can love allmen and women. Everyone is Godto me. Think of the joy of lovingman as God! Squeeze your orangemy way, and you will get everysingle drop!'

The goal of human birth is,according to Hinduism, liberation(mukti or moksha). In the wordsof Swami Vivekananda it is ‘torealize divinity within’. True hap-piness is only to be achieved whenwe cross the boundaries created bythe puny egoistic self, when weoutgrow the limitations caused by

the misunderstandings about ourtrue nature.

It is the longing for liberationthat makes even love for Godmeaningful. God is commonlydescribed as the embodiment ofperfection, beauty, love and happi-ness. But then, why is it so diffi-cult to realize Him, to seek Himand even to have faith in Him?Lack of freedom is the only diffi-culty.

Liberation as the ultimate goalof life is one of the most funda-mental characteristics of the Indianreligious tradition. Hinduism hasthe unique distinction of insistingon direct immediate ('mystic')experience of the transcendentalSelf or Atman as the only meansof obtaining mukti or liberation.That is to say – we can be freedfrom the cycle of births and deathsand achieve total emancipationeven in this very life.

The three distinctive featuresof the Hindu conception of salva-tion are:

1. freedom from bondage; 2. experience as pure being; 3. direct transcendental experi-

ence as the ultimate means of sal-vation.

The two major concepts of lib-eration are:

a) Mukti –Through meditationon and devotion to the Deity it ispossible to attain cosmic con-sciousness and to reach the worldof Personal God after death. Thisin itself is a liberated state; thetype of freedom promised byRamanuja, Madhva and otherteachers of dualism, known vari-ously as jivan mukti and videhamukti.

b) Moksha – Spiritual freedomis liberation form the past, thepresent and the future. This is thehighest view held by AdvaitaVedanta. According to this school,moksha is the restoration of theself to its true state of non-differ-

entiation from Brahman, theSupreme Self. In this state of non-duality there is no differencebetween the subject and the objector between qualities and the quali-fied.

What is really important is tointroduce an element of freedominto our day-to-day life. How longwill we live as slaves to lust andgreed and hate and fear? Some daywe must become free. If so, whynot now?

We are so much accustomed toliving in bondage that we do notreally desire or strive for freedom.Bondage works on individual,family, society and other levels –‘I am indispensable’ – feeling is abondage. We have to outgrowsuch feelings.

Goal-orientation, a clear-cutphilosophy of life, a definite rou-tine, study of scriptures, medita-tion, japa and encountering theego at fixed times are very power-ful aids in bringing about a trans-formation within ourselves. Whenthe mind is stable and calm, itbecomes easier to understand anddeal with the sources of bondagewhich are hidden in the depths ofconsciousness.

The chief bonds of the soul aretwo: egoism and samskaras (accu-mulated tendencies). Egoism is theidentification of the Self withinstinctual drives and imageswhich are produced by samskaras-the latent impressions in the mindof past experiences and actions.The first step in the attainment ofinner freedom is to prevent badsamskaras from producing badimpulses like lust, greed andhatred etc.

This can be achieved byacquiring good samskaras throughvirtuous actions. Good samskaraskeep bad samskaras under controland, when this happens, a personattains what is called 'moral freedom'.

Quest for freedom – a Hindu perspective

We are so much accustomed to living inbondage that we do not

really desire or strive forfreedom. Bondage works onindividual, family, societyand other levels – ‘I am

indispensable’ – feeling is a bondage. We have to outgrow such feelings.

The appearances are an outcome of delusion. Maya clothes ourdivine nature with an ill-fitting garment - the ‘puny ego’ – or ‘unripeego’. Again, it is Maya that covers Brahman with this world illusion

which we mistake for reality.

Body-Mind-Spirit


By Kanaka Ramakrishna

“There is no greater mistakethan following desire;

There is no greater disasterthan forgetting contentment.”

“Contentment is the naturalwealth while luxury is artificialpoverty,” said the wise Socrates.

In modern life something hastaken away contentment frompeople’s mind and has brought

the worst kind of impoverishment.In many cultures today in the mod-ern world, people are taught froman early age to be ambitious, setgoals and strive for success. Butthese goals and desires are only formaterial success, which are flawedfrom the beginning.

Desire for high achievementdoes not lead to contentment, but itis a primary obstruction to content-ment. Still we lead a life in pursuitof desire, thinking that we would behappy by fulfilling our desire. Welet most of our life slipping awayworrying about the things we do nothave and forgetting or not appreci-ating what we do have.

When we follow a desire andfulfil it, our wants go to the nextdesire to reach and this pursuit ofdesires go on never ending, likeadding fuel to the fire. The lack ofcontentment sparks the flames ofdesire, but we should make con-tentment our greatest desire. Onlyour needs satisfy our real require-ments where as, there is no end forour wants. This is the greatest mis-take we commit in our life. We for-get how to be content.

Poverty and richness are in real-ity attitudes of mind. There is nophysical measure to penury andwealth. Contentment is a philoso-pher’s stone, which turns all ittouches into gold. A natural resultof contentment is a warm feeling ofappreciation and gratitude for allthat has been given to us. It is moreoften found in humble cottages thanin luxurious mansions.

There is an interesting story of aman who according to social stan-dards was quite poor. He wore sim-ple clothes, ate simple food, did hisday’s work to his satisfaction,never agitated for more money andnever worried for things he did nothave. One day he happened to be inthe company of a famous million-aire of the neighbouring city,whose distinction was that he grewricher year by year. But he wasvery avaricious and always lookedabout for ways and means to accu-mulate wealth and was ever in afever and fret to earn more andmore money.

Looking at the rich and proudmillionaire, the poor man said, ‘Do

you know I am richer than youare?’ The rich man got angry andshouted, ‘you talk like a mad man.Tell me why you say that.’ Thepoor man said boldly, ‘Because Ihave got as much money as I wantand you haven’t got as much as youwant. So you want to possess moreand more.’

Happiness can’t be boiled to onething; it is the sum of many choices– appreciating what we have, main-taining optimistic outlook, feelingsense of purpose and living in thepresent. Thoughts and actions caninfluence our level of happiness.Contentment and happiness are twosides of the same coin. Happiness isnever found anywhere in the world,but it is always within us, the eter-nal Bliss (Satchitananda).

There is another story too,which teaches us a lesson about thetrue value of wealth. A rich land-lord, who rolled in wealth, wantedothers to admire his richness bywearing expensive diamonds andgem studded ornaments, the sign ofaffluence and showed off wheneverhe went out. One day he was walk-ing slowly with a proud air and aself-conscious look wearing all hisjewels and ornaments.

A pedestrian came near him andgazed at him, went around him andagain looked at him, studying withan effort, as it were, the brillianceof his diamond ear-rings and thesparkle of his ornaments. Then hesaid, ‘I thank you for your generos-ity and I am very grateful to you foryour munificence.’ The walkingwealth did not understand andasked, ‘Why do you thank me?What for?’ The pedestrian replied,‘For this bountiful gift of orna-ments and jewels.’ The rich manasked, ‘what gift do you speak of?I have not given away any of my

jewels nor do I mean to give youany.’ The pedestrian said, ‘I do notwant and I will not accept any ofyour ornaments. But you have letme gaze at their brilliance and theirsparkle. That is all that you too dowith them. You too only look atthem again and again. And morethan anything else, I could look atthem without the worry of lookingafter their safety, which worryimposes a constant strain on you.The jewels have done more to methan they ever do to you.’

