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Royal Edition at RAFWInside This Issue...

World Cup 2011 CricketCoverage

Spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba passesaway

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Exclusive interview with Premier O’Farrell onAuburn Temple attacks and Hindi language

34

8

On the way Down Under

Sydney Writers Festival guests Sonia Faleiro, FatimaBhutto (47) and Syndey Music Festival’s Unni Krishnan(5)

Roopa Pemmaraju showcases her Royal Edition collection of Resortwear at Rosemount AustralianFashion Week ...7

May 2011 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 03

04 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER May 2011

Editor's Letter

April - May 2011 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 7

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, MonicaDaswani, Sumi Krishnan, Devaki Parthasarthy, NeenaBadhwar, 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, SavithaNarayanPhotographers: Neelesh Kale, Raj Suri and JordanAnjaiyaGraphic Design: Nayanesh Gandhi, Dinesh Verma,(Bhagwati Multimedia) Bharat Bhushan Chopra

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It is still early for the LiberalGovernment, which stormed in theMarch elections with an unprecedented

win, to outline its major policies – whetherit will take a razor to public service,realign transport infrastructure or re-planthe urban sprawl. While the voters holdtheir expectations high for a change,besides minor tweaking, all factors consid-ered, there is usually not much in terms ofmajor change in direction. There is, how-ever, reassurance for the Indian communityas reflected in the interview response toThe Indian Down Under by PremierO’Farrell that all major programmes forthe community will be maintained and thelaw and order situation regarding the SriMandir at Auburn “is something thatmyself and Minister Dominello feel verystrongly about and will be an ongoingfocus for my Government”.

There was a setback for Hindi languagein Australia as it was ignored in the nation-al curriculum as a school subject by theAustralian Curriculum Assessment andReporting Authority (ACARA). There wasan Australia-wide movement by Hindispeaking people represented by Hindi asso-ciations and various schools who filed asubmission report to ACARA to includeHindi into its draft shape paper. It is ironi-cal that languages such as Spanish andArabic have been considered whereasHindi, as one of the most spoken lan-guages in the world, has been totally over-looked. Elsewhere in the world, peoplewho cannot bring about a change demo-cratically are being empowered by newtechnology, Twitter and Facebook, SMSsbringing them together in mass protestsand direct action against alleged tyrantregimes in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, IvoryCoast, Syria, and spreading. It is emer-

gence of a new world order, redefining the‘sovereignty’ of a nation, although it ishard to digest the only altruistic line for-warded by the nations of the likes ofUnited Kingdom and France whose past istainted with similar overtures as theyusurped power in the Middle East, Asiaand Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Still early times to foresee if technolo-gy is churning the ocean for a chari-table distribution of the nectar in the

Middle East, but as far as recent events inIndia to bring about people’s action againstcorruption are concerned, it’s more than awelcome tool. Led by a septuagenarianGandhian Anna Hazare, it has brought arecalcitrant Indian Government to its kneesto gazette all demands listed in Jan LokpalBill, an amended people’s version of theLok Pal bill initiated 46 years ago and stilllanguishing in the corridors of power afterbeing put to parliament eight times. Thecorruption in India is so seeped in everynook and corner of the government fabricthat it is hurting everyone in all day to dayactivities. Corruption has become a way oflife; the foreign accounts to channel cor-rupt money have become so popular thatthe Swiss banks have set shop in Indiaitself to save the hassle.

Anna Hazare wrote to the PM (whoearlier refused to see him) that lots ofscams came up, but no corrupt bureaucratsand politicians were punished as peopleinvestigating were appointed by thoseinvolved in the scams. The new bill willbe drafted by a 10-member committee withfive members constituted from publicdomain. It has a deadline to pass throughthe parliament by August 15 this yearwhich is not as open-ended to go foranother 46 years! The Jan Lokpal Billremoves the requirement that it could onlybe initiated by speaker of the Lower orUpper Houses (and hence would benefitthe ruling party). The proposed bill alsorequires that the corrupt money will bereturned to the public rather than theoffender getting away with the loot. Allthe five nominees of the civil society,

Anna Hazare, N. Santosh Hegde, ShantiBhushan, Prashant Bhushan, and ArvindKejriwal are well-respected public repre-sentatives.

Meanwhile, action against corruptioncontiues to hit the high and mighty. SureshKalmadi, who oversaw the graft-taintedand disastrously managed CommonwealthGames held in Delhi last year, wasremanded in police custody on charges ofcheating, conspiracy and corruption relatedto tenders for timekeeping equipmentworth millions of dollars. He was also sus-pended by the Congress party, of which hewas a senior member.

The same day as Kalmadi’s arrest abouttwo weeks ago, another high-flying politi-cian was charged with corruption: Memberof Parliament Kanimozhi Karunanidhi.Kanimozhi, who goes by one name, is thedaughter of the chief minister of TamilNadu and a member of one of the mostinfluential political families in a countrywhere dynasties still play a critical role.She is charged for her role in the ongoingdrama of India’s mobile phone licence salescandal, which cost the country an estimat-ed $39 billion, not including millions ofdollars in bribes that Kanimozhi is allegedto have helped funnel to private companiesthrough her close relationship with thethen-telecommunications minister,Andimuthu Raja.

Congratulations to India for winningthe Cricket World Cup. Now it istruly at the top with both the titles

– Test and One-day Internationals – in itskitty. It has been a successful rebuilding ofthe team since the infamous Sydney Test of2008. Rarely does a single event have suchan impact – the Indian team scaling newheights with a youthful confidence, and, onthe other hand, a team that had dominatedthe world scene for more than a decadelosing its way so completely.

People’s power is on the rise

Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi’s daughter,has been implicated in the 2G scam.

Anna Hazare galvanized a nation withis anti-corruption crusade, forcing the

government to move on the Lokpal(ombudsman) bill.

Sri Mandir at Auburn exterior (above)and view after the attack.

8 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER April - May 2011

Interview

By Neena Badhwar

Having swept to power inNSW in an unprecedent-ed rebuff to the long

reign by Labor, the new PremierBarry O’Farrell has an unenvi-able task ahead of maintainingthe faith the electorate hasentrusted in him. There has beena shift in voting preferences notonly by the mainstream publicbut also by the ethnic communi-ties whose support is conspicuousin Liberal wins in Parramatta andStrathfield among many othersthroughout the State. The IndianDown Under asked the premiersome questions relevant to themulticultural NSW landscape.

Q. Mr O’Farrell, we con-gratulate you on becoming thepremier of NSW – a state whichis vibrant due to its multiculturalmix. They have all supportedyou whole heartedly to bringabout the change. Would youlike to comment on your win?

Premier Barry O’Farrell:Thank you very much. There isno doubt the record vote for theLiberal and National Partiesincluded strong support from theState’s ethnic communities. It isheartening to see so many ofthose culturally diverse seats inwestern Sydney have been wonby the Liberal Party for the firsttime - we are determined not tolet them down.

Q. Who in your team is look-ing after the portfolio for ethnic

communities and their issues?O’Farrell: Victor Dominello

is the Minister for Citizenshipand Communities. Victor hasbeen a first class local memberfor the people of Ryde and hewill be an excellent Minister for,and advocate on behalf of, ethniccommunities in NSW.

Q. Indian communities arefacing some serious issues – onevery serious incident is a shoot-ing attack on a Hindu temple inAuburn. There have been ongo-ing attacks at the premises,stones being thrown at windows,also eggs and rubbish, moneystolen from its donation box,and abuse and obscenitieshurled. But the law and orderagencies have failed to curb themiscreants. The local MPBarbara Perry in the previousgovernment had a meeting withthe concerned Indian communityand the temple held an open dayin January for the locals, but to

no avail. What are you going todo about this severe law andorder problem for the templeand its followers who includefamilies with young children.They have been coming to thistemple for the last 34 years.

O’Farrell: These incidentsare obviously very frighteningand I am concerned about what ishappening. I have confidence inthe local police who are investi-gating these incidents and whenthe perpetrators are caught, Ihave no doubt the police willthrow the full force of the law atthem. In regards to promotingharmony in our society, that issomething that myself andMinister Dominello feel verystrongly about and will be anongoing focus for myGovernment.

Q. It is important that thisproblem is nipped in the budand does not turn into a bigissue like the one concerningIndian students. That affectededucation industry in Australiaquite badly and strained rela-tions between India andAustralia.

O’Farrell: Absolutely. Indiaand Australia have a very strongrelationship and that is somethingI want to foster in NSW for thecultural and economic opportuni-ties it presents. Readers of TheIndian Down Under know howstrengthening relations with Indiaare a key element of my plan tomake NSW number one again. InFebruary last year I led a delega-tion to Mumbai where I met with

senior government officials andbusiness leaders and I plan toreturn to India later this year topromote greater trade and invest-ment in NSW.

Q. Australian Curriculum,Assessment and ReportingAuthority (ACARA) is responsi-ble for a national curriculumfrom kindergarten to Year 12and has come up with a draftshape paper for introducing lan-guages into national curriculumin four stages. Chinese, Italian,French, German, Indonesian,Japanese, Korean, Spanish,Arabic, Greek, Vietnamese lan-guages are in the proposedstages of developing while Hindihas been overlooked. AlthoughACARA is working towards anational initiative to introducelanguages into school curricu-lum, what kind of support wecan expect from your govern-ment to help us get Hindi intoACARA’s Shape of theAustralian Curriculum:Languages. Hindi speakingcommunity is growing inAustralia at a fast pace withnumber of migrants from Indiaranked third among the totalintake. Hindi being among thetop ten languages spoken inNSW and Australia, it is impor-tant that it is introduced as alanguage subject along withother languages which havebeen considered in the draftshape paper.

O’Farrell: I believe there ismerit in the Indian communities’campaign. There are strong cul-

tural and economic ties betweenour two nations and we should begiving more young people theopportunity to learn Hindi. Withthe emergence of India as an eco-nomic power that can only helpAustralia in the long term. NSWalone cannot change the nationalcurriculum; so it’s something myMinister for Education AdrianPiccoli will have to discuss withhis federal and state colleagues.

Q. Before the election TIDUasked you whether you wouldhelp the Indian community toestablish a centre and a piece ofland. You had asked for a pro-posal from the community if youcame into power. When wouldyou be able to give us time sothat we can discuss such a pro-posal? Or can you suggest whoshould we contact and meet onyour behalf about this issue?

O’Farrell: MinisterDominello would be the appro-priate person.

Q. Diwali at ParliamentHouse (which has become anannual event for the Indiancommunity), Parramasala (amulticultural Art Festival inParramatta started last year) anda cultural grant to UIA (anumbrella Indian organizationwhich holds Friendship Fair inAugust) – can the Indian com-munity expect all these to con-tinue with assistance from yourgovernment on an ongoing basis?

O’Farrell: The Governmentwill provide ongoing support tothese important events for theIndian community.

In a first by any foreign gov-ernment, Australia on April 15launched a website in Hindi in

New Delhi aimed at providingbetter information access to fami-lies of prospective Indian studentsin Victoria.

The Hindi version of 'StudyMelbourne' portal:http://www.studymelbourne.vic.gov.au/hindi was launched by visit-ing Victorian minister LouiseAsher, who is leading a 60-mem-ber business delegation on herfirst trip abroad after the forma-tion of a new government there.

"It is the world's first web-site of a foreign government inHindi. Though knowledge ofEnglish is imperative for studentsthere, the website aims to provideinformation to the families andparents of those students in theirmother tongue. "It will help themin better understanding of facili-ties and prospects in Victorianuniversities," Asher, minister forinnovation said while launchingthe portal. On attacks on Indianstudents in Victoria, she said, "Iagree we have some problems inVictoria. We are embarrassed, butthe new government is addressingthese issues. It is an important

part of our focus in governance...we are not only concerned aboutstudents but whole community."

She also noted that a 24X7student case service has been setup to help Indians in Victoria.Asher also pitched in for strongerties between Victorian universitiesand Indian institutions. Indiansmakes up the second largest groupof foreign students in Victoriabehind China. In 2010, there wereapproximately 46,000 Indian stu-dent enrolments in courses inVictoria, she said.

On India-Victoria trade rela-

tionship, Asher said the serious-ness of her government in thisregard is evident as they choseIndia as a destination for a seniorminister's first foreign trip afterassuming office. She said the"Trade mission to India representsthe very best of Victoria's capa-bilities in automotive, sustainableurban design, aviation, clean tech,food and beverages and ICT."

"Through this visit and otheractivities planned as part of ourtrade engagement programme forIndia, we look forward to signifi-cantly boosting partnerships with

India -- the most exciting econom-ic powerhouse," she said.

Leading Indian firmsMahindra and Mahindra, Infosysand the Wadhawan Group, as wellas nine of India's top 15 informa-tion and communications technol-ogy companies, have presence inVictoria. Speaking at the launch,Australian High CommissionerPeter Varghese said, "We havehigh ambition with our relation-ship with India. We want todevelop strong strategic and eco-nomic ties... strong educationalties will bring better understand-

ing between the two nations."In March this year Melbourne

successfully bid to host AmwayIndia’s coveted LeadershipSeminar for more than 4,000 dele-gates in Melbourne in 2012, anevent that would generate an esti-mated $20.98 million for Victoria.Rita Tandon, Senior Manager ,Special Events, for Amway India,said Melbourne’s impressiveinfrastructure and unique range ofattractions and activities hadplayed a major role in finalisingthe decision to host the group inMelbourne.

Premier is all ears to Indian community issues

Australia launches Hindi website for Indian students

Barry O'Farrell, of Liberal party,is new NSW Premier

Australian Hindi website to woo Indian students

Rita Tandon, Senior Manager Special Events for Amway India withVictorian minister Louise Asher in Melbourne

Comment


By Rekha Bhattacharjee

While Australia’s keystrategists are workingfuriously to stay in step

with the phenomenal growth ofIndia, majority of everydayAustralians seem to be oblivious tothe growth story unfolding right inour neighbourhood.

Strangely, those incognizant tothe rapid rise and increasingsophistication of the Indian econo-my also include many members ofthe Indian Diaspora settled DownUnder in the last few decades ormore.For the uninitiated, India isAustralia’s third largest exportmarket up from a distant 12th posi-tion six years back.

To convert this in simple num-bers, the merchandise trade(including services) between Indiaand Australia has reached $22.40billion in 2010. Indo-Australiantrade was just $6.54 billion in2004.Even as the Resources sectorcan hardly conceal its collectiveglee, for most of the Australians,India continues to be a quintessen-tial third world country debilitatedby poverty, social inequality, lackof infrastructure, poor educationand health levels, dismal growthrates, etc

.While India is far from beingincluded as an equal among the so-called developed countries, theemergence of the South Asiancountry as strong economic forcecannot be dismissed as a figmentof some Indophile romantic’simagination.The near double-digitgrowth in India’s GDP in the pastdecade or so has translated into anunprecedented, upward trajectorywhere even Australian economy isreaping bonanza year after year.

The hike in the prices ofAustralian commodities is attrib-uted primarily to two Asian eco-nomic giants - China andIndia.Australian economy has man-aged to weather global downturn ina resilient manner, thanks toexport of resources to the above-mentioned Asian countries.To givereaders some idea about the riseand rise of India after the clichéd

‘liberalisation’ drive in the early1990s, India’s Gross DomesticProduct based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) per capitaGDP has increased from nearUS$900 in 1990 to approximatelyUS$3300 in 2010

.As far as overall figures areconcerned, Indian GDP hasincreased from US$413 billion in2000 to US$1121 billion last yearor nearly 270 per cent increasebased on 2010 figures.What frus-trates an economic strategist is thefact that the growth in the Indianeconomy has been haphazard.While some services sectors havedeveloped tremendously, India lagsfar behind in sectors like agricul-ture and manufacturing

.To give an idea about the rela-tive progress in telecommunicationas observed by The SydneyMorning Herald’s New Delhi cor-respondent Matt Wade, there were234 million Indian mobile phonesubscribers in 2007. The numbermore than doubled in just twoyears crossing 500 million sub-scribers landmark.

The number of mobile sub-scribers is estimated to be above770 million as I write this arti-cle.“Last November, 23 millionnew subscribers were added - morethan the population of Australia in30 days,” writes Matt Wade in anarticle.To quote more feel-goodforecasts from McKinsey GlobalInstitute, by 2030 Indian GDPwould have multiplied by fivetimes; the net increase in working

age population be 270 million peo-ple; 91 million urban householdswill be middle class; US$1.2 tril-lion capital investment would berequired to meet projected demandjust in Indian cities; 700-900 mil-lion square meters of commercialand residential space would beneeded to be built; 2.5 billionmetres of roads would be requiredto be paved; 7,400 kilometers ofmetro train will need to be con-structed, etc

.If India can maintain suchmind-boggling growth for the nextdecade and a half, she would man-age to exceed economic historians’forecast that India, along with hernorthern neighbour China, wouldcontribute one third of the globalincome.To revisit global economichistory, India and China were con-tributing an astounding one half theglobal income in the first twodecades of the 19thcentury but thishumongous contribution diveddown to dismal one tenth by themiddle of the last century.It is notsurprising that Indian growth isoften discussed along with Chinabut there are too many factorswhich make these two stories verydifferent. But the economists andcommentators would never ceasecomparing the two most populouscountries in the world due to theirgeographical location.

China, Australia’s numero unotrading partner, is far ahead ofIndia if one looks at the economicgraphs.''The footprints of theChinese dragon are still much big-

ger than the footprints of theIndian elephant on the world econ-omy,” one the top economist asso-ciated with the Lowy Institute,Mark Thirlwell, said recently.Evenas India surges upwards in eco-nomic growth, her development isimpeded by a number of geo-politi-cal issues including national securi-ty. India, unlike her EuropeanUnion counterparts, cannot affordto let her guard down even brieflyas she shares thousands of kilome-ters of borders with two hostilenuclear powers China andPakistan.India, which has been towar with China (1962) andPakistan (1948, 1965 and 1971)has to invest heavily into defenceto survive in arguably the mostvolatile neighbourhood in theworld.

Indian spending on defencehovers around a figure less than 3per cent of the GDP. In compari-son, China spends 7 percent of theGDP and the Pakistan has to keepaside 5 per cent of her GDP fornational security purposes.Thechange in world order due to grad-ual decrease in the US influencealong with rise of China and Indiaas economic powerhouses in theAsia-Pacific reason has also led toa realization among the Australianstrategy gurus for the need to re-align.“As American strategic andeconomic power relatively dimin-ishes in the region because ofChina’s and India’s growth,Australia would have to adjust itspolicies to these changes,” John

McCarthy, chairman of theAustralia-India Council was quotedby media recently.It has to be saidthat China, being the top tradingpartner, should continue to be theprimary object of Australian strate-gists’ focus. But the Australianeconomists should also keep inmind that our trade balance withthe third largest trading partnerIndia is very lucrative.

So India should not be allowedto be far from our strategists’drawing boards.India providesvery rosy balance to trade which isa whopping 14.4 billion dollars inAustralia’s favour even thoughAustralia's total merchandise trade(exports plus imports) with theSouth Asian country was less thana quarter of the two-way tradebetween China and Australia in2009-10. Australia’s trade surplusfrom India is second only to thatfrom Japan.While it’s a win-winsituation for Australia, the situationfor the Indian poor is not veryrosy. India may have becomeworld’s fourth largest economy (ona Purchasing Power Parity calcula-tion), the GDP Per Capita figuresfor India are dismal.According tothe International Monetary Fundestimates published late last year in‘World Economic Outlook’ GDPper capita in India in 2009 ofUS$1,031. This compares toUS$3,734 in China and approxi-mately US$45,000 in Australia andthe US.No wonder most of thepundits consider India to be a richcountry inhabited by poor.

Indian cricket captainMahendra Singh Dhoni hasbeen ranked above any

other Indian and even USPresident Barack Obama andfootball player Lionel Messifollow behind him in Timemagazine’s 2011 list of 100most influential people.

Dhoni occupied the 52ndposition and is the only Indiansportsman making it to thecoveted list. ‘Captain fantas-tic’ as described by the maga-zine, is the only Indian sports-man, besides Sachin

Tendulkar, to have made it tothe elite list.

The other Indians findingtheir way through are MukeshAmbani who took the 61stspot, neuroscientist V SRamachandran who wasranked 79, Azim Premji (88)and activist Aruna Roy (89).

"Dhoni doesn't just lead acricket team; he's also India'scaptain of hope.

And he didn't just winIndia the World Cup; he alsotaught India how to win," themagazine stated.

The top position was occu-pied by Wael Ghonim, theGoogle executive who becamethe 'spokesman for a revolu-tion' in Egypt.Obama wasranked 86th, followed by foot-ball player Lionel Messi at the87th position.Also making itto the list are Facebookfounder Mark Zuckerbergranked sixth, while WikiLeaksfounder Julian Assange occu-pied the ninthposition.Pakistani spy chiefAhmed Shuja Pasha has beenranked 17th.

The Third Eye by Rekha Bhattacharjee

India shining in Australian context

Dhoni is most influential Indian in Time magazine’s list

MS Dhoni (left) and MukeshAmbani (above) : 52nd and 61st

most influential in the world


India

Sanya, China: China and Russiaon April 14 joined fellow leadersof the five fastest growing eco-nomic powers in calling for com-prehensive UN reforms and sup-ported the "aspirations" of India,Brazil and South Africa for a per-manent place in the SecurityCouncil.

The two permanent UNSCmembers - China and Russia - in ajoint statement of the BRICSgrouping, said they "support their(India, Brazil and South Africa)aspiration to play a greater role inthe UN".

But does this translate into sup-port for their bids for a permanentUNSC seat?

"It is an endorsement of ourviews on candidature and UNreforms," secretary, economicrelations, in the ministry of exter-

nal affairs Manbir Singh saidwhen asked if it signaled backingfor India's bid.

"This is a consensus statement.This (joint) statement is satisfacto-ry as far as we are concerned,"Manbir Singh told Indian journal-ists later.

India, Brazil and South Africaare in the Security Council but asnon-permanent members for aperiod of two years after theirelection in January. They areseeking more permanent represen-tation in view of their growingglobal influence.

The BRICS countries togetherrepresent more than 40 percent ofthe world's population and 20 per-cent of the global Gross DomesticProduct (GDP). The fastestemerging economies are projectedto contribute 48 percent to the

global economy in the nextdecade.

The statement, also called theSanya declaration, was signed byIndian Prime Minister ManmohanSingh and presidents Hu Jintao ofChina, Brazil's Dilma Rousseff,Russia's Dmitry Medvedev andSouth Africa's Jacob Zuma.

It reaffirmed "the need for acomprehensive reform of the UN,including its Security Council tomake it more effective, efficientand representative, so that it candeal with today's global chal-lenges more successfully".

"China and Russia reiterate theimportance they attach to the sta-tus of India, Brazil and SouthAfrica in international affairs, andunderstand and support their aspi-ration to play a greater role in theUN."

China, Russia support India's UNSC 'aspirations'

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with China’s President, Mr HuJintao, on the sidelines of BRICS Summit at Sanya, Hainan, Chinaon April 14. China’s support will ensure a permanent seat for India

on the Security Council.

Anna Hazare's anti-graft crusade galvanized a nation

Needed, ‘triangle of tranquillity’ to contain China

New Delhi: As the fast-unto-deathby Gandhian social activist AnnaHazare galvanized a whole nation,the UPA government bowed andagreed to a joint committee withthe civil society to draft an anti-corruption ombudsman billdemanded by the activists.

The agitation for the (JanLokpal Bill) to fight corruptionand Hazare's unrelenting stance onthe issue forced the government toagree for a dialogue and form apanel with 50 percent representa-tion by the civil society.

However, the government onlyagreed to issue a letter with the

commitment but not any formalnotification even as Congress chiefSonia Gandhi urged Hazare to giveup his hunger strike.

Social activists like ArvindKejriwal and Swami Agnivesh andKiran Bedi as wel as many inBollywood supported Hazare’scrusade.

Sonia Gandhi said Anna'sviews will receive 'full attention'of the UPA government.

"There can be no two views onthe urgent necessity of combatinggraft and corruption in publiclife,” Gandhi said in a statement.

Hazare said Sonia should

ensure that the law is quicklydrafted and implemented.

The movement spread allacross India. People in Mumbai,Kolkata, Bangalore andAhmedabad among many othercities expressed solidarity withstreet meetings and fasts. Peoplesporting "I am Anna Hazare" plac-ards marched in processions andshouted slogans.

Forty-two years in waiting, theJan Lokpal Bill is touted to beIndia’s de facto weapon againstgraft. A Lokpal means an ombuds-man to root out corruption at highplaces in the Indian polity.

Sydney: Australia, South Africa and Indiashould form a “triangle of tranquillity”through increased strategic and economiccooperation to counter China’s advances in theIndian Ocean region, said Chandan Mitra, MPand Editor of The Pioneer, while deliveringthe keynote address at the `Australia-India2020 International Forum’ at University ofSydney.

Mitra said, “India’s strategic ethos shouldensure important friends like Australia andSouth Africa are part of this process forgreater development of the Indian Oceanregion. The region has become ripe for geo-strategic competition due to the presence ofmutually distrustful littorals, which has pre-vented the creation of appropriate securityarchitecture despite similar priorities and acommon interest in maritime operations.”

Emphasising India’s concern over China’s‘string of pearls’ strategy — the establishmentof ports and naval bases in close proximity toshipping lanes and oil supply routes across theIndian Ocean — Mitra said this strategy hadsignificantly expanded China’s strategic depthin India’s backyard.

This includes the Gwadar port in Pakistan,naval bases in Burma, electronic intelligencegathering facilities on islands in the Bay ofBengal, funding the construction of a canal

across the Kra Isthmus in Thailand, a militaryagreement with Cambodia and building up offorces in the South China Sea.The IndianOcean region is also of vital strategic impor-tance for Australia, yet it has substantiallyunder-appreciated it. “As American strategicand economic power relatively diminishes inthe region because of China’s and India’sgrowth, Australia would have to adjust itspolicies to these changes,” said JohnMcCarthy, chairman of the Australia-IndiaCouncil.

In recent years, Australia-India bilateralrelations have come under strain due to attackson Indian students in Australia. Prof JohnHearn, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International)said, “Sydney University is looking to increasethe flow of staff and students between the twocountries and to improve Australia’s reputa-tion as a destination for Indian students.”

The University, which enrolls a large num-ber of overseas Indians students, has had along history of collaborative research with pre-mier Indian institutes. It is further strengthen-ing research partnerships across a wide spec-trum of disciplines from health and agricultureto IT and engineering.

Another irksome issue has been Australia’srefusal to export uranium to India for its civil-ian nuclear programme. The Labour Party pol-

icy demands that uranium be sold only tocountries that have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“It doesn’t make sense not to sell uraniumto India, especially after the US-India nucleardeal. We must get past it sooner than later,”said McCarthy, who has served as Australia’sHigh Commissioner to India.

Following the 2008 India-US CivilNuclear Agreement, India plans to significant-ly upgrade its nuclear power programme andlocate at least 40 more N-reactors over thenext 10 years that will generate power to meet20 per cent of India’s energy needs by 2050.

Australia has 40 per cent of the world’sknown uranium reserves. It is India’s sixthlargest trading partner and India is Australia’sfifth largest. India’s ranking among Australia’sexport destinations has risen from 12th tofourth between 2003-04 and 2009-10.

From A$ 6.54 billion in 2003-04, trade ingoods and services between India andAustralia reached A$ 22.40 billion in 2009-10.“We can’t afford not to be in India”, saidMark Pierce, Assistant Secretary, South &Central Asia Branch, Department of ForeignAffairs and Trade.

“While the economic aspect is phenome-nally important in this bilateral relationship,the focus should also be on building close peo-

ple-to-people linkages and winning hearts andminds,” said Neville Roach, Member of theIndian Prime Minister’s Global AdvisoryCouncil of Overseas Indians.

He called for Hindi and other regionalIndian languages to be included in theAustralian school curriculum, emphasising theimportance of language in understanding acountry.

The forum, which attracted academicians,students, diplomats, business and governmentexecutives, and members from the growingIndian diaspora, also included a series ofround table meetings on areas of joint interest:Food security, capacity-building in business,public health partnerships and science educa-tion.© Neena Bhandari, first published onApril 14, 2011 in The Pioneer.

(From left) Neville Roach, John McCarthy,Chandan Mitra and John Hearn at theUniversity of Sydney’s `Australia-India

2020 International Forum’

State elections resultsin mid May

New Delhi: State assembly elec-tions are being been held in astaggered way in West Bengal,Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu andPuducherry. The results expect-ed by May 18 will show if thecommunist rule will end in WestBengal after decades, put to endby the feisty Mamta Banerjee,railways minister and head ofTrinamool Congress, which isallying with Congress. And,whether Karunanidhi’s DMK inalliance with the Congress willbe defeated at the hustings andJayalalitha’s reign startsagain.However, commentators

are unanimous on the fact thatthis round of state elections iswithout any serious issue. “Theoverriding feature of the cam-paign so far has been one ofunrelenting negativity,”Hindustan Times noted whilenoting that “In the backgroundin all these states are vaguepromises of bringing aboutdevelopment, though quite howand when are not spelt out. A high voter turnout --85.2 % inPuducherry, 75.2 % in TamilNadu and 74.4 % in Kerala- isan encouraging sign for India’srobust democracy.


India

Kabul: With Afghan discussions under way about thefuture involvement of the US in the ravaged country andthe prospect of long-term military bases, the Pakistanigovernment has urged Kabul to distance itself from theWest and tie its future more tightly to that of China andPakistan, according to the New York Times.During alandmark April 16 meeting between the leaders ofAfghanistan and Pakistan here, for which the most pow-erful figures in the Pakistani government flew to Kabul,Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani suggested thatAfghanistan needed to look to China, a power in ascen-dance, rather than hew closely to the US.

''There was a mention of China in the meeting,China as a country, as an emerging economic power,and that maybe we should reach out to a new global eco-

nomic power,'' said an Afghan official knowledgeableabout the meeting. ''And there was the suggestion thatAfghanistan and Pakistan should strengthen relations.

''Though Pakistan has denied moving away from itsalliance with Washington, the focus on China makessense because it is a great power that would be accept-able to Afghanistan as an ally in ways that Russia nevercould be because of its history as a hated occupier ofAfghanistan during the 1980s. And, from the Pakistanipoint of view, China provides a counterbalance to India,its archenemy.Pakitan said in a statement that a trilater-al meeting of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UnitedStates was scheduled to be held in Islamabad, thePakistani capital in May with the purpose of having ''s-trategic coherence and clarity.''

Kolkata: US Ambassador toIndia Timothy Roemer is to quithis post in June for "personal rea-sons" and "family considera-tions", the announcement comingone day after India ended negoti-ations with American companiesin a $10 billion contract to supply126 fighter jets for the Indian AirForce.

