Desi Australia Monthly eMagazine – Issue June 2018 by Desi Australia

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Editorial Published by: Desi Media Group (Desi Australia Pty Ltd) Editor: Arti Banga Sales and Marketing: Dimple Deez Victoria Editor: Garima Dhawan Queensland Editor: Priya Singh ACT Editor: Rajni Ghai Malhotra Western Australia Editor: Ankita Tandon South Australia Editor: Daljeet Bakshi Address: Desi Australia Pty Ltd PO Box 102, Casula, NSW 2170 Email : info@DesiAustralia.com Mob: 0433121339 Art & Designing: Cosmos Media Creative Designer: Vikas Thakur Web: www.cosmosmedia.info

Hello Everyone, During the Holy month of Ramadan there have been many Iftar dinners and celebrations around Australia. Not only does the evening meal represent the breaking of the days fast, but also the opportunity for families and communities to connect with each other. Breaking the bread and the sharing of a meal with Arti Banga friends and strangers alike builds the Editor bridges of harmony and acceptance which is key to our multicultural society. For many Desis this is a time of reflection and reconnection. On behalf of Desi Australia we wish you Eid Mubarak! In our June edition we bring together the best coverage of Desi News and Events from across Australia. Our dedicated team will be keeping you up to date with the latest in Yoga, Ayurveda, Technology, Fashion, Legal and much more. If you would like to join our growing team of journalists, correspondents and contributors please feel free to contact info@DesiAustralia.com DesiAustralia.com - â&#x20AC;&#x153;Keeping You Connectedâ&#x20AC;?

Disclaimer All rights reserved. Do not re-use any content and photo from Desi Australia without the prior written permission from the editor. All the material published in Desi Australia, including articles, features, fillers, advertisements, and all other contents, are published in good faith, and the editor or the Desi Australia magazine cannot be held liable for any errors or omissions. All material is published on the understanding that it is copyright free, and Desi Australia accepts no liability for any subsequent copyright issues. We also cannot accept responsibility for and do not endorse views expressed by the contributors.

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Contents 39 36

Arts and Culture

Beyond Bollywood ...

Community News (Sydney)

A Dream Come ...

Community News (Canberra)

Largest-ever R&D ...

21 Legal

Countdown to Christmas ...

Community News (Brisbane)

Rotary Club of ...

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Understanding and managing ...

Cover Story

The pride of ...

View Point

Australian Born Confused ...

42 Culture

46 Community News (Adelaide)

43 8

Australian Zoroastrian ...

17 www.DesiAustralia.com

Long stay visa ...

Australia News

5 Things You ...

Photo Gallery

Ramadan Eid Bazaar ...

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Mag Corner

Desi Connection at the Royal wedding. Sanjana Suryawanshi

he Royal Wedding was the wedding of the year watched by millions around the globe. The wedding wasn’t the most watched wedding because the notorious prince had finally decided to settle down but also because it was unlike most royal weddings. Being the second son and the spare, Prince Harry was afforded the freedom to have a wedding of his choice. While protocol was followed and all the dignitaries were invited, the royal couple decided to deviate from tradition by inviting guests that one doesn’t usually see at royal weddings. The guests hailed from around the world and were invited by the couple

Bollywood Actress Priyanka Chopra (2nd L) {Reuters)

Macaroons that Make a Difference (MacsMAD) in the UK. Supporting marginalised youths through the profits made from her macaroons. It is also one of the charities that the royal couple believe in and support. So if you thought Priyanka Chopra was the only Indian that got an invite to the royal wedding, think again. Young women with an agenda to improve their communities are being recognised, endorsed and their charities supported by Prince Harry and Megan Markle (now Duchess of Sussex) through their invitations to the royal wedding of the year! Suhani Jalota in the peach sari, second from right, with Deborah in pink, Archana in green, Imogen in grey -Suhani’s colleagues at the Myna Mahila Foundation-all set for the Royal Wedding. All photographs: Kind courtesy Suhani Jalota.

had a personal connection to them. And on this list were a few Indians. The most noticeable was of course the Bollywood diva Priyanka Chopra is the now Duchess of Sussex’s close friend. Dressed in a chic dress, Priyanka Chopra made many an Indian proud who felt that their country was represented at the royal wedding. You thought one Indian on the guest list was enough? Think again. While June, 2018

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these ladies aren’t big names or overly popular, they were also another Indian connection at the royal wedding. Suhani Jalota the founder of the Mumbai based NGO Mayna Mahila along with its cofounders Archana Ambre, Deborah Das and Imogen Mansfield. It is one of the many charities that the royal couple will support as a part of their wedding. Another Indian to attend was Rosie Ginday, a pastry chef of Indian origin who suns the social enterprise