A wise old saying points out thatcontentment and satisfaction withone’s own lot is a man’s supremetreasure. Providence has allotted tous our position in life according toour needs.

When someone remarked to asage that life’s great blessing was topossess and own what one wishedfor, the sage replied that it was agreater blessing not to wish forwhat one did not possess and onedid not own.

The Buddha said that health isthe greatest of gifts, contentment isthe greatest wealth, trust is the bestrelationship, and Nirvana is thehighest happiness.

Regarding the glory of content-ment, one of the Hitopadesha vers-es says, ‘Contentment is like nec-tar. Those with a becalmed mindare satisfied with that nectar andthey enjoy supreme bliss. This blissis not experienced by men who aregreedy for wealth and keep runningabout restlessly in search of it, fromhere to there and from there tohere.’

Many people associate moneywith happiness. But there is no rela-tionship between money and happi-ness and money has little impact onhappiness. He who is not contentwith what he already has got,

would never be content with whathe would like to have. Contentmentis a state of being satisfied withwhatever we have, and is associat-ed with happiness. Main pursuit forhappiness lies in the ideal of plainliving and high thinking. If welearn to rejoice the way things areand when we realize there is noth-ing lacking in us, the whole worldwill be ours.

Gautama Buddha taught thatdesire is the root cause of all suf-ferings. The best way to live in thisworld is, not to encourage the mul-tiplication of desires and be satis-fied with whatever we have beengiven by God.

Life’s fulfilment comes fromnot enjoying so many luxuries andso many sensual pleasures but bygiving up chasing after them bywhich we will gain supreme blissand contentment. Our responsibilitylies in taking care of the invaluablepossession that God has alreadygifted us by his Grace and lead ahappy and contented life.

Contentment is astate of beingsatisfied withwhatever wehave, and is

associated withhappiness. Main

pursuit for happiness lies inthe ideal of plainliving and high

thinking.

GIFT

OF

CONT

ENTM

ENT

When we follow a desire and fulfil it, our wants go to the next desire toreach and this pursuit of desires go on never ending, like adding fuel to the

fire. The lack of contentment sparks the flames of desire, but we shouldmake contentment our greatest desire.


Body-Mind-Spirit

By Anil Sharma

‘Karma’ is the destiny created by a per-son by their free actions which includethoughts and sensations, motives, good

or bad emotions. While working out conse-quences of past actions presenting them-selves as circumstances in the present,known as ‘prarabdha karma’, one is gener-ally bound to create a seed for a new one bythe manner in which one reacts to its oper-ation.

We are not free to alter the trend of anold karma, for example, in the choice ofour parents, country, the circumstances ofour birth and environments, of our physicaland mental fitness and abilities. These aregiven to us and we cannot change them.What we can change is the manner in whichwe receive and work them out.

But we are allowed freedom of will andit contains the seeds of our future destiny.Most often the new karma does not followon the heel of the one which is beingworked out now, so that we drag the chainof our slavery through several lives.

The scriptures come to our rescue tomake us rectify our views on life and ourattitude towards others. Gradually ourimpulses soften, modify our outlook, sharp-en our intellect, and slowly but surely turnus into seekers. We turn into yogis andfinally into one who has realised the Self.When karma ceases, knowledge of Selftotally annihilates the concept of karma.

Karma is like an inanimate machinewhich yields up what you put into it. Thatis why Sage Ramana begins his UpadesaSaram (a thirty verse Sanskrit poem) withthe statement that karma is insentient, unin-telligent. What makes it move and act asstern destiny is the energy generated by theexercise of our free will.

It may be asked that if a persistently badfree-will caused by the embitterment result-ing from a persistently bad karma bringsabout a worse karma, which drags us downfurther and further, where is the chance ofour ever coming up to the surface again?

We must not forget the saving grace ofsuffering and the inherent purity of ournature, which will not permit us to remainforever insensible to degradation and mis-ery. We cannot forever remain sunk in bot-tomless ignorance without attempting toclimb up to freedom. Suffering and theintense urge to return to ourselves act asfloats and buoy us up from the depths ofthis vast ocean of the cycle of births anddeaths. Thus the action of karma throughsuffering gives the impetus to knowledge ofSelf which destroys karma. This is whatSage Ramana means by ‘karma carries initself the seeds of its own destruction’.

It goes without saying that karma takeseffect only in a physical body. For a debtincurred in a physical body it has to be paidalso in such a body, either in this very bodyor in a future one.

Sage Ramana says that ‘Karmas carry inthemselves the seeds of their own destruc-tion’, which indicates that karmas exist aslong as the notion of ‘I’-thought and doer-ship exist. Let us be of the firm under-standing that the ‘I’-thought and the work-ing of destiny (karma) will continue to existuntil the ‘I’-thought subsides.

When the flower and the thread arebrought together, a third entity is formed

which is termed as a garland. For all prac-tical purposes, when the flowers are dam-aged or the thread is broken, it is said thatthe garland is broken. Similarly, this bodyis essentially a combination of the elementsand consciousness. The moment that totali-ty of pure awareness is notionally compart-mentalised as an individual entity and thenotion of ‘I’-thought arises, the final crys-tallisation down to ‘I am so and so’ followssuit, which starts off the chain reaction of anotional cause and effect.

We have some strange experiences evenwithout initial desires. Where do they comefrom?

Says Sage Ramana: The desires may notbe there now. But they were once there.Though forgotten they are now bearingfruit. That is how the Jnani (sage) is said tohave prarabdha (part of one’s karma to beworked out in this life). Of course this is sofrom the point of view of others whoobserve the Jnani (sage).’

Prarabdha karma (consequences of pastactions presenting themselves as circum-stances in the present) is that portion of thepast karma which is responsible for thepresent body. That portion of the sanchitakarma (the store of karmic debts accumu-lated from previous births) which influ-ences human life in the present incarnationis called ‘prarabdha’. It is ripe for reaping.It cannot be avoided or changed. It is onlyexhausted by being experienced. One paysfor one’s past debts. ‘Prarabdha karma’ is

that which has begun and is actually bear-ing fruit. It is selected out of the mass of the‘sanchita karmas’.

Each ‘karma’ and each thought leaves aresidual impression or ‘vasana’ (subcon-scious inclination) in our mind, similar tothe fragrance of food that is left in the cook-ing vessel even after it is washed. Theseresidual impressions or vasanas of ouractions become tendencies of our personal-ity, impelling us to repeat the same actionagain and again, thus forming habits thatbecome the typical characteristics of ourpersonality.

Latent mental tendencies and impres-sions, which are the root cause of all thedesires and resultant actions, accumulatedover many births form the stock of our kar-mas, both good and bad (and mixed) are the‘sanchita’ karmas. Mental tendencies orvasanas are like the seeds that have to fruc-tify or manifest according to favourable cir-cumstances at the appropriate time. Eachmental tendency and habit has to fructifyitself, even if that requires a new body insome next birth.

With self-awareness, there is no one leftto experience the consequences of actionsand so the whole structure of personalkarma becomes redundant. Sage Ramanasays, “If the agent, upon whom the karmadepends, namely the ego (‘I’-thought),which has come into existence between thebody and the Self, merges in its source andloses its form, how can the karma, which

depends upon it, survive? When there is no‘I’ there is no karma. As long as you feelyourself the doer of action so long you arebound to enjoy its fruits. But if you find outwhose karma it is, you will see that you arenot the doer.