Lockheed Maritn’s F-16 andBoeing’s 18 Super Hornet dealswere rejected. Indian officialshave stated in private conversa-tion that they prefer France’sDassault Aviation and a four-nation European consortium, theEuropean Aeronautic Defence

and Space Company (EADS) isin the final round of discussions.

New Delh: Air India's domestic opera-tions came to a virtual halt on the fifthday of the pilots strike Sunday with nosolution in sight to break the stalemateand all eyes were now on the Delhi highcourt which will take up criminal pro-ceedings against the agitators Monday.

An airline spokesman said nearly90% of the domestic operations were hit.Only 40 of the 320 daily flights wereoperated. The national carrier said it hasplanned the same curtailed service for thenext week.

The primary demands of the protest-ing pilots are pay parity and an inquiryagainst corruption and mismanagement inthe Air India administration.

By Rekha Bhattacharjee

On 13 May 2011 we will have Stateelection results. The predictions arefor a ‘hung Assembly’ in Assam, an

area that since 1947 bordered on EastPakistan, now Bangladesh. The partition ofIndia resulted in perhaps the largest transmi-gration in world history with refugees travel-ling in both directions. Bengal and Assamreceived theirs.

Worse still, West Pakistan’s genocidalinvasion of East Pakistan in 1971 repeated thisphenomenon as it drove millions ofBangladeshi refugees into West Bengal andAssam. Many remain there to this day. Todaymany question the future of India’s NorthEast, mainly Assam.

The Government of India, always anxiousto keep a lid on communal and other tensions,decreed that all persons in India as on 19 July1948 be deemed citizens. One man, one voteis a powerful political mantra. It has been saidthat a politician is a person who has his eyeson the next election, while a statesman is onewho has his eyes on future. Along India’sunprotected and largely unfenced North Eastsome 20 million Bangladeshis have infiltratedinto the country.

The Government of India eyed this votebank and passed the Illegal Migrants(Determination of Tribunals) Act which pro-vides that anyone settled in Assam before 25March 1971 is deemed to be a citizen. The cut-off date of 19 July 1948 remains for the rest ofIndia. Worse still, under the IM(DT), the onus

is on the complainant (accuser) to prove that aperson was not in India on 25 March 1971.The IM(DT) thus bypassed the ForeignersAct, which placed the onus on the alleged res-ident rather than a complainant. As illegalmigrants poured in unchecked and diluted thedemographic structure of Assam, protests fol-lowed. The Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) chal-lenged the IM(DT) in the Supreme Courtwhich struck it down on 12 July 2005, after 20long years.

Influential minority leaders of Assam havenow formed a new party, the Assam UnitedDemocratic Front, now named All IndiaUnited Democratic Front (AIUDF) to protectthe illegal migrants who continue to pour inunabated and unchecked and now form amajority in at least five districts of lowerAsom. Politics makes strange bedfellows, and

the ruling Congress government in Assam isnow toying with the option of forming a coali-tion with AIUDF.

The Centre under Manmohan Singh andSonia Gandhi has now amended the ForeignersAct so that claims are referred to a tribunalwhere Smt Gandhi assured a rally while cam-paigning in Assam that a hearing would beheld before a person is declared a foreigner.Ironically genuine citizens are at risk. The BJPhas condemned these maneuvers.

What then is the result of rather tardy elec-tioneering? First and foremost, it compromis-es national security if foreigners can march inunchecked. But there are greater implications.Bangladesh has always had its eyes on Assamas a future annexation. A few years ago, a del-egation of intellectuals from Bangladesh toChina declared that Assam will one daybecome part of Greater Bangladesh. TheCongress seems oblivious to such a danger,or, if it does, it ignores that danger for shortterm political gain.

The history of India after Prithviraj showshow such short term alliances have wreakedhavoc on the unity of India, and the integrityof its borders. How can this disaster be avert-ed? The ball is now in the court of the studentsand the people of Assam. It is for AASU andthe educated to take up cudgels on behalf ofthe genuine and indigenous people with rallies,pamphlets and bulletins. The unemployed peo-ple in Assam must realise as they are the oneswho are suffering while illegal migrantsbecome entrenched and take up their jobs.

But what will prevent the major parties –

Congress and AGP to form an AngelaMerkel/Gerhard Schroeder type of coalitionafter the next elections. Or are Assam politi-cians that bitterly divided that they would giveAsom away to Bangladesh rather than form acoalition? A leaf can be taken out of strife tornKashmir where a Common MinimumProgramme has been formed by the People’sDemocratic Party-Congress Alliance(PDP/CA). Surely, Assam Assembly couldfollow suit. The aim in Kashmir is to protectpersons who have been victims of militancyand one poignant aim has been to secure thereturn of Kashmiri Pandits to their homes.

How Assam will fare and whether it willfall into Greater Bangladesh within a decade isa matter of concern for all those who cherishthe integrity of India and who wish to keepdemocratic values alive in the great country. Itis time for the whole of Assam to act, and actquickly.

The Congress ‘high command’ shouldapply what Sonia has been saying during herpoll campaign last time in 2006 “Unlike theOpposition Parties, Congress Party had ideol-ogy, policy, ideals, principles and culture.Politics cannot be done through double stan-dards.” The supreme sacrifice will be if SoniaGandhi can take that decision for Congress tosit in Opposition rather than join hands withAIUDF. But if it can bring about a CommonMinimum Programme like Kashmir with AGP- with one stroke the government will be ableto diminish infiltration and insurgency, createemployment, paving the way for developmentand prosperity in the State.

Pakistan nudges Afghans closer to China

Roemer quits after failed aircraft deal

Pilots strikehits Air India

The next government and future of AssamAnalysis

Kamath to succeedMurthy at Infosys

Bangalore: High profilebanker K.V. Kamath will bethe new chairman of India’sIT bellwether Infosys, becom-ing the first non-founder tohead the country’s secondlargest software exporter bat-tling to boost revenues in arecession-hit global economy.

Rejigging the top leader-ship in the 30-year-old com-pany, the InfosysTechnologies board alsonamed one of the foundersand present CEO and MD S.Gopalakrishnan as the execu-tive co-chairman.

Another founder, S.D.Shibulal, now COO, will suc-ceed Gopalakrishnan.

All the appointments willbe effective Aug 21, the daythe iconic N.R. NarayanaMurthy, who founded thecompany, retires as chairmanat age 65. His association withthe company, however, willcontinue as he has been cho-sen chairman emeritus.

Announcing the revamp inthe leadership, Murthy toldreporters here “Vaman(Kamath) is, in my opinion,

one of the finest corporateleaders of modern India. Kris(Gopalakrishnan) demonstrat-ed high-class performanceduring testing times for theindustry and the company.”

Kamath, best known forturning the ICICI (IndustrialCredit and InvestmentCorporation of India) intoIndia’s largest private bank, isalso an engineer with a MBAfrom the prestigious IIM-Ahmedabad.

Celebrated banker K.V. Kamath

US ambassador to India,Timothy Roemer

Women in Politics


It’s right time for Coalition to invest in womenBy Rekha Bhattacharjee

As we celebrate the GlobalCentenary of theInternational Women’s

Day (IWD), the thoughts go backto those brave and visionary soulswho fought against all adversitiesto get women franchised.

The fight to get dignity forwomen, and to end inequality andoppression in various male-domi-nated spheres, has not abated sincesuffragettes took up the cudgels(and won) in 1911.But the rightswon with such vigorous struggleseem to have gone to waste if welook at the participation of womenin politics all over the globe.

Results of 2011 Elections forNSW Parliament would makeaforementioned women liberationactivist turn in her grave withdespair.

If one were to use NSWParliament elections as a criterion,it would be noted with utter sad-ness that the participation ofwomen in politics in Australia’sPremier State is ondecline.“Women now hold fewerpositions in the lower house thanthey have for 12 years and for thefirst time in decades the number ofwomen elected to the LegislativeAssembly has gone backwards,”said Professor Louise Chappell ofNSW University School of SocialScience. From 28 percent of lowerhouse seats earlier, the number ofwomen Parliamentarians hasdropped to 20 percent – yet , thereis a wider acceptance that womenare the key to growth and all thatfollows from that in terms ofequality in workforce, in decisionmaking , in public and privatelife.Another disturbing trend isnoticed if one looks at the repre-sentation of women in theConservative ranks in NSW.

Accepting Labor annihilationin NSW after sixteen years, it stillmanaged to hold 40 percent offemale representation in the lowerhouse. The power of Coalition

landslide has given women a mere11 out of the 67 confirmed seats.

It was much worse in 2007elections as Liberal-led Coalitionmanaged to return just five womenParliamentarians. The latestresults are equally dismal as farwomen representation is con-cerned - a most unimpressiveimprovement!This drop inParliamentary seats holds NSW onpar with Cambodia andMalawi!Chairman Mao statement,“Chinese women hold up half thesky,” still holds true. Womenmake up just over 50 percent ofthe population of NSW anddeserve to have their voices heardequally with men. Issues such asabortion and birth control, onbroader concepts of family, mater-nity leave, equal pay, domesticviolence, childcare provisions arefew of the issues that concernwomen politicians universally andwith sufficient numbers can usetheir influence to the shape policyof their respective parties.

Looking back in Australianpolitics, in 1992 Dr CarmanLawrence became the Premier ofWestern Australia. She was high-lighted as the choice to clean upthe mess in WA - marked thewatershed in Australian politics asa start of the ascendancy of itsfeminization.Dr Lawrence laterbecame the Federal Minister forHealth leading the Australian del-egation to the United NationsWorld Conference on Women inBeijing. In an exclusive mediainterview this writer had with herjust after the Beijing Conferencein 1995, Dr Lawrence had empha-sized the need for conducting a‘head hunt’ to get women in veryimportant positions in politicalparties.

She had said, “it’s not simply apassive role, but, going out thererecruiting young women, educat-ing them to a party and politicalprocess and assisting them to getseats”.Australian Labor party hasbeen adopting a range of strategies

to do that including the case ofincreasing the number of seats inParliament through the impositionof a set of targets after the 2000elections. ‘Head-hunting’ and get-ting them up and running in polit-ical parties too, Labor patriarchsshould be lauded for reaching theirnoble goals in some instances.TheLiberal and National parties hadan ideal situation in this election toadvance the position of Women inNSW Parliament. For long, liber-als have been aware of the certain-ty of winning Government. Theyhad ample time to choose strongfemale candidates.For long theCoalition parties have rejected theuse of quotas to increase the num-ber of female MPs – suggestingthat they work on merit.

With today’s women acrosssociety being better educated, pro-fessional and competent, Liberalargument that women are not mer-itorious is no longer sustainableand is also an affront to more thanhalf of Australia’s population.The

Conservative politicians in theCoalition are falling far short ofbeing aware of competent womenwho could excel in leadershiproles. Head hunting and gettingthem up and running in theseimportant positions not only inBoards and Committees but thesame is required in the Coalitionpolitical parties.Where Labor isahead in someway is in reservingnot particular seats but a certainpercentage of positions – which isa significant step forward where asthe Opponents are still wishinginto the future model to rely on.

One may also call it smart pol-itics as women electorate alwayshave a soft corner for candidatesfrom the fairer sex.It is 100 yearssince the first InternationalWomen’s Day event was run whenmore than one million women andmen attended rallies in1911.Closer home, the 2011 NSWelection result for Women isdepressive. Today women canargue – far from progress, in somerespects women have moved orhave been pushed backwards withConservatives recapturing the con-trol of NSW Parliament.A decadeago a Human Development Reportclearly demonstrated that the eco-nomic returns on investing inWomen’s education are compara-ble to those for men.

The social returns from edu-cating women far exceed those formen. It pays to invest in women.This holds true in rich and poorcountries alike.With the massivemandate in NSW Parliament,Coalition is here to stay. It is anideal time for the coalition partiesto introduce reforms so that in thefuture we can see women politi-cians on both sides of politicschange the role of women in thecommunity, that they are bettereducated and fully participating inthe political and business life, andare able to insist on a quality oflife that is sometimes overlookedin the race for profits.

Dr Carmen Lawrence. Judy Moylan

Julia Gillard Kristina Keneally


Interview

TINY YET DAZZLINGThis person is like the mythical tiny Tom Thumb, standing just two feet ten inch-

es tall, a brilliant actor, academically highly successful with degrees to boast,liked by one and all and his name appears in the very selective Guinness Book of

Records. The author met Ajay Kumar, popularly known as ‘Unda Pakru’(the name of the character he played in his maiden Malayalam film

which became a household name), in Kerala. By K Raman

“I am 2’10” tall andmany glorify me as aminiature dynamo. So beit. When I meet peoplethey react differently.Some look astounded,some look joyful, somesee me as an object of cu-riosity, some display asympathetic look, whilesome can’t believe theireyes that there is a per-son like me living onearth.”

Meeting a GuinnessRecord holder maynot be a common

occurrence. At least it was myfirst opportunity to meet onesuch person.

This person is like themythical tiny Tom Thumb,standing just two feet teninches tall, a brilliant actor,academically highly success-ful with degrees to boastabout, liked by one and alland his name appears in thevery selective Guinness Bookof Records.

Aged 27, his name is AjayKumar, but he is popularlyknown as ‘Unda Pakru’ (thename of the character heplayed in his maiden filmwhich became a householdname). He is an Economicsgraduate and is qualified inComputer Applications tech-nology.

I had the honour to meetand talk to him while on myrecent sojourn in my homestate of Kerala. Ajay is quickwitted with an impeccableMalayala ‘Bhasha shaili’(brilliant command over lan-guage) and English. He madeinto the Guinness Book ofworld records by his portray-al as the hero in the 2005 film“Albhutha dweep”, directedby Vinayan. He won the Ker-

ala Film Jury award in thesame year.

Vamanapuri is a kingdomof small statured people inwhich he portrayed the role ofPrince Gajendran, heir appar-ent to the kingdom’s throne.Though the male inhabitantsof the island, numbering 300,were small statured, womenpopulation was stunninglybeautiful and of normal phys-ical structure.

In the film, Ajay held hisown against his seasoned co-actors of the film like Jagathy,Jagadeesh and up and comingPrithviraj. His role was chal-lenging which Ajay acted bril-liantly.

He is thriving well in thecut-throat film industry forthe past 13 years and has doneover fifty films. According tohim, “I am small in size, butI have talent in acting and canwork like a normal man.”

His early life was tintedwith endless struggles. He be-

lieves he was a normal boy tostart with. His growth was ar-rested by a wrong injection hereceived in infancy, butmedicos do not endorse thisview.

Year 2005 was very spe-cial for Ajay. Apart from pro-fessional success, whichpaved the way for him to getinto the Guinness book ofrecords, he got married toGayatri, a good looking fivefeet one inch tall smart ladywith a caring, loving anddown to earth disposition.

“We had a traditionalarranged marriage with a girlof normal height which wasmy long-standing dream. Myyoung daughter born in lateryears is like any normal child.She is like her mother and Iam happy,” Ajay says.

He named his daughterDeepthakeerthi because shewas born on November 4, onUthradam star on Skan-dasashti day. She is affection-

ately called as Deethu. Hefound this name from thebook ‘Shabdarthaavali’, a gifthe received from his teacherswhen he scored top marks inMalayalam in tenth standard.

Ajay’s marriage was cele-brated with extensive televi-sion coverage and newspapersannounced the happy tidingswith headlines like “Little ac-tor finds his tall princess”.

Though Ajay is the proudson of Kerala, writers use theadjective of ‘Tiny’ in everysentence they write abouthim. In one instance, Ajaysaid, that only very few peo-ple know his real name ofAjay Kumar, whereas just themention of Pakru or UndaPakru instantly connects thelisteners to him.

Ajay bought a readymadehouse, which, he says, “hasnormal steps but too big forme. The effort to climb up ismammoth, akin to the‘Bhageeratha prayatnam’ for

me; it is like the climb ofSabari hill”. But, for his con-venience, he has lowered thelocations of power switch,water tap and wash basin.

It was a far cry for him todrive his small car, which hefinally gave up. He could nothold the steering wheel andreach the clutch and brake.Now he is driven either by hiswife or a driver.

He is not offended by me-dia and general public callinghim Unda Pakru, a name heinherited from his successfulfilm Ambili Ammaman. Hesurvives smartly in this cruelworld because he is self-dep-recatory, even laughing pas-sively at any unpleasantwords spoken about him.

Since becoming a ‘Guin-ness family member’, Mam-mootty began calling him‘Guinnese’ and the nameUnda Pakru is slowly waningaway and soon will be a thingof the past.

“People generally laughwhen they see me. When Ivisited my recently deadfriend’s house, I heard peoplecrying all over. The moment Iappeared, all the mourners,which included my deadfriend’s mother, began laugh-ing. This upset me and fromthat day I never go to amourning house,” Ajay says.

Ajay has proved that it isnot the macho physical imagethat makes a hero; it is theartistry in portrayal of appeal-ing roles that makes one standtall in film hero stakes. In thesame cadre of Mammootty in‘Nayarsaab’ and Mohanlal in‘Aaram Thampuran’, Ajay,too, negotiated the swash-buckling role in ‘AlbhuthaDweep’ with equal aplomband versatility.

Ajay is the darling of allKeralites; still we shouldknow that he is one of the11,579 short-statured peopleof Kerala alone. You are anornament to the film industry.

The author lifting the tiny giant , Ajay Kumar.

Bollywood


By Neena Badhwar

An Australian Film Initiative's firstevent in India (AAFI - March 26-27)ended on a high note as famous Indian

media house Viacom 18 Motion Pictures be-came the first Indian film corporate to tap intoAustralian film industry with director AbhinavKashyap's next film tentatively titled Project18.

Australia's ace director Bill Bennett (Kissor Kill fame) announced his next thriller to beshot completely in India. He will produce hisfilm with Anupam Sharma, Sydney based filmmaker and Australia's leading expert on Indi-an cinema.

The announcements were made at a lunchhosted by AAFI with the Australian ConsulGeneral as the chief guest supporting these im-portant developments between Indian and Aus-tralian film industries and welcoming Via-com18 Motion Picture's decision to partnerwith the Australian film company.

At the end of the inaugural Australian FilmFestival and Film Seminars, Viacom 18 Mo-tion Pictures announced that through Abhi-nav's film it will formally start collaborationswith Australia with long term aims to utilizefunding and grants from Australia and invest-ment into Indo Australian projects.

AAFI's objective by supporting these twopioneering announcements is to providegrowth impetus to film trade between the twogreat countries and provide both film makersthe best facilities in either country.

The 2010 blockbuster hit director of themovie 'Dabangg', Abhinav said about thenews, "I am extremely delighted and honouredthat my Project 18 is being shot in Australiawhich provides me rich spectrum of locations,crew, and other benefits. Cinema has a hugepotential, I am sure with Project 18 we willstrike a chord. Indian cinema is diverse andrich in its own way to collaborate with anoth-er country to encourage knowledge and pro-

mote harmony. It is a commendable initiativewhich will be a huge milestone in Indian cine-ma."

The Australian Film Festival took place atCinemax, Versova Mumbai as part of theFRAMES 2011. The screenings showcased aretrospective on the Australian director BillBennett and some of the best movies made bythe Australian film fraternity. The initiativebeing a brainchild of Sydney based film mak-er Anupam Sharma (Festival Director), PeterCastaldi (Renowned Film Critic & Festival Di-rector), Shahnaab Alam (Film Industry Advi-sor) and Bill Bennett (Ace international) andwas able to rope in Media House "Viacom 18"with Cinemax being the screening partner.

Australian Film Festival of India (AFFI) -a two-day festival organized by AustralianFilm Initiative, a recognized body, featured 20films including Paperback Hero starring HughJackman and Bennett's cult Kiss or Kill amongothers.

AAFI went to India with a vision to pro-mote Australian and Indian film collabora-tions. Says Anupam Sharma of Temple Filmsand Festival Director, AAFI, "The initiativestarted with a single idea of Cinema SharingResponsibilities between countries and India isour first Initiative solely due to its ever-grow-ing popularity, wide reach and common emo-tional ties towards cinema. The festival gavethe Indian audience a glimpse of our cinemat-ic sensibilities, a land where cinema plays apivotal role."

"I am extremely thrilled with the responseand sure that we Viacom 18 Motion Pictures

on board will help start a new vibrant chapterin Indo Australian film links."

Mr. Vikram Malhotra, COO Viacom 18Motion Pictures said, "Viacom18 Motion Pic-tures is proud to partner with Temple in de-veloping cooperation between India and Aus-tralia in the film production sphere. We are de-lighted that our forthcoming film, directed bythe talented Abhinav Kashyap, will benefitfrom an extremely film friendly Australia. Iam confident that Abhinav, who set the box of-fice ablaze with his first film in 2010, will cre-ate a worthy film that will win the hearts ofmillions of fans in both countries. I look for-ward to working closely with AAFI in thecourse of developing stronger links with Aus-tralia."

Festival Co Director and Veteran film crit-ic Peter Castaldi said, "I am excited at the de-velopments after the first festival which hasopened up new distribution avenues and in-creased benefits for both films. This is morethan what I had expected from the first filmfestival and our initiative".

Director Bill Bennett said about AFFI andIndia, "It’s an honour that the films that meand my crew have made are being viewed bythe Indian audiences; India is a diverse nationeven on the cinematic front with choices vary-ing from person to person yet the audiences ofIndia are matured with cinematic sensibilities.Therefore I am excited about the festival whichhas led the way for a full-fledged partnershipbetween the two nations."

While talking to TIDU, Bill Bennett saidabout India, Indian cinema and his long await-ed first trip to India which culminated aftermany years of uncertainty as a youth, "Final-ly I went to India four years ago for a holiday.I saw a famous movie of I think actor AmitabhBachchan and enjoyed samosa and chai. It wasa wonderful cultural experience."

Bill who is planning to shoot a cross cul-tural film on an Indian theme, said, "The twoindustries are quite similar though a culturalgap between the two exists. If I need to work

in India I need to work in a different kind ofway."

About India he said, "I went to Udaipurwith my wife on our 25th wedding anniversaryas 'Lonely Planet' had mentioned that it is themost romantic place in the world. We werethere during the monsoons in July at LakePalace. To be in Rajasthan can be a very sen-sual experience."

"I must say as a teen I was a bit intimidat-ed by India as backpackers from the regiontold me stories of getting sick and gettingrobbed and I had this inbuilt fear in me. WhenI went there first time I kept everything pad-locked but I found Indian people to be the mosthonest and friendly people. My wife and I didsome shopping in Jaipur, which we accidentlydropped from the autorickshaw we were trav-elling in. A motorbike driver not only pickedup the bag and drove beside us to give it back,he even refused any reward. That would nev-er happen in Australia."

Regarding a co-production between Indiaand Australia, says Bill, "Anupam and I areworking on a film on 'honour killing' - basedon a true story. We are still looking at finan-cial strategies and most probably it will be shotin Punjab."

AFFI has surely set a new era in film linksbetween India and Australia with Australia'shandsome X-Men actor Hugh Jackman and hiswife Deborrah Lee Furness visiting the eventcreating a sort of hysteria for the film lovers.Though they both wanted to visit Dhobi Ghatand Kamatipura in Mumbai before they left forJaipur.

(top) Peter Castaldi, Deborah Lee Furness,Hugh Jackman and Anupam Sharma in

Mumbai and (bottom): Director Bill Bennett

Anexciting new era for Indo-Oz

film ventures“I am just thrilled with thedebut response as Dabanngdirector Abhinav Kashyapdirects his film in Australiaand Kiss or Kill director BillBennett works on a film to beentirely shot in India.”

--Anupam Sharma


Community

Holi Hullad’s colours for a good causeHoli Hullad, a charity function at

Parravilla Function Centre onMarch 25 was an excellent gather-

ing with a hall decorated in pink, blue andgolden hues. The program was organisedby poet Rekha Rajvanshi and was spon-sored by the Indian Down Under andSharma’s Kitchen. It was supported byBest & Less Travels, Parravilla FunctionLounge and Sydney Sakhi Sangam.

Bipen Sharma of Sharma’s Kitchen,Mala Mehta of Indo-Aus Bal Bharati HindiSchool and Chandru Tolani’s mother light-ed the ceremonial lamp to an auspiciousstart and then Astha Rajvanshi, an upcom-ing Kathak dancer, presented a classicaldance ‘Tarana’ for the occasion. AvijitSarkar’s students Will and Geetanjali sangtwo popular songs, which were thoroughlyenjoyed by the audience. Dholi Sunny’sDhol warmed up the evening as peoplemixed and mingled in the inviting atmos-phere. Thandai, a drink traditionallyserved on Holi, was also being enjoyed.Many singers pelted favourite numbersfrom the golden era of Hindi film music tothe latest film songs. A newly arrivedsinger from New Zealand, Chitra, sang‘barish ka bosa hai’ which was adored byeverybody, while Riaz Shah reverberatedthe hall with his ‘O Dunia Ke Rakhwale’.A young and upcoming Bollywood play-back singer, Ankita Sachdev, sang ‘Lag jagale’ beautifully. This Sydney starletarrived fresh from Mumbai, where she iscurrently based, after her song for A RRahman’s film Raavan, and having earliersung ‘Jana Gana Mana’ in Krazzy 4. Shewas welcomed with open arms by all, withmany fans mesmerized by her song deliv-ery.

The evening was a success as peopleenjoyed various styles of dancing fromKathak, Dandiya and Bollywood. Dancersfrom Ruchi Sanghi Dance School includedAstha Rajvanshi, Cheryl Khurana, NatashaHanda and Anika Misra, who danced to anold favourite ‘Tumko Piya dil Diya’ and‘Holi’ from Mangal Pandey. Purvi Desaichoreographed a beautiful Gujrati folkdance for the show, which was a mix ofDandiya and contemporary dance. AkshitaMohan entertained the audience to a siz-zling Bollywood number.

It was an interactive evening with theaudience participating in a Bollywood triv-ia quiz presented by well-known singerVinod Rajput and upcoming starlet DivyaDhingra. Vinod Rajput’s group ‘BandBaja’ performed some excellent numbers.Sunanda’s Holi Thumri was a masterpieceof classical singing and she sang ‘ThandiHawayein’. Rekha Rajvanshi, Ajoy Ghoshand Divya Dhingra engaged the audienceas MCs, whilst Richard Singh ofSaraswani Orchestra provided the music.

There were plenty of prizes to be wonincluding two tickets to the upcomingJagjit Singh concert, a Taronga Zoo fami-ly pass, dinner for two at 3 restaurants anda camera by Phoenix World Travel. TheIndian Down Under donated beautifulflower bouquets for all the people who par-ticipated in the event wholeheartedly.

Holi Hullad was a night of pure enter-tainment along with scrumptious food,wine and piping hot Jalebis cooked byChhindi. Sharma’s Kitchen donated theirfamous paneer, which the guests heartily

enjoyed as the chefs of Parravilla turnedthem into freshly fried paneer pakoras.The evening’s proceeds collected funds fortwo charitable causes – the QueenslandFlood Relief and a Rickshaw Giveawayproject conducted by Delhi University stu-dents pledging 200 new rickshaws toRickshawallas operating in the Universityarea. Sydney-siders were quite generous indonating 15 rickshaws for the worthwhilecause.

People who donated rickshaws include:Chandru Tolani, Kamal Athwal, PercyVij, Sheba Nandkeolyar of Multicall, MalaMehta, Madhu Chaudhary, SanjayDeshwal, Ajay Raj, Joginder Lamba, TheIndian down Under and Lalit Anand.

Holi Hullad has been added as anothersuccessful social event in Sydney diary asit delivered its promise of spreading thecolours of joy in people’s life.

Usha, Jatiner, Kulwinder, Nidhi, Nishma, Harbhajan and Meena Chugh, Neelkamalenjoying a drink and the Holi spirit

Tilak welcome in the spirit of Holi

Astha Rajvanshi with Mala Mehta

Divya Dhingra with Rekha Rajvanshi and Nandini Thadani

Happy Holi!

Students of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University rally for a good causefor rickshawallas.

Bollywood


Roopa showcases her ‘RoyalEdition’ of swimwear at RAFW

Roopa Pemmaraju who made herdebut and landmark in Rose-mount Australian Fashion week

last year is showcasing again in the pres-tigious group of Swim and Resortwearin 2011 RAFW.

Roopa, referred to as the ‘KaftanQueen of India’, is presenting the ‘Roy-al Edition’ of her collection, the only In-dian designer featured at RAFW, to beheld in Sydney from May 2-6, 2011.

Roopa, who creates her own prints,cites many and varied influences. She isenthused by unexpected colour combi-nations, ancient Indian lifestyles, thegolden era of painting and architecture,and by nature. Based in Melbourne, shetravels to India frequently where in Ban-galore she maintains her studio and ateam of 24 to ensure quality and exactspecifications.

RAFW has positioned itself as thedistinct destination in the Asia Pacificregion for designers to present their col-lections to the world’s influential buy-ers, media and key industry representa-tives. Roopa’s collection at the RAFW is

sure going to make waves with herunique signature of exquisite fabrics ofsoft cotton, flowing chiffon, texturedcrepe and luxuriant silk on which Roopaembosses her own stunning prints, elab-orate hand beading adorning ornatestones creating free flowing fabrics andfeminine silhouettes.

While last year Roopa presented‘Beach Goddesses’, for her ‘Royal Edi-tion’ says Roopa, “I drew inspirationfrom Nizams of Hyderabad who werethe patrons of literature, art and culture,jewellery and architecture. The opulentstyle of their sovereigns is interpreted inheavily embellished free-flowing re-sortwear, kaftans, separates andswimwear. I am sure it will impress thebeach-loving Australian market and alsoworldwide.”

Roopa has created a swimwear fash-ion this year which is simple, elegant yethas the glamour that has a royal bearing.Do keep an eye on Roopa Pemmaraju’scollection at RFAW in May and refer toher website:www.roopapemmaraju.com

Roopa Pemmaraju’s resortwearcollection from 2010 RFAW

A chat with chirpy ChawlaBy Neeru Saluja

Juhi Chawla may not be doing the samebubbly roles but she still retains her title'Chirpy Chawla'. The ex-Miss India

who shot to fame with her debut romanticfilm Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, became oneof the top leading Bollywood actress in the90's. While her vivacious screen presencestill remains intact, Juhi is one actress whohas matured in her roles with age.

In Sydney for the premiere of her latestfilm 'I Am', Juhi Chawla gave an exclusiveinterview to the Indian Down Under.Dressed in a black T-shirt (that read 'I Am')and beige trousers, she looked every inch aglamorous actress. We got talking to theScorpion beauty about her career, family andher latest ventures...

Welcome to Sydney Juhi. Let's start withyour latest film 'I Am', that has brought youhere today.

Thanks, I've been to Sydney to performfor concerts before but this time it's a totaldifferent reason. I'm here to promote myfilm 'I Am'. This is my third film with di-rector Onir, after My Brother Nikhil and BasEk Pal. Both of the films were made on shoe-string budgets, and I took up these films be-cause I liked the script, Onir had confidencein me and above all, I had already workedwith Sanjay Suri in Jhankaar Beats. But thistime Onir approached me with a differentconcept. He said now you have to finance mynext film!