Rosie Ginday ( Facebook/ Rosie Ginday)

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Arts and Culture

Beyond Bollywood: Exploring the Diversity of Indian Dance Shyamla Eswaran

t is well known amongst Indians that we are an incredibly diverse people. Our motherland boasts 23 official languages (22 Indian languages plus English, not to mention over 1000 dialects), while our food, religion, fabric, customs and art differ from state to state. Outside India, however, our culture is often reduced to eating curry, practicing yoga and dancing Bollywood-style. Yes, many of us do one (or all) of those things but there’s more to our dances than ‘patting the dog’ & ‘changing the light bulb’. Indian dance can be broadly divided into three categories: Classical Dances, Folk Dances and dances from Indian Cinema.

Classical Dances Sangeet Natak Akademi, the national academy of performing arts in India, classifies 8 traditional dances as Indian classical dances. Each has roots in the Natya Shastra, the oldest surviving ancient Indian work on performance arts, comprised of 36 chapters and 6000 poetic verses. Natya (meaning act/ represent) Shastra (meaning rules/manual/compendium) is a Sanskrit Hindu text that dates back to between 500 BCE to 500 CE and covers “dramatic composition, structure of a play and the Shyamla Eswaran with fusion moves, photo credit Balz iclick construction of a stage to host it, genres of acting, body movements, make up The “rasa” theory mentioned in Chapter and costumes, role and goals of an art 6 asserts that while entertainment is a director, the musical scales, musical desired effect of performance arts, it instruments and the integration of is not the primary goal. The main aim music with art performance”. is to transport each audience member

to a parallel reality, full of wonder, to experience the essence of their own consciousness and to reflect on spiritual and moral questions…take that Bollywood! The 8 Classical Indian dance forms classified by Sangeet Natak Akademi are: 1. Bharatanatyam from Tamil Nadu – traditionally performed in temples, this dance mostly moves along straight lines or triangles. 2. Kathakali from Kerala – known for its colour and spectacle, dancers use specific, symbolic makeup combined with eye and hand movements. 3. Mohiniyattam from Kerala – a delicate dance traditionally performedsolo by women only. Mohini was a mythical enchantress avatar of Vishnu. 4. Odissi from Orissa – considered the oldest classical Indian dance form, based on archival evidence, it features Tribhanga (the three-body bend).

Source: The Culture Gully on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theculturegully

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Arts and Culture

5. Kathak from Uttar Pradesh – distinct in its intricate footwork and storytelling, expressions are through the eyes and the art of mime. 6. Kuchipudi from Andhra Pradesh – similar to Bharatanatyam, but with fluid, sweeping movements, it too portrays stories from Hindu mythology. 7. Manipuri from Manipur – a devotional dance performed as a group with cylindrical mirrored skirts and gentle petal-soft movements. 8. Sattriya from Assam – a dance-drama performance art from the Vaishnavism monasteries of Assam, mostly depicting Krishna and Radha. Those who practice Classical forms are often purists and with good reason;each style represents the culture of a particular region or group of people and keeps their traditions alive. Such dances are usually spiritual whereas folk dances are also about creating a sense of community and a celebratory mood. Folk Dances Folk dances are vibrant expressions of daily work and rituals from rural communities. Examples include Bhangra from Punjab (traditionally performed while celebrating harvest), Garba and Dandiya Raas from Gujarat (village dances performed in a circle during Navratri—the former performed before a worshipping ritual known as Aarti and the latter performed after Aarti with

Bharatanatyam by Natyanivedan

colourful clapping sticks) as well as Chirmi and Ghoomar from Rajasthan (recently popularised by Deepika Padukone in the movie Padmaavat, Ghoomar is a traditional folk dance of the Bhil tribe performed to worship Goddess Sarasvati). Indian Cinema Bollywood dance moves from Hindi cinema are all over western screens, a fusion of gestures, footwork and costumes from classical Indian dance styleswith modern styles. But what about Tollywood (Bengali and Telugu), Kollywood (Tamil), Mollywood (Malayalum) and other forms of Indian cinema? Films made in the four southern languages—Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam— accounted for more than 75 percent of India’s total revenues from film content in 2008-09, generating more than Rs 1,700 crore! Non-Bollywood film industries have given us infectious songs and dances like “Jimikki Kammal” and popularised Indian street/folk styles including Kuthu and Gaana from Tamil films.