Then you will be free. This requires theGrace of God, for which you should pray toHim and meditate on Him.”

The discovery or realisation does notcome without the help of God or Self. SageRamana says that for this Self-realisation tofructify one requires to do intense worshipand meditation, which culminates in andbrings forth the grace of God.

There are sankalpas (motives) foreveryone. These are of two kinds - thebinding (bandha-hetu) and the liberating(mukti-hetu). The former must be given upand the latter cultivated.’ A spiritual aspi-rant should not worry about one’s actions,as long as they are not of the binding type(having desires in the background).

The cultivation of motives leading toliberation under the steam of doership ispossible in a limited sense, as a finiteamount of limited self effort is put in. Thisneeds the benign and spontaneous grace ofGod to shower the boon of one-pointednessand the ability to cultivate the motivelessmotives (mukti-hetu sankalpas), which arethe causeless cause for liberation.

As the intensity of the one-pointednessgrows, the cultivation of ‘motivelessmotives’ grows. This leads to the shower-ing of more and more grace as one basksunder the loving shelter of sages likeRamana. Then one is synchronisticallyattuned to the frequency of His grace.

Karmas can self-destructSage Ramana tells Cohen, how.

Sage Ramana says that ‘Karmas

carry in themselves the

seeds of their owndestruction’, which

indicates that karmas exist as

long as the notionof ‘I’-thought anddoership exist. Letus be of the firmunderstanding

that the ‘I’-thoughtand the working

of destiny (karma)will continue toexist until the

‘I’-thought subsides.

Karma is like an inanimate machine which yields up what you put into it. That is whySage Ramana begins his Upadesa Saram (a thirty verse Sanskrit poem) with the state-ment that karma is insentient, unintelligent. What makes it move and act as stern des-

tiny is the energy generated by the exercise of our free will.

April Mat 1, 2012: Seeking a

Hindu girl, vegetarian, preferably

Gujarati, with good family values, for

my son. He is 36, divorced, no children,

fair, 5’8”, well-built, non-smoker, light

drinks. He is an Australian citizen,

works as a tax consultant and lives with

his parents. His two sisters live sepa-

rately. We have lived in Sydney for 19

years. Contact 0423 328 800 or

[email protected].

April Mat 2, 2012. Seeking a well

qualified Hindu male, aged between 49

– 54, for a very fair, young looking

Hindu lady, aged 54 and an Australian

citizen. He should be a non smoker and

should have strong moral values. Caste

no bar. She is an eggetarian, divorced

and has a 19 year old daughter living

with her. Contact lifepartner@hot-

mail.com.au.

April Mat 3, 2012. Seeking suit-

able professional match for beautiful,

slim, fair, cultured Indian Hindu

Brahmin girl 30 years (1981/166cm).

Educated in Australia, Australian citi-

zen, Lawyer, currently working abroad,

from a well settled family in Sydney for

29 years. Family orientated. Divorcee,

innocent, issueless, very brief marriage.

Serious inquiries only. Email with all

details

April Mat 4, 2012. Hindu Punjabi

business parents invite alliance from a

beautiful educated girl for their highly

qualified son 30/6'3", a very well placed

financial consultant with a leading

multinational company in UK. Will be

in Australia in July, Caste no bar. Send

BHP to [email protected]

April Mat 5, 2012. . Well settled

family in Australia inviting alliance for

27 year old, 5"11, Sood Punjabi boy,

B.Software Engineer(honors) and is

working as a senior IT Consultant for

the Australian government on high

income. Seeking Indian girl, caste no

bar. Please call 0414-518-312. Email

[email protected]

April Mat 6, 2012. Seeking com-

patible well educated, employed profes-

sional/ business match, with Indian

background, broad minded/ mature out-

look, independent, divorcee, age 47

years onward, For caring, honest,

friendly, Indian Christian divorcee

Australian citizen, 48 yrs 5'3" tall, much

younger looking than age, attractive,

graceful looking graduate nurse,

employed. Caste no bar. Email details to

[email protected]

April Mat 7, 2012. April Mat

Seeking suitable match ( from Australia

) never married, for Hindu Girl 34 yrs,

Chartered Accountant (Non veg) living

in Australia over 25 yrs with eastern and

western family values.. Please email

with all details on

[email protected]

April Mat 8., 2012. Seeking match

for my brother, Hindu, Gujarati -Patel ,

31, 6 ft, vegetarian, Masters in

Computing Studies, working and living

in USA (American citizen). Looking for

a loving Gujarati girl, caring with good

family values, well cultured settled or

trying to settle in USA or Australia,

preferably with a PR/Citizenship.

Email: [email protected]

April Mat 9. Male, Age 27,

(Cleanshaven Sikh), caste no bar, either

the Girl is Hindu or Sikh as long as

Indian background.He is Australian

born, Educated in UK with Msc. in

Finance, working in Sydney for a lead-

ing bank, seeking a suitable Soul mate.

Kindly please reply to his Parents in

Sydney Email: [email protected]. .


Matrimonials

MATRIMONIALS


Columns

By Karam Ramrakha

Karam C Ramrakha ex Fiji M.P, whocelebrates 57 years as a lawyer has writtenmany articles on Fiji. While in Fiji he wastwice President of Fiji Law Society in 1970and 1974 and for seven years, 1967-1974,trade union President of Fiji Teachers. Hesees Fiji's situation as confused and thatpeople on the outside are receiving contra-dictory signals...

He may be contacted on (02) 98082760or email: [email protected].

The Olympics in London has dominat-ed the world news. To paraphraseJoseph Conrad: The British Empire

is the greatest thing God ever made.We exulted as British subjects. Even

today Hindus laud the British who savedIndia from conversion to Islam and theywelcomed them because no longer massa-cred women and children en masse.

Besides, as one Indian shopkeeperlamented to me in 1971, British apne disci-pline ke pakkey the’. Even the fabled writerKhushwant Singh once lamented the depar-ture of the British. Yes, the British Empireworldwide and in India was seen as a basi-cally clean government relatively free ofcorruption and, save where its existencewas threatened, the rule of law prevailed.

My father, a pakka Baboo in the BritishGovernment, lauded the British despite hisopen hostility to their apartheid type dis-crimination and his espousal of freedom forBharat Mata.

In Fiji, as one who drafted the 1970Constitution, I had hoped that in a relative-ly small and richly endowed country likeFiji we could maintain democracy andpeace for ever. That question dependedlargely on the indigenous (now called i-taukei by Bainimarama) and we hoped thatwith their loyalty to Christianity and theBritish Monarchy there would be unrest,upheavals but no break in our dominion sta-tus from Mother Britain.

Sadly, we were mistaken. The 14 May,1987, coup shattered that dream for ever. Asecond coup on 7 October, 1987 wrenchedFiji from the monarchy and declared it aRepublic. Equally poisonous and virulentlyanti Indian was the 2000 Speight Coup. Thecurrent coup of Bainimarama is labeledCoup Four and a Half.

I have never accepted that a Military

can, or should run, a country. But FrankBainimarama had a different agenda. Therecently jailed Laisenia Qarase has openlypreached Fiji for the i-taukei with his SDLParty whose Fijian name euphemisticallytranslated to United Fiji Party. He wantedthe sea and shores returned to i-taukei; heespoused a crude resemblance of the SouthAfrican Reconciliation pattern which wouldhave freed the unrepentant George Speight.