“As always, I loved the script and es-sayed a small role in the film. Working withOnir is always performing the role with ease.The atmosphere was full of enthusiasm andwe had a lovely cast of actors. This film isbased on short stories and I play the role ofMegha who goes to Kashmir to meet herchildhood friend played by Manisha Koirala.

Megha goes to Kashmir with a lot of misgiv-ings, anger and feeling of betrayal.

Besides an actress, you have also beenMiss India, run a production house andown a cricket team. Tell us more about yourfantastic journey.

Before becoming Miss India I was likeany college girl having fun with friends.Then I participated in the Miss India contestand after winning the crown got a chance inmovies. I accepted my first movie Sultanatand I still remember my friends asking meabout the good looking Karan Kapoor. I toldthem I'm too shy to talk to him! Then QSQTwas released which was a super hit.

During my journey, I was lucky enoughto work with both the Khans. With Aamir itwas a very special relationship; we started

our career together and had no formalities, itwas just like college friends. Aamir goes intothe depth of his character. Shah Rukh startedhis career with me. Shahrukh used to makeme laugh, he's very well read and informed.We both started off a production house also.

In your long career span, you have es-sayed all kind of roles. What difference doyou feel from the last decade?

Gosh, it's been 23 years since I have beenacting! Every decade is different. In the 80'sand 90s there were a lot of South Indian cho-reographers; so the dancing style was full ofjhatkas and matkas. There was also a lot ofgreat music, music was very big in thosedays. Now also it's not that bad, there is amix of Sufi, rap and global sounds.

Talking about music, I've heard that you

have brought your tanpura with you to Aus-tralia.

Yes, you are right (smiles). I'm trained inmusic and classical dance. When I was a kid Iused to run away from my dance classes nev-er knowing that they will help me in future!

Besides your passion for music, how doyou do the family-work balance?

Just the way you do it! My husband Jai islooking after the kids right now and they areon a ski holiday. Both Jhanvi and Arjun arelovely kids. Jhanvi is very bright, she toppedher class and is an avid reader. Arjun is allrounder and loves to play cricket. It's like ajigsaw puzzle, every day I figure out how toput the pieces together. I plan my day andsomehow the pieces are placed in the rightplace every day!

Juhi Chawla visited Sydney and Melbourne for the premier of her movie 'I Am'. She is seen creating Bollywood glamour with local girls.

Community


Work dedication is in Dave’ genes

After ‘East is East’, now comes ‘West is West’

By Vijay Badhwar

Three secretaries are barelycoping at the Campbelltownsurgery for Dave’ brothers.

The central desk is the hub ofall activity – the secretaries on thephone, issuing payment invoices,fixing up appointments, announc-ing names of the next lucky personto be seen by the docs, accompany-ing the patients for their appoint-ment. At the background some-where, there is also a continuoustape running that has engaged sev-eral people in the loop: press threeif you want to see Dr Jaykar Dave’.

The spacious waiting room ispacked with patients on crutches,children accompanied by mothers,and the elderly. There are maga-zines and newspapers scattered onthe sofas but most of the waitingpeople are looking outside the win-dows on the newly constructedgeometry of tiled roofs that havesprawled around the CampbelltownHospital, waiting for their name tobe called.

Dave’ brothers represent thebest of two worlds – among the An-glo-Saxons ‘Dave’ is easily pro-nounced; and among the Indiancommunity they are well known asthe ‘Daave’ doctor’ family fromGujarat – two Orthopaedic surgeonbrothers, a doctor sister and a well-known doctor father. But they arealso loved by the community fortheir endearing informality: “Comeany time, day or night, if I have anyproblem with my knees,” says Sar-la Ben at the Vedanta Centre whenshe hears the Dave’ name.

As a first-hand experience DrJaykar Dave’ creates that typical

prescient Indian connection withthe patient that goes beyond thelimitless tests and diagnostics thewestern system is inundated with.

Between the two brothers theycarry out more than 700 joint oper-ations in a year, and “rarely an op-eration goes wrong”, says DrJaykar Dave’. “The chances of de-veloping a serious complication ismore remote than having a car ac-cident,” he says reassuringly.

Dr Jay Dave’ is an associatelecturer with the UNSW and UWSand a Visiting Medical Officer(VMO) of three very busy publichospitals and two private hospitals.He also trains young surgeons, res-idents and medical students in Syd-ney.

TIDU: Is this in the genes thatmedical profession runs throughyour family?

Dr Dave’: We are a family of

doctors with very humble begin-nings. My father is pivotal inchanging bearing of this family. Hetells of stories of extreme hardship,coming from a family of shopkeep-ers and subsistence farmers, of notknowing where the next meal wasto come from. Yet, he studied un-der the lamp post in India with a fo-cused aim of becoming a doctorand then a specialist. And mymother, too, who recognised thevalue of education, keeping usawake, making cups of tea and gen-tly waking us up when we noddedoff. My father single-handedly sentmy uncles, aunts and my cousinsthrough university. His legacy nowlives with my son and both mynieces going through medicalschool in Australia.

We are a close knit and largefamily in Australia - close to 40family members living in Sydney,

who meet regularly. Even the oper-ating theatre used to be a meetingpoint for us siblings as my fatherused to give the anaesthetic, my sis-ter, the assistant doctor, and mybrother may be the co-surgeon.People dread to invite us, makingjokes that we’ll need to hire a bus.

TIDU: Any difference betweenthe Indian way of treating patientscompared to the heavily loaded di-agnostic reliance in the westerncountries?

In Australia, we need to haveproper informed consent and carryout all relevant investigations priorto any surgical procedures. Occa-sionally, some of these tests and re-calls are done as “defensive medi-cine” due to the legal requirements.My experiences with treating pa-tients from the Indian subcontinentvary as to how long they have beenin Australia and their ages. The re-cent arrivals are often unsure ofhow the system works and oftenmake a detailed discussion abouttheir condition before consenting toany procedure. The older agegroups are a treat as I often con-verse with them in Hindi or Gu-jarati and often talk about their lifejourney and views. Wish I hadmore time for this.

TIDU: Can the Australianmedical system be improved bymore efficient measures as it’screaking at its seams with morestresses in the future from an in-creased aged population?

There are a number of areasthat can be improved. We spendapproximately 10 percent of ourGDP on health and it is increasingevery year. If we go along this pathit will become unsustainable with

the Medicare levy that we pay. Anumber of tests that we do are driv-en by the consumers and occasion-ally such tests are repeated fre-quently for the same patient. Thepricing of equivalent products(same manufacturer and product) is3 to 4 times than the price in India.We will need to spend more onwellness programmes and mentalhealth before patients need expen-sive hospital services.

TIDU: I understand that inspite of your busy schedule at themedical practice, you find time tobe in the Army Reserves and alsocommitted to the Indian communi-ty through Gujarati BrahmanSamaj. What’s your involvementin the Samaj like?

I am the chairperson of thestrategic planning committee of theBrahman Samaj. Our objective is tofirst and foremost understand ourroots and our religion and to spreadit to our interested members. It isopen to anyone who would like tojoin. Secondly, we want to spreadgoodwill to all other people doingcharitable work, helping othercommunities in need. We help newarrivals in their hour of need, visitthe sick in hospital and providecounselling where needed.

I also travel frequently to theIndian subcontinent to facilitateteaching to young surgeons. I willbe going to Ahmedabad in April torun a cadaver course in hip andknee replacements for the benefit oflocal surgeons. A successful sur-geon, loving family man, and ded-icated both to inherited as well asadopted lands, Dr Jaykar Dave’sets a fine example for the Indiancommunity in Australia.

By Neena Badhwar

Movie producer Leslee Udwinvisited Sydney to promote herlatest movie ‘West is West’,

which premiered at the IFF 2011. AtSydney screening Leslee Udwin attendeda Q&A session. A sequel to ‘East isEast’, about ‘West is West’, said Leslee,“It shares its characters with the earlierfilm though each has a complete story initself that one can even watch them in re-verse.”

She told the audience that she had at-tended a play-reading about this real lifecharacter in an Irish Club which was anautobiographical piece of work.

“I fell in love with it as it was actual-ly my own story of a Pakistani shop own-er and his seven children married to awhite working class woman. GeorgeKhan was 100 per cent my father al-though he is Jewish. I felt after seeing theplay that it was all utterly universal – howwe live and how we want to improve ourlives.”

Talking about ‘East is East’, saidLeslee, “It was a battle getting the filmfunded and to get it on multiplexes aseveryone said it will only play in

Southall. But it went on to make 10.4 mil-lion pounds in UK alone.”

“It broke the mould and paved theway for others like it. We are now givingsome big movies run for their money theyspend on advertising and marketing. In-dian people love cinema. It is in theirheart.”

About ‘West is West’, Leslee said,“The movie was made in Punjab though

set in Pakistan. The insurer would not al-low us to make it in Pakistan. We shot themovie straight in five weeks.”

‘West is West’ is a movie plot withcomedy, yet touches some emotional mo-ments between two women who hadmarried Khan – the Pakistani wife he leftbehind many years before and the whitewoman he married in UK, says Leslee,“Process of choosing a director was a

challenge as directing a comedy can bevery difficult. Om Puri is the most digni-fied actor and a human being who workstowards making the film better. People inthe movie are a family to me now. Wewanted to keep the integrity of the scriptand organic quality intact. And we didnot want the sequel to repeat itself whichis usually the case with sequels. I hardlyslept for 3 hours every night for 8 monthsand barely saw my children for 19 dayswhile making the movie.”

Story of ‘West is West’ is about theclaustrophobic and dysfunctional Khanfamily and its struggle for survival. Sajid,the youngest Khan, the runt of the litter,is deep in pubescent crisis under heavyassault both from his father's tyrannicalinsistence on Pakistani tradition, andfrom the fierce bullies in the schoolyard.So, in a last, desperate attempt to 'sorthim out', his father decides to pack himoff to Mrs Khan No 1 and family in thePunjab, the wife and daughters he hadabandoned 35 years earlier. It is not longbefore Ella Khan (Mrs Khan No. 2) witha small entourage from Salford, England,swiftly follows to sort out the mess, pastand present. A must see for all when it ar-rives on cinemas in Australia!

Adnana Mallik, Kumud and Pip Moore

Leslee Udwin14 year old Aqib Khan as Sajjid


Community

By Neena Badhwar

Australian Hindi speakingcommunity is up in armsabout Hindi language not

being included by ACARA(Australian CurriculumAssessment and ReportingAuthority) in its draft shape paperfor developing national languagecurriculum having included lan-guages such as Chinese, Italian,French, Indonesian, Japanese,Korean, Spanish, Arabic, ModernGreek and Vietnamese whichhave been considered in its four-stage development of the nationallanguage curriculum plan. Thereis no mention of Hindi anywherewhich as a language is making astrong presence in Australia with2006 Census data that there are70,000 Hindi-speakers inAustralia. 2011 Census inAugust this year may even doubleor triple the speakers of Hindi.

Although the ACARA hassought consultations from variouscommunities to finally revise itbefore it is published as the‘Shape of Australian Curriculum:Languages’, yet the exclusion ofHindi compared to Spanish andArabic, which have been consid-ered because they are languagesof global importance, defies logicand shows how out of touch theauthority is with current globallanguage trends.

This language shape paper’skey considerations are: AustralianCurriculum: Languages to enableall students to engage in learninga language in addition to English;provide a common conceptualiza-tion of the languages area andcommon terminology that can beused as a frame of reference forall languages in Australian educa-tion, develop language-specificcurricula and enable students toachieve designated standards inthe active use of the target lan-guage based on indicative hoursof study for primary, junior andsecondary phases of schooling.Other useful aims of languagelearning being interculturalunderstanding, information and

technology skills, creative andcritical thinking and knowledgeof ethical behavior when dealingwith diverse language groups.Also aspects such as cross cultur-al engagement with Asia andlearning their cultures with aglobal socio-economic endeavoursfor a sustainable environment thatfosters biodiversity have beenoutlined in the draft shape paper.

To submit a comprehensivesubmission report by April 7 anAustralian Hindi Committee-Sammithi (AHC) was formed inMarch that included UnitedIndian Association, HinduCouncil of Australia, HindiSamaj Sydney, Australian HindiIndian Association, Indo-Aus BalBharati School Thornleigh inNSW; Federation of IndianAssociation, Australian IndiaSociety and Hindi Niketan inVictoria; Federation of IndianCommunities of Queensland andHindustani Language School,QLD; South Australia andTasmania, WA. Individual com-munity members also sent theirsigned petitions from all thestates as Facebook became anoth-er medium to spread the word.

Members of the AHC feltthat this oversight was unfair andthat ACARA had not consideredthe growing global importance ofHindi being the second most spo-ken language of the world at 550million people, growing tradebetween India and Australia andhad overlooked a whole lot ofactivity in local universities withprogrammes on India such asIndia Forum running at SydneyUni and UTS and a chair onIndian Studies at Macquarie withthe Department of EducationNSW having introduced ‘IndiaCalling’ programme to promoteHindi, Culture Studies on Indiathrough seven NSW schools.Neither had ACARA looked atthe figures from Census thatHindi was now in the top 10 lan-guages spoken in Australia withskilled migration providing work-ers from India as the secondhighest after Britain.

AHC not only gave a compre-hensive submission by April 7,but it also sought support fromIndian organizations from all overAustralia encouraging all to sub-mit their own reports as well.There was fervent activity andurgency since the submissiondeadline of April 7 set the ball inmotion from all who are passion-ately involved in the promotionof Hindi through Hindi schools,art & literary organizations andHindi lovers.

Says the AHC Co-OrdinatorTarachand Sharma, “It was ahuge effort by all involved withJagadish Chawla writing the orig-inal draft which was polishedwith lots of input and data fromvarious members of AHC.Interesting data came up and itwas a revelation how far we havecome as a community inAustralia. AHC aims to get Hindiinto national curriculum develop-ment plan. It also shows that weare an aware group and can con-nect with each other for causesnot just of Hindi but other issuestoo.”“We don’t ask much asIndians have a habit of not askingand hence do not get what wedeserve. This ACARA submis-sion helped form an active teamthat was united not only in NSWbut whole of Australia.” saidSharma.

“The urgency was to meet thedeadline and also to increaseawareness through media – print,radio and TV for Hindi to get itsrightful place as a language sub-ject in the national school cur-riculum.

“In the end we were able toget as many as 60 organizationswho signed up their support withus from all over Australia.

“Now we wait for ACARA torespond positively otherwise wewill take the matter with higherups in the government and we areserious.”

Mr. Dinesh Srivastava,founder of Hindi Niketan,Victoria and a well known Hindiactivist, gave some salient pointsto support the cause:

1. Knowledge of Hindiwill help Australia in trade withIndia. With India’s growth as apowerful economy, it assumesgreater significance for future.

2. Hindi is currentlytaught as a community languageand has demonstrated communitysupport in terms of capability forcurriculum development teaching,exam setting, marking etc.

3. Knowledge of Hindiwill help migrants and interna-tional students from India toadjust better in Australia and willhelp improve understandingbetween the two countries.

4. Hindi has a rich litera-ture and contributes significantlyto various aspects of life includ-ing spirituality, music, entertain-ment. Interest in Bollywood andIndian cooking has been growingenormously in Australia in thelast few years.

5. Knowledge of Hindiwill help Australia not only in itsdealing with India and Fiji butwould also help with securitymatters as spoken Hindi is similarto spoken Urdu, national lan-guage of Pakistan. AfterManadarin, it is the second mostspoken language of the world.

Mrs. Mala Mehta, OAM, asocialite and a passionate Hindiactivist who runs Indo-Aus BalBharati Hindi School since 1987,said, “We have shouldered Hinditeaching through communitySunday schools just for the sheerlove of our national language andalso with the aim of leaving alanguage heritage for our kids.”

But frustrated with the author-ity having overlooked Hindi, sheadds, “How long the Sundayschools can support Hindi teach-ing through volunteering due tolack of funds. We are lucky thatafter a long time the NSW gov-ernment under Labour increasedper child subsidy from $60 to$120 in community languages.Otherwise it was hard for me tosupport a school of around 200students who turn up everySunday in school term. Paymentto teachers, resources, lessonplans, photocopying material,books, learning aids and otheractivities need a lot of funds,more than what the governmentoffers. It was again due to ourconcerted efforts that Hindi wasincluded in Board of Education’sSaturday language schools whichoperate through 16 centres thoughHindi has been taken up in threeof these. It depends greatly on theinterest from the community whoshould use SSCL Hindi teachingfacility which is free with teach-ers teaching from year 7-12.”

Said Mehta, who submittedher own individual report, “I amsure if people come together wecan achieve and have Hindi getits rightful place and be in theradar of language policy withstate and federal governments.”

In Melbourne, another Hindiactivist Manoj Kumar approachedlocal MP Jude Perera, memberfrom Cranbourne, to raise theissue of Hindi in Victorian parlia-ment. He asked the question fromthe Minister of Education Mr.Dixon, who said, “I think Hindiis a very important language, andas far as Victoria is concerned Ihave some say in that matter. Iencourage the community to pushfor that. It would do a great serv-ice to the young children inVictoria, whether they are Hindispeakers themselves or wish totake on that extra language.”TheMinister added: “All is not lost…because they (the community)have until Thursday, 7 April,when there is a consultationprocess regarding the languagesbeing nominated as the firsttranche of languages for thenational curriculum. Hindi isobviously not one of those, butthere is an opportunity for themto do that, and I encourage themto do so.”It seems there is a greatenthusiasm and an Australia-widemovement among all activelyseeking Hindi to be included inthe national curriculum. Thereare enough qualified teachers,Hindi curricula set by Hinditeams of teachers in Victoria andNSW, Hindi examiners and examsetters and aids and resources thatare already in use in variousHindi schools where close to1000 students are learning Hindi.Armed with all the work that hasbeen done for Hindi in the last 25years there is no doubt that Hindiwill get its due place in thenational language curriculumdevelopment plan.NSW PremierBarry O’Farrell told TIDU, “Ibelieve there is merit in theIndian communities’ campaign.There are strong cultural and eco-nomic ties between our twonations and we should be givingmore young people the opportuni-ty to learn Hindi. With the emer-gence of India as an economicpower that can only helpAustralia in the long term. NSWalone cannot change the nationalcurriculum; so it’s something myMinister for Education AdrianPiccoli will have to discuss withhis federal and state col-leagues.”Sums up Pandit ParasRam Maharaj, editor of the firstHindi paper in Australia, HindiSamachar Patrika, who has takenup the issue with local MPs, “AbHindi ko hum iski jagah dilwakar hi rahenge.”

AustralianIndiancommunityfights forHindi

From Left: Tara Chand Sharma, Coordinator, Australian Hindi Committee; June Perera, MP, Cranbourne, Victoria;Mala Mehta, OAM, Co-ordinator IABBBV Hindi School and Dinesh Srivastava, founder Hindi Niketan, Victoria

Literature


By Neena Badhwar

Dr. Ranjana Srivastava, ayoung oncologist livingin Melbourne, has been

shortlisted for 2011 NSW Pre-mier’s Literary Awards – theDouglas Stewart Prize for non-fiction for her book ‘Tell Methe Truth – Conversations withmy patients about life anddeath’. Final winner will be an-nounced during the SydneyWriters’ Festival on May 16 atthe Sydney Opera House. Ran-jana was educated in India, UK,US and Australia. She graduat-ed from Monash Universitywith a first-class honours degreeand several awards in medicine.Ranjana’s writing has been pub-lished worldwide, including inTime magazine and The Week,and in medical journals such asThe New England Journal ofMedicine, Lancet, Journal ofthe American Medical Associa-tion and Journal of Hospice andPalliative Care Management. In2008 her story ‘Ode to a Pa-tient’ won the Cancer CouncilVictoria Arts Award for out-standing writing. She lives inMelbourne with her husbandand three young children.

TIDU talked to Ranjanaabout her book ‘Tell Me theTruth’ which recounts her expe-rience and stories of cancer pa-tients she treated. Not only hasRanjana written about dilem-mas, heartaches and stories ofbravery, poise and stoicism ofpeople faced with cancer, shehas also given a true insight intothe moral dilemmas and internalbattles that doctors face, whichleave a deep impact on themthan the normal day-to-day life

they lead. Ranjana has pouredher feelings in the book not justfrom patients’ angle but the doc-tors’ too.

Here are some excerpts ofwhat Ranjana told TIDU of herthoughtful piece of work ofwhat an oncologist goesthrough: A bit of an emotionalroller coaster ride for all in-volved, was the journey of writ-ing the book… Tough having tolive all over again things,episodes that she would want to

forget once they are over. Ran-jana added, “I think that observ-ing the journey of cancer can beenlightening. It is quite remark-able what patients and theirloved ones go through. The pa-tients that I have written abouthave stayed in my mind - I feltas if writing about them was away of paying tribute to theirspirit.”

During her work with cancerpatients, Ranjana wrote how shelost her twins half way throughher pregnancy and the irony ofit all. Says she, “It was apoignant time. The terrible jux-taposition of life and deathcould not have been made morereal.”

And what about reversal ofroles: when doctor becomes apatient? Or faces situations ofchild being sick and how onebadly needs assurance as shefound herself when her daughterwas critically ill. Says Ranjanaphilosophically, “Ultimately,we are all human beings and weall carry the same vulnerabilitiesand fears. We all want empathyand compassion, no matterwhere we have come from. Thisis something I have observedvery closely in my work.”

For Ranjana the aim is not

the research papers, not the aca-demic accolades but only to be agood doctor to which she says,“A good doctor recognizes thatmedicine is equal parts art andscience and never stops strivingto get the balance right,”Adding, “I have tried to let theexperience change me in a posi-tive way. Any doctor who hashad the opportunity to be patientcomes away touched by vulnera-bility and fear. It is an act of re-markable faith to entrust yourwell-being to others. Nowhereis this better reflected than whendealing with cancer patients.”

About the nomination for theaward, she said, “I am humbledand honoured at the recognition.Writing the book was a wonder-ful experience and being short-listed for such a prestigiousprize is the icing on the cake.What I hope most is that pa-tients faced with cancer as wellas their loved ones feel reas-sured by the message of hopeand compassion in the stories.”

(‘Tell Me the Truth – Con-versations with my patientsabout life and death’ by RanjanaSrivastava is published by Pen-guin Australia and is availableat bookstores for $32.95)

Dr Ranjana’s book in Premier’s Literary Award shortlist

Dr. Ranjana Srivastava


Bollywood

By Neeru Saluja

The last time I saw VidyaBalan was in 2007 waswhile she was shooting

for Heyy Baby. It was like mag-ic recreated – the same warmand generous eyes, laughingsmile and graceful demeanorthat makes her look like the girlnext door.

The only difference has beenhow she has proved herself to bea versatile actress since then. Beit the dignified Lolita of Parinee-ta (her debut film), the vivaciousRJ Jhanavi of Lage Raho MunnaBhai, Avni from the spookycomedy Bhool Bhulaiya, the sin-gle mother from Paa, the femmefatale of Ishqiya or the SabrinaLal from No One Killed Jessica,Vidya Balan is one of the mostsought after actresses of Bolly-wood. She has had the wonder-

ful opportunity to work closelywith seasoned actors likeAmitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt,Mithun Da and NaseeruddinShah. With a drive to do some-thing different every time, shehas essayed each role beyond ex-pectations, and that too within ashort span.

Vidya was in Sydney recent-ly for the Indian Film Festival2011 – Bollywood and Beyond,organised by Mind BlowingFilms. For the festival, they alsoheld competition for short docu-mentaries. This was won by adocumentary from India,Ganesh Mumbaikar, directed byColin D’cunha with cinematog-raphy by young and talentedSydney lad Kush Badhwar. Thedocumentary was shown beforeall feature films at the festival.

Vidya Balan, dressed in anelegant Sabyasachi saree, lookedas fresh and beautiful as she

looks on screen. Without any ar-tificial airs, she starts telling usabout her journey.

“It's wonderful to come backto Sydney. I came here in 2007for the shooting of Heyy Babyy.Six years of my career in filmshas been fulfilling so far, I havehad good fortune, played diversecharacters, worked with won-derful actors, travelled the worldand of course received a fewbrickbats during my journey,”says Vidya.

When talking about diversecharacters in Bollywood, Vidyadefinitely fits the bill. Whocould imagine she could play afemme fatale as she did inIshqiya? Vidya laughs, “Ishqiyawas a sudden change of image.It just blacked out! Every actorin India develops a certain imagewithin time, but as an actor Idon't want an image.”

So, does she relate herself to

any role? “Now that's a difficultquestion. I'm a bit of Krishnafrom Ishqiya, a bit of Sabrinafrom No One Killed Jessica, abit of Lolita from Parineeta... Ithink that's me!”

Accompanied by Raj KumarGupta, director of the film 'NoOne Killed Jessica', Vidya tellsmore about her latest film,which opened the film festival.“Raj Kumar hardly wrote anylines for me, despite that it wasa very gripping role. The filmshows how my character’s jour-ney transformed and how at onepoint the media and country wasbacking her.

“And above all, we had agreat time on the sets. Me andRani got along very well. De-spite the fact that the film hadtwo female characters withmeaty roles, Raj Kumar bal-anced them well and there wereno ego clashes. He actually hada tough time handling us as wewere having such a good timewhile shooting. Even till the lastday we were playing pranks onRaj!”

Vidya is one of those actress-es who, without any godfather,have made it big in films. Com-ing from a typical South Indianfamily, how was it to cross thosebarriers?

Vidya sums up: “Born andbrought up in Mumbai, I was ex-

posed to everything, there wasnever any restriction. We arerooted, but not conservative. Wegot a lot of education, and al-ways had support. Initially mymum was worried, but when shecame along with me on the setsshe accepted and thought thather daughter will take care ofherself”.

Not many know but despitebeing a Tamil-Malayali, Vidyais also fluent in Bengali and hasappeared in a Bengali film Bha-lo Theko. Even her debut filmParineeta was based in Bengal.“I can't explain my fascinationwith Bengal. In Kolkata, I feel athome. I know nursery rhymes inBengali, I just love everythingand anything Bengali. It's funnyhow being a Malayali, I'm morefascinated by Bengali culture!”

This keen actor has been rec-ognized more for acting than justa pretty face – winner of Film-fare’s Award for Best Actressfor her role as a single mother ofa child suffering from Progeriain R Balki’s Paa and her latestNDTV’s Actor of the Year – Fe-male 2011.

We ask the obvious - if notan actress, what would Vidyabe?

“Thank God I'm an actress!The schizophrenic in me wouldhave otherwise unleashed in var-ious ways!”

Thank God I'm an actress!- Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan was in Sydney recently for the Indian FilmFestival 2011 – Bollywood and Beyond.

The Melbourne born Pallavi’s next is a lead role in a romanticcomedy titled ‘Love, Break Ups, Zindagi’, with Dia Mirza

and Zayed Khan.

Pallavi Sharda in a newfilm role

After getting critical acclaimfor her role as a simple vil-lage dance teacher in Dus

Tola, Melbourne’s Pallavi Shardahas been offered a very differentrole, that of a savvy city girl.

Pallavi will play a lead role in aromantic comedy titled “Love,Break Ups, Zindagi”, with DiaMirza and Zayed Khan. This movieis being produced by "Born Free"productions, launched by Dia Mirza,Zayed Khan, and Sahil Sangha. Themovie will be directed by SahilSangha as his directorial debut.

After her cameo as a Muslim girlopposite Shah Rukh Khan in “MyName is Khan”, New York art stu-dent in “It’s All Been Arranged”,major role as a dance teacher in“Dus Tola” opposite Manoj Bajpai,this new role provides Pallavi the op-portunity to show her acting varietyand talent as a modern city girl.

While working on her acting andmodeling assignments in Mumbaifor the last couple of years, Pallavialso completed her double degreefrom Melbourne University, Bache-lor of Laws with Honors, and Bach-elor of Arts in Media in Communi-cations.

Currently, Pallavi is visitingMelbourne; apart from meeting fam-ily and friends she aims to build astronger relationship between Indiaand Australia, in particular betweenVictoria and Indian film industry.


Community

United Indian Association’s(UIA) newly elected pres-ident Amarinder Bajwa

talks to TIDU about his aspira-tions for the umbrella organiza-tion. With claims that UIA repre-sents 20 regional associations andhas a huge membership that worksand strives to build an organisa-tion that is united to help achievecommon goals in a harmoniousand cooperative manner for theIndian community, AmarinderBaweja responds to questionsfrom The Indian Down Under:

Q. Can you tell us aboutyourself and your committee’splan in the coming year?

Amarinder Bajwa : I am anentrepreneur, run a small businessand driven by the passion andcommitment to serve my commu-nity. I do not claim to be perfectbut I try to do my best for myfamily and for the community.Mycommittee is committed to partici-pate and cooperate with all and totake up challenges that face ourcommunities. We intend to serveall and serve with our best effortsin bringing harmony and help thecommunities assimilate with main-stream Australia. We plan to exe-cute programs and undertake ac-tivities that would help to developskills and resources to deal withcommunity problems and aspira-tions.

Q. Since its institution in1994, what milestones UIAachieved being the umbrella or-ganisation of the Indian commu-nity in NSW?

Bajwa : UIA, in its journeysince 1994, has successfully

strived to bring the communitiestogether with participation fromeach and every group representingIndian diaspora. UIA has endeav-oured to deliver community har-mony, raise concerns of the com-munities to highest levels of stateand federal governments. It hasachieved its share of success infighting for the rights of students,communities and promoted cul-ture, heritage and community har-mony. It has helped individuals,raised funds to address unfortu-nate incidents and natural calami-ties in Australia. It’s the socialfabric working at its best, cooper-atively and helping communities.

Q. UIA has been trying tofind a permanent place of its own- an Indian community centre.What's the progress in this area?

Bajwa : UIA has been work-ing on this issue for the last cou-ple of years now, but this involvesbig investments and resources. An

Indian Community Centre is a tar-get and we are pursuing it withthe government of the day. AlsoI’d like to reiterate that UIA isrun by volunteers and any helpfrom the government and NGOstowards reaching our goals be-comes important.

Q. Although UIA is doing alot of good work, there is somecriticism that the organisation’sconstitution allows undemocraticrepresentation by some individu-als who allegedly represent self-serving associations. Comment?

Bajwa : UIA’s framework isvery democratic. The organisationhas passed the testing times manytimes and it has come out withflying colours. I understand thatthere may be some people thatmay have different way of think-ing but that’s acceptable indemocracy. Me and my team arecommitted to build bridges.

Q. The news went around

that singer Mika Singh who camefor the UIA Friendship Fair lastyear cost UIA $33,000. Don'tyou think that this money couldhave been better used for thecommunity or the centre the com-munity needs. We could haveused some seasoned local singerswho are equally good for muchless and encouraged them. Thecommunity feels that $100,000 inthe association account from thetwo consecutive year grants givenby the past state Labor govern-ment has been wasted?