For months Frank warned him.Australia and New Zealand stepped in aspeacemakers and finally on 6 December,2006 Frank took over power. I cannotespouse the injustices under his Regime butI have always lauded his one man one voteone value theme and to treat all in Fijiequally without discrimination.

As a fellow Marist Old Boy like Frank Ihave faith in his multiculturalism and senseof justice. The Great Powers, Britain,USA, Australia and New Zealand, and eventhe European Economic Community haveprevailed on Frank to hold elections. Hepromised one in 2009, defaulted and has setone for 2014. But all realised that as therewas no groundswell of support for earlyelections Frank was in the box seat.

As Frank has appointed Dr Yash Ghai,a respected international lawyer, to promul-gate a constitution and has embarked onwide scale electronic registration of votersTGP and EEC seem to be relaxing theirboycott and restrictions.

The Fiji Labour Party (FLP) once heldpower and had a strong union base. Since2006 some of its leaders like Krishna Datt

and Tupeni Baba no longer appear to bepart of FLP and are rumoured to seek analternative. As for the FLP itself, its charis-matic leader Mahendra Chaudhry is facingcriminal charges. However, the SDL whichhad basic and widespread i-taukei supportit may have suffered some loss because ofFrank dismantling the Great Council ofChiefs and Frank refusing the MethodistChurch permission to hold its annual carni-val.

In a submission to the ConstitutionalCommission the SDL has asked that Fiji bedeclared a Christian state and that Fijianshould be the national language. Indeed,one of the big sticks Rabuka used in his1987 coups and afterwards was asking thatFiji not only be declared a Christian statebut the entire population convert toChristianity. He enforced Sunday bans onsport and other activity but was forced torelax.

If anyone was critical of Frank this lat-est ploy by the SDL has played intoFrank's hands. As at July 2008 Fiji's popu-lation was 944,720. About 51% of thesewere the i-taukei, 44% of East Indiandescent and the other 5% are European orPart-European Pacific Islanders Rotuman orChinese.

As for religion, 58% are Christian(including Methodist 36.2 percent,Catholics 8.9%) Hindus are 33.7% and 7%are Moslems. While some Christians wouldlove to see Fiji become a Christian state,hardly anyone will be likely to accept Fijianas the national language.

The Opposition plays into Bainimarama’s hands

India enjoys most successful Olympic Games ever, and how!

India is basking in the glory of its mostsuccessful Olympics campaign ever,with four of its athletes going home with

bronze medals, two with silver medals, andone with Usain Bolt's autograph.

India's Sports Minister Ajay Maken con-gratulated the Olympic team on their "supersuccess" at the London Olympics. "At a sin-gle Olympics, you have won more medalsthan at the previous three Olympics com-bined," he said. "Thanks to you, we havegone from winning 20 Olympic medals inour history to 26, which means that India,in terms of world ranking, is now well-ahead of Michael Phelps."

His reference to Phelps was a deliberateresponse to critics who had compared theAmerican swimmer's all-time record haul of22 medals to that of India, whose athletes inprevious decades would win a single medalat each Olympics with such regularity,many Indians believed there was a quotasystem in play. "It was never a question ofwhether we would win one medal," said

sports historian Abdul Ibrahim. "It wasalways a question of who would win thatmedal."

Indian sports fans had brushed aside thecomparison to Phelps, saying it didn't both-er them at all, but soon after wrestler SushilKumar won a silver medal, the 26th in thecountry's history, thousands of ecstatic fanspoured into the streets of New Delhi, someof them waving signs that said "Sorry,Michael Phelps – you'll never catch India!"and "India leaves Michael Phelps in thedust."

Kumar also won a bronze medal at theBeijing Olympics, making him the firstIndian to win multiple medals in an individ-ual event. Indian athletes recorded severalother firsts in London: Saina Nehwalbecame the first Indian to win a medal inbadminton, Mary Kom became the firstIndian woman to win a medal in boxing,and tennis players Leander Paes andMahesh Bhupathi became the first Indians torun victory laps after each other's loss.

"Even those who did not win medalsgave it their best effort and made us proud,"Maken said. "Two of our athletes reachedthe final in discus throw, two of our boxerscame within one victory of winning amedal, and our field hockey team … well,they were on time for all six matches."

India has now won six medals in boxingand wrestling in its history, and would havewon many more, experts believe, if not forGandhi's messages of nonviolence. "WhenMary Kom won her medal in boxing, anAmerican friend said to me, 'Gandhi mustbe rolling in his grave,'" Ibrahim recalled.

"And I said, 'Well, it's a good thing that hewas cremated.'"

India even did well in a speed event inLondon, with Irfan Kolothum Thodi finish-ing in the top ten in the 20 km walk. A con-fident Thodi, who broke the Indian nationalrecord, threw out a challenge to Usain Bolt,the fastest man in the world: "You might beable to outrun me, Usain, but I can out-walk you. Just organize a walk. Anywhere,any place, I am ready for you."

India's medal winners were promptlyrewarded with cash awards and promotions.Many of the country's top athletes supportthemselves through government jobs.

Kumar, the wrestler, works for IndianRailways, where he – appropriately enough– takes care of pins. Kom, a five-timeworld boxing champion, is a DeputySuperintendent of Police. She is occasional-ly called upon to interrogate suspects, butthey usually confess before they get to meether. Sports Minister Maken was in such acelebratory mood after the Olympics that heeven extended warm wishes to MadhuraNagendra, the Olympic gatecrasher whowalked with the Indian team at the openingceremony. “We did so well at the LondonOlympics that we have invited her to walkwith us again in four years."

THE HUMOR OF MELVIN DURAI

As Frank has appointed Dr Yash Ghai, arespected international lawyer, to promul-gate a constitution and has embarked on

wide scale electronic registration of votersTGP and EEC seem to be relaxing their

boycott and restrictions.

After wrestler Sushil Kumar won a silver medal, the 26th in India’s history, thousands of ecstatic fans poured into the streets of New Delhi, some of them waving

signs that said, "Sorry, Michael Phelps – you'll never catch India!" Phelps’ individual record haul is 22 medals.


Reiki Therapist

Manju is a qualified Reiki therapist. Reiki heals Physical,Mental, Emotional and Spiritual states. I can offer a widerange of Reiki services to heal the body, mind and spirit. Iam dedicated to my clients and takes pride in assisting theirhealing by channelling this wonderful energy.

Reiki is simple natural healing system through the laying onhands energy is channeled to the area most needed for bal-ance. Every treatment is different and healing occurs fromthe inside and out. Reiki with Manju is truly a positive andspiritual experience.

To see if Reiki could possibly help you

please call,

Manju Mittal

0425 204 364

Radio 2 RES89.7 fm

Eastside Radio

Every Sunday

10am - 7pm

9331 3000

9698 2604

Voice of India

MonikaGeetmala


Dilip Mahanty Column

By Dilip Mahanty

This is a question on the lips ofevery follower of Indiancricket. From the zenith of

2009-10, Indian cricket, especiallythe longer and more important ver-sion, has plummeted down to adepth of despair at the presentmoment. The drubbings at the handsof England and Australia in twosubsequent years has deflated themonstrous ego of the Indian Testplayers and showed their true capa-bility on international stage.

India is now fifth ranked, downfrom being the top ranking Test sidea couple of years ago. With Pakistanshowing greater resilience andhunger on the Test arena in spite oflimited opportunities, India couldslide further down the list. This sud-den slide must cause concern toIndian cricket fans throughout theworld.

How did this steep decline takeplace so suddenly? There were anumber of reasons for this but thesewere masked by successes of theteam playing on batting friendly,slow, low domestic pitches whereoverseas bowlers found bowlingtough. If one scratched the surfacethe following true weaknesses wererevealed:

a) Ageing batsmen: The famedIndian quartet of Sehwag, Dravid,Tendulkar and Laxman are all intheir middle or late thirties and thepreviously quick reflexes and con-centration levels are waning. Theyhad been the bulwark of Indian bat-ting for more than a decade and con-tributed more than 40,000 runs tothe team total during their illustriouscareers. Throw in the retiredGanguly into the equation and thecumulative contribution edges up tonearly 50,000 runs! The cricketadministrators in India did not havethe foresight to gradually inductpromising young batsmen into theteam gradually to replace these age-ing players one by one when theyretired.

Dravid, following Ganguly, has

retired but Sehwag, Laxman andTendulkar do not seem to have anyimmediate plans. Laxman, not beingfully fit and mobile, is a shadow ofthe great player he was and Sehwagdoes not show great interest in con-tinuing playing Test cricket as canbe seen from the irresponsibleapproach towards his batting of late.

Tendulkar has a couple of yearsof Test cricket left in him as thereare no young batsmen on the hori-zon to replace this great batsman.Unless Laxman and Sehwag arereplaced by promising youngsterswhen playing domestic Test series(with which India will have itshands full during the season 2011-12) this problem will remain andIndia’s performance overseas willcontinue to suffer.

b) Weak bowling: ZaheerKhan, the canny swing bowler, isthe mainstay of the attack when hisbody holds up. When fit he is apotent weapon but given his fre-quent breakdowns he casts doubt onhis ability to last out a series withoutinjuries or niggles. Ishant Sharma,who held great promise as a fastbowler a few years ago, has lost hismojo (fast lifting inswingers) andhis wicket taking ability.

Sreesanth, another pacemanwith great potential, has not demon-strated that he is mentally stable forthe role as he goes from one contro-versy to another –not all beingcricket related. Umesh Yadav haspotential but needs experience andvariety. While he can be a handfulwith his pace on hard bouncy wick-ets his ability on slow low wickets isyet to be tested. Varun Aaron isanother fast bowler whose potentialhas not been tested in the big arena.Vinay Kumar while being a usefultrundler in the shorter versions,does not seem capable of runningthrough a Test side. Praveen Kumarhas been down with injuries and hisTest future is in doubt.

The current spinners also do notseem to be penetrative enoughunless the wickets give them greatpurchase. Ashwin and Ojha com-bined well in the domestic lastdomestic Test series. Ashwin, whilepromising in Australia, never dis-played match winning skills there.Too often he used his “carrom ball”and allowed the opposition to readhim well. Ojha never got a chanceto play here. Harbhajan Singh, whowas one of India’s match winners afew years ago, has now become arun saving, defensive bowler(thanks to ODIs and 20-20s) andincapable of bowling oppositionsout as a result.

Weak bowling has been one ofmajor causes of India’s inability tobowl opposition out twice - essentialto win Test cricket. Leg spinnerslike Mishra and Chawla have givenup their effort to work hard toimprove their skill and determina-tion and therefore are languishing as“also ran”.

c) Pathetic fielding: Ageinglimbs, slow reflexes, lack of stami-na, poor anticipation, indifferentattitude and fundamental mistakeson the field have made India theworst fielding side in internationalcricket. It is said “a run saved is a

run made”. Indian fielders don’tbelieve in this adage. Oppositionbatsmen are under no pressure totake easy singles and twos as theyknow Indian fielders are incapableof stopping them.

While some excuses can begiven for the older members notbeing spritely there are no excusesfor the younger lot. All the fast andspin bowlers (barring Zaheer Khan)are young but they field like geri-atrics. To see an Ashwin or anIshant or Praveen Kumar or UmeshYadav or Ojha run after a ball ispainful. When a bowler sees catchesdropped off him through slowreflexes or sees balls speeding to theboundary through legs of fieldersnot bending down fast enough heloses all his poise and motivation.

Back in the sixties South Africahad a modest bowling attack but afantastic fielding outfit. This gavethem victories against strongersides. Even in the eighties, Indiahad agile fielders like Kapil Dev,Roger Binny, Madan Lal, YashpalSharma, Azharuddin, MohinderAmarnath & Srikkanth which madeits bowlers effective.

WHERE DOES INDIA GOFROM NOW?

It has been fortunate for Indiathat young Virat Kohli has steppedup and is ready to slip into RahulDravid’s big shoes. Pujara is anoth-er who deserves a chance to consol-idate his position in the Test team ifand when Laxman retires. BothManish Tiwary and Rahane are

showing signs of accepting greaterchallenges.

Rohit Sharma has been a disap-pointment because while he hasoodles of talent his approachtowards batting is lackadaisical.Here is a potentially class batsman,with lots of time to play the ball,reluctant to strive harder to correcthis indifferent attitude. He is a bitlike Carl Hooper of West Indieswho never realised his full potentialeven though he was so naturally tal-ented. Marlon Samuels was in thesame mould till he realised that hehad to work harder and now he hasbecome one of the main stays of WIbatting.

A few new faces like Delhiopener U. Chand, all-rounder BabaAparjith, Vijay Zol etc are appear-ing on the scene and hopefullywould serve India in near future.Players like Raina and Jadeja can behandy if they can overcome theirtechnical shortcomings against therising ball. The good part about allthese youngsters is that they aregood fielders.

Unfortunately, the bowling cup-board looks pretty bare. Youngbowlers exposed more to the shorterformats of the game through partic-ipation in ODIs and IPLs tend to tryto contain batsmen instead of takingtheir wickets. This defensive mind-set hinders their wicket taking abili-ty and forces them to alter theirbowling style to continue beingselected in the highly lucrative ODIand 20-20 tournaments.

Unless BCCI offers higher com-pensation to players involved in thelocal Ranji Trophy and DuleepTrophy tournaments (which werethe foundation for grooming Testplayers) the motivation to play in thelonger formats would disappear.Especially when they see less talent-ed players earning millions ofrupees bowling and batting a limitednumber of overs! Unless BCCIupgrades the local 4-day tourna-ments both in terms of finance andimportance, Indian talents will dis-appear soon and for most playersODIs and 20-20s will become theirmain focus-country and Tests bedamned.

Does BCCI have the wisdomand far sightedness to change espe-cially when the IPL cash cow isdelivering the moolah by the buck-etful? Doubt it!

Can India regain its top spot in cricket?Unless BCCI offers higher compensation to players in the Ranji and Duleep Trophy

tournaments (once the foundation for grooming Test players), the motivation to play in thelonger format would disappear. Especially when they see less talented players earning

millions of rupees bowling and batting a limited number of overs!

Rohit Sharma has been a disappointment because while he has oodles of talent his approach towards batting is lackadaisical.

Ishant Sharma, who held great promise as a fast bowler a few yearsago, has lost his mojo (fast lifting inswingers).

Team Matches Points RatingEngland 32 3893 122Australia 34 3952 116South Africa 21 2364 113Pakistan 29 3148 109India 29 3004 104

ICC Test ChampionshipIndia is down to No. 5 down from being the top

ranked side a couple of years ago.