Bajwa : Mika Singh’s per-formance was a star attraction lastyear that connected UIA with itsyounger diaspora. We cannot puta dollar value to the sentimentsand love of the music/heritage andeuphoria that this performancecreated. Everyone enjoyed theperformance. Could we havesaved that money and dumpedinto our banks – yes, we could

have, but the smiles and happinessthat the crowd showed that daywas priceless. UIA is for its peo-ple and community.We assure youand your readers that we shallleave no stone unturned to achieveour goals including communityneeds. Every UIA function/ Semi-nar/ Forum carries performancesby local talent including manyperformances on India AustraliaFriendship Fair.

Q. What promises has UIAbeen able to get from the currentLiberal government consideringthe Indian vote swung the recentelections in some of the seats?

Bajwa : It is still early days ofthe Liberal Government. UIA hasstarted engaging the new team un-der Premier Barry O’ Farrell. Wesincerely hope that our engage-ment with the Liberal Governmentwould bring lot better outcomesfor our community. We look for-ward to work closely with GeoffLee from Parramatta, PremierBarry O Farrell and all others andengage them for our communitydevelopment projects.

Q. What are the current is-sues and concerns for the Indiancommunity UIA will be focusingon?

Bajwa : The Indian communi-ty is highly regarded as well ashighly respected community inAustralia. UIA is engaging vari-ous agencies, governments, NGOsand individuals to undertake skillstrainings, seminars on women is-sues, help for students, offer per-sonality development and provideresources as required for every-one. UIA is committed to providebest outcome for the Indian com-munity.

For a Narthaki (dancer) a guru who isable to encourage, guide and be ableto communicate the depth of his

knowledge of this traditional art form is agift. Sakthi Ravitharan is blessed in thatboth of her gurus, Dr Chandrabhanu andAmbika Docherty, are dedicated teachers.Dr Chandrabhanu ensures that his studentsare perfect in their rhythmic understanding,and Sakthi’s display of talam strength dur-ing her bharata-natya arangetram proved it.

The first piece Trishakthi Vanthanam intalamalika included rather difficult talaslike Kanda Chappu, yet Sakthi performed itwith ease. It was not only a compliment toSakthi but to her guru as well.RukmaniDevi’s composition of Sarasijakshulu neverloses its lustre. Sakthi showed that the inno-cent young girl that she is could immerseherself into the depth of the piece with sin-cerity.In the Hamsanandi Jethiswaram Sak-thi used the opportunity in full to displayher technical ability to do justice to the jatisand tala korvais incorporated very cleverlyin this piece.

The next item, Varnam Madhavan Mo-

hananai, had a captivating ragam, an intoxi-cating theme and a complex tala. Sakthicompetently assimilated the rhythm of thistala.The next item by C.V.Chandrasekharwas unique and captivating. Lord Muruga’speacock was vividly portrayed by Sakthi.All the steps and hand movements weresynchronised so beautifully by Sakthi thatone could easily imagine the peacock danc-ing around oblivious of onlookers.In theitem Rara Rajeeva Lochana the dance com-position by the guru, Adyar K Lakshman,and the contribution by the sishya were ex-tremely captivating.

The next item, Enneramum, was a com-plete change in bhava. Being young and dy-namic one wouldn’t expect Sakthi to do jus-tice to such a heavy theme. However Sakthiportrayed Nandanar’s devotion and heart-felt imploring with commendableinsight.To add finesse and a crescendo to ajoyous pure display of Sakthi’s ability toperform, the Thillana in Chandrakauns andcomplicated talas crowned the perform-ance. The guru’s choice of Thillana with acombination of talas gave Sakthi anotheropportunity to display her rhythmic ability.The choreography guided the dancer to hercapacity.Listening to the musicians, led bythe mellifluous voice of Smt Shobha Sekhar(who is Sakthi’s carnatic music and veena

guru), was an experience in itself. Everypiece was injected with the required bhavato inspire Sakthi to portray the bhavasclearly. Sri Murali Kumar’s violin accom-paniment added so much splendour anddepth, keeping the audience enraptured.The inclusion of the veena as an accompa-niment, played by Smt Jayalakshmi Sekhar,gave an ethereal atmosphere to Sakthi’sperformance. The flautist Sri Ramani Thia-garajan’s contribution proved him worthyof the title “Venu Gana Ratna”.

The mridangist, Sri Balasri Rasiah, sup-ported Sakthi’s rhythmic perfection. All thecomplex jatis were clearly spelt out, so thatSakthi’s feet had no difficulty in synchro-nising, making them a pleasure tofollow.Sakthi’s focus and all the hard workinvolved in presenting such an intricate andfine presentation are certainly worthy ofpraise.

Young as she is, her concentration anddevotion without any distraction are evidentand admirable. Sakthi is blessed with multi-faceted talents (she plays flute, violin,veena and piano at an advanced level), andcompleted her carnatic vocal arangetram in2010. With all this she has been able todedicate herself and work so hard to pres-ent a very refined bharata-natya arangetramperformance, and is to be congratulated.

New UIA chief to continue ‘good’ community work

A refined arangetram performance By Ponmanai Kulasingam

(Sangitha Siromani, MadrasUniversity, India)

Newly elected UIA PresidentAmarinder Bajwa

Sakthi Ravitharan -a superb debut performance

Team UIA 2011 comprising Amarinder Bajwa (president), JohnNiven (vice president), Ranga Rajan (secretary), Prakash Rao (jointsecretary), Debasish Chakarbati (treasurer), Gunjan Tripathi (joint

treasurer) and Vijay Halagali (public officer)


Bollywood

Jagjit re-invents the ghazal concert

Award winning docu has Sydney connection

by Lokesh Varma

The Father of Ghazals,Jagjit Singh, has done itagain! The man who re-in-

vigorated the ghazal almostovernight has pulled out anothermaster stroke, this time re-invent-ing the ghazal concert.

Concert-goers were expectingan ageing legend trying to go Be-yond Time. Die-hard fans hadheard about his 70th Birthdaytour celebrations and had to bethere, for maybe one last Face toFace time. And me, having spo-ken to the legend earlier, was alsoprimed for a big-hearted perform-ance, that included some of hisgolden hits (which audiences stilldemand) with some of his recent,more modern music. “Definitely,no bhajans this time,” he hadstressed to the Indian Down Un-der on the phone.

I had asked him the obviousquestion that plagues winners.Having scaled all the musicalheights, did he ever feel that hehad been there, done that. Whatstill motivated Jagjit Singh? Didhe not say that on some days hefeels he has done so much, doesnot feel the need to do muchmore.

After what seemed a longpause, he ventured, “My music -it is my life and keeps me going.I spend all my time immersed inriyaz, in the literature, with musi-cians. I feel that whatever youhave done, you can do somethingbetter. Let’s try for that.”

Turned out, his riyaaz hadkept him alive also and kept hisreputation alive in his 70th year.Jagjit's favourite movie isMughal-e-Azam. This, he finallyconfessed after a few minutes ofwell-rounded diplomacy. And itseemed he had borrowed a coupleof pages from the evergreen hitmovie.

For the Sydney concert, Jagjitsung more closer than ever beforeto his classical roots. But it was

the modern and western notesfrom his musicians that made theevening rise above the normalghazal concert. The flute, thetabla, guitar and the violin allsounded really well. Their spirit-ed sawal-jawabs were not justbeautifully strewn throughout thenight but were performed su-perbly and with full rigour.

The acoustics in the refur-bished Sydney Town Hall did notlet up. The décor and the lightswere just right for the discerningPadma Bhushan awardee Jagjit.

And the Sydney audience wasone of the most well-behaved inrecent memory. In this regard,mention must be made of the or-ganiser, Vijay Jogia, who, beinga performer himself, had beenable to understand another per-former and his requirements.

The evening started withJagjit singing a variant of thukrayo ya pyar karo, mein 70 kahunh, jo chaho mere yaar karo,mein nashen mein hunh. Theopening verses of this foot-tap-ping ghazal made me feel com-fortable that this was going to beanother sublime performance byJagjit Singh. The rigorous riyazhe had been doing had definitelystrengthened the vocal chords.The sounds of young Ustad

Tarikh, the very talented fluteplayer, also set the scene formany years with his magic. Abhi-nav Upadhaya on the tabla andDeepak Pandit on the violin werethe other recognisable faces.

Even though Jagjit did not sayit, Arth must be his second mostfavourite movie. And I daresay,it's up there with the Sydney au-dience too. He sung two numbersjhuki jhuki si nazaar bekraar haike nahin, duba duba sa sahi, pyarhai ke nahin and tum itna jomuskura rahe ho, kya ghum hai jochhipa rahe ho.

Although hailing from a Pun-jabi background, Jagjit's dictionand command of Urdu, Hindi andPunjabi is superb. This was evi-dent when he went onto Shiv Ku-mar Batalvi's beautiful yet haunt-ing, meinu tera shabab lai baitha,rang gora ghulab lai baitha.

His joke about the marriedcouple who re-visited their hon-eymoon resort was funny. Thewife remarks that the same twobirds, a parrot and a mynah, areon their balcony as five years'ago. The husband responds andsays that the parrot is the samebut it's another mynah!

He followed this with a ghaz-al from Unique album with agreat rendition of a younger and

older voice in aag ka kya hai, paldo pal mein lagti hai, bhujte bhu-jte zamaana lagta hai. And to capoff a superb first half, it was thefoot-tapping and very popularchand bhi dekha, phool bhidekha, baadal bijli titli jugnu, koinahin hai aisa, tera husn hai jaisa,tera husn hai jaisa.”

After the interval, the maestrodid not slow down. The ever pop-ular (and certainly demanded byaudiences of all ages) kagaz kikashti and baat niklegi to phirdoor talak jayeegi was followedwith the echoing sadness of koifaryaad. Perhaps the best ghazalof the evening, the faryaad (re-quest) and the pain came throughvery vividly and very clearly.

The tempo changed rapidlyafter this when Jagjit decided theaudience had to sing along. Yourcorrespondent despite having at-tended many Jagjit concerts hereand in India, has seen this happenonly once. The word is that hejudges the audience in the veryfirst song of the evening. “Arethey afficiandos? Or a formalgroup. The audience's knowledgeof ghazal determines his ap-proach.”

The Sydney audience musthave impressed him enough forthe roles to reverse for Sath-

Sath's zindagi dhoop tum ghanasaya and a few lyrics from hotonse cho loo tum, mera geet amarkar do. His musicians accompa-nying sawal-jawab for this num-ber was also fast, energetic andvery entertaining.

The end of the concert wascharacterised by Punjabi tappaswhich culminated in the audiencedoing some bhangra moves.

In the end, it is fair to say thatJagjit made music, created wavesand caused stars to twinkle. Fourdecades ago, he took the humbleghazal and made it more ear-friendly and melodious by addingdifferent sounds of sitar, dhol, pi-ano and the guitar. But this night,he made the ghazal concert sitvery pretty indeed in Sydney.And in the process, he evenbrought a smile to Queenslandvictims by auctioning his 70thBirthday Shukrana Collection ofmusic for $2500. A great JagjitSingh fan Vinay Chopra openedhis heart and wallet for the greatcause and came on stage to pickup the CD from the guru of ghaz-als.

Now, as Jagjit Singh movesonto Paris and London for the re-mainder of his70th birthday con-certs, we can only say in batedbreath, mukarur

Adocumentary, ‘MumbaikarGanesh’, awarded the WesternUnion Short film Prize 2011 at the

‘Bollywood and Beyond’ festival in Aus-tralia in March, was screened along withmajor Bollywood films ‘West is West’,‘No One Killed Jessica’ and ‘I Am’, in thepresence of guests such as Leslie Udwin,Vidya Balan and Juhi Chawla who hadcome to Sydney for the screening of theirfilms.

What has ‘Mumbaikar Ganesh’ got todo with feature film ‘Dabbang’? Its maincharacter Jai Ganesh is not only a com-mon man of the Mumbai streets, he alsohas dreams to become a camera personwhile in love with the heroine of Dab-bang. He idolizes Salman Khan to thepoint of going to gym, working out to

build muscles like the great hero and ac-tually chats on the internet with a coupleof girls by pasting the hero’s picture in-stead of his own.

Ganesh is crazy, hilarious, thoughtful,a true diehard Mumbai survivor whosecharacter is brought to life by Sydney boy,Kush Badhwar, cinematographer. Themovie is directed by Colin D'Cunha withmusic by Jitwam Sinha. They had a greattime putting the ideas together to come upwith a crisp, short film with which anyyoung aspiring youth can empathise.

Mumbaikar Ganesh is the story abouttwo Ganeshs from Mumbai. A youngman, Jai Arjun Ganesh who speaks abouthis childhood in Mumbai and his ambi-tions for the future while he participates inthe festival of Lord Ganesh – the beloved

god who eradicates all obstacles.While Kush was not present in Syd-

ney, he told IANS, “Acknowledgment of'Mumbaikar Ganesh' means a lot to me asI am able to share my work with familyand friends in Australia through this festi-val. Kush, born and brought up in Syd-ney, now works from Mumbai on presti-gious arts photography and cinematogra-phy assignments.

Mumbaikar Ganesh is also the winnerof dimensions, Mumbai Film Festival2010.

The documentary was also screenedrecently at the Indian Film Festival of LosAngeles (IFFLA) April 12-17, 2011.

Jagjit Singh celebrates his concert with Sydneysiders Vinay Chopra with the prized CD that he bought for $2500 withfunds to go for Queensland Flood Relief

Kush Badhwar, cinematographer ofGanesh Mumbaikar

Community


Potent intellect, pure mind, and peerless action is Vedanta

India’s own Renaissance ManRabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary to be celebrated in Sydney in early May.

If you consider Vedanta outdat-ed, you could be the loser.Vedanta is a systematic knowl-

edge of life and living, universallyapplicable, inevitable in your chal-lenging world. While all othersubjects deal with world, Vedantadeals with you. It advances mate-rial prosperity, mental peace andspiritual evolution. Based on rea-son and logic, Vedanta appeals tolovers of truth, free from distinc-tions, just as science or mathemat-ics.

Of all living beings, only ahuman has the choice of action.Other beings tread a programmedlife. Your life is an effect of yourchoices. For right choice, yourequire right knowledge of life. Ifchoices are proper, you are happy.If imprudent, life is contaminatedwith stress, strain and physical ail-ment. Vedanta addresses yourinner personality, mind and intel-lect.

Mind is a mere storehouse ofemotions, feelings, impulses,desires, likes and dislikes whereasthe intellect is the faculty of think-ing and decision making. It mat-ters what propels your action inlife - mind or intellect. Mind with-out direction, disregards conse-quences and always craves forinstant pleasures. To manage themind you require a strong intel-lect. If the intellect is weak, thenthe mind’s desires overpower youto perform detrimental actions.You suffer the consequences justas the mind overpowers the intel-lect of a diabetic patient who help-lessly consumes sweets and suf-fers.

An ungoverned mind retardsprogress. It slips into the past andfuture constantly, unavailable inpresent. You lose concentration,turn inconsistent. Productivity

drops. You seek excuse andescape. Look forward to week-ends and vacations. Voluntaryretirement has become a fashionamongst the early 40s. No sur-

prise, the world economy plum-mets. In relationships, mind’slikes and dislikes create strongexpectations. You disregard part-ner’s interest and demand yourcatering alone. This causes sore-ness in relationship, even divorce.People are uncomfortable facingreal faces. Internet chat clubs arehouseful and people remain con-tent interacting on Facebook!

Scholastic education makesyou intelligent in the chosen field.It doesn’t build the intellect.Intelligence could help you earn aliving but you require an intellectto live life. Just as physical exer-cises build body muscles, studyand reflection on Vedantastrengthens your intellect.Vedanta contains the time testedtruths of life. Its knowledge helpsyou lead a meaningful life withperfect balance. Your body, mindand intellect seamlessly functionin life. A potent intellect, pure

mind and peerless action isVedanta.

Sunandaji is the daughter-dis-ciple of internationally eminentVedantin, Swami Parthasarathy.A dynamic orator, Sunandaji, hasbeen teaching Vedanta for overthree decades. Dedicating her lifeto the propagation of Vedanta phi-losophy, Sunandaji has addresseddiverse audiences across four con-tinents. Her clear and powerfulpresentation of ancient wisdom incontemporary thought has beenacclaimed by prestigious organiza-tions including the YoungPresidents Organization and manyleading universities around theworld. Sunandaji will deliver atwo-evening lecture on ‘the twen-ty great human values’ in Sydneyon May 06 & 07, 2011.

For more information pleasemail [email protected] orcall 0420 389 391.

By Asim Das

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the first non-European who was award-

ed the Nobel Prize for Literaturein 1913, was a poet, novelist,music composer, playwright,painter, philosopher and educa-tionist who reshaped Bengali lit-erature and music. He advocateduniversal humanity and spirituali-ty through his writings of over3000 poems and songs. For theworld he became the voice ofIndia's spiritual heritage; and forIndia, especially for Bengal, hebecame a great living institution.Two of his songs have sincebecome national anthems of Indiaand Bangladesh.

Bengali Association of NSWis celebrating this special occa-sion in Sydney in association with

the Faculty of Arts, MacquarieUniversity, Consulate General ofIndia, Sydney supported byUnited Indian Association andother cultural organisations.Various performances will show-case Tagore’s creations in theform of poetry, music, dance,film and discussions through theweekend. Tagore’s books andIndian food will be available forpurchase.

The anniversary celebrationwill be held at Macquarie Theatre(Bldg. W5B) and Price Theatre(Bldg. W5A), MacquarieUniversity, North Ryde, onSaturday, 7 May (4pm-10pm) andSunday, 8 May (11am-7pm).

For full program details,visit the Bengali Association ofNSW websitewww.bansw.org.au.

Sunandaji: daughter-disciple of eminent Vedantin, SwamiParthasarathy, she has dedicated her life to the propagation

of Vedanta philosophy.

For the world he became the voice of India's spiritual heritage; and for India, especially for Bengal, hebecame a great living institution.

To manage the mind you require

a strong intellect. If the intellect is

weak, then the mind’s desires

overpower you to perform

detrimental actions. You suffer

the consequences just as the

mind overpowers the intellect of a

diabetic patient who helplessly

consumes sweets and suffers.

Community

By Alicia Rankine

The pulsating rhythms of theinaugural performance ofCK Performing Arts remain

with the audience long after theyleave the hall, and colourfulmelodies continue to echo fordays.

These are the resoundingeffects of Cheryl Khurana's firstproduction, "Rhythm in Melody",March 11 at the Pioneer Centre,Castle Grand, touching an audi-ence of 400 people.

CK Performing Arts has beenformed to provide entertainment ofIndian Culture. Founded byCheryl, its shows combine liveinstrumentals, vocals, and dancebrought together in productionsjoyfully. Cheryl came from Indiato Australia at age 5, and isstrongly connected to both cul-tures. The universal nature of thearts has bridged the two culturesfor her personally, and her showhad the same unifying effect on awider scale. For the older genera-tion, the show induced nostalgia oflife in India, but for younger audi-ence, the authentic and evocativeperformances almost create memo-ries of India.

CK’s performers are talented,versatile, and enthusiastic abouttheir culture. The musicians,Sangeet Mishra on the Sarangi andMaharshi Raval on the Tabla, pro-vided an intoxicating introductionto our journey with a jugalbandi.The ethereal voices of JagpreetGrover, Aparna Nagashayana andParth Upadhyay led by 'kokila'Kakoli Mukherjee joined them toelevate the atmosphere and movingthe audience towards the show's

climax. Soon, the classical dancersalong with Aswhin Nair (Violin),Haresh Nair (Guitar), JanakanSuthanthiraraj (Mridangam),Brindha Packianathan(Keyboard)and Bulla Gujraan (Tabla) joinedthe ensemble. The dancing culmi-nated with Kuchipudi by SampreetiMalladi and Kathak by Cheryl,whose almost surreal movementswere entrancing.

In the second half, freshyoung talent was showcased.

Students of the Ruchi SanghiDance School; Michelle Khurana,Ananya Deshpande, NiharikaSanghi and Gargi Nagashayana,demonstrated a captivating techni-cal Kathak item and an invocationto Lord Ganesha. A high pointwas the Qawali by JagpreetGrover, which had the audienceclapping to the energetic rhythm.As the night turned to Bollywoodflair, the hall buzzed with energy,concluding with a vibrant medley

by the entire ensemble of instru-mental, vocal and dance.

Cheryl has 10 years of trainingin Kathak and Indian folk danceunder the guidance of her guruRuchi Sanghi. She has also trainedin Flamenco and Indian classicalmusic, and at age 16 won Gold forInternational Dance at theDiamond Anniversary of the pres-tigious Sydney Eisteddfod. Theprofessionalism of her first pro-duction bides well for the future ofthis bright new company. In atouching speech, Cheryl displayedher passion for the arts.

Prestigious guest ParramattaMP Julie Owens provided a simi-larly heartfelt speech, praising thededication of the new young tal-ent. Recalling the beginning of hercareer working in events manage-ment, she highlighted the difficultyof staging such a show. Owenspraised CK as an exemplar of theimportance of showcasing thediverse array of talent inAustralia. In a country that cele-brates multiculturalism, but some-times loses its way among culturalmisunderstandings, providing suchan enthusiastic show has the possi-bility to bridge the gap and bringpeople together.

Rhythm in melody

Kakoli Mukherjee, Jagpreet Grover and Bulla Singh Gujraan movedthe audience with their performance

Cheryl Khurana


Community

April-May 2011 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 27

By Neena Badhwar

Dr. RS Muthukrishnan, a wellknown Sydney doctor, motiva-tional speaker and trainer of

hypnosis, having trained GPs all acrossAustralia has compiled an impressivebook on hypnosis and mind power ti-tled ‘Software for Your Soul’.Says DrMuthu in his book, “During my practiceI was able to achieve tremendous resultswhen I used Hypnosis on my patientswhile treating them. There was a hugedifference in how people responded tomy treatment with or without Hypnosis.

”Talking about his early college dayswhen Dr Muthu was introduced to thispowerful clinical tool to shake off apainful experience when his girlfriendleft him and he could not get rid of thevacuum left behind. “I did everythingpossible and positive to fight the painbut was only able to rid off the scarwhen I did a self-hypnosis session. Hyp-nosis is the most powerful tool to healthe heart wrenching pain of unrequitedlove and many marital and relationshipproblems.

“And having practiced Hypnosis inAustralia for the last 30 years I simplytreat patients by ‘suggesting away’ theirproblems. Diehard smokers stop smok-ing; alcoholics give up their drinking;drug addicts have walked out of mypractice having kicked away their addic-tion after years of trying various av-enues. Migraines, fears, phobias, in-somnia, gambling, weight loss – youname it and I have treated them success-fully and many patients across Aus-tralia have benefited by this uniquemodality of treatment. It not only gaveme a clinically proven tool to apply inmy practice along with conventionalmedicine, but I have also been able toteach and train practitioners all overAustralia who now practise my tech-niques and swear by the magical bene-fits of Hypnosis.”When asked whetherHypnosis carries a stigma and whetherpeople feel intimidated by it that theymay be subjected to “hypnotism” likethe magicians do to people during astage performance, says Dr. Muthu,“Surprisingly the general Australianpublic is very well-informed as to theefficacy and benefits of hypnosis, sothey readily accept hypnosis when of-fered, particularly from a medical prac-titioner. Unfortunately many medicalpractitioners and psychologists them-selves are quite unaware of this power-ful modality of treatment. It is true,stage hypnosis is quite daunting, butthose subjects who would do all sorts ofsilly and outlandish acts on stage are‘willing subjects’. Nobody can hypno-tise you and make you do anything un-acceptable or unethical to you. You nev-er lose control under hypnosis. Thathappens only in movies andnovels!”How can his book on Hypnosis‘Software for Your Soul’ help whenthere are hundreds of other self-helpbooks available on the market and thesuccess of Rhonda Byrne’s ‘The Secret’and the famous American documentary‘What the BLEEP Do We Know!?’ havemade millions, Dr Muthu answers, “I'm

glad you raise that question, becausethat is the central theme of ‘Software forYour Soul’. From the Bible to the Bha-gavad Gita, from ‘What the Bleeps dowe know’ to ‘The Secret’, the commonmessage is that ‘what you think is whatyou become, your thoughts create yourrealities. Therefore think positive’.Even with all those the world has notbecome a utopia as yet. Positive think-ing alone doesn't make you do what youneed to do. Ask any smoker, any drugaddict, any underperforming student –they all think positive and yet cannotget rid of their habits. Habits are addic-tions, you cannot change addictions byadvice, they need to be reprogrammedat the subconscious level. In fact, life it-self is a big bundle of many good andbad addictions. Any change can happenonly at the subconscious level. Hypnosisworks as an operating system to connectyour positive thinking into your subcon-scious which is the powerhouse for posi-tive change and the change happens in-stantly. That is why the habit of smok-ing or a spider phobia can be eradicatedin one session of hypnotherapy. Soft-ware for your soul does not advise youto change, it just changes you! It maywell be on the way to make its millions!

“I am not interested in people’s past.It may come up during our consult butfor me life starts here and now and sodoes my therapy. I do not believe in let-ting my patients continue to wallow upin their own miseries and bad memoriesof the past – I change the direction oftheir thinking straight into their futureand life suddenly becomes brighter thanever,” says Dr Muthu.What about whenpeople wonder, ‘Why do bad thingshappen to good people?’

“I say it’s only because there is oftena shadow of negativity around the haloof positive thinking. The glow of posi-tive thinking does not always precludehabitually or inherently coexisting shad-ows of negativity. You cannot expectsomething positive when your personali-ty is shrieking of grief, negative beliefand whole outlook of a loser. You maynot know but people sense it.

”Dr. Muthu has combined his Indian

philosophy and belief system of the con-cept ‘I am God’ or ‘Aham Brahmasmi’– I Am That – a Vedic Hindu doctrineand explains the principle that the uni-versal energy is the same as individualenergy stressing that, “There is no dif-ference between you and God. There isonly one Quantum field or the universalfield that manifests in us all. I can saywith confidence that whatever is possi-ble for God is also possible for you. Theinfinite power of divinity is within you.With the help of Hypnosis I am able tohelp you to achieve that possibility bymaking an inroad into your subcon-scious and put the seed of positivethoughts that you are the master of yourwill – not just any but the Divinewill.”“Software to Your Soul not onlycan help germinate the seed, it alsohelps you achieve your dreams and livethe life you want.

You want money, you have the abil-ity to get it only by embedding positivethoughts into your psyche, into youreach cell of the body making you thewinner all the way – here and now. Notin the near future or when you retire orwhen you win a lottery but with this toolof Hypnosis that I have tried to sum upin the book with many wonderful anddramatic results that have changed peo-ple’s lives in my lifetime of practice,”says Dr Muthu with confidence thatcomes from practicing Hypnosis onhimself too not just on his patients.Andwhat if the hard drive is wrong, theSoftware for Your Soul may not work,asks TIDU.

“The hardware in this analogy is theintact cognitive ability. Only when thecognitive function is impaired as in thecase of many psychoses – bipolar, psy-chotic depression, schizophrenia etcsoftware definitely doesn't work. Forhypnosis to work you should be able tocommunicate with the patient. Tradi-tionally these patients are dismissed asnot suitable for hypnotherapy.

But my strategy is to treat themmedically with pharmacotherapy first,and when certain level of rapport andcommunication are established and cog-nitive function returns to normalcy then

introduce hypnosis.It works beautifully. It obviates the

necessity of long-term drug therapy andthe chances of relapse. Schizophrenicsare very good example for this methodof treatment – after initial drug therapyand subsequent hypnotherapy many ofthem regain full cognitive of functionand assume the normal activities, what-ever may be their field of expertise,they can return to normal function. Ofcourse, early diagnosis, drug therapyand early intervention with hypnosis areimportant and other conditions also doapply.

“ The book Software for Your Soulcomes with a CD with two tracks – thefirst one a 55-minute session with DrMuthu who has put it together quiteelaborately that one can immediatelyfeel its effect after just one session. Thesecond track of 25 minutes is a trainingsession in self-hypnosis, mini hypnosisand instant hypnosis. Dr Muthu saysthat one should take time to train firstfor a few days the self hypnosis routine,and then the mini hypnosis and finallyinstant hypnosis. The self hypnosis isthe basis of all the training, once youhave done that in the morning you cankeep topping it up with instant or minihypnosis in the course of the day everynow and then when needed during orafter a busy day or work schedule.“Irun the Kingswood Healing Centrewhere I have treated many cancer pa-tients who amazingly have lived longer,enjoying better quality of life with noside effects of their chemotherapy suchas nausea, vomiting or ongoing pain ordepressive and anxiety symptoms. I alsotreat carers of these patients with hypno-sis, any of you who have involved withcaring for such patients will know theextreme agony, stress and pain the car-ers themselves go through. With hypno-sis both patients and their carers havehealthy relationships and stress free day-to-day management routine.

”The 55-minute track is recommend-ed for early morning hours when thebody mind soul continuum is totally re-ceptive and helps one to get up to a dayraring to go, feeling positive and fresh.Please do not listen to track one- the 55min track-- just before going to bed orwhen you're very tired. There is noharm but you'll fall asleep and the effectof hypnosis will not be there. Morningtime is the best time. I recommend thatyou get up 55 minutes earlier and doself hypnosis and with instant hypnosisduring the day when needed.

This routine can help you comeback home still fresh, full of energy tospend quality time with your family.That is the secret when you downloadSoftware to your Soul in your day-to-day life – you have exuberant health,endless energy, effortless achievements,unlimited joy and total fulfilment of allyour dreams and desires.Software forYour Soul, published by Trafford Pub-lishing, is now available only on lineat Trafford.com , www.mindpowerwith-hypbosis.com , amazon.com or on0247366900. It will be available atbookshops like Adyar soon. Recom-mended retail price $39.95 (includingthe CD)

Download a software for your soul

Dr. RS Muthukrishnan, and his book

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Community


An Easter weekend retreat every yearorganized by the Vedanta Centre,Sydney is probably the most relaxed

way to spend the holidays and also to reflectand discover the spirituality within. TheSatyananda Ashram nestled among MangroveMountains provides a rainforest setting to calmthe nerves, the cascading of rain drops throughtall trees and gurgling of water throughstreams creating a heavenly music to theaccompaniment of singing by birds in thebackground. There is also a visual panoramaof greenery of trees punctuated by golden yel-low of maple leaves which recede graduallyinto misty clouds. Closer are flowers of manyhues - some mellow and the others which standout to draw attention towards themselves.

There are leisurely walks along theMangrove River or tough ones along a steepclimb towards a mountain cave for the moreadventurous. One could also choose to sit out-doors and discuss life with Kamleshji Maharajor listen to tales by Swami Damodaranandji.The discussions are enlightening as thesemeander through science with KamleshjiMaharaj emphasizing the spirituality beyondthe logic of science.