The Kersi Meher-Homji Column


India beats Sri Lanka 4-1

Sehwag set to play his 100th Test in November

Happy days are hereagain! Since beating SriLanka in the World Cup

final last April, India has beenperforming poorly overseas withshocking losses in England andAustralia in Tests and in one-dayinternationals (ODIs).

Now they can put this revers-es behind them after a convinc-ing 4-1 win over strong SriLankans in Sri Lanka. On 4August, India beat Sri Lanka by20 runs in the fifth and final ODIand is currently ranked No. 2 inODIs, behind Australia.

And the fact that India did itwithout all-time greats SachinTendulkar, Rahul Dravid andVVS Laxman speaks well forher future. Four players didexceptionally well in the justconcluded series in Sri Lanka.They were:� Man of the Series Virat

Kohli who scored 296 runs at74.00 with two centuries.� Gautam Gambhir, 258

runs at 51.60 with one century.� Suresh Raina, 174 runs

at 58.00 with the best strike rateof 118.36 and� Irfan Pathan being the

only bowler to take 5 wickets inan innings; 5 for 61 in the finalODI at Pallekele.

To beat a strong team like SriLanka with world-class crick-eters like Kumar Sangakkara,Mahela Jayawardene,Tillekeratne Dilshan, LasithMalinga and Angelo Mathewsby a convincing margin of 4-1on foreign soil is highly cred-itable. The team was well led byMS Dhoni.

Pity, due to the LondonOlympics, India’s hearteningvictory in cricket received mini-mal press coverage.

As I said at the beginning,happy days are here again forIndian cricket. But are they real-ly? We’ll have to wait and seewhen New Zealand tours Indialater this month.

In July, South Africa’s captain GraemeSmith became the 52nd cricketer to play100 Tests. This was against England at The

Oval and he had a dual celebration. He won theTest by an innings and became the seventhcricketer to hit a century in his hundredth Test.

Now India’s dynamic opener VirenderSehwag is all set to play his 100th Test. If allgoes as planned, his 100th Test will be againstEngland in Mumbai starting on 23 Novemberthis year.

He will become the 53rd player and ninthIndian to reach this landmark. England’s classybatsman Colin Cowdrey was the first to make100 Test appearances. It was against Australiaat Birmingham in 1968 and he marked thislandmark by scoring a century.

Others to hit centuries in their 100th Testare Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq fromPakistan, West Indian Gordon Greenidge,England’s Alec Stewart, Australia’s RickyPonting and now South Africa’s Graeme

Smith.Ponting is the only one to score centuries in

both innings in his 100th Test, 120 and 143 notout against South Africa in Sydney in 2006.Inzamam made the highest score when playinghis hundredth Test, 184 against India atBangalore in 2005.

Australia’s legendary Shane Warne becamethe first spinner in the ‘100 Test Club’. He hada sensational hundredth Test as he captured 2-70 and 6-161 and scored 63 and an unbeaten 15against South Africa at Cape Town in 2002.“There are few fairy tales, this is as close as itgets,” he said after Australia won the thrillerby four wickets.

Since then only two bowlers – both spin-ners – have taken 5 wickets in an innings intheir 100th Test appearances. They are India’sAnil Kumble (2-87 and 5-89 v. Sri Lanka atAhmedabad in 2005) and Sri Lanka’s MuttiahMuralitharan (3-87 and 6-54 v. Bangladesh inthe 2006 Chittagong Test).

India’s off-spinner Harbhajan Singh couldjoin this list as he has played 98 Tests. But hehas been dropped from the Indian Test teamsince last August and is unlikely to be pickedagain.

Among successful 100-Test players,India’s all-rounder Kapil Dev made 55 andtook 4-69 and 3-82 in his 100th Test; againstPakistan in Karachi in 1989-90. SouravGanguly’s 100th Test coincided withMelbourne’s 100th Test in December 2007.

Fittingly for the Centurion Test betweenSouth Africa and New Zealand in April 2006,three cricketers played their 100th Tests simul-taneously, a unique occurrence. They wereJaques Kallis and Shaun Pollock from SouthAfrica and Stephen Fleming from NewZealand, the first Kiwi to play 100 Tests. Allthree performed poorly in their landmarkTests.

But none performed as poorly asAustralia’s Allan Border. The first Australianto play 100 Tests, against the West Indies onthe MCG in December 1988, he was bowledby Curtly Ambrose for a duck. Next day’sheadlines make interesting reading: Border’sday is Curtly curtailed and Duck of the centu-ry.

Rod Nicholson wrote in next day’s DailyTelegraph, ‘Oh Allan! What a celebratorycatastrophe at the MCG yesterday!’ By a coin-cidence, Border had also scored a duck in hisTest debut.

India’s Sachin Tendulkar has played mostnumber of Tests, 188, followed by twoAustralians, Steve Waugh 168 and Ponting165. Of the 52 players who have played 100and more Tests, Australia leads with 11, fol-lowed by India, England and the West Indieseight each, South Africa six, Sri Lanka five,Pakistan four and New Zealand two.

Sunil Gavaskar was the first among Indiancricketers to play 100 Tests (against Pakistan atLahore in 1984). Australia’s Matthew Haydenhas scored most runs before playing his 100thTest, 8484 runs. Gavaskar comes next with8394. Graeme Smith had scored 8042 runsbefore his 100th in July 2012.

In 96 Tests so far, Sehwag has scored 8178runs with 22 centuries. He needs 307 runs inthe next three Tests (two against New Zealandat Hyderabad in August and at Bangalore inSeptember, and one against England atAhmedabad in November) to break Hayden’srecord.

Sachin Tendulkar was youngest at 29 yrs,134 days to play his 100th Test. He is followedby another Indian, Kapil Dev (30 yrs, 313days) and England’s David Gower (31 yrs and111 days). England’s Geoff Boycott was theoldest, 40 yrs and 254 days, when he playedhis hundredth Test.

Australia’s Mark Waugh holds the recordof reaching his 100th Test in quickest time; 8years and 342 days.

Here are some similarities betweenEngland’s Cowdrey, the first one to play 100Tests and South Africa’s Smith, the 52nd andlast one so far, to achieve this. Both were onthe podgy side, both captained their countrywhen playing their 100th Test and both did soin England.

In his 99th Test, India’s 37 year-oldMohammad Azharuddin had scored 102 runsin the second innings of the Bangalore Testagainst South Africa. And what stopped himfrom playing his 100th Test? He was foundguilty of receiving money from an illegal book-maker for alleged match-fixing and later intro-ducing Hansie Cronje to that bookie.

Azhar had started his Test career with cen-turies in his first three Tests (v. England in1884-85). He remains the only cricketer toscore a century in his first three Tests and inhis last Test, his 99th. Greed for more moneyled this great cricketer astray.

Now to a pertinent question: Is playing 100Tests a big deal today? The first time a crick-eter achieved this milestone was Cowdrey in1968, which was 91 years after the inauguralTest in 1877. In 44 years since then, 51 havemade hundred Test appearances because of themushrooming of Test matches since 1970s.

But with ODIs and Twenty20 reducing thenumber of Test matches, the landmark of play-ing 100 Tests may regain its rarity.

Indian team celebrating after drubbing Sri lanka, Virat Kohli was man of series.

Virendra Sehwag will become the ninth Indian cricketer to play 100 Tests. It will beagainst England in Mumbai starting on 23 November. Those who have hit centuries in

their 100th Test are Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Gordon Greenidge, AlecStewart, Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith.