The devotees are from all around theworld, a family Swami Sridharananda has cre-ated. They are from Sydney, Gold Coast,Adelaide, America and Canada who havecome to listen to him on ‘Dhyana yoga –Essential Teachings from chapter six ofBhagavad Gita’.

“We must work out a methodology to cre-ate new ‘Vrittis’ with a commitment to Divinebecause we, ourselves, have the divinity with-in. With this indomitable will we must bring achange in our character,” says Swamiji as hegives five lectures on the topic of ‘Dhyana’.

Devotees listen to every word Swamijispeaks and make notes for future reference.“Our goal should be ‘to cogitate’ since only bycogitating we could change the course of ourlives. We all live, eat, enjoy and be merry.Everyone does that but to create awareness ofthe divine within us we must use all the facul-ties of yoga - Gyana, Karma, Bhakti and RajaYoga and use all our senses.

This will create a deep urge(Mumuktthushuttam) to improve the quality of

life only then can we live in the Divine all thetime,” he says.

He says that Raja yoga was the king of allyogas because it dealt with the mind.“Controlling the mind is the hardest. We need‘manana’ (cogitation) to achieve the control ofthe mind and thus create new experiences –new ‘vrittis’ through our indomitable willpower so that we could change our lives in aprofound manner right here and now andachieve total absorption in the divine within.”

Swamiji’s talks are interspersed withmorning mantra chanting guided by SwamiAtmeshanand ji, which starts with all the devo-tees chanting ‘Om’ several times, resonatingthe vibrations of the tranquil surrounds of theashram in the early hours of the morning.There are also joint sittings with Satyanandadisciples when the large group of nearly 150devotees sing bhajans, participate in YogaNidra sessions, havan and chanting of Shanti,Mahmritujaya and Gayatri mantras. SwamiDamodranandaji tells stories of SwamiRamakrishna and Swami Vivekananda andalso about his own life how he decided to be amonk when he was hardly a teenager. Swamijihas a keen sense of humour with which hedescribes how he developed a deep desire tomeet Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi when heread a pictorial story about the ‘living saint’ inhis university days.

“Right there and then I decided I don’twant to do anything else but live a life at thefeet of a divine being,” he says.

There was a great energy amongst all aseveryone volunteered their service – in thekitchen, in the hall, in cleaning the place whileliving for three days in a spiritually upliftingenvironment away from all the chaos. Freshair and bird noises woke every morning aspeople walked and ventured around in silencetrying to connect to stillness within.

The ashram volunteers were truly hos-pitable and karmic in their approach as theysmiled, cooked and cared for the retreaters.One could see them doing their karma dili-gently, chanting mantras as they carried onwith their duties in silence. MangroveMountain Satynanada Ashram is definitely agreat place to relax and discover the spiritual-ity within.

Pic Top: Devotees with Swami Atmeshananda, Sridharananda,Damodarananda andChandrashekhrananda at the Vedanta retreat. Left top: Swami Chandrashekhrananda chat-ting about life and its mysteries. Left middle: Premalata relaxing with ashram devotees. Leftbottom: Sitting at the feet of Swami Damodranandaji. Right middle: Swami Sridharananda

with disciples. Bottom right: Chandra Thakkar - a true Karamayogi sweeping the floor.

Beautiful retreat discovers thespirituality within


Homage

Passing of a Godman

Succession war hots up for Sai Trust

“A leader who inspired millions”

With Sai Babagone, Puttaparthifaces uncertainty

Hyderabad: Iconic spiritualleader Sri Sathya Sai Baba passedaway at Puttaparthi in AndraPradesh, on April 24, leaving be-hind millions of mourning devo-tees in India and abroad, and asprawling system of educational,medical and philanthropic servic-es that has huge resources at itscommand. He was 85.

He had bravely battled com-plications of the heart, lung andkidney for four weeks. The endcame at 7.40 a.m., after 28 daysof intense anxiety among his fol-lowers and frenetic activity bydoctors of the Sathya Sai Institute

of Higher Medical Sciences(SSIHMS).

A few hours later, the bodywas shifted to the Sai KulwantHall in Prashanthi Nilayam. Themortal remains were kept in thishuge and ornately decorated hall.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Min-ister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy,who flew into Puttaparthi alongwith Governor E.S.L.Narasimhan, declared Statemourning for four days and aholiday in Anantapur district onApril 27. He said Sai Baba wouldbe given State honors at the fu-neral.

Puttaparthi: After Sathya Sai Babapassed away, a fresh round of in-tense speculation broke out over hispotential successor. His personal as-sistant, Satyajit, and nephew, RJRatnakar, are being viewed as theleading contenders to head the SriSathya Sai Central Trust (SSSCT),chaired by Sai Baba when he wasalive.

The trust, which runs a railwaystation and an airport in this pilgrimtown, is believed to have assetsworth Rs 40,000 crore.

A relative of Sai Baba said,"Satyajit and Ratnakar are the twocandidates who could head the trust.The trustees are also not averse tothis."

Satyajit, 33, a post-graduate inbusiness administration, is associat-ed with Sai Baba since the age of fiveand had exclusive access to him atthe hospital where he was beingtreated since March 28.

Sai Baba indicated last year thatSatyajit should be part of the trust.

Ratnakar, 39, a cable network

operator and a petrol pump dealer,found place in the trust in 2005 afterhis father, Janakiramaiah's death.

Sai Baba is known to have earli-er thwarted attempts by his relativesto participate in the trust's activities.

The state government has

steered clear of the succession rowso far. Andhra Pradesh chief minis-ter Kiran Kumar Reddy announcedthat his government will not interferein the working of the trust. BabaRamdev also advised governmentnot to interfere.

New Delhi: The Vice-President,the Lok Sabha Speaker, the PrimeMinister, the Leader of the Opposi-tion and the Congress presidentwere among those who condoledthe death of Sathya Sai Baba.

In his message, Vice-PresidentHamid Ansari said the Baba's mes-sage of love should be the guidinglight in this trying hour.

Expressing “deep and profoundsadness” over the death of the 86-year-old Baba, the Prime Ministersaid he was a spiritual leader whoinspired millions to lead a moraland meaningful life even as theyfollowed the religion of theirchoice.

“Sri Sathya Sai Baba, as apreacher of the highest human val-ues, was an iconic figure for overfive decades. He endeared himselfto the people through various insti-

tutions, with headquarters atPrashanthi Nilayam, that promotedegalitarian values, education andpublic health,” Dr. Singh said.

Congress president SoniaGandhi said the news greatly painedher. “He was a spiritual person inwhom lakhs of people had faith. Inhis lifetime, he inspired the peopleof this country and those abroad to-wards spiritualism and religion,”she said in her condolence message.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaderL.K. Advani and Nitin Gadkari, inseparate messages, expressed theirgrief and sorrow at the passingaway of the Baba.

Puttaparthi: A sense of uncer-tainty looms large among peo-ple over the future of this townfollowing the demise of SathyaSai Baba, who transformed thisonce remote and faceless vil-lage into a thriving pilgrimcentre.

From petty traders and ho-tel owners to real estate devel-opers, everyone seems appre-hensive. They are not sure ifthe town will continue to at-tract the number of pilgrims itused to when Sai Baba wasalive. Hundreds of thousandsof pilgrims from all over thecountry and even abroad usedto flock for Sai Baba's 'dar-shan' every year. The numberwould swell on occasions likethe godman's birthday and fes-tivals.

"We don’t know what willhappen now. The business maynot be the same as it used to beearlier," said M. Raj Kumar,who runs a grocery shop.

With about 25,000 resi-dents, Puttaparthy was onceunknown to the outside worldand lacked even basic ameni-ties. Sai Baba, who was born

here in 1926 and claimed atage 14 that he was an avatar ofgod, put it on the pilgrim mapby building his ashram Prshan-ti Nilayam.

Many eminent pilgrims, in-cluding retired bureaucrats,police officers, judges andtheir family members, settleddown in the town to remainclose to the man they consid-ered god.

The Sri Sathya Sai CentralTrust , formed by Sai Baba in1972, ran schools, a universi-ty, a super speciality hospitaland other institutions, provid-ing free education and medicaltreatment.

Some traders are hopefulthat devotees will keep throng-ing Prashanti Nilayam to prayat Sai Baba's samadhi. The SaiCentral Trust plans to build agrand temple and install a stat-ue of the godman.

It is also in the process ofevolving the rituals to be con-ducted there. The locals, in-cluding traders, are in talkswith the Trust on how to cele-brate occasions like Sai Baba'sbirth anniversary.

Police place India's national flag on a glass coffin containing the body of Sathya Sai Baba during hisfuneral on April 27.

RJ Ratnakar, Swami's nephew and trustee of Sri Sathya Sai BabaCentral Trust, performing the last rites of Baba.

Sachin Tendulkar, an ardent Babadevotee, was in tears while payinghis last respects to hisspiritual guru.


Karam C. Ramrakhaadvises his clients that

he is still in active practice but is now with Macquarie Legal Lawyers

who operate from Level 11, 3 Spring Street Sydney 2000

(just behind Australia Square). The new phone number is (02) 92352500.

Kirath C. Ramrakha is also with this firm as a Senior Associate. This firm handles conveyancing,com-

mercial work, and litigation of all types and level. Werefer immigration but can handle immigration appeals.

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Community

Cosmic journey continues for Bikram SharmaThe Indian community on the

upper north shore, especially sen-iors, knew Shri Bikram Datt

Sharma well. Mr Sharma passed awayin Faridabad, India, on January 11 earli-er this year. All his family was withhim, including his son from Australia,Tejasvi Sharma, who only wished thathe could speak to him in his lastmoments, but, “alas, Papa ji did notknow of it as he was in coma”, he said.Mr Bikram Sharma was 85 years old.

Mr Bikram Sharma spent his 18years in Australia during 1987-2005, astay that he remembered very fondly.

He made many friends from the Indiancommunity and missed them after goingback to India due to ill health. MrSharma always wanted to revisitAustralia if his health permitted him.

Tejasvi Sharma remembers his fatherlovingly, reflecting on the journey oflife and death as a cosmic ride. “It is amore profound realisation when youlose someone who had been close toyou. So, I am not being different fromothers. But the more I think about him,the surer I get that he did not leave us.The only thing Papa ji changed was hismode of transport to continue his jour-

ney in pursuit of his final destination,”Tejasvi says.Mr Bikram Sharma was aself-made man who did his learningwhile working.

He gave good values to his six chil-dren: love, dedication to duty and sacri-fice whenever it was required to achievespiritual goal. He led by example.Everyone, who knew him, remembersMr Sharma for his good actions towardsone and all.

Let us pray for the peace of thedeparted soul and wish that it will con-tinue its journey wherever it has beendestined for.

Farewell, Vinay Verma Solemnity tingedwith humour

Another friend, Bruce (Sheek), writesabout Vinay’s funeral

Kersi Meher-Homji pays tribute to a fellow journalist and a friend

The passing away of a dearfriend is always sad. Butwhen you share with him a

passion, it is tragic. Although Vinay and I knew

each other for only two years, itseems we have been friends for-ever. It was a unique friendshipas we not only discussed cricket,our passion, but everything underthe sun.

Only three days before hispassing he gave me lift homeafter a cricket society meeting.When I waved goodbye to him, Ihad no idea that this was to bemy final goodbye to him.

We rarely called each otherby our first name. He oftencalled me Nostradamus as once Ihad correctly and by a fluke pre-dicted that Ricky Ponting willscore centuries in both innings ina Sydney Test.

I called him Cardus afterNeville Cardus, the greatestcricket writer of all time. I alsocoined a new phrase Vinayism todescribe his colourful metaphors.Two examples: Michael Clarkeis impersonating superman ClarkKent but is reluctant to don thecape and tights.

Virender Sehwag is cricket'soriginal BASE jumper. It is not agreat flight of imagination to pic-ture him as the stuntman jumpingoff the Eiffel Tower in the JamesBond movie A View to Kill. At

the top of India's fabled battingline-up he has an open licence tothrill.

Vinay will be remembered forwriting and editing SeriouslyCricket Chronicles for whichMike Coward is a regular con-tributor, Inside Cricket, AdelaideAdvertiser, international sportsmagazines and most of all for hislearned and hard-hitting columnson the Roar website.

He admired Test greats butdid not kow-tow them. WhenEngland’s Test great KevinPietersen showed hesitancy inbeing interviewed, Vinay toldhim over the phone, “I won’t askyou questions on who you sleptwith but as to how you developedyour cover-drive!” Pietersenlaughed, relented and the inter-view went on for hours in aSydney hotel.

His chat with Sehwag in Indialast November went so long thatVVS Laxman had to remindSehwag repeatedly that his dinnerwas getting cold.

Vinay’s proudest moment wasmeeting Sir Donald Bradman inan Adelaide restaurant a fewdecades ago. After hesitation heapproached the great Don. To hisdelight Bradman asked him tojoin him for a glass of wine.

Bradman asked him, “Showme your hands, young man. Ha,you have got to be a spinner.”

And he was spot on as Vinay wasan off-spinner. Bradman readilyautographed Vinay’s visitingcard. “This for me was like anaudience with the God,” Vinayrecalled.

There is a postscript to thisstory. Vinay always carried thatautographed card in his pocketand one day as he was walkingalong a beach inGoa he met a closeelderly friend whowas his mentor. Heregretted nevermeeting Bradman sowhat does Vinaydo? Present him hismost prized posses-sion, the signedcard, to the oldman.

He was so over-whelmed he thankedVinay and said, “Iwill now die a happy man.”

For this noble gesture Vinaymust have died a happy man too,watching World Cup cricket ontelevision. Right now, I canimagine him having a glass ofwine with Sir Donald up above,taking his autograph and passingit on to someone less fortunate.

May Vinay’s noble soul restin peace! My condolences to hiswife Patricia, son Paul (a notedmusician), daughter Laura andfamily. Farewell, my friend.

Vinay's funeral was natu-rally a solemn occasion,but it was interspersed

with some fine humour. Besides Vinay’s

wife Patricia, sonPaul 39 and daughterLaura 24, a realbeauty, he had alarge extended fami-ly. He was muchloved and will bedeeply missed.Talking to Jason(King), Vinay'snephew and a fellowRoarer, that Vinayhad gone far tooyoung at 62, Jason

replied it wasn't entirely surpris-ing since Vinay didn't denyhimself in life with good compa-ny, good food, good drink andperhaps most damning of all,four and a half packets of ciga-rettes a day.

Mike Coward spoke glowing-ly of Vinay's love for cricket,and his late maturity as a cricketwriter of note. Sad he should betaken from us just as he was in'the zone'. Mike also drew fromGeoff Lemon's recent fine tribute

on The Roar. Kersi also spoke beautifully,

and with humour, of Vinay'sunique pattern of metaphors, his"Vinayisms", which many of uscame to love.

His sister-in-law gave aninsight into Vinay for those of uswho didn't know him well. Hewas an excellent dancer in hisyouth, winning a twist competi-tion in Calcutta. It's believedbeing double-jointed helped. Hecame to Australia following hislove for a woman (his futurewife) in 1970, and stayed here.He joined a medical school inIndia, but left after just year.And he completed his Masters ofEconomics part-time. He wasone heck of a talented guy.

Apparently Vinay wasn'ttechnologically proficient (meneither). According to his sister-n-law, Vinay once commented heloved Google, but hated theinternet. This naturally drew around of laughs.

I think Vinay would haveliked his funeral service - theright mix of a sense of loss, theawe of his genius with an ele-ment of humour thrown in.

Tribute to Leelamony Pillai (1947 - 2010)

Leelamony Pillai was bornon 24 January 1947 inKerala and was the eldest

among eight siblings – five sis-ters and three brothers. Shemoved to Australia in 1974 withher husband Dr.ParameswaranPillai.

Right from primary schoolshe excelled in her academicstudies and was a lead performer

in many extracurricular activi-ties. A passionate interest inwriting, debating , acting andthe arts. She was dux of atMaharaja college and earned amerit scholarship to do herMasters degree. In recent yearsshe along with a small group offriends began a publicationcalled Kerala Nadam aimed atencouraging both older and

younger people from Kerala toexpress themselves through writ-ing in English and Malayalam.Despite medical illnesses andlong suffering for many yearsshe defied death by the sheerstrength of her will power. Shemade countless friends and willbe remembered with pride. Sheis succeeded by her two childen,Hari and Sonya. Leelamoni Pillai, her grandon and husband Dr. Pillai

Children's Corner By Esther Chaudhry-Lyons

Children’s Corner


No one knows when or where cricket began butthere is a body of evidence, much of it circum-stantial, that strongly suggests the game was

devised during Saxon or Norman times by children liv-ing in the Weald, an area of dense woodlands andclearings in south-east England that lies across Kentand Sussex. In medieval times, the Weald was populat-ed by small farming and metal-working communities.

It is generally believed that cricket survived as achildren's game for many centuries before it wasincreasingly taken up by adults around the beginning ofthe 17th century. Playing on sheep-grazed land or inclearings, the original implements may have been amatted lump of sheep’s wool (or even a stone or asmall lump of wood) as the ball; a stick or a crook oranother farm tool as the bat; and a stool or a treestump or a gate (e.g., a wicket gate) as the wicket.

A number of words are thought to be possiblesources for the term "cricket". It is likely that the ter-minology of cricket was based on words in use insouth east England at the time and, given trade connec-tions with the County of Flanders, especially in the15th century when it belonged to the Duchy ofBurgundy, many Middle Dutch words found their wayinto southern English dialects. The entire history ofcricket in India and the sub-continent as a whole isbased on the existence and development of the BritishRaj via the East India Company.

In 1721, the first definite reference to cricket beingplayed anywhere in the sub-continent is a report ofEnglish sailors of the East India Company playing agame at Cambay, near Baroda. The Calcutta Cricketand Football Club is known to be in existence by1792, but was possibly founded more than a decadeearlier. In 1799, another club was formed atSeringapatam in south India after the successful Britishsiege and the defeat of Tippu Sultan.

The game of cricket spread to African and Asiancountries with the rapid expansion of the BritishEmpire. There is no place other than the sub-continent,at the moment, where cricket is so successful in termsof the number of admirers as well as in commercialterms.

India & Pakistan are the leading cricketing rivals inthe Sub-Continent.

The first match in India was recorded in 1721when a group of sailors gathered to play in WesternIndia. Within nearly three centuries cricket is India'smost popular sport and celebrity cricketers are amongstthe wealthiest members of Indian society!

Cricket is one of the few aspects of Indian life thatunites the whole country.

India became the sixth member of the “elite club”alongside England, Australia, South Africa, the WestIndies and New Zealand in June 1932. India’s inaugu-ral match with England at Lords attracted 24,000strong crowds which included the King of England,who was also then the Emperor of India. Many believeit encouraged the concept of nationhood for the Indiansand proved to be a turning point in India’s struggle forindependence. India had to wait until 1952 to record itsfirst ever Test victory. India beat England by aninnings in Madras. It was in the same year thatPakistan gained Test status.

Once again cricket proved its importance as a

forum for reviving human bonds. India clashed withthe visiting Pakistan team in 1952 initiating a newintense sporting rivalry between the newly-formedneighbours. Unlike India, Pakistan managed to recordtheir first ever win within a mere two years in 1954.As India and Pakistan went to war in 1960, cricketmatches were suspended. It was just the beginning of aseries of suspensions to come.

Pakistan still remains the only team to beatEngland in their first ever tour to the cricket’s birthplace. While Pakistan’s initial pioneering era seemedto be diminished during 1960’s, India saw the emer-gence of new talent in the form of Bedi, Chandrasekar,Prasanna and Pataudi.

Sunil Gavaskar dominated the batting in worldcricket during the 1970s.

India surprised all the cricketing nations by defeat-

ing the mighty West Indies in the 1983 World Cupheld in England. Winning the World Cup raisedIndia’s interest in the game to a new level.

Money flowed into the game from many spheres ofthe marketing world. For example, television and otherbroadcast rights, also advertising. For the first time,there emerged a competition to broadcast matches thatinvolved India. The new era of India’s cricket saw theemergence of the genius Sachin Tendulkar, who madehis Test debut at sixteen. Great Don Bradman oncedescribed him as his modern incarnation. Tendulkar isregarded in India not as a mere cricketer but as a giftfrom the heaven.

Pakistan went onto claim the world title in 1992.The 1980s saw the emergence of another cricket rivalfrom the sub-continent- Sri Lanka. Despite taking fouryears to win the first Test match, Sri Lanka, too wenton to claim the world title in 1996. On an island rav-aged by civil war, cricket is a common bond for allraces and religions. Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharanis the world's leading Test match wicket-taker.

Bangaldesh's defeat of Pakistan was one of thebiggest upsets in 1999 World Cup.

Bangladesh joined the "elite club" within eighteenmonth of that famous win although some believe it waspremature.

India has won the 2011 Cricket World Cup by 6wickets over Sri Lanka. MS Dhoni crushed a six onthe final ball to complete the chase for the Indians,who overcame a 274-run inning by their opponent,despite losing their first two batsmen (including "themaster" Sachin Tendulkar) in the opening overs. Thepartnership between Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir ledthe comeback, as both came just shy of 188 runsbetween them.

Easter

RAM NAVAMI

Easter commemorates theresurrection (return tolife) of Jesus Christ fol-

lowing his death by crucifixion.It is the most significant eventof the Christian calendar.

On Good Friday, JesusChrist was executed by cruci-fixion. His body was takendown from the cross, andburied in a cave. The tomb wasguarded and an enormous stonewas put over the entrance, sothat no-one could steal thebody. On the following Sunday,some women visited the graveand found that the stone hadbeen moved, and that the tombwas empty. Jesus himself wasseen that day, and for daysafterwards by many people. Hisfollowers realised that God hadraised Jesus from the dead.

Easter celebrates the prom-ise of life in the face of death.Easter celebrations also reflecton peace and forgiveness which

has come out of aggression. Itis also a time for thinking aboutsuffering, injustice and hard-ship. During Good Friday serv-ices Christians meditate onJesus's suffering and on hiswords spoken from the cross:'Father, forgive them; for theydo not know what they aredoing.'

In Australia, the EasterShow is an important feature ofEaster celebration. Good Fridayis celebrated this year onFriday, April 22, and Easter onSunday, April 24.

Ramnavami - Birthday ofRama (April 12, 2011)

Ram Navami is celebratedwith great zeal byHindus all over the

world. It is a festival that cele-brates the birth of Lord Rama.Lord Rama, the son of KingDasharath and Queen Kaushalyais regarded as the avatara(incarnation) of Lord Vishnu,one of the supreme Hindudeities.

According tothe Indian epic,Ram was bornafter a lot ofprayers andyagya (holy bon-fire) and as hewas born as theroyal inheritor ofAyodhya, hisbirth day was ajoyous occasionin Ayodhya. Itwas very muchlike a dream

come true for Dasharath as thelack of an heir was a big trou-ble for him even long after hismarriage.

On Ramnavami, devotees ofLord Ram also keep a wholeday fast and sing Ram bhajansthroughout the day. They makethis festival a vibrant and gustyaffair. People on this day alsopresent gifts to each other andexchange good wishes.

Ram Navami best Wishes toall.

Columns


Variety is the spice of life. Itis truer of food. With somany types of cuisine

accessible, there is no need to stickto staples of roti-dal-sabzi. Youcan always mix-n-match andexperiment yourself. Here are afew recipes to get you started.

ALOO PANEER CUTLETSIngredients� 2 Potatoes, boiled and

mashed� 200 gm Paneer, grated� 1 tsp Raisins � tsp Oil + to shallow fry� 1 Onion chopped � 3 chopped Green chillies� ½ cup Fresh coriander

leaves, chopped � 1 tsp Garam masala pow-

der � Salt to taste� 4 tabs Plain flour (maida) � ½ tsp Black peppercorns,

powdered

� 1 cup Corn flakes, crushed MethodSoak raisins in warm water for

some time before use. Drain well.Heat one tablespoon of oil in a fry-ing pan and sauté chopped oniontill translucent. Remove. Mixtogether paneer, potatoes, redchillies, onion, green chillies,coriander leaves, garam masalapowder, salt and raisins. Makecylindrical shaped Cutlets one inchthick and two inches long. Make athin batter of refined flour, salt,pepper powder and water. Dip theCutlets in this batter and roll incrushed cornflakes. Keep theCutlets in the refrigerator for anhour or more. Heat sufficient oilin a kadai and shallow-fry the

Cutlets till golden brown and drainon absorbent paper. Serve hot withgreen coriander chutney.

BABY UTTAPAM Ingredients� 2 cups Rice � 1 cup split black gram with

skin � Salt to taste� ½ cup Butter � 2 Onions, chopped � 2 Tomatoes, chopped

deseeded� 1 Green capsicums,

chopped deseeded� 2 Green chillies, chopped � ½ cup Cheese, grated MethodSoak rice in six cups and urad

dal in four cups of water separate-ly overnight. Drain and grind themseparately, using a little water, toa smooth paste. Mix them in ashallow vessel. Cover and keep thebatter to ferment for a minimum ofsix to eight hours in a warm place.Take required quantity of batter ina bowl, add salt and sufficientwater to get the desired consisten-cy and mix well. Heat a thick tawa

(griddle) or a non-stick pan. Puttwo drops of oil and wipe the tawaclean with a wet muslin cloth. Adda tablespoon of butter to the tawaand pour half a ladleful of batterand spread it into a three inchround. Make as many as would fiton the tawa. Sprinkle each with atopping of your choice and cookon low heat for three to five min-utes. Flip side and cook further, ifdesired. Serve hot.

BESAN METHI POODA WITHCHEESE

Ingredients

� 2 cups Gram flour (besan) � 1 cup Fresh fenugreek

leaves (methi), chopped � 2-1/2 cups Cottage cheese

(paneer), grated � 1 tabs Olive oil +shallow

fry� 2 Onion , chopped � 8 Mushrooms, sliced � Salt to taste� ¼ tsp Black pepper powder � ¼ tsp Soda bicarbonate � 1 tsp Red chilli powder � 1 tsp Carom seeds (ajwain)

� A pinch of Asafoetida � ¼ cup Fresh coriander

leaves, chopped

MethodHeat one tablespoon olive oil

in a kadai (wok) and sauté onionstill translucent. Add methi andcook for another minute. Addmushrooms and sauté on high heatfor a minute. Add salt and blackpepper powder.

Let cool and mix in cottagecheese. Set aside. In a bowl mixtogether gram flour, soda bicar-bonate, salt, red chilli powder,carom seeds, asafoetida, corianderleaves and sufficient water to makea batter of pouring consistency.Whisk well to ensure there are nolumps.

Heat a pan, drizzle a fewdrops of olive oil, pour a ladle fullof batter into the pan and spread itevenly and thinly using the back ofthe ladle. Cook the poora on bothsides, using a little more olive oil,till golden brown. Place a portionof the stuffing on one side of thepoora, fold the other side over itand serve immediately.

By Devaki Parthasarathy

“The human foot is a masterpiece ofengineering and a work of art.”

--Leonardo de Vinci

As I pondered over the myriad of thingsI wanted to talk about, I thought aboutthe feet. I came back from work yes-

terday and said, "My feet are killing me!!!"Empathise with that phrase? How many timeshave you wished you could just "put your feetup"?

Our lifestyles are such that they require usto take care of our appearance, the clothes, theface, the accessories but we all tend to forgetour trusted friends, the feet - the two pals thatcarry our weight around, move us from placeto place. As a matter of fact, since man hasstarted using his feet to walk and stand, muchof the workload from the hands has moved tothe feet. And these trusted feet of ours stand usin good stead for many, many years and re-quire little or no care.

Remember when you were younger, thecarefree days when you ran around bare feeton gravel? When you walked lazily on thesand? When early in the morning you walked?

There are a number of different ways towork the soles of your feet, including walkingbarefoot on the early morning dew ladengrass. Well, believe it or not, that’s apparent-ly what the doctor ordered exactly. Apparent-ly, the feet are home to literally thousands ofnerve endings and almost seventy acupuncturepoints (which is probably why foot reflexolo-gy is so effective). So by simply walking barefeet on gravel, for instance, we land up mas-saging and stimulating specific areas on thesoles of our feet, which provide general sup-port for our entire body, improve sleep pat-terns, increase physical and mental wellbeing.

I have always maintained that there is greatvalue in spending time on ourselves before wededicate our lives to our families, work and

society in general. By taking responsibility forour own health and taking time every day toconnect with our body, we can not only assistour body in letting go of stress and dysfunc-tion, but we can also continue to support anongoing sense of wellness and vitality.Whether we are able to spend just a few min-utes a day or once every few days our effortsare never wasted.

Here are a few ideas I've gleaned fromweb sources and books on general foot careand reflexology tips. Stuff to help your feetwith softer and smoother skin, sweat controland a little pampering too! They're all homemade and all natural. But remember, just be-fore you rush off to indulge, if you have anyissues with your feet, it is always a good ideato check with your health professional first.

CleansingA lean foot makes the feet moist and

porous and capable of accepting more treat-ment. Hence it is always a good idea to startany foot care regime with a thorough clean.Here are three different kinds of cleanse. Tryall and see which you like best or better stillalternating between the three keep the feetguessing.

Rejuvenating Footbath For tired and aching feet try mixing *3 tablespoons Epsom salts * 2 tablespoons bicarbonate of soda * 3 drops rosemary oil

* 3 tablespoons cooking salt In a bowl of hot water, soak the feet for 20

minutes. Soothing FootbathTo relax while you cleanse, mix*1/8 teaspoon menthol crystals*4 tablespoons powdered alum*8 tablespoons boric acid*10 tablespoons magnesium sulphate (Ep-

som Salts*)Add one teaspoon of this mixture to a gal-

lon of very warm water. Soak as desired. Thedry mixture has a lengthy shelf life.

Smoothing FootbathThis magic mix can make the skin of your

feet smooth and beautiful.Ingredients:*1 cup lemon juice*2 tablespoons olive oil*1/4 cup of milk*cinnamon for fragrance*Water (temperature and amount are not

important)Exfoliating Exfoliating the feet makes the feet look

fresh, getting rid of dead cells on the top andkeeping the sole soft and supple so as to not al-low cracks in extreme weathers. Regular ex-foliating helps eliminate foot odours and keepthe feet looking good and feeling great. Theeasiest recipe to get rid of those dead cells isto mix together to form a rough paste.

*8 strawberries*2 tablespoons of olive or safflower oil*1 teaspoon of kosher salt (coarse, non

iodized salt)*1/2 teaspoon of finely chopped almondsRemember, don't over blend it. It is im-

portant to keep it coarse! It is easy to overblend as strawberries have a lot of water inthem. It will just make the paste too watery.Massage the paste onto your feet circlingclockwise and then anticlockwise for 10 min-utes. Be careful with your massaging here.You don't want to grind almond bits into your

skin! Gentle does it. It's the almond oil part ofthe nut that does the work. Rinse off in warmwater and dry your feet thoroughly with a softtowel.

You could refrigerate any mixture leftover, though the shelf life is about a week.

Massaging The most important part of any foot

regime is the massaging. A thorough cleaningand exfoliating helps the foot become soft andporous and allows for greater absorption ofmassage oils and the effects of the massage lastlonger. It’s a good idea to use a homemade lo-tion to avoid putting harmful chemicals into afresh and pure skin. An easy to make lotionthat can be worked into your feet, and notwashed off is

A Relaxing Foot LotionIngredients:*1 tablespoon almond oil*1 tablespoon olive oil*1 teaspoon wheat germ oil*12 drops of essence of eucalyptus oil or

fragrance oil Place all of these ingredients in adark coloured bottle and shake it well. Rub itinto your feet and heels whenever you feel youneed it.

Massage routine on a daily basisAlthough it is wonderful to work with an

experienced foot reflexologist whenever possi-ble, we can also develop a practice of treatingourselves to a self-reflexology treatment if wetake some time for this purpose before we be-gin our day or in the evening to relax before go-ing to bed. Follow these easy steps to give yourfeet the much needed massage

1.Begin with loosening up your ankles –rotate each foot clockwise then anticlockwiseabout ten times.

2. Pinch the end of your toes, which can in-crease circulation and drainage in your sinusesand stimulate your pituitary and pineal glands.

3 Massage the ball of your foot, the arch,and the heel. If you find that an area is tender,it may indicate some distress or dysfunction oc-curring in the corresponding area of the body.

Healing the SoleLook Good and Feel Great Naturally

By Promila Gupta

Bring variety to the table


Body- Mind-Spirit

There are three kinds ofgivers in the world: thestone, the sponge and the

honeycomb. To get anything out ofa stone, you must hammer it; eventhen it only yields chips andsparks. To make a sponge partwith the water it holds, you mustsqueeze it. The harder you squeezethe more you get. Then there is thehoneycomb, from which sweetnessoverflows. This unattributed say-ing beautifully sums up how wehumans abounding with attach-ment, and fraught with emotion,share what we consider our own.

Enculturation As Indians, we sometimes

eagerly incorporate the seeminglyprogressive culture of the West. Ifwe look deeper into the hearts ofWestern societies we find a largenumber of people in search ofhigher meaning. As we preoccupyourselves with their ways, theWest in turn is looking East insearch for answers.

Today, as societies convergeacross the world and we witnessthe emergence of a global village,people have increasingly adoptedmany western cultural norms astheir own. While there are meritsin this approach, we still need toexercise caution before discardingvalues that are tried, true, andwholeheartedly Indian. Granted, itcan be hard to appreciate Indianways as we live and deal with theconsequent inconveniences of ourlarge population. Yet, the truthremains that we in India inherentlyknow how to live as one holisticsociety.

It follows logic. We have lim-ited space and limited resources,yet we grow and prosper. Wemake do, and while we dream of abetter life, we sleep restfully andremember to be grateful for whatwe have. Sure, we have momentswhen we play the stone or thesponge, but the sum of our effortsmakes our nation a giant honey-comb.

Sharing in the West In the West, there is a clear

distinction between sharing andgiving. Owing to the fact that thereis usually enough for everyone, theneed for sharing is often a matterof increasing a person’s access tovariety. Giving, on the other hand,is when you make a gift of some-thing you have, ideally withoutanticipating anything in return, andmostly to those who have lesser.

The structure of Western soci-eties is such that natural situationsthat warrant sharing do not presentthemselves frequently. Hence, par-ents often need to create scenariosin order to teach their children howto share. Developmental psycholo-gists advise parents to inform theirchildren that sharing makes formore amicable playtime, that play-ing with a friend’s toy means thatyou, in all fairness, need to letyour friend play with your own

toys. They also suggest that chil-dren be allowed to display someamount of possessiveness in theinterest of healthy parent-childrelationships, lest the child associ-ate the negative feelings accompa-nying forced sharing with the par-ent.

No doubt, in a consumer-basedeconomy the idea of sharing is notin the interest of the nation atlarge. When people mostly leadindividualistic lifestyles sharing isalso not preferred. Given the readyaccess each person has to goods,sharing is not even necessary.Thus, having neither need norinclination to perform these acts ofgiving and taking, the West hascultivated a society where peoplecan live independently of eachother.

Since man is a social animal, itis no surprise that over time thislifestyle begins to affect a person.As they grapple with feelings ofloneliness and isolation, some peo-ple seek out others with the sameset of beliefs and ideals. United intheir sense of purpose, there aregroups of people in America, whoare starting to recreate the oldways into their modernised lives.They group together and settle as amutually adopted family. This haslead to an increase in the numberof co-operative housing ventures inthe US.

The American co-op comprisesa number of unrelated familiessharing a big house, usually locat-ed in a city. This shared residenceallows them to simulate the effectsof the proverbial “village” andoffers their families the opportuni-

ty to interact with each othereveryday. They work together inorganising the household, its main-tenance and upkeep, and also makedecisions together. Some co-opera-tives share a common purposewhich unites every resident who isa part of it. However, it is notuncommon for co-operatives toform with the mere intention ofeconomic benefits.

While co-ops have been knownto emerge spontaneously, othersare formed when families cometogether with a specific purposethey hope to achieve together. TheStone Soup Co-op in Chicago,Illinois, for instance, has beenformed by a group of families whobelieve in social justice and joy. Atany point in time, there are abouteight people and their pets, livingtogether and sharing the rent, thekitchen, appliances, food, and util-ity expenses together. If a vacancyshould arise at this co-op as mem-bers move out, the current resi-dents meet new tenants and collec-tively decide on who is fit to moveinto their little community.

Larger groups who cometogether are called intentionalcommunities and ecovillages.These usually differ from co-opsby having multiple houses for indi-vidual families but often maintain-ing shared spaces. They share veg-etable gardens and wells, and evengroceries or other householdexpenses. Many communitiesoften pool their resources andinstall solar heating panels andmake other environment-friendlymodifications to their residences, atask that would prove too expen-

sive for one family to shoulder ontheir own. Given the increasedrequirement for space, intentionalcommunities and ecovillages aregenerally found in suburbs outsideof cities.

Although co-operative living isin essence a reversion to the gold-en days of yore, the masses view itas an alternative lifestyle. Themain factor contributing to thisstereotype is that these communesimply communal ownership ofproperty, restriction on personalspace, and increased social respon-sibility as resources are shared. Inother words, it is very much likeour own co-operative housing soci-eties, where altruistic actions makefor a happier building which feelslike home and increases our senseof security.

In retrospect, it seems like theWest went around in a circle, onlyto find peace in how things werewhen people looked out for eachother. As they realised the hollow-ness of life when objects replacereal-life experiences, some of themreverted to seeking out what reallybrought them joy. Our culture inIndia is evolving with our growingeconomy; we could save ourselvesthe trouble of taking a U-turn bybecoming aware of our inherentvirtues and maintaining our tradi-tions of kinship and camaraderie.

Sharing and technology Technology has done wonder-

ful things to assist sharing knowl-edge, news, and information. Wecan now stay connected with any-one in the world through email,Twitter, and Facebook. Yet beingconstantly connected sometimesmakes us disconnected. Ourphones and laptops make us obliv-ious of our surroundings. As webring e-readers and iPods into ourlives, they replace other moresocial habits. We lose the traditionof lending and borrowing books.Our iPods prevent us from hearinga friend call out from across thestreet. As we develop relationshipsthrough inanimate objects we haveless time for human interaction andthe comfort it brings. Hence, whilewe bring in the new, we need topreserve and reincorporate the bestof the old.

Growing up sharing Children in India grow up

sharing. They may learn this fromobserving their parents who readi-ly give what is their own. Someparents create opportunities fortheir children to bond with eachother by sharing, while others,limited by available resources,have no option but to share. Be itby reasoning, reprimand, orresolve, children in India grow upknowing that for the best to cometo them, they must share the bestthey have.

To cite an example fromalmost three decades ago, whenresidents of a building huddledaround a television to watch theRamayan and Chaaya Geet; even ifthe mother might have deliberatedover mopping the floor after themob departed, and the fatherreseated himself on a stool,respectfully renouncing his easy-chair for the building patriarch, thechildren of that era only rememberthe camaraderie and fun. Theseevents made our generation equatesharing with moments of pure hap-piness.

Sharing the intangible Dwelling deeper into sharing

takes us beyond material objects.Everyday, we share assets thatcannot be seen or touched; likeknowledge, feelings, and evenvibes.

Be it out of concern or curios-ity, in India we always find some-one who asks us, “Is somethingwrong?” On sharing our prob-lems, we find people who go togreat lengths to help. Joys areshared with neighbours andfriends coming together to cele-brate weddings, festivals, and theachievements of their children. Aswe quicken the pace of our lives tocatch up with the west, we mustremember to slow down to cele-brate or help, for this has alwaysbeen our way.

Most of us live ordinary livesbecause we fail to realise we arecapable of leading extraordinaryones. Each of us has in our arsenalthe noblest of virtues like love,compassion, kindness, and empa-thy, virtues that might lie latentuntil we open our hearts to thosearound us. The opportunities formaking a difference in the worldare endless; all we need to do isshare when we can.

Continued on page 45.....

Sharing is CaringWhen we share, we break out ofthe boundaries of our ego andrecognise the humanity of the

other. Sharing breeds inter-dependence, happinessand harmony. For a planet

with limited resources, sharing is the way forward.

Food for the soul: Children dip into each other's lunch boxes

Body-Mind-Spirit


Continued from page No. 44

The cycle of endless kindness It is easy to give something

when you have plenty, but whenyou give from the little you have,you perform a great act of kind-ness. In India, sharing has alwaysbeen synonymous with giving. Weknow when we share that we maybe left with lesser than we need,and yet we give whatever we can,whenever we can. We often evendo it unknowingly, like when wesqueeze in closer on a local trainto accommodate a fourth personon a seat meant for three. It is inour ways and in the air webreathe. Let me tell you a storywhich to me has epitomised shar-ing in the truest sense.

The lady on the train When returning home late one

night, I was gifted the chance towitness a random act of kindness.

The hustle at the train station hadquieted, as I got on the 10.40 pmAndheri local at Churchgate. I satby the window, waiting for thehorn to signal departure, when alady got on the train and sat in theseat facing my own. She had threebulky bags with her and in thepalm of one hand was a smallnewspaper bundle with soakedspots of grease. Her wearinesswas evident in the sigh she letescape as she plonked down on theseat before me. We smiled at eachother, sharing both our exhaustionand the relief of knowing we werefinally headed home. Just as shearranged her bags on the seat nextto her, and unfolded the creasednewspaper packet, a little boycame in begging for alms.Knowing she had something readyto offer, he went up to her andtapped her knee.

She looked at him and for afraction of a second her tired eyes

flashed with annoyance before sheset her lips in a faint smile andbroke her vada-pav in two. Thelittle boy took the half she offeredhim and got off the train whichhad just begun to pull out of thestation. Being aware of the factthat I was watching her intently,she looked at me again and smiled.

“At least, I can enjoy half of it inpeace,” she said. The depth of herwords never left me. Indeed, ifyou have known hunger or thirstyou will recognise it in anotherliving being. This is the very wis-dom which compels the homelesson our streets to share their foodwith the animals who live beside

them. Without a roof over theirhead, they allow stray dogs tosnuggle up beside them on theirchadars on cold winter nights. Itmakes our stomachs fuller, oursleep sweeter, and ignites a warm-ing flame in our hearts because weknow from experience that a littlediscomfort shared is better thannothing shared at all.

Through the transcendent lawswhich govern such acts, painshared somehow decreases whilejoy shared multiplies. The ladyprobably received more blessingsthan the little boy who was gifteda meal. For while he ventured toask, she exercised benevolencewith the little she had.

The earth isn’t a commodity,nor is it an inheritance we cansquander. It is our home, andmeant to be shared with genera-tions to come. Although we havebeen gifted limited resources, weare also blessed with the capacityto be boundless in our acts of giv-ing. To ensure we have a futureworth sharing, we must sharewhat we have today.

Sharing is Caring

"Talent is always conscious ofits own abundance, and does

not object to sharing."--Solzenythyn

"In the sweetness of friendshipletthere be laughter, andsharingof pleasures. For in the dew oflittle things the heart finds itsmorning and is refreshed”.--

Khalil Gibran

Dalai Lama - Many faiths, one truthby Tenzin Gyatso HH The Dalai Lama

Finding common ground amongfaiths can help us bridge needlessdivides, at a time when unified

action is more crucial than everWhen I was a boy in Tibet, I felt that

my own Buddhist religion must be thebest, and that other faiths were somehowinferior. Now I see how naïve I was, andhow dangerous the extremes of religiousintolerance can be today.

Though intolerance may be as old asreligion itself, we still see vigorous signsof its virulence. In Europe, there areintense debates about newcomers wearingveils, or wanting to erect minarets, andepisodes of violence against Muslimimmigrants. Radical atheists issue blanketcondemnations of those who hold reli-gious beliefs. In the Middle East, hatredof those who adhere to a different faith,fan the flames of war.

Such tensions are likely to increase asthe world becomes more inter-connectedand cultures, people, and religionsbecome ever more entwined. The pressurecreated tests more than our tolerance – itdemands that we promote peaceful co-existence, and understanding, acrossboundaries.

Granted, every religion has a sense ofexclusivity as part of its core identity.Even so, there is genuine potential formutual understanding. While faithful toone’s own tradition, one can respect,admire, and appreciate, other traditions.

An early revelation for me was mymeeting with the Trappist monk, ThomasMerton, in India shortly before his pre-mature death in 1968. Merton told me hecould be perfectly faithful to Christianity,yet learn in depth from other religions likeBuddhism. The same is true of me, anardent Buddhist; learning from theworld’s other great religions.

A main point in my discussion with

Merton was how central compassion wasto the message of both Christianity andBuddhism. In my readings of the NewTestament, I find myself inspired by actsof compassion of Jesus. His miracle of theloaves and fish, his healing, and his teach-ing, are all motivated by the desire torelieve suffering.

I am a firm believer in the power ofpersonal contact to bridge differences, soI have long been drawn to dialogues withpeople of other religious outlooks. Thefocus on compassion, which Merton and Iobserved in our two religions, strikes meas a strong unifying thread among all themajor faiths, and these days, we need tohighlight what unifies us.

Take Judaism, for instance. I first vis-ited a synagogue in Cochin, India, in1965, and have met many rabbis over the

years. I remember vividly the rabbi in theNetherlands who told me about theHolocaust, with such intensity, that wewere both in tears. I have learnt how theTalmud and the Bible repeat the theme ofcompassion, as in the passage in Leviticusthat admonishes, “Love your neighbour asyourself.”

In my many encounters with Hinduscholars in India, I have come to see thecentrality of selfless compassion inHinduism too – as expressed, for instance,in the Bhagavad Gita, which praises thosewho “delight in the welfare of all beings”.I am moved by the ways this value hasbeen expressed in the life of great beingslike Mahatma Gandhi, or the lesser-known Baba Amte, who founded a lepercolony not far from a Tibetan settlementin Maharashtra in India. There he fed and

sheltered lepers, who were otherwiseshunned. When I received my NobelPeace Prize, I donated to his colony.

Compassion is equally important inIslam, and recognising that has becomecrucial in the years since Sept. 11, espe-cially in answering those who paint Islamas a militant faith. On the first anniversaryof 9/11, I spoke at the National Cathedralin Washington, pleading that we shouldnot blindly follow the lead of some in thenews media, and let the violent acts of afew individuals, define an entire religion.

Let me tell you about the Islam Iknow. Tibet has had an Islamic communi-ty for around 400 years, although myrichest contacts with Islam have been inIndia, which has the world’s second-largest Muslim population. An imam inLadakh once told me that a true Muslimshould love and respect all of Allah’screatures. And in my understanding,Islam enshrines compassion as a core spir-itual principle, reflected in the very nameof God, the ‘compassionate and merciful',that appears at the beginning of virtuallyeach chapter of the Koran.

Finding common ground among faithscan help us bridge needless divides, at atime when unified action is more crucialthan ever. As a species, we must embracethe oneness of humanity as we face glob-al issues like pandemics, economic crisis,and ecological disaster. At that scale, ourresponse must be as one.

Harmony among the major faiths hasbecome an essential ingredient of peacefulco-existence in our world. From this per-spective, mutual understanding amongthese traditions is not merely the businessof religious believers – it matters for thewelfare of humanity as a whole.

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama,is the author, most recently, of Toward aTrue Kinship of Faiths: How the World’sReligions Can Come Together.Courtesy:The New York Times

The Dalai lama has relinquished his political responsibilities


Honor

Siddhartha Mukherjee wins Pulitzer for his cancer book

Siddhartha Mukherjee, a Delhi-borncancer specialist doctor won the 2011Pulitzer Prize in general non-fiction

category and became the fourth person of In-dian origin to get the honour.

The Pulitzer Prize is an American awardfor achievements in newspaper and onlinejournalism, literature and musical composi-tion. The prize was established by Hungari-an-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer andis administered by Columbia University inNew York.

Mukherjee's book 'The Emperor of AllMaladies: A Biography of Cancer' was alsolisted in "The 10 Best Books of 2010" byThe New York Times and the "Top 10 Non-fiction Books" by The Time magazine. He isalso listed on Time's "100 Most InfluentialPeople" list this year.

Mukherjee is currently serving as Assis-tant Professor of Medicine at Columbia Uni-versity in New York City. He is also a staffcancer physician at Columbia UniversityMedical Center.

Before Siddhartha Mukherjee, otherthree persons of Indian origin who baggedthe Pulitzer have been: Gobind Behari Lalwho in 1937 won the Pulitzer in the Report-ing category for his coverage of science atthe tercentenary of Harvard University whenhe was working for Universal Service;Jhumpa Lahiri for fiction for her collectionof short stories "Interpreter of Maladies" andjournalist-writer of Indian origin GeetaAnand.

Says Siddhartha about his book, "It's

about the history and future of cancer. I wasinspired by a woman being treated for a kindof stomach cancer when she asked - whereare we going? I could not answer personallynor direct her to any book, a magazine or awebsite that would answer her questions in amost longitudinal, most complex sense thatwhere are we going, what happens next."

"Cancer is a disease that envelopes our

life so fully that it was like about someone,an alter personality, an illness that has a psy-che, a behaviour, a pattern of existing. Wemeet two characters who sort of thread thebook together. One is Sidney Farber - apathologist who stumbled upon a vitaminanalog while performing autopsies that be-came a chemotherapeutic drug and a collab-orator Mary Lasker - a socialite who con-

vinced Richard Nixon to force the nation tolaunch a war on cancer. We know so muchmore about cancer now than even a decadeago that cancer is not caused by exogenousevents but by the disregulation of endoge-nous genes. It is a long historical battle thatwill continue for many years using every sin-gle force that we have that will cure canceror find a way to control it."

Siddhartha Mukherjee, and title page of hisaward winning book

The Arts

April May 2011 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 47

Shobana dazzlesBy K. Raman

As one who appreciates the finerthings in life, I fully soaked up themasterly display of divine dancing

of Shobana. If dance is the finest of allexpressive fine arts, it was what weenjoyed on March 6 at Riverside Theatrewhere Shobana performed a brilliantBharathanatyam recital in front of a sell-out house. We in Sydney were seeing herperform after a lapse of 17 years. Duringthis big gap nothing had gone astray, ratheronly some remarkable enhancement hastaken place in her dancing.

She remains fit; her movements areprecise and effortless to the onlookers.Shepresented six items and danced to pre-recorded music sung by various elitesingers of Carnatic field. She danced per-fectly synchronized to the music and itwent well in clockwork precision. The for-mat of the dance was not conventional, butit was a refreshing mix, pleasant to see.Her repertoire consisted of:Mallari inGambheera Natai, a pure version of templedance, followed by Jananni, a Keerthanampiece dedicated to Goddess Devi. This wasfollowed by Varnam, a stuthi on GoddessKali.

A Sringara bhava piece followed by a

number “Vishama karan", which broughtout a standing ovation from the apprecia-tive audience.

The final item was Dashavatharam.Before presenting each item Shobanaexplained the item and displayed her lan-guage skill and discursive capacity. Shebriefly talked about the technical side of

classical dancing. Overall, she danced 90minutes straight. Ours was the third showafter Perth and Melbourne, three succes-sive nights of straight dancing. Any dancercan be proud of fulfilling such a tightlypacked itinerary, with lengthy travels atnights and lack of sleep.

What impressed me was the perfection

she displayed in her Abhinaya, bhava,agility in movements and impeccable layavidwath. She cemented all these withManodharma, creativity and originality.There are no words in me to complimentShobana for her athleticism in jumps andspins.

She struck many a chiseled pose in theprocess of dancing.The planning and orga-nizational efforts of SooryaKrishnamoorthy and Sudhir Das of theSydney chapter of Soorya deserve a specialmention. An impeccable light and soundcomponent, a houseful of appreciativeaudience, and immaculate dancing all col-lectively made the show a visual treat.

The second half of the show involveda 14 minute Bharathanatyam recital by theup and coming Savitha Shastry. She didNrithyopaharam, a Ninda sthuthi on Sivaand Shakthi. She concluded the show danc-ing to a Marathi piece “Rusali RadhaRusali Madhava”.

Savitha is a gifted dancer in the con-ventional mould.Swetha Das, the youngM.C., did her part very well. It wasrefreshing to see the presenter utteringSanskrit and Tamil words without any mis-pronunciation. For a change the showbegan dot on the scheduled time of 6.30p.m. Well done!

The author with the dancer Shobana

Sydney Writers’ Festival presents ‘Power’ as themeSydney Writers’ Festival has an

impressive line up of literary eventsand writers with the brightest minds

in the worlds of literature, politics, sci-ence, economics, criticism and journalismconfirmed to appear in Sydney between 16and 22 May. Sydney Writers’ Festival(SWF) this year uses the theme ‘power’.Power in its many incarnations … thepower of the writer to shape the world withwords, the awesome forces of nature underpressure, the power of the individual toeffect global change and the constantlyshifting nature of power itself: who’s gotit, and why, and how technology is forcinga shift.

The Opening Address (event number 7)will be given by Fatima Bhutto, writer andscion of the famous political family ofPakistan. Fatima is the granddaughter offormer Prime Minister Zulfikar AliBhutto, the niece of former Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto, and daughter of MurtazaBhutto.

She came to fame after the appearanceof her first book, a collection of poems,titled Whispers of the Desert. She receivednotable coverage for her second book,8:50a.m. 8 October 2005. She is active inPakistan's socio-political arena, supportingher mother Ghinwa Bhutto’s party thePakistan Peoples Party (Shaheed Bhutto)but has no desire to run for political office.She believes in democracy and notbirthright politics. Her latest book is Songsof Blood and Sword: A Daughter'sMemoir, which is a biography of theBhutto family, mainly the political accountof her father Mir Murtaza Bhutto.

At SWF Fatima will talk aboutPakistan, a nation ‘on the verge of a nerv-ous breakdown’. This year’s stellar inter-national line-up includes 2010 Man BookerPrize winner Howard Jacobson andacclaimed literary writer David Mitchell

and many other distinguished writers. TheFestival continues last year’s tradition ofpresenting provocative political events,with this year’s line-up including DavidHicks, John Howard, Senator JohnFaulkner, Lindsay Tanner, Bob Carr, AlanRamsay, Barrie Cassidy, GeorgeMegalogenis, Rodney Cavalier, LenoreTaylor and Bob Ellis.Howard Jacobsonwill talk about his Man Booker Prize winfor The Finkler Question in conversationwith Man Booker International PrizeJudges’ Chair Rick Gekoski, and DavidMitchell will be talking to GeordieWilliamson about his latest novel, TheThousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (The

Finkler Question, 69; The Thousand Stylesof David Mitchell, Event 109).RobertManne, Waleed Aly and GeorgeMegalogenis discuss options on how wecan come up with a humane, compassion-ate and fair set of policies on asylum seek-ers. (For Those Who’ve Come Across theSea, Event 43).Award-winning Indianjournalist Sonia Faleiro on the tough livesled by Mumbai’s bar girls (BeautifulThing, Event 122). Sonia Faleiro is theauthor of ‘Beautiful Thing: Portrait of aBombay Bar Dancer’. She is the author ofa novel, ‘GirL’, and is a contributing edi-tor at Vogue India. She was born in India,studied in the United Kingdom and cur-

rently lives in San Francisco. Her event issupported by the Australia-India Council.

Another highlight includes Who’sAfraid of WikiLeaks? (Event 136):Suelette Dreyfuss, Guy Rundle, BarbaraGunnell, Andrew Fowler and RobertManne dissect the influences of the JulianAssange myth and examine the role ofWikiLeaks in our democracy.

And 2011 is the year of prizes withMelbourne’s Dr Ranjana Srivastava short-listed for her book ‘Tell me the Truth’ forPremier’s Literary Awards in the non-fic-tion category. More than half of theSydney Writers’ Festival events are free.Visit: www.swf.org.au and book a spot.

Fatima Bhutto from the famous Pakistani political famlily will givethe opening address.

Award-winning Indian journalist Sonia Faleiro will speak onthe tough lives led by Mumbai’s bar girls


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Body Mind Spirit


By Kanaka Ramakrishna

Ramayana, the most ancient and popu-lar epic, is the encyclopaedia of theancient Indian life and wisdom por-

traying an ideal civilization. It has been thecherished heritage of the whole Hindu worldfor the last several thousand years and formsthe basis of their thoughts and of their moraland ethical values. Ramayana depicts the lifeof Rama and Sita, the ideals of the Hindus.

“Sita is the idealised India. There is noother pauranika story that has so permeatedthe whole nation, so entered into its very lifeand has so tingled in every drop of blood ofthe race as this ideal of Sita … The Hindusnever think of Rama without rememberingSita,” wrote Swami Vivekananda.

The character of Sita is the most funda-mental ideal to the cultural consciousness ofIndia. She is the epitome of purity andvirtue. Her life is apparently conceived asthat of suffering, docile, meek, subjected toand oppressed by circumstances.

The deeper study of her life as depictedin the Ramayana would reveal that she wasnot always docile and yielding. She wasstrong, smart, brilliant, gentle and graceful.She spoke up when needed. She could forceher will if it was proper. When there wassuffering, she accepted it voluntarily, evento the extent of her remorse. If there wasDharma to be upheld, she did it more strik-ingly than Rama did.

Perhaps no woman in the epic literaturecan come to the stature of Sita as portrayedby Valmiki. Her matchless beauty, tender-ness of emotion, kindness to a fault, sincer-ity, faithfulness, brilliant intellect and wis-dom, extraordinary courage, endurance be-yond human limits – all these traits found aharmonious place in her. Though victimisedand oppressed, her extraordinary strengthand power, which originated from truth, pu-rity and chastity, showed best in times of ad-versity.

Sita wanted to accompany the banishedRama to the forest. Rama tried to convinceher to stay in the palace, saying the life inthe forest would be very difficult for her.Sita boldly but lovingly said, “ If you startfor the most impenetrable of forests even to-day, I will lead the way, crushing the grassand thorns in front.”

As the constant companion of Rama, shelived in the forest happily. The sight of thegolden deer which she wanted to have, madeRama to chase it for her. When Marichacalled out for help in Rama’s voice, shewanted Lakshmana to go and help Rama.But Lakshmana was convinced that Ramawas not in trouble and he refused to go tohelp him as he was obeying Rama’s instruc-tion to protect Sita.

Sita pleaded him first and again told himto go and help Rama, but he did not budge.Out of her love and obsession for Rama’ssafety, she breathed fire and brimstone inwhat she told Lakshmana. Later, she mag-nanimously repented for her excessive out-burst of emotion at a time of too much men-tal anguish. Making amends for the cruelwords she used against Lakshmana, she sentwords through Hanuman: “Sita sends very

solicitous enquiries about Lakshmana, whois very gentle, pure, competent and entirelydear to Rama.”

Sorrows do not come in singles, but inbattalions. Sita’s abduction by Ravana andher captivity in Lanka were the days of un-bearable kind of misery and suffering. Yet,she showed amazing strength and character.After Ravana’s death, when she was freedand brought to her husband Rama, he re-fused to accept her. She had to undergo theordeal of fire, Agnipariksha, to prove herchastity and she came out unscathed.

The God of fire not only responded toher prayers, but also gave a testimony of herchastity. He told Rama, “Sita is sinless andpure of heart. Please accept her.” It is onlyafter this proof Rama accepted her. Thecoronation of Rama appeared to havebrought an end to her trials and tribulationsand looked like her happy days were ahead.But it was only for a brief period.

After the coronation, Rama and Sitalived in Ayodhya happily for some time.Nothing was wanting to keep their cup of joyfull to the brim. Meanwhile, Sita had be-come pregnant. Rama wanted to please hispregnant wife by satisfying any desire shemight have had in her mind. Sita had onlyone desire; to visit the holy hermitages of theRishis residing on the banks of the Gangaand pay her respects to them.

Events happened soon which brought anabrupt end of their happy life. A tragic andan unending suffering was in store for Sitaon this earth. Being a dutiful king and car-ing for the welfare of his people, Rama oneday asked one of his counsellors to find outand report to him the opinions and feelingsof his subjects regarding him as a king of thepeople.

For most of the citizens Rama was Dhar-ma incarnate, but the kingdom was not with-out a few people who judged even Rama’sactions. They not only whispered aboutRama’s errors and wrongs but also spoke

openly in public places. They thought themost unbecoming thing Rama did was takingSita back to him.

Rama was grieved. He sent for his broth-ers who saw him in tears. They soon learntthe cause of his grief. Rama himself was inno doubt about Sita’s purity. He had not for-gotten that he had her chastity tested by godAgni before she joined him. But he was aking whose Raja Dharma was first and fore-most to him. He could not bear the censureof his people.

The highly sensitive and dutiful Ramadecided to abandon and banish Sita from hisKingdom. He ordered Lakshmana to takeout Sita in a chariot the very next morningand leave her alone in the forest near thehermitage of sage Valmiki. What an ironythat Sita had asked just a few days back to betaken to the forest to visit the sages! What away of fulfilling the desire of the pregnantwoman Sita, who was carrying his progeny!

Lakshmana broke the news of her ban-ishment and told her that he was only car-rying out the command of the King Rama.Hearing this heart-breaking news, Sita said,“O Lakshmana, really the creator createdthis body of mine to experience sorrow.”She did not blame Rama or anybody elsethough extremely hurt and pained, sheblamed herself for being born as a woman.

However pure and perfect she was, Sitacould not escape the calumny. The most un-deserved calumny was acted upon her by herhusband, her very own soul mate, Rama.The outcome of the whole thing was a greattragedy, too deep for tears.

But chance and circumstances werekinder to her than the King and the slander.Sage Valmiki saw the exiled Sita, warmlywelcomed and accommodated her in his her-mitage.