The Kersi Meher-Homji column

Did you know that India’s captain MSDhoni has earned most money play-ing cricket? So far he has earned US$

26.5 million. The next four big earners arealso Indians; Sachin Tendulkar (US$ 18.6million), Gautam Gambhir (7.3 m), ViratKohli (7.1 m) and Virender Sehwag (6.9 m).

These earnings include their cricket paypacket and advertising endorsements.

The next four are Australians: ShaneWatson (US$ 5.9 million), Michael Clarke(4.9 m), Brett Lee (4.8 m) and Ricky Ponting(4.1 m).

Surprisingly, the 10th highest earner isIndia’s Yusuf Pathan (3.7 m).

But where is Shane Warne in this wealthylist?

Imagine, Indian cricketers occupying sixout of 10 top positions in the rich list, includ-ing the Top-5. And not one from England andSouth Africa in this list!

Dhoni occupies 31st position andTendulkar 78th in the Forbes List of richestsportspeople.

The five wealthiest are: Boxers Floyd

Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao (US$ 85million and US$ 62 million, respectively),golfer ‘Tiger’ Woods (59.4 m), basketballplayer LeBron James (53 m) and tennis greatRoger Federer (52.7 m).

The ICC World T20 willbe staged in Sri Lankanext month. And my

lament is: oh for a PollyUmrigar to stun us with his palmtree hitting!

Unfortunately, for cricketlovers one-day internationalsand T20 cricket came too latefor him as he retired from theinternational scene way back in1962. But he entertained us justas much in Test cricket, beltingsixes galore. Tall and stately, hewas the first Indian to amass3000 runs at Test level and thefirst to hit a double century. He

scored 3631 in runs at 42.22 in59 Tests registering 12 centurieswith 223 as his highest score.

His best series was in theWest Indies when he was 36. Heshone out as an all-rounder inthe Port-of-Spain Test of April1962 when despite a painfulback strain he scored 56 and 172not out and took 5 for 107. His172 was then India’s highestagainst the West Indies.

When express fast bowlerWes Hall bowled his thunder-bolts, Umrigar (without helmet)smacked him for four fours in anover. Later, when Hall visited

India as manager of the WestIndies team in 1983, he demon-strated how Umrigar had playedsome of his breathtaking shots.

Spinning all-rounder BapuNadkarni has the highest regardfor Polly. He remembers him asa colossal cricketing personality,who besides being a shrewdleader, had technical solutions toany problem.

I had the pleasure of know-ing Polly closely when he hadtoured Australia as the managerof the Bishan Bedi-led Indianteam in 1977-78. Subsequently,when I visited Mumbai he and

his wife Dinoo invited me totheir home. So when he passedaway in 2006 aged 80 it was apersonal loss to me.

Compared to what the cur-rent Indian cricketers are earn-ing in crores every year, Pollyand his team mates were paid apittance of about Rs 500 perTest in 1950s. And if the Testfinished in four days they wouldlose Rs 100.

A few years ago, the Boardof Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) decided to reward pastcricketers one lakh rupees foreach Test played. As Polly had

represented India in 59 Tests hewas entitled to Rs 59 lakhs. Butas he had passed away by thetime the scheme was introduced,he had missed out.

However, the widows ofTest cricketers appealed to theBCCI and succeeded.

The likes of Umrigar, VijayHazare, Vinoo Mankad andVijay Manjrekar were legendaryfigures who served Indian crick-et with dedication and highoctane performances but withlittle thought of money. Abouttime BCCI recognised theirworth; better late than never.

Indian cricketers among Top-5 money makers

Oh for a Polly for World Twenty20

Virat Kohli and Irfan Pathan con-tinued their excellent form in SriLanka as India defeated Sri

Lanka by 39 runs in the only Twenty20match on 7 August.

With Kohli hitting 68 India reached3-155 in 20 overs. In reply the hometeam Sri Lanka could manage only 116,Man of the Match Irfan taking 3 for 27including the first three wickets of skip-per Mahela Jayawardene, TillekeratneDilshan and Upul Tharanga, Later onfast-medium bowler Ashok Dinda cap-tured 4 for 19.

This should encourage India to dowell in the World T20 to commence inSri Lanka on 18 September. India is inGroup A along with England andAfghanistan. Australia is in Group Bwith West Indies and Ireland.

Group C includes South Africa, SriLanka and Zimbabwe, and Group DPakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh.The Final will be played on 7 October.

Irfan is backas Indiawins T20

Gurinder Sandhu, aged 19, has becomethe first male Australian of Indian ori-gin to represent Australia in cricket at

an international level. He is in the squad for theUnder-19 World Cup tournament which startedin Queensland on 11 August. He comes fromPunjab.

Of course the first Indian is Pune-born LisaSthalekar who has been representing Australiain women’s Tests, one-day internationals(ODIs) and Twenty20 cricket over many yearswith outstanding performances including cen-turies in Test and ODIs. She has also captainedAustralia with success and has been named thebest all-rounder on many occasions in all formsof cricket.

In February 2007, Sthalekar won theWomen's International Cricketer of the Yearfor Australia. Subsequently, she received fur-ther honours, being shortlisted for the ICCWomen's Player of the Year and winning theAllan Border medal.

Teenager Gurinder is the first IndianAustralian to be signed up by any team in theAustralian T20 series, the Big Bash League(BBL). Sydney Thunder has signed Gurinderon to play alongside Test stars Michael Clarke,Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi.

A right-arm pace bowler, Gurinder toldSBS radio that he had been playing cricket eversince he was a small boy. He was in Brisbane

for eight weeks and trained very hard there. Heis grateful to his Dad who has encouraged himto play cricket as long as his studies were notaffected.

Gurinder is looking forward to the Under-19 World Cup as also playing for SydneyThunders in BBL along with Chris Gayle,Michael “Pup” Clarke and “Boom-boom”Afridi. Australia beat Scotland by 71 runs in ahigh scoring warm up match for the Under-19

World Cup in Brisbane in early August. India-born Gurinder Sandhu was the hero, taking 5for 51 including a hat-trick.

How’s that?In the Leeds cricket Test this August, South

Africa’s Alvero Petersen and England’s KevinPietersen scored a century each. Apart frombrothers, have two unrelated batsmen with(almost) same surname but playing against eachother, ever scored centuries in the same Test?

Gurinder Sandhu makes history

MS Dhoni and four other Indians are the top five earners making money from cricket paypacket and ad endorsements. Surprisingly, Yusuf Pathan (right) is at No 10 in the list.

Teenager Gurinder Sandhu is the first Indian Australian to be signed up by any team inthe Australian T20 series, the Big Bash League (BBL). Sydney Thunder has signed him

on to play alongside Test stars Michael Clarke, Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi.

India at Olympics


2 Silver and 4 Bronze for a country of a billion plus is not much you’dargue, but India had its career best haul at London Olympics.

Sushil, Yogeshwar returnhome to hero's welcome

The best Olympics for India

London: India has returned with itsbest-ever Olympics medal tallyfrom the London Games. If there isanything missing, it is a gold andthat has been somewhat made up bytwo silver medals out of a total ofsix.

The performance of the Indiansis indeed creditable as the expecta-tions were also realistic, thoughsome might argue that Indian menshould have got medals from theboxing ring and the women fromthe archery arena.

While shooting and wrestlingled the charge with two medals each(one silver and one bronze in eachof the disciplines), two other finish-es on the podium were from bad-minton and women's boxing. Indiafinished 55th on the medals table,10 rungs higher than their count atBeijing.

The Indians would now leavethis historic city, having doubledthe three-medal tally from Beijingfour years ago. However, there wasa gold in Beijing, the first by anindividual - Abhinav Bindra, whowon it in the men's 10m air rifle.

Curiously, it was in the sameevent that India began its medalaccount here with 29-year-oldGagan Narang winning the bronze,aggregating 701.1 (598 qualifying,103.1 final) at the Royal ArtilleryBarracks range.

After three unproductive days,

luck again smiled on India as armyshooter Vijay Kumar scooped upsilver in the men's 25-metre rapidfire pistol.

Kumar ensured a finish on thesecond highest podium scoring 30in the final. He shot a perfect five inthe first series to take joint lead andfollowed up with series of 4, 4, 3,4, 4 and 4 and 2 to grab the silver.

Shooting has lately emerged asthe most productive sport for Indiaat the Olympics. India have so farshot one gold, two silvers and abronze from the ranges since the2004 Athens Games.

In contrast, hockey still holdsthe record for the highest number ofmedals - 11 (eight gold, one silverand two bronze), but the point is thelast medal success from the disci-pline came way back in 1980, agold.

The Indians also achieved spec-

tacular success on the mat at theExcel arena, with Sushil Kumar andYogeshwar Dutt getting a silver andbronze respectively.

Sushil lost the men's 66 kgfreestyle final to Japan's TatsuhiroYonemitsu 1-3 and settled for a sil-ver, becoming the first Indian towin individual medals in back-to-back Olympics.

In the 60kg class, Yogeshwarclinched the bronze after winningthe repechage round.

The Haryana grappler churnedout a great performance againstNorth Korean Jong Myong Ri towin the bronze medal play-off 3-1.

Yogeshwar, who was in histhird Olympics, also became thethird Indian wrestler after KhashabaDadasaheb Jadhav and Sushil to winan Olympic medal. Jadhav had wonbronze in the 1952 Helsinki Games.

On the badminton court, Saina

Nehwal etched her name in India'ssporting history by winning thecountry's maiden medal from thecompetition to become the secondIndian woman to stand on theOlympic podium. Lifter KarnamMalleswari won a bronze in the2000 Sydney Games.

Women's boxing sawManipur's M.C. Mary Kom script-ing history by becoming the coun-try's first woman pugilist to win amedal at the Olympics when shefinished with a bronze in the 51 kgevent.

Amid these highs, two sportingdisciplines provided the lows.Despite much hope, none of theIndian archers came even remotelyclose to a medal, as they mostly fellat the first hurdle.

Hockey, where India were forlong the reigning monarchs, saw thecountry's standards having sunk to

the lowest depths. The Indians cameup with their worst performance,securing the last position among 12teams.

The highly rated male boxersalso disappointed. Two of them -Laishram Devendro Singh in 49kgand Beijing Olympics bronzemedallist Vijender Singh in 75kg -made it to the last eight, but thatwas the end of the road for them.

In track and field, women's dis-cus thrower Krishna Poonia and hermale counterpart Vikas Gowdamade it to the finals, while theIndian participants rewrote thenational records in 50km and 20kmwalks.

The glamorous tennis stars alsogave heartbreaking performances.Mahesh Bhupathi and RohanBopanna, who had forced the tennisauthorities to pair them up in men'sdoubles, lost to a much lowerranked duo in the second round.

Leander Paes and VishnuVardhan also crashed out at thesame stage, but not before a lion-hearted fight against MichaelLlodra/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga(France).

There was much hope on themixed doubles pair of Paes andSaina Mirza, but they crashed out inthe quarterfinals.

Indian participants joined theaction in three other disciplines -rowing, judo and weightlifting - butfailed to make any impact.

New Delhi: India's Olympic medalwinning wrestlers Sushil Kumarand Yogeshwar Dutt returned homelate Monday night to a hero's wel-come as hordes of supporters,including young grapplers fromnearby akhadas, turned up at theinternational airport making it acarnival like atmosphere.

As soon as the duo walked outof the arrival lounge, celebrationsbroke out as drums started to beatand fireworks lit up the sky.

Sushil and Yogeshwar weresurprised to see their life-sized cut-outs, and within moments theywere carried on the shoulders oftheir supporters.

With garlands round their neck,Sushil and Yogeshwar were dazed

with the grand reception.Shouts of "Sushil, Yogeshwar

ki jay" reverberated in the air. Theduo were taken on a well-decoratedopen truck to the Palam temple.

Even before the flight fromLondon landed, a huge crowd hadgathered at the arrival terminus,reminiscent of scenes four yearsago when Sushil arrived fromBeijing with a bronze medal.

But this time, exploits of Sushiland Yogeshwar at the 2012 LondonGames called for special celebra-tions.

Sushil, who won the silvermedal, became India's only individ-ual back-to-back Olympic medallistwhile his friend of 15 yearsYogeshwar bagged a bronze medal.

Mary Kom slams level of refereeing atLondon Olympics

Sahara not to aid sports federations forLondon Games failure

New Delhi: Olympic bronze medallist M.C. MaryKom Tuesday slammed the level of refereeing in theboxing competitions of the London Games.

Mary Kom said the decision making not onlyaffected India boxers and there were protests fromboxers across the participating nations.

While Mary Kom achieved a first for India in thesport by winning the bronze in the 51kg class, themen's team surprisingly failed to win a medal.

Controversial decisions were made during bouts ofSumit Sangwan, Manoj Kumar and Vikas Krishan,who lost his fight in the pre-quarterfinals after beingdeclared the winner.

Mary Kom was disappointed with the men's teamresult and said she expected at least medals from theteam comprising Beijing bronze medallist VijenderSingh.

Referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazovwas of

Turkmenistan was expelled from the LondonOlympics for the decisions he made during fight inwhich the outcome was overturned.

The sport's governing body, AIBA, had also sus-pended Germany's Frank Scharmach for five days.

New Delhi: Sahara India Parivarwill withdraw support to someIndian sports' federations whoseworkings have cost the countrymedals in the just concludedLondon Olympics, ChairmanSubrata Roy said here Monday.

"We are planning to stop pro-viding sponsorship to some federa-tions.

I will not name them but theirperformance and lack of effort toprovide best training and infra-structure to the athletes led to loss

of major opportunities in theLondon Olympics," Roy said.

According to Roy, Sahara willinstitute a foundation for trainingand sponsoring athletes but did notdivulge any time frame for theestablishment of the institute.

Sania Nehwal (Bronze Medal)

Sushil Kumar (Silver Medal) Yogeshwar Dutt (Bronze Medal)

Gagan Narang (Bronze Medal) Vijay Kumar (Silver Medal)

Mary Kom (Bronze Medal)

and Performances of Sydney’s Young Talents

9 September 2012, Sunday

10.00 am to 4:00 pm – Youth Concerts 5:01 pm – Concert by Saketharaman

(a Prime Disciple of Lalgudi Jayaraman)

Tickets: Adult $15 Child (Under 18) $12 Jeyendran 9636 2314 Yoga Thanikasalam 9742 6794 Usha Logi 0422 401 686 Nalini Sankar 9802 5805 Lalitha Sathasivam 9763 7639 Prema Iyer 9894 0898 Dr. Sampath 9893 7729 Raji Ramanathan 9858 3394 Geetha Ganesh 9643 9971

Download - Indian Down Under August - September E-paper

Top Related