Sita soon gave birth to twins in the her-mitage of Valmiki. The boys were namedKusa and Lava. As a single mother, Sitaraised her children with the help of the

women of the ashram and moved on withher life. Valmiki brought up the two boys inthe best manner possible. He composed theRamayana and taught them to sing melodi-ously.

Meanwhile, Rama had decided to per-form an Aswamedha sacrifice. A huge gath-ering had assembled to watch the sacrifice.Valmiki, with his two disciples, Kusa andLava also attended.

The sage took advantage of the occasionof the sacrifice and made the boys recite theepic of the Ramayana. He instructed themnot to accept any monetary reward and to in-troduce themselves only as the disciples ofValmiki. Rama, along with several otherslistened to the recital of his own story.Pleased with their melodious recital, he or-dered the award of 1800 gold coins to theboys, who of course declined to accept it.The people noticed the remarkable resem-blance between Rama and the boys. Onlytheir bark clothes and clotted hair suggestedtheir forest dwelling.

Listening to the story of his own life in-duced Rama to think of taking back Sita. Butthe king in him demanded that Sita shouldsolemnly make an affirmation of her purityand provide satisfactory proof of it publiclyin an assembly.

Valmiki agreed to this and thingsseemed to be shaping towards a happy end-ing. The assembly met where many sages at-tended on the invitation of the king. Therewas a vast gathering of people belonging toall walks of life. Curiosity was writ on everyface.

Valmiki entered the assembly, followedby Sita behind him with downcast look, fold-ed palms, tear-filled eyes and her heart seton Rama. Valmiki, speaking with the weightof long and hard penance, assured the vastgathering headed by Rama, that Sita waspure and chaste; her character was blamelessand she always held her husband as her godand Kusa and Lava were Rama’s own sons.Rama replied that though personally he wasconvinced of Sita’s virtue and chastity, hewould like her to give a sure evidence of herpurity to the public.

Sita, clothed in ascetic dress, with fold-ed hands, pitiful eyes and bent down head,spoke her swan song:

“In as much as I have with my mind nev-er thought of any one other than Rama, mayMother Earth give me an asylum!

“In as much as I adore Rama, bythought, word and deed, may Mother Earthgive me an asylum!

“If I have spoken the truth declaring thatI know none other than Rama, may MotherEarth give me an asylum!”

Hardly had Sita sworn and prayed, theearth opened, a throne came up and carriedher down and away. Mother Earth warmlyreceived her daughter into her bosom in theunderworld.

Thus ended the mortal journey of Sita.But was this the end? Let us listen to the

assurance of Swami Vivekananda: “Sita hasgone to the very vitals of our race. She isthere in the blood of every Hindu man andwoman; we are all the children of Sita.”Sita is immortal.

There’s no Rama without SitaThe character of Sita is the most fundamental ideal to the cultural consciousness of

India. She is the epitome of purity and virtue. Her life is apparently conceived asthat of suffering, docile, meek, subjected to and oppressed by circumstances. But a

deeper study would reveal that she was not always docile and yielding.


Columns

By Karam C. Ramrakha

Karam C. Ramrakha, a long timelawyer, writer and columnist, uses his expertknowledge of Fiji with his 16 years as a FijiMP (1966-1982) to assess the current situa-tion in Fiji. He can be contacted on phone(02) 98082760, fax (02) 8025014, mobile0434 986 123 or his email address [email protected]

Red China (has there ever been anotherone?) watches nervously as there arewidespread demonstrations in the

Arab and other worlds against dictatorshipsand corrupt governments. People's Power ala the French Revolution is causing jitters inmany palaces and castle like strongholdswith which ‘absolute authority’ clothes itself.As our PM wings her way to China, there iswidespread arrest of dissidents (the defini-tion is arbitrary and left to the untrained dis-cretion of the enforcing authority).

Fiji, which looms so large in our part ofthe world, is quiet and recent informationfrom Fiji reveals that few are challengingFrank Bainimarama's authoritarian rule.What makes Fiji so unique is that Frank hasruled since late December 2006 and there isno sign of dissent or discord against his rulein Fiji.

High born Chief Epeli Nailatikau, whohappens to have said of Rabuka's coup in1987 - "I abhor coups", has thrown his lotwith Frank and grace the office of Presidentin his Interim Rule.

What gives? Frank has dismantled theGreat Council of Chiefs, that powerful bodywith which the British created to entrenchtheir rule of the Fijians in Fiji. He has chal-lenged Fiji's lawyers, all 440 of themincluding a large number of taukei or indige-nous Fijians, by dismantling the statutory

authority of Fiji Law Society. Frank Bainimarama has refused to let the

Methodist Church, the most powerful bodywhich was largely responsible for Rabuka's1987 coup and which commands blind sup-port of a majority of the indigenous Fijian,hold meetings and paralysed its convention.

You would expect that the indigenousFijians would march down the streets ofSuva as they did in 1968 (against the electedIndians) or 1987 (in support of Rabuka'scoups) or 2000 (in support of the SpeightSaga). But nothing is happening.

Yes, life has become hard in a sense forFrank. The EEC has withdrawn aid, thesugar industry is on the point of collapse.No new jobs are being created and the coun-try is now heavily dependent on tourism asits chief money earner. The economist MrBhiman Prasad, a university academic whoonce briefly held the Presidency of the nowdefunct National Federation Party, predictsdoom and gloom but no one locally seems tobe listening to him.

The Australian Government, with its"Sit, Fido" mentality on all matters Pacificand used to be wielding the Big Stick allthese years, is furious. The Americans nowcautiously advocate a kinder approach to Fijifearing that Frank will take it on an Asianjourney to China and India. That would beanathema to the West.

And what of the people in Fiji? TheIndians (those who still remain either bychoice or unable to migrate) are happy. Forthe first time Frank has decreed that theycan call everyone, including themselves,"Fijians". Once that was anathema to theRuling Whites and the indigenous who sawus eternally as Vulagis or Guests. TheIndians are told they are equal and willhave, in the 2014 elections which Frank willhold, "One Man, One Vote, One Value” - a

concept we urged since 1929. That a Fijianruler will hand it down without any urgingsis real news.

Besides, Frank has abolished all forms ofdiscrimination…no preferred treatments ofany race. What else could we Indians want.And Parliament? An elected democracy?Elected MPs to safeguard our interests?Oddly enough, no one seems to care anymore in Fiji.

With a new State Government in NewSouth Wales, it is high time we, Indians,knocked on the doors of our parliamentari-ans and asked for all restrictions, includingaid, travel and political, to be lifted againstFiji? We will meet stiff resistance but itwould be good to have Fiji people stage ademonstration.

Will Australia's attitude to Fiji change?Not likely, if, what I call, "The StrangeJulian Moti Affair" is any guide. Julian isone of the hottest legal brains, and once akid genius, to come out of Fiji. He has heldposts and lectured at Delhi's prestigiousJawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) andBond University. In the distant past he wascharged with sexual assault or rape of aminor in Vanuatu. Those trumped upcharges were thrown out not only by thelocal magistrate but by a court of appealwhich included Fiji's then Chief Justice.However, because of the weak nature of thecase there was no "autrefois acquit" or for-mal acquittal.

Moti established law offices in PapuaNew Guinea and the Solomons. He becamea force and in 2004 Australia reacted when itappeared Moti would become AttorneyGeneral of the Solomons. Why? BecauseMoti opposed Australia's $800 million aid tothe Solomons (RAMSI, as it is called) whichhe saw was a cynical financial exercise beingused to establish a neo colonial hold on the

Solomons. Most of that money did not reachthe ground: much of it came back toAustralia in highly inflated salaries.

So the then Australian Ambassador tothe Solomons tried to revive the sexualassault charge on Moti. However, whenMoti did not get the post, the charges weredropped. However, some three years ago,Moti did become AG of the Solomons. Herethey were: Howard, Ruddock, Downer bay-ing for his blood. The media painted him asan absconding scoundrel. His passport wascancelled, which was shown on TV (PrivacyRights, forget it). He was kidnapped in theSolomons, brought to Queensland and incar-cerated in the notorious Brisbane WatchHouse.

He got bail and after painfully slowresponse he has dredged, at great cost tohimself, how the Australian Federal Policeobtained further statements from the "vic-tim", gave her and her family to boot largesums of money for their alleged maintenanceand upkeep.

Justice Mullins of the Queensland HighCourt stayed prosecution saying the pay-ments to the victim tainted her evidence tothe extent that Moti could not get a fair trial.The Queensland Court of Appeal disagreedbut recently Moti has won the right to appealto our High Court of Australia.

The local media, which gleefully report-ed the pursuit of Moti as he was brought toQueensland, has not reported what tran-spired in the High Court of Australia. Butthe father of the victim died recently andmade a deathbed confession that the chargesagainst Moti were false and the family washounded by the Australian Federal Policeand the authorities to give evidence againstMoti. The victim, meantime, has left ourshores and it is therefore dubious she willreturn to give evidence.

Fiji, an international enigma

Facing up to an addiction

The 76-year-old woman walked downthe hallway of Clearview AddictionsClinic, searching for the right depart-

ment. She passed signs for the “HeroinAddiction Department (HAD)”, the“Smoking Addiction Department (SAD)” andthe “Bingo Addiction Department (BAD)”.Then she spotted the department she waslooking for: “Facebook AddictionDepartment (FAD)”.

It was the busiest department in the clin-ic, with about three dozen people filling thewaiting room, most of them staring blanklyinto their Blackberries and iPhones. A mid-dle-aged man with unkempt hair was pacingthe room, muttering, “I need to milk mycows. I need to milk my cows."

A twenty-something man was prone onthe floor, his face buried in his hands, whilea curly-haired woman comforted him.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be all right.”“I just don’t understand it. I thought my

update was LOL-worthy, but none of myfriends even clicked the ‘like’ button.”

“How long has it been?”“Almost five minutes. That’s like five

months in the real world.”The 76-year-old woman waited until her

name was called, then followed the recep-tionist into the office of Alfred Zulu,Facebook Addiction Counselor.

“Please have a seat, Edna,” he said witha warm smile. “And tell me how it all start-ed.”

“Well, it’s all my grandson’s fault. Hesent me an invitation to join Facebook. I hadnever heard of Facebook before, but Ithought it was something for me, because Iusually have my face in a book.”

“How soon were you hooked?”“Faster than you can say ‘create a pro-

file’. I found myself on Facebook at leasteight times each day –- and more times atnight. Sometimes I’d wake up in the middleof the night to check it, just in case therewas an update from one of my new friendsin India. My husband didn’t like that. Hesaid that friendship is a precious thing andshould never be outsourced.”

“What do you like most aboutFacebook?”

“It makes me feel like I have a life. Inthe real world, I have only five or sixfriends, but on Facebook, I have 674. I’m

even friends with Juan Carlos Montoya.”“Who’s he?”“I don’t know, but he’s got 4,000

friends, so he must be famous.”“Facebook has helped you make some

connections, I see.”“Oh yes. I’ve even connected with some

of the gals from high school –- I still callthem ‘gals.’ I hadn’t heard from some ofthem in ages, so it was exciting to look attheir profiles and figure out who’s retired,who’s still working, and who’s had somework done. I love browsing their photos andreading their updates. I know where they’vebeen on vacation, which movies they’vewatched, and whether they hang their toiletpaper over or under. I’ve also been playing agame with some of them.”

“Let me guess. Farmville?"“No, Mafia Wars. I’m a Hitman. No one

messes with Edna.”“Wouldn’t you rather meet some of your

friends in person?”“No, not really. It’s so much easier on

Facebook. We don’t need to gussy ourselvesup. We don’t need to take baths or wear per-fume or use mouthwash. That’s the bestthing about Facebook –- you can’t smell any-one. Everyone is attractive, because every-one has picked a good profile pic. One of thegals is using a profile pic that was taken, I’mpretty certain, during the EisenhowerAdministration.”

“What pic are you using?”

“Well, I spent five hours searching for aprofile pic, but couldn’t find one I reallyliked. So I decided to visit the local beautysalon.”

“To make yourself look prettier?”“No, to take a pic of one of the young

ladies there. That’s what I’m using.”“Didn’t your friends notice that you look

different?”“Some of them did, but I just told them

I’ve been doing lots of yoga.”“When did you realize that your

Facebooking might be a problem?”“I realized it last Sunday night, when I

was on Facebook and saw a message on mywall from my husband: ‘I moved out of thehouse five days ago. Just thought you shouldknow.”

“What did you do?”“What else? I unfriended him of course!”

THE HUMOR OF MELVIN DURAI

Body-Mind-Spirit


Vasthu way to cleanse home

Three gasps and my moth-er passed away at 1pm onMarch 23, 2011.

Myself, a friend and thehousekeeper were at her side.

Mother had a look of mildsurprise on her face when sherealised that this was it.

We three looked at eachother with disbelief. She wentso fast and silently.

The girls went off to buyitems for offerings plus newsarongs and a woven mat.

I closed Mama’s eyes andmouth and kissed her tenderlyon her forehead. I held herhand until they returned.

Ari and Montini madeofferings. We then undressedmother and washed her withgreat care.

We put her in new clothes.We then lifted her onto the matwhich was then placed on a sin-gle mattress.

Ari, Montini, Winder andmyself then lifted her into theopen pavilion.

She was then covered by thenew sarongs. There she lay sur-rounded by nature and beauty.

I called my friends in fromnext door and along with mystaff we paid our last respectsto mother.

The girls blessed her withholy water, lit incense andrecited mantras.

I recalled mother’s sense ofhumour throughout her 88 yearsand how she loved to dance andlaugh.

I kissed her again and saidfarewell.

After two hours I asked allto leave. I then sat with motherfrom 4pm until 10am the nextmorning.

By then she had turned coldand heavy. I am glad we hadthat time together and that herlife force had a chance to departfully.

At 10am the next day Istarted the round of phone callsto the doctor, consulate, head ofthe village and of course thepolice.

By noon my house wascrawling with police. Not sure

why so many had to come.They took photos, asked

questions and finger printedmother.

I was not happy with all theblack ink left on her fingers soI made a point of getting teatree oil and wiping her fingersclean.

I then laced her fingerstogether and rested her handson her chest.

I then carefully covered herwith the sarongs.

That night I was told sheappeared on Bali TV. No per-mission given or asked for.

The police left after 2 hours.Then many friends and villagerscame into the garden to paytheir respects.

At 4pm the ambulancearrived to take mother to thecrematorium.

By 5.30pm all the wellwishers had arrived there also.

She was placed with greatlove and care onto a table withher head pointing to theentrance of the burning place.Balinese music played in thebackground. She was then cov-ered with rose petals andincense filled the air. I kissedher again. Mantras and prayerswere recited. We sat at her feet

for 30 minutes. When it wastime she was sprinkled withyoung yellow coconut water.

The doors opened and werolled her into the crematorium

I lit the torch and in shewent.

Less than one hour later allthat remained was a handful ofashes.

Again young coconut waterwas sprinkled on her.

Very ceremonially a whitecloth was laid out on a table.

A terracotta pot was placedon it and that was surroundedby rose petals.

Gently mother’s ashes wereput into the pot along withmoney and then the lid.

The white cloth was thentied around her.

The Balinese believe thatit’s essential to scatter the lovedone’s remains on the ocean orthe soul will not be at peace.

My mother’s request to mewas that I keep her ashes withme always.

Not sure if Hindu beliefs arecorrect but I am going withmother’s last wishes.

There she sits in the cornerof my bedroom and each day Iplace a flower on her and saythank you.

DEATH IN BALI

Inner Space

By Faith Harper

Keeping your house clean is notenough. You need to get rid of thenegative energy lurking around.

We clean our houses physically, but howmany of us are actually cleansing the energywithin our home?

Failure to remove negative and staleenergy trapped in a dwelling or work spacecan be harmful because the structure willbecome a sick building.

In such homes, the occupants will fall illfrequently, feel dull and lethargic, and expe-rience sleep disorders.

In the case of an office, there will be anincrease in employees reporting sick or beingdisunited, and bizarre occurrences, like hys-teria.

Vasthu Sastra recommends that one car-ries out energy space cleansing during theperiod when the full moon wanes, to whenthe new moon emerges.

Before you embark on space cleansing,make sure you are relaxed, feeling good andready to perform the therapy.

Cleansing the space hurriedly and hap-hazardly will not give you the desiredresults.

Women should not do it during theirperiods, or if they are expecting, because

then their energy will be focused elsewhere.It is encouraged that you switch off appli-

ances like the radio, television and mobilephones so that you will not be distracted.

Switching off the air-conditioner and fanalso makes the process easier.

Children who are very sensitive to shiftsin energy are advised not to be present dur-ing the process.

Food and drinks should be sealed and putaway because space cleansing stirs up stag-nant energy, and exposed food can absorbthe negative energy.

The different cultures have their ownspace cleansing methods but there varioussimilarities.

If you have pets, watch how they behave,particularly where they sit or sleep, prior toyour energy clearing.

In Russia, nobody will enter a new housebefore the cat does because the Russiansbelieve the creature has a unique ability tosense negative energy and to feed on it. They

will watch carefully to see where the crea-ture lies down first and would never think ofplacing their bed or sofa on that spot.

Dogs, on their other hand, are drawn toareas with a cluster of positive energy. Soyour dog’s favourite spot could be a goodplace for activities, or a corner to spend a lotof your time.

Once you have identified a cat spot,spend more time cleansing that area to getrid of the bad energy.

In Vasthu, in the olden times, as long asan individual allows a cow to walk into anew house first, all negative issues will beflushed away because the cow is considereda powerful sacred animal.

Salt bathBefore performing space cleansing, pre-

pare yourself by having a sea salt rub, andbathe with sandalwood paste to strengthenyour aura.

Salt helps to absorb and neutralise any

negative energy that might be on you thatday. Normally after a shower, you shouldfeel much lighter and more ready to connectto the energy of your house.

Dress in clean, comfortable clothes andremove all jewellery. Ideally, work with barefeet.

Some cultures use candles, sage, bells,camphor and scented oil in the cleansing. Ifind that incense from sandalwood and frank-incense is one of the most powerful agents toeliminate harmful energy.

In Vasthu, fire energy should be invokedbecause our (human) energy field is magneticin nature, and fire energy can easily enterour electromagnetic field and cleanse it.

Start from the front door and walk clock-wise; finish at the point you started. If youare using incense, allow time for the smoketo rise up to the door and window frames,ceiling and corners.

Alternatively take salt and place it in thefour corners of the “sick” room and sprinklesea water on it.

After the salt has been placed on thefloor for a day, get a broom that is used onlyfor your cleansing therapy and sweep it up.Then discard the salt in the toilet.

This exercise can be carried out regularlyor whenever you feel something is not rightin the positive energy flow in the house. It isrecommended that you take a bath after eachcleansing.

Remember that once you have purifiedthe energy of your house, you will need tostablise the fresh energy. This can be doneby performing a prayer following whateverfaith you belong to.

T. Selva is the author of the best sellingbook titled Vasthu Sastra Guide. He can becontacted at [email protected] Website:

www.vasthusastra.com

VasthuSastra

By T. Selva

Not sure if Hindu beliefs are correct but I am going with mother’slast wishes. There she sits in the corner of my bedroom and

each day I place a flower on her and say thank you.

Some cultures usecandles, sage, bells,

camphor and scented oil in the

cleansing. I find thatincense from

sandalwood andfrankincense is one

of the most powerfulagents to eliminate

harmful energy.


Santram's Grey Page

The prices, particularly of fruits andvegetables, are skyrocketing. Theusual excuse is the devastating

floods and cyclone Yasi in Queensland. Pensioners and low income people are

the most affected. Certain items are goingoff their buying list. Banana is one suchitem, selling at around $12-$15/kg or$2.50 for one banana - the cost of a pen-sioner’s travel ticket. (I remember last timethe banana prices went through the roofwas about five years ago and that, too, wasas a result of another cyclone Larry.)

It looks like only the rich will be able toafford this common man’s fruit.

Centrelink may be tempted to use‘Banana test’ for the people to qualify forpensions. It could go like this: if you eatone banana a day, you lose 10% of yourentitlement and 10 bananas a fortnightshould make you a non-pensioner.

To enforce the ruling, Centrelink canintroduce ‘RBT’ - Random Banana Testingmobile buses, that can stop any elderly per-son with a bag and search it.

Furthermore, State Governments couldintroduce ‘Banana coupons’ for the peoplewho are ‘addicted’ to banana eating, to beissued on doctors’ recommendation only.

Jokes aside, there should be some con-trol over price rises as the pension increas-es announced recently have already been‘eaten up’.

The government had announced thatfrom 20 March, age, disability and carerpensioners and veterans’ income supportrecipients will receive an extra $13.20(equal to the cost of a barbecue chicken) afortnight for singles on the maximum rate,and $19.80 a fortnight for couples com-bined on the maximum rate. These increas-es are not good enough to cover the rise ingrocery prices, water and electricity.

Relieve yourself of sinuspressure

Change of weather can take a toll oneveryone. It's the ideal condition for one tocatch a chill and block the sinuses. Here'swhat you can do to keep your sinusesrelieved.

1. Steam: Pour boiled water into alarge bowl and add a cut, raw onion. Placea towel over your head and the bowl, cre-ating a tent. Breathe in the steam deeply for15 minutes. The vapours help open sinuspassageways, relieving pressure.

2. Oil respite: Use the hot water andtent method above, but add three to fourdrops of eucalyptus oil instead of theonion. Eucalyptus has been used for cen-turies to open respiratory passageways.

3. Ward off infection: Add three drops

of tea tree oil to the hot water if sinus pres-sure is from a bacterial or viral infection.According to the Mayo Clinic, tea tree oilhas been used in many cultures for cen-turies and is believed to have antimicrobialand antiseptic properties. While there isevidence to support these theories, the clin-ic advises that more conclusive studies areneeded.

4. A dash of spice: Add spicy peppersor cayenne to your foods. Cayenne con-tains capsaicin, which relieves the inflam-mation that can cause sinus pressure andimproves circulation to painful areas.Sprinkle cayenne pepper on chilli or burg-ers, or add some fresh hot peppers to asalad.

5. Massage power: Massage is a pow-erful way to overcome sinus pressure.Press the index fingers above the middle ofyour eyebrows and massage the area insmall, circular motions for 15 seconds.Move the fingers to the area between theeyebrows and massage. Repeat as often asnecessary. This is a technique of acupres-sure, which is a popular alternative to allthe other medicinal treatments.

Diet—do’s and don'ts forsenior citizens

As you age, your needs for nutritionincrease. Your body is in a degenerativemode. Growth of cells and tissues is slowbut repairing of tissues is at a higher rate.

You suffer from low immunity, poordigestion, weak bones and muscles andfatigue. Activity of the body reduces andyou may be a victim of metabolic disorderslike diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, highblood pressure or high cholesterol, etc. Allthis does not mean that you have to eatless. Eating right becomes more importantthan eating less.

Requirement of vitamins, proteins,minerals, fluids and carbohydrates changesin old age. And all these nutrients have tobe packaged in easy-to-digest and easy-to-absorb, small frequent meals which arespread out and spaced well over the entireday.

Ageing is a process which is associatedwith a lot of free radical release in thebody. It is also called as oxidation of cells.Weak muscles, greying and falling of hair,reduced skin tone, susceptibility to coldsand coughs and lack of energy are symp-toms of oxidation. Vitamins like vitamin E,C, A and some minerals are essential inright quantities to reduce the ill-effects offree radicals in the body.

At times, food becomes very importantduring old age as that is the time when youcan spend some time with the rest of themembers of the family. Women especiallyshould be very careful about their diet inold age. Due to menopause, the ability toabsorb calcium reduces and they may getweakness in joints and susceptibility tofractures very easily. Cooked food shouldbe soft and easy to chew, in case there havebeen teeth extractions or dentures.

Tips to right eating inold age

- Add plenty of natural colours to yourdiet. Two to three meals of seasonal fruitswill work as antioxidants and prevent con-stipation.

- Egg whites are a good source of pro-

tein important for repair of worn out cellsand tissues. For vegetarians, paneer madefrom low-fat milk is good substitute.

- Use of mustard oil or olive oil is agood cooking medium as both prevent highcholesterol and improve good cholesterolin the blood.

- Six to seven small meals in a day aiddigestion, absorption and prevent fatigue.

- Vegetables soups without cream andthickening agents are a healthy meal to betaken as a supper.

- Always leave your home with a smallhealthy snack in your bag to avoid eatingout.

- Avoid processed foods with artificialcolours and preservatives.

- Potassium-rich foods like cuminseeds (zeera), sweet limes, fenugreek seeds(methi) and coconut water are good formuscular flexibility, prevent water reten-tion and swellings. They also contribute tomaintain blood pressure.

- For a high dose of nutrition, add curdto the dough for rotis to improve the bio-logical value of the cereal, and to keepthem soft.

- Oats porridge is an excellent break-fast for seniors.

- Drink about 15 glasses of water in aday to prevent dehydration. In old age,muscle density reduces and susceptibilityto dehydration is always very high, espe-cially in summer.

- Do not overcook the food to make itsoft as by doing so one destroys vital nutri-ents. Instead, select foods which need lesstime to cook.

- Also, exercise regularly, stretch anddo yoga to ensure absorption of nutrientswell.

In case you suffer from any medicaldisorder, consult a professional nutritionconsultant for your individual requirement.

Sleeping with lightson?..... Not a good idea

Sleeping with the lights on could leaveyou with a nasty hangover the next day, anew study says. Researchers have warnedthat the glow emitted by a TV or the reas-suring presence of a night-light such as alamp or table light could actually impact onmental health. It is the latest in a long lineof warnings about the potential dangers ofdisrupting the body's natural sleep-wakecycle, reports the Daily Mail.

Sadly enough the ill-effects of the lightsat night doesn’t end here. Studies have alsoshown that working in night shifts canincrease breast cancer risk. Last month, astudy linked night-time light with weightgain, which surely is a major concern formany. Researchers from Ohio StateUniversity in US looked at the effects ofexposing rodents to dim light during theirsleeping hours. At the equivalent of havinga TV switched on in a darkened room, thelamp used was not bright, but it was

enough to affect the animals’ behaviour.Those exposed to the dim light showed

more symptoms of depression compared tothe hamsters in the standard light-darkcycle. Further tests showed differences inthe structure of a brain region called thehippocampus. Researcher Tracy Bedrosianfrom Ohio State University said: “The hip-pocampus plays a key role in depressivedisorders, so finding changes there is sig-nificant. Even dim light at night is suffi-cient to provoke depressive behaviour,”Bedrosian's colleague neuroscientist RandyNelson said.

Garlic could help treathypertension

A new study has suggested that garlicmay be useful in addition to medication totreat high blood pressure.

Garlic supplements have previouslybeen shown to lower cholesterol andreduce high blood pressure in those withuntreated hypertension.

In the latest study, researchers from theUniversity of Adelaide looked at the effectsof four capsules a day of a supplementknown as aged garlic for 12 weeks. Theyfound systolic blood pressure was around10mmHg lower in the group given garliccompared with those given a placebo.

“Garlic supplements have been associ-ated with a blood pressure lowering effectof clinical significance in patients withuntreated hypertension,” the BBC quotedresearcher Karin Ried as saying.

"Our trial, however, is the first toassess the effect, tolerability and accept-ability of aged garlic extract as an addi-tional treatment to existing antihyperten-sive medication in patients with treated, butuncontrolled, hypertension," Ried said.

(Experts say garlic supplements shouldonly be used after seeking medical adviceas garlic can thin the blood or interact withsome medicines.)

(Disclaimer: The Health tips in the arti-cle are taken from various well establishedand reliable sources and are given to you ingood faith. However, readers are remindedto take care and consult their doctor if notsure, as no responsibility can be acceptedby the writer of this column or The IndianDown Under).

Best Consultant Doctor Simon is known throughout

London as one of the best consultants onarthritis. He always has a waiting room fullof people who need his advice and special-ist treatment.

One day, an elderly lady slowly strug-gles into his waiting room. She is com-pletely bent over and leans heavily on herwalking stick. A chair is found for her.Eventually, her turn comes to go intoDoctor Simon’s office.

15 minutes later, to everyone’s sur-prise, she comes briskly out of his roomwalking almost upright. She is holding herhead high and has a smile on her face.

A woman in the waiting room says,"It's unbelievable, a miracle even. Youwalk in bent in half and now you walk outerect. What a fantastic doctor he is. Tellme, what did Doctor Simon do to you?"

"Miracle, he just gave me a longerwalking stick."

Just for SeniorsBy Santram Bajaj

HUMOUR

Health & Well-being


Hindi Humour

˜tudtü bü ytsfU˜ rf{UfUux fUt Nti\fUslql fUe n= ;fU výka awfUt ni>

YfU mbg :t sc Cth; bü ntpfUelöch Jl vh :e vhk;www yc gn YfUIrl"ol rhë;u=thO fUu ô:tl vh výka dRoni>

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˜urfUl yCe Ce IJl zuO fUu WorldCup fUe stu "tfU ni Jn Ntg= rfUme ytihbü lnek ni>

ytv Rmu rf{UfUux fUt bntCth; fUnmfU;u nî>

..gr= gn bia Cth; ytihvtrfUô;tl fUu cea ntu ;tu Rmu YfU;emht bntgw° gt rsnt= mbSt st;tni>

Rm JMo mkgtudJN, Cth; fUtbw\fUtc˜t vtrfUô;tl fUu mt: semifianl bü ;i ýyt>

vrfUô;tl fUu Œ"tl bkºte bia =uFluytgu, Cth; fUu Œ"tl bkºte, ht³[vr;,mturlgt dtk"e, htý˜ dtk"e... rfUm rfUmfUt ltb ˜ü, cm gqâ fUrngu rfU Cth; fUtnh c\zu mu c\zt vtp˜exeNgl Jntk :t>bia ytv =uF ne awfUu nî, ¢gt \sch=ô;:t>

Cth;eg cÖ˜uc\stü lu ct\se btheytih btunt˜e mu bwöcRo stlu fUe mextü vh\fUç\st sbt r˜gt>

ytih yc :t mc mu c\zt bw\fUtc˜tytih Jn Ce =qmhu v\ztume e ˜kfUt mu,rsm bü bwh˜eÆthl simu bntl dü=Tct\s :u>

nb lu bia =uFlu fUe vqhe ;igthe fUeytih xeJe fUu mtblu ytml ˜dt fUh zxTdgu> bia c\zu vwh\stuh ;hefUu mu Nwh¥ ýyt>e˜kfUt lu c\ze rnöö; r=Ft fUh 274 fUtfUtVUe c\zt ôfUtuh F\zt fUh r˜gt>

Cth; fUe vthe Nwh¥ fUhlu ytguDwhà=h cÖ˜uct\s muñJtd ytih mral;ü=w˜fUh, rsl vh Cth; fUe se; fUeWöbe=ü rxfUe ntu;e nî>

vh gn ¢gt mnJtd? =qmhu ne ctp˜vh btr˜kdt fUu rNfUth ntu dgu> ôxurzgbbü FtbtuNe At dRo> nb Ce Dcht mu dgu>yCe nb mkC˜ Ce lné vtgu :u rfUbr˜kdt lu =qmht rNfUth bth r˜gt ytihJn Ce mral ;ü=w˜fUh! bi=tl bü bt;bAt dgt simu rfUme fUe bti; ntu dRo ntu>˜tudtü fUtu btr˜kdt bü htJK l\sh ytlu˜dt, htbtgK WÖxe ntu;e r=FtRo =ulu˜de>

nbtht Ce bl fUwA rJra˜; ntu WXtytih ytâFü ctuS˜ me ntulu ˜dé >

rVUh l stlu ¢gt ýyt bia fUt h¥Fne c=˜t ýyt vtgt > bi=tl bü xebü nec=˜e vtRok> mc rb¢m xtRov fUe y:to;fURo =uNtü fUu rF˜t\ze =tu xebtü bü cxu ýY:u>

ytih rVUh cý; ne htuafU ytihyltuFt bia =uFlu fUtu rb˜t> ytRoguytv Ce =uFü ......

=uFt ;tu cirxkd fUh :u Cth; fUuŒ"tl bkºte e blbtunl rmnk ytih ctQ˜h:u vtrfUô;tl fUu ht³[vr; \sh=the>blbtunl rmnk se lu vn˜e ne ctp˜ vhAT¢fUt =u btht ytih athtü ytuh mu ;tr˜gtüytih merxgtü fUe ytJ\stü mu bwöcRo fUtbi=tl dqks WXt> =qmhe dü= IctQkmhO fUuÁv bü ytRo > blbtunl se \sht˜\zF\ztgu ytih \sh=the mtrnc bwôfUhtgu> ;emhe ctp˜ \sht "ebe :e ytih blb-tunl rmnk :tu\zt IfUkÜgq\sO ntu dgu ytih\sh=the mtrnc lu LBW fUe yve˜ fUh=e stu umpire lu lné btle> ati:e ctp˜ vhblbtunl se lu hl ˜ule atne ytih Ctduvhk;w =qmhe ytuh fUu cÖ˜uct\s yzJtlese lu Wànü Jtrvm Cus r=gt ˜urfUlDwxltü lu mt: lné r=gt ytih Ju IhlytQxO ntu dgu> mthu VUe˜zTo\s FwNe muYfU =qmhu fUu d˜u rb˜ hnu :u>

yzJtle se fUt mt: =ulu ytguCth; fUu gtud dwh¥ ôJtbe htb =uJ, yvluñht;u ýY ct˜tü ytih abfU;e ýRo =t\ZefUu mt:>

sh=the lu Wànü c\ze D]Kt mu =uFtytih Fqc ;u\s dü= VUîfUe stu Wl fUe =t\ZefUtu Aq;e ýRo rlfU˜ dRo> ctct htö=uJ lufUvt˜ Ctr; fUe, =tu YfU ˜öcu mtkmr˜gu ytih yd˜e dü= fUtu VUum fUhlu fUur˜gu ;igth ntu dgu>

ytuJh fUe ytrFhe dü= vh htb=uJse lu atifUt ˜dtlu fUe fUturNN fUevhk;ww aqfU dgu ytih ctp˜ WA˜ fUh WlfUu c˜tü bü st yxfUe, stu umpire lu ytfUhrlfUt˜e> Rm cea \sh=the mtrnc luIhead before wicket' fUe yve˜ fUh =e,stu third umpire fUu vtm výkae> ¢gtürfUrf{UfUux bü Yumt fUtuRo Á˜ lné :t, Rmr˜gu Iltpx ytQxO r=gu dgu ôJtbe se>

˜urfUl sh=the mtrnc fUtu gn mcyåAt lné ˜dt ytih Ju dtr˜gtü vu W;hytgu >

W"h nhCsl rmnk fUtu dwômt ytdgt ytih bi=tl bu yt Dwmu ytih fUtVUedbtodbeo ntu dRo > fUË;tl "tule fUtu CtdfUh ytlt v\zt cea catJ fUu r˜gu>

IICßse, ¢gt ;wb lu rVUh mu ;turfUme fUtu IbkfUeO lné fUn r=gt?OO

IIlné, gth btne, bî lu ;tu Jne IbtâfUeO fUnt :t>

IIyhu! ¢gt d\sc fUh r=gt, stl;ulné Jn Rm fUt ym˜e b;˜c mbS;uniOO

IIvh bî rfUme mu zh;t lné nqâ OORm a¢fUh bü fUtVUe W:˜ vw:˜

ba dRo ytih fUwA mbS bü lnek ytgtrfU fUtil rfUm fUe ytuh ni>

=uFt ;tu f{Ue\s vh yrb;tC cåalyvlt cÖ˜t Dwbt hnu ni nî ytih mt: büdt Ce hnu nî, II=u Dwbt fUuOO, ytihctQ˜h ni mturlgt dtk"e>

mturlgt se lu yvle mt\ze fUt vÖ˜qXefU rfUgt ytih yrb; se lu yvleôVUu= =t\Ze vh nt: VUuht> mturlgt se lu

vn˜t dü= fUwA Rm ;hn mu Ispin' rfUgtrfU cåal se ¢˜el ctQÖz

ntu dgu>... Œk;w Iltu ctpÕ, umpireraÖ˜tgt ytih Rm ;hn mu yrb;tC fUtulife line rb˜ dRo>

IInt nt ! fUtil cludtfUhtu\zvtr;?OO, yrb;tC \stuh \stuh munkmlu jdu, IIyCe =tu ˜tRoVU ˜tRl ytihcae nîOO

yrb;tC fUe nkme Wm Ntuh bü =cfUh hn dRo stu pavillion fUe ytuh mu WXt:t >

IIbî Ce Fu˜qkdt, yc buhe cthe niOO,sch=ô;e bi=tl bü yvlt cÖ˜t WXtguDwmu yt hnu :u ˜t˜q vÞmt= gt=J ytihWl fUu veAu Wl fUe ceJe htc\ze =uJeWànü htufU;e ýRo fUn hne :é

IIlt stytu m©gtâ Aw\zt fUu c©gtâ, \fUôb ;wönthe bî htu v\zqkdeOO

vhk;ww Ju lné h¥fUu ytih mturlgt se fUuytdu rd\zrd\ztlu ˜du rfU IIË˜es, nbüCe bti\fUt =ersgu l bizb!OO

vhk;ww mturlgt se lu Wànü fUtuRo Dtmlné zt˜e ytih cuathu yvlt mt bwân ˜ufUh hn dgu>

bi=tl fUu =qmhu rfUlthu mu mwhuN

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Dilip Mahanty Column

By Dilip Mahanty

India’s triumph in the WorldCup had many contributors -the ‘never say die’ team spir-

it; a batting line up which con-tributed consistently; a relativelyweak bowling attack which per-formed beyond expectation atcrunch times; an erstwhile lethar-gic fielding unit which tookwings in the elimination rounds;a coach who instilled self belief,and a captain with a goldentouch, who led from the front!

India scored five centuries inthe tournament led by the incom-parable Sachin Tendulkar, two,and followed by Sehwag, Kohliand Yuvraj with one each.Gambhir did not score a centurybut helped solidify the teamcause with four half centuries. Atotal of five centuries and 13 halfcenturies were scored by theIndian batsmen. Though the bat-ting stumbled on occasions, espe-cially when it imploded duringbatting power plays, on thewhole it remained consistent.With seven batsmen, India hadthe strongest batting line up inthe tournament and the resultsshowed.

The bowling attack was heav-ily Zaheer-centric. Harbhajandisappointed as a wicket taker.Ashwin was good wheneveroffered a chance but was strange-ly ignored for most of the tourna-ment. Munaf Patel and Nehra

performed sporadically.Sreesanth and Chawla were notdisciplined.

The surprise package in theattack was Yuvraj Singh. Withclever variation and subtlechanges in pace he lured many ofthe unsuspecting batsmen to theirdoom. He ended up with 15wickets, just behind Zaheer whotopped the wicket tally of 21 forthe tournament along side Afridi.Zaheer was the “go to” man forIndia whenever situation wasbecoming grave. His late swing -both traditional as well asreverse, change of angle andpace had most batsmen worried.He is easily the best swingbowler in the world today.

India’s fielding was always ahandicap and it showed in thequalifying rounds when somefielders were “escorting the ballsto the boundary”. It became amajor worry as fielders likeNehra, Munaf, Zaheer andHarbhajan conceded easy onesand twos through their inabilityto chase or intercept.

Whenever India’s best field-er, Raina, came into the field asa substitute, he could not remainthere indefinitely. However,when Raina replaced YusufPathan, who had a modest tour-nament, in the eliminationrounds, the fielding standard wasraised considerably. Raina andKohli cut off singles on eitherside of the wicket and helped byYuvraj in the gully area andTendulkar in the outfield thefielding perked up.

Seeing the 38 years oldTendulkar haring around theboundary like a teenager, the‘slow coaches’ in the side wereshamed into alacrity. Even theystarted running desperately andcutting off runs.

Raina brought new energy to

the team not only through hisown fielding but also eggingother fielders to lift their game.Raina also contributed two nerve-less innings to beat Australia andPakistan in the eliminationrounds at a time when Indian bat-ting was floundering.

Gary Kirsten, the coach, hasplayed a major role in instillingself-belief and confidence in theteam. During his time India haspeaked in 20-20s, in Tests andnow in the ODIs. His effort hasbeen tireless and his quiet, unob-trusive manner has had a calmingeffect on a team full of egos andvolatility. His painstaking meth-ods to correct technical faults, his‘one on one’ interaction with theplayers, his behind the sceneapproach and his genuine interestin the players’ progress endearedhim to the whole team.

Earlier, Greg Chappell, withhis authoritative approach, hadput off most of the players.Kirsten, on the other hand,forged a strong unified unitthrough deep understanding ofthe players’ individual needs.India was reluctant to let go ofhim when his contract ended.

However, equal credit forIndia’s success goes to its talis-manic captain MS Dhoni whoseMidas touch ensured World Cupvictory. Under Dhoni’s captaincyIndia had already become the No1 Test team. Even the inaugural20-20 World Cup was won byIndia under Dhoni’s stewardship.In this tournament, Dhoni didmake a few mistakes in selectionof players and through constantchanges in batting order. Hisinsistence on playing Chawla ini-tially instead of Ashwin attractedcriticism. So did his pushingYusuf up the batting order andKohli lower down. His own bat-ting form deserted him most of

the tournament. In spite of allthis, he remained calm and ledthe team to success mostly on‘gut feeling’. He seemed to havean instinctive knack for bringingin successful bowling changeswhen they were needed.

Dhoni did not follow any ofthe established norms used byother captains. He trusted hisown instincts. In the final, whilebeing criticized for ignoring

Ashwin and selecting the way-ward Sreesanth he did not let thataffect him. In a master stroke ofleading by example, he promotedhimself above Yuvraj against SriLanka and went about methodi-cally whittling down the sizeabletotal of 274 with Gambhir aspartner. In an intelligent blend ofquick singles and twos in the ini-tial stages and power hittingtowards the end he silenced crit-ics who were clamouring for hishead. He drove India home witha mighty six!

Who would have thought thata young railway ticket collectorat Kharagpur station eight yearsago would rise to the helm ofIndian cricket and lead it to thevery top? Who would havethought this lad, of humble back-ground, from a town calledRanchi, would become the rich-est and the most sought aftercricketer in the world? Whocould have imagined him makingan estimated $20 million a yearthrough corporate endorsementswhich even the great iconicTendulkar can’t match?

Yes, Dhoni does have theMidas touch! May India prosperfor a long time under his captaincy!

‘Midas’ Dhoni strikes World Cup gold Under the talismanic Dhoni’s captaincy India had already become the No 1 Test team. Even the

inaugural 20-20 World Cup was won by India under Dhoni’s stewardship. He has also brought homethe most coveted cricket crown—the World Cup. For himself, too, he is making an estimated

$20 million a year through corporate endorsements, more than Tendulkar.

Skipper Dhoni, sporting a new shaved head look, posing with theWorld Cup trophy at Gateway of India in Mumbai.

Raina brought new energy to the team not only through his own fielding but also egging other fielders to lift their game.

Gary Kirsten, the Indian coach, has played a major role in instillingself-belief and confidence in the team. During his time India has

peaked in 20-20s, in Tests and now in the ODIs.

The Kersi Meher-Homji Column


Skipper, ‘keeper’ and batsman MS Dhonismacking a six off Sri Lanka’s NuwanKalusekara to win the World Cup for

India will remain tattooed on my mind as longas I live. The scenes of celebration that fol-lowed, especially the victorious team Indialifting legendary Sachin Tendulkar to take alap of honour was stuff dreams are made of.

It was a triple crown for India: winningthe World Cup after 28 years, Dhoni winningMan of the Match and Yuvraj Singh adjudgedPlayer of the World Cup.

In many ways the 10th ICC Cricket WorldCup held in the Indian sub-continent this yearwas most enjoyable with high octane on-fieldperformances, shock results, a fabulous tie,two hat-tricks and no major controversies. Allthis was climaxed by the best team winning.

Even the minnows had their day withIreland defeating England as Kevin O’Brienhit the fastest century (113 runs off 63 ballswith 13 fours and 6 sixes) and Netherland’sRyan ten Doeschate scoring a quickfire 119,also against England. Poor mother England!

In earlier rounds in both Groups A and B,topsy-turvy results coloured the Cup. InGroup A, Australia beat New Zealand whobeat Pakistan who beat Australia. And inGroup B, England beat South Africa who beatIndia who beat Bangladesh who beat England.

India had to clear major obstacles in the

knock-out phase, then the reigning championsAustralia in the quarter final and arch enemiesand in-form Pakistan in the semi final. Indiaovercame these challenges with ease, thanksto better all-round performances, self beliefand “generosity” of Pakistani fielders whogave Tendulkar four lives.

The two strongest teams in the 2011World Cup -- Sri Lanka and India -- lockedhorns with each other in the most watched andfluctuating Final.

Each team had earlier played eight match-es, winning six and losing one -- India losingto South Africa and Sri Lanka to Pakistan.India tied with England and Sri Lanka’smatch against Australia was rained off. Soeach team had won 6 of the 7 games complet-ed, a win percent of 85.71.

Also, it was for the first time that twoteams from Asia -- India and Sri Lanka -- metin a World Cup Final.

Each country had won the CWC once(India in 1983, Sri Lanka in 1996) andentered the Final three times (India in 1983,2003 and 2011; Sri Lanka in 1996, 2007 and2011). Apart from Australia entering theFinal six times (in 1975, 1987, 1996, 1999,2003 and 2007, winning in 1987, 1999, 2003and 2007), West Indies storming in the Finalthrice (1975, 1979 and 1983, winning the firsttwo) and England three times in 1979, 1987

and1992 but without winning the Cup), noother country had entered the Final threetimes. The Final in Mumbai attracted 50,000spectators and had a global TV audience ofclose to half a billion.

Mahela Jayawardene’s magnificent centu-ry gave Sri Lankans some hope. Then the fallof Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar cheaplygave Sri Lanka the upper-hand. But watchedon TV by most Indians and Sri Lankans inAustralia till 4 am on April 3, GautamGambhir, Virat Kohli, Dhoni and YuvrajSingh, first slowly then surely, took India toa marvellous and well-deserved victory.

Although Tendulkar’s globally anticipat-ed100th international century did not eventu-ate in the Final, he is still way ahead of oth-ers. Against his 99 hundreds in 629 interna-tionals, Australia’s Ricky Ponting has 69 cen-turies in 511 internationals to his name; awhopping 30 tons behind.

In these internationals, Sachin has aggre-gated 32,803 runs at 49.78, Ricky comingnext with 25,651 runs at 47.24.

In the history of CWC, Sachin is the onlyone to top 2000 runs, smacking 2278 runs at56.95 in 45 matches. Ricky is second best butover 500 runs behind (1743 runs at 45.86 in46 matches). The two are top century makers;Sachin with 6 and Ricky 5.

In the 2011 World Cup, Sachin (482 at

53.55 in 9 games) was second highest run-get-ter, being18 runs behind Sri Lankan openerTillekeratne Dilshan (500 at 62.50 also in 9games). Sri Lanka’s captain KumarSangakkara was the third highest (465 at93.00 also in 9 matches) followed byEngland’s Jonathan Trott (422 at 60.28 in 7).

Player of the 2011 World Cup YuvrajSingh scored 362 runs at 90.50 and took 15wickets at 25.13 in 9 matches, becoming theonly one to amass 300 runs and take 15 wick-ets in the same CWC. [Yuvraj is featuredelsewhere on the Sports page.]

Cricket’s controversial legend MuttiahMuralitharan bid farewell to internationalcricket in the Final. The only bowler to trou-ble Tendulkar, Muralitharan took 68 wicketsat 19.63 in 40 World Cup matches, secondonly to Australian great Glenn McGrath’srecord of 71 scalps at 18.19 in 39.

Murali’s 1334 wickets in 483 internation-als will perhaps never be broken. He holdsrecords in both Tests (only one to capture 800wickets) and in one-day internationals, 534.The only other bowler to top 500 ODI wick-ets is Pakistan’s Wasim Akram (502).

So statistically, Tendulkar and Muralihold almost all records in international crick-et. What contrasting characters; controversy-free Tendulkar and highly controversialMurali.

Indians delirious with joy as Dhoni lifts the World CupIt was a triple crown for India: winning the World Cup after 28 years, Dhoni winning Man of the Match and Yuvraj Singh adjudged Player of the World Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar gets a victory lap around his home ground, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. His teammates dedicated the World Cup to the Little Master.

Indians all over the world celebrated the historic triumph of the Men in Blue soonafter the match ended with a glorious six by Dhoni. This picture is from Jackson

Heights, a South Asian conclave in New York.



Before February this yearIndia’s left-handed all-rounder Yuvraj Singh

was known as a hit or miss phe-nomenon. Often he flattered todeceive throwing away his wick-et when well set and take a fewwickets here and there. His bigclaim to fame was smashingEngland’s fast bowler StuartBroad for six sixes in an over inthe 2007 ICC World Twenty20at Durban.

But the 2011 World Cup hasmatured the ebullient Yuvrajinto a solid rock -- both a match-savior and a match-winner. Indiaowes her entry into the Final andsubsequent victory more to himthan the dare-devilry of VirenderSehwag, the classical stroke-playof Sachin Tendulkar, GautumGambhir and the swings ofZaheer Khan. For Yuvraj washere, there and everywhere,winning four Man-of-the-Match(MoM) awards from the firstseven matches, including in thevital Quarter Final clash againstreigning champion Australia lastmonth.

He has become the thirdplayer to be adjudged MoM fourtimes in a single World Cup,

joining Aravinda de Silva (SriLanka) in 1996 and LanceKlusener (South Africa) in 1999.

Also, Yuvraj has become thefourth player to perform thedouble of 300 runs and 10 wick-ets in a single CWC.

The other three are India’sKapil Dev (303 runs at 60.60and 12 wickets at 20.42 in 8matches in England, 1983),Zimbabwe’s Neil Johnson (367runs at 52.43 and 12 wickets at19.42 also in 8 matches inEngland, 1999) and Sri Lanka’sSanath Jayasuriya (321 runs at40.13 and 10 wickets at 31.50 in10 matches in South Africa,2003).

In nine matches in thisWorld Cup, Yuvraj scored 362runs at 90.50 and took 15 wick-ets at 25.13 to become the onlyplayer to make 350 runs andgrab 15 wickets in a singleWorld Cup.

He has recorded usefulscores while chasing the winningtarget in World Cup history. Heis yet to be dismissed whilechasing successfully at the CWCin five matches. Here are hisunbeaten scores while on thevictory trail:

50 runs off 53 balls (SR94.33) against Pakistan atCenturion and 58 off 64 (SR90.62) vs. Kenya at Cape Town,both in 2003; and now in 2011,50 off 75 balls (SR 66.66) vs.Ireland at Bangaluru, 51 off 73balls (SR 69.86) vs. Netherlandat Delhi and 57 off 65 balls (SR87.69) in the do-or-die QuarterFinal against Australia atAhmedabad last month.

Here are Yuvraj’s all-roundefforts (50 runs and 2 wickets) inthe current CWC:

50 not out and 5-31 vs.Ireland at Bangluru, 51 not outand 2-43 vs. Netherlands atDelhi, 113 and 2-48 vs. WestIndies at Chennai and 57 not outand 2-44 vs. Australia atAhmedabad.

Unknown to many, Yuvrajis the only cricketer to accom-plish the all-round double offifty runs and two wickets in amatch four times in one compe-tition in the 36 year history ofCWC.

Also, he is the only all-rounder to register a fifty andcapture five wickets in the sameWorld Cup match (vs. Irelandthis year).

Yuvi the savior and match winner

Yuvraj Singh holding aloft the Man of the Series trophy. India owesher entry into the Final and subsequent victory more to him than thedare-devilry of Virender Sehwag, the classical stroke-play of Sachin

Tendulkar, Gautum Gambhir and the swings of Zaheer Khan.

Brotherhood of two World CupsThe recent World Cup

shares one striking similar-ity with the inaugural

World Cup in 1975.Both busted with the brother-

hood of cricket. In the 1975 WCin England, three pairs and a trioof brothers represented theircountries.

They were Ian and GregChappell from Australia,Mushtaq and Sadiq Mohammadfrom Pakistan, Hedley and GeoffHoward from New Zealand andBarry, Dayle and Richard Hadleealso from New Zealand.

There were six sets of broth-ers in the 2011 World Cup:David and Mike Hussey fromAustralia, Nathan and BrendonMcCullum from New Zealand,Kamran and Umar Akmal fromPakistan, Niall and KevinO’Brien from Ireland, Collinsand David Obuya from Kenyaand James and Shem Ngoche,also from Kenya.

One of the most talked aboutpersonality of the recent WC wasIreland’s dashing all-rounderKevin O’Brien.

When England amassed 327against minnows Ireland lastmonth, there remained only threecertainties in life: death, taxationand a huge win for England. ButKevin O’Brien had not read thescript.

He came to bat with the scoreat 5-111, with Ireland needing217 more runs for an impossiblewin against the Ashes holders.

Throwing caution to the windhe hit 113 runs off 63 balls(strike-rate 179.36) belting 13fours and 6 sixes, reaching histon in 50 balls – the fastest centu-ry in World Cup. And Irelandwon by 3 wickets with 5 balls tospare to create a mega upset.

Kevin said, "Yes, the inningswas a bit of a surprise to mebecause it's not every day you hit100 off 50 balls… We had a fewbeers and a few glasses of cham-pagne to celebrate.”

Nicknamed `Paddy', strong-ly-built Kevin played for Kentand Nottinghamshire in theEnglish county championship.

His father Brendan was also afirst-class cricketer.

Niall, Kevin's elder brother,is a left-handed wicket-keeperbatsman. In their next matchagainst India, Niall scored 46 andadded 113 runs with skipperWilliam Porterfield for the thirdwicket after Ireland was 2-9.

About his future plans Kevinsays, "Niall and I are open tooffers from English county teamseven though England is consid-ered the oldest enemy of theIrish"

Pakistani brothers Kamranand Umar Akmal and NewZealanders Brendon and Nathan

McCullum are familiar names toAustralians.

Butter-fingered and contro-versial wicket-keeper batsmanKamran was accused of deliber-ately dropping catches in theJanuary 2010 Sydney Test.Younger brother Umar Akmal isa talented batsman.

Brendon McCullum is adashing wicket-keeper batsmanwho shot to fame with a blisteringunbeaten 158 (off 73 balls with13 sixes and 10 fours) in the firstever IPL match in 2008 for theKolkata Knight Riders. The elderbrother Nathan is less known.

Now to the other brothers of

the 2011 WC. The Obuya broth-ers, Collins and David have beenplaying for Kenya in World Cupssince 2003. As a leg-spinning all-rounder, Collins Obuya did wellin the 2003 World Cup. Hegained a contract withWarwickshire but soon after, hisgame fell apart

The Ngoche brothers, Jamesand Shem, were also in the Kenyasquad to add to the Obuya broth-erhood.

Considered a promising offspinner, James Ngoche is on alearning trip in the World Cup.Younger brother Shem is knownfor his economy rate.

Other brothers Nehemiah andLameck and sisters Margaret andMary have also representedKenya.

But the greatest brotherhoodof cricket was demonstrated dur-ing the India-Pakistan semi-finalwhen India’s and Pakistan’sPrime Ministers sat together.

To me this was the highlightof the 2011 World Cup. Evenbrilliant batting of VirenderSehwag, Sachin Tendulkar,Mahela Jayawardene, KumarSangakkara and Ross Taylor, thegritty century by Ricky Pontingin his last match as Australiancaptain, the all-round excellenceof Yuvraj Singh, splendid spin-ning by Shahid Afridi and seam-ing by Zaheer Khan paled incomparison.

If cricket can unite enemies,what more do we want?

In the World Cup of 1975 and of 2011, quite a few pairs of brotherswere seen in action. But the greatest brotherhood of cricket was

demonstrated during the India-Pakistan semi-final in Mohali whenIndia’s and Pakistan’s Prime Ministers—Manmohan Singh and

Yousaf Raza Gilani-- sat together.

Brothers Kamran and UmarAkmal from Pakistan both

played in the World Cup 2011in the subcontinent representing

their country.



Are umpires on their way out?Will they be redundant by 2020?They count six balls efficiently.

They give correct decisions over 90 per-cent of the time but the players go forreferrals, just in case.

It slows down the game althoughspectators enjoy repeated replays withthe new-fangled technologies struttingtheir stuff. But for how long will we seesuch interruptions?

Referrals are for rank bad decisions.But batsmen and bowlers/fielders puttheir fingers under the arms of their otherhand demanding a “review” almostevery time a decision goes against them.

So will a day come when every deci-sion will be answered by technology?Will human umpires be replaced byrobots armed with all technologies withreplays from every angle: hawkeye,snicko-meter, hotspot; you name it?

Umpiring in the recent World Cupran into controversy with Ireland captainWilliam Porterfield strongly criticisingumpire Asoka de Silva’s decision to giveGary Wilson out lbw despite replaysshowing the batsman had offered a shot

to a delivery that had hit him outside theline.

Porterfield’s comments came after amatch when the decision according tohim cost Ireland the crucial match.

“I am still trying to understand itmyself. The feedback we have got so faris that the ball hit Wilson outside the lineand the umpire judged him [to be] notplaying a shot. I don’t know how manypeople agree with that,” Porterfield saidafter Ireland’s 44-run loss to the WestIndies.

The ball in question, delivered byWest Indies captain Darren Sammy,pitched outside the off stump and cut into hit the outside of Wilson’s front pad.Wilson was trying to nudge it but failed.The umpire thought he was offering noshot and raised his finger instantly. Asurprised Wilson asked for a review.

Third umpire Bruce Oxenford told deSilva that the ball had hit outside off andwould, according to Hawkeye, go on tohit the outside of the off stump.

Disappointed and confused, Wilsonasked de Silva to refer the review thistime. It bordered on the comical, as de

Silva went back to Oxenford. In the end,de Silva stuck to his stand. Wilsoncharged off, furiously shaking his head.

Asked if the Umpire Decision ReviewSystem (UDRS) was proving to be a nui-sance rather than a help, Porterfieldremarked that he would not blame thereviews per se.

“I would like to say it was workingbut if you get a decision like that then Idon’t know. When you have all the tech-nology, it is supposed to eradicate themistakes and for me that did not happenthis time.”

The Irish eyes were not smiling butwhat can an umpire do? A few decadesago players complained that umpires hadhome team bias. So neutral umpires wereintroduced.

Then came TV umpire equipped withmodern technologies to help out in trickydecisions and finally the UDRS. But hasit helped?

The questions are: Who would like tobe an umpire? Will there be umpires by2020? Will two fully programmed on-field robots do the trick? Will sciencefiction overcome player friction?

Will umpires be extinct by 2020?

Sporting greats recall theirmagic momentsTIDU’s Kersi Meher-Homji was there

It was a privilege to be invitedfor a Nite of Nites wherefamous sportsmen told their

inspiring stories to renownedjournalist and author PeterFitzSimons.

Sponsored by JohnnieWalker, invited guests weretaken on an exhilarating journeyinto the lives of three ofAustralia’s most inspirationalmen: cricket legend SteveWaugh, former Olympian andgold medalist Grant Hackett andrenowned explorer and formerAustralian of the Year, TimCope. They shared their mostintimate stories and experienceswith 300 of Sydney’s elite.

Held at Carriageworks inRedfern, Sydney, FitzSimonshosted the live event, where heunveiled the sporting giants’ sto-ries of personal progress, adver-sity and determination, giving theaudience the opportunity to hearsome lesser known tales.

Facilitated by the attractiveAustralian model and TV person-ality, Erika Heynatz, the eventalso featured an interactive digi-tal forum where members of theaudience were able to tweet ques-tions live to the sporting giants onthe night.

Grant Hackett’s happiestmoment was not winningOlympic gold medals but the firstday he retired when he did nothave to wake up at 6 am for train-

ing!Steve Waugh recalled with

emotion his last ball century inthe January 2003 Sydney Testagainst England. WhenFitzSimons asked about hisheroes, he did not mention acricketer or a sportsman butMother Teresa and NelsonMandela.

Steve added that his realinspiration was a 9 year-old boy

who kept smiling despite receiv-ing blood transfusions almostevery week, just for survival. Heembodied the “Never say die”spirit.

Before leaving for home, Iasked Steve to name the bowlerhe found most difficult to face.Pat came the answer, “The WestIndian fast bowler CurtlyAmbrose. He was fast, ferociousand not funny!”

When asked about his heroes, Steve Waugh did not mention acricketer or a sportsman, but Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela.

Referrals are for rank bad decisions.But batsmen and bowlers/fielders puttheir fingers under the arms of their

other hand demanding a “review” almostevery time a decision goes against them.

World CupCricket 2011

What an achievement, what a tremendous victory,After twenty-eight years, India’s name is record-

ed for the second time in World Cup’s history.Crossing many hurdles, with perseverance and

will power,Keeping spectators glued to their seats and

applauding till the last hour.Exemplary team work, displayed by every mem-

ber of the team,“Win for India”, was their goal and their ultimate

dream!Seems divine intervention paved the way for their

triumphant success,Whilst fireworks, emotional tears, and cheers fol-

lowed their progress. Sachin Tendulkar, already famous for his ninety-

nine centuries, score,Mahendra S. Dhoni, their captain, steered their

sinking ship to the fore.Gautam Gambhir and Y uvraj Singh added to the

points, the score accelerating,The anxious moments finally ended with India,

winning.Mumbai appeared to be celebrating NEW

Y EAR’S EVE where night never came,But a new dawn of fresh hopes, and new horizons

of fame.Celebrations continue to mark this memorable

event,Miraculous win, the product of hard work and

blessings God sent.

--Jogmaya Narpatsingh

e paper april-may 2011

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