its country of origin. Shyamla has taught at renowned studios throughout Australia and abroad (Sydney Dance Company, Ettingshausens, Dance Attic). She practices Classical Indian dance (Kuchipudi) with Shri Raghavan Nair Ji and regularly travels to India for training and to further her cultural knowledge. Armed with a Masters Degree in International Human Rights Law and a BA in Communications, Shyamla works to promote cross-cultural interactions, diversity and belonging through the arts and by working with children. She regularly tours her range of cultural dance workshops and shows around Australia. “Follow Shyamla on Facebook and Instagram @shyamladance”

By no means does this cover all styles but it does provide some insight into the diversity of Indian dance, of which Bollywood forms just a small part

Nabanita Ghoshal performing Odissi

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About the author Shyamla Eswaran is a professional Performing Artist, Choreographer and Teacher with three decades of experience. She specialises in cultural dance (Hip Hop, Bollywood, Classical Indian and Brazilian Samba), having trained and performed each style in

Richa Joshi performing Garba

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Photo Gallery

Vivid Lights Sydney

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A magical celebration of light-design excellence Photo credit: Aaron Braganza photography

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Yoga & Mindfulness workshops for adults and kids

At YouGo Yoga you experience the benefits of yoga and mindfulness in a relaxing and enjoyable manner, through the following workshops*:  Beginner’s yoga  Yoga in the park  Mindful breathing and meditation  Yoga-on-the-go and destressing techniques  Yoga-Zing with Rajni: Fun filled and creativity infused workshops for kids and women *Workshops offered as private consultations, group sessions, home visits and customised for all ages and fitness levels

Rajni Malhotra

Founder, YouGo Yoga 0424 434 031 www.facebook.com/YogaWithRajni

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Community News (Sydney)

A Dream Come True Its never too late to do anything when you have a dream

Harmohan Singh Walia

urpreet Gill, AKA Gup Gill, always had a dream to jump into the ring, but never had the determination to actually do it. It is normally the fear of losing that holds people back, but at least Gurpreet fulfilled his long standing wish. He challenged himself and stepped out of his comfort zone and signed up Corporate Fighting event early 2018. Age was no barrier. ‘Boxing is a fun and challenging form of training that has many physiological benefits. It is complex, dynamic and demanding, yet can be tailored to meet any level of fitness’ said Gurpreet. He underwent 12 weeks extensive training along with 26 other participants from boxing experts at Corporate Fighter, Sydney’s premier professional sporting promotions company specialising in the running of Corporate boxing events before Fight Night, a full amateur 3 x 2 minute round boxing bout against a fellow first timer. Gurpreet realised that boxing training provides a high-intensity cardio workout that is great for heart health, fat burning and general fitness. Agility, coordination and endurance are also some pleasant side effects of regular boxing training. Boxing keeps you constantly moving, thinking and sweating.

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To make the event worth some value, this group of 26 fighters picked “The Black Dog Institute” for fund raising, which is translational research institute

that aims to reduce the incidence of mental illness and the stigma around it, to actively reduce suicide rates and empower everyone to live the most mentally healthy lives possible.The positive outcome was that Gurpreet along with his group of 26 fighters were able to raise $91,587.56c for “The Black Dog Institute.” Travelling from Penrith to the city although difficult as Gurpreet was juggling between job and boxing training from 7.00 am till 9.30 pm from Monday to Thursday and Saturday mornings, it was worth as he became more stronger and a fit person. Ultimately after three months of rigorous training, he jumped into the ring on 6 April 2018 at the Star City Casino. He got the big win and proved that it was never too late to do anything, when you have a dream. Desi Australia team congratulate Gurpreet Gill and his group of fighters for raising a substantial amount to help those who are in distress.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Arts

Debut of a new bharatanatyam dancer

to the Sydney’s performing arts community

n the 19th May 2018, Sanidhya Kumar completed her Bharathanatyam Arangetram (solo dance debut) at the Lighthouse Theatre in the Penrith Anglican College.

am able to immerse myself spiritually, and mentally free myself and connect with my faith”. Says Sanidhya Sanidhya’s Arangetram journey began almost a year ago where her Guru Nikhila Kiran has been a key inspiration in taking her dancing journey to the next level and ultimately train for her Arangetram.

Sanidhya says ‘The journey has been intense, and yet satisfying. Under the guidance of my Guru Smt. Nikhila Kiran, I was able to present to my family and friends my true passion for the dance form and showcase my 15 years of commitment and dedication to Bharathanatyam”.

cognizance and how well the dancer can showcase the combination of rhythm, music and emotion. The Arangetram also portrays the Sishya’s execution and delivery of the Guru’s choreography.

Bharathanatyam is a form of classical dancing which has originated from South India and encompasses the four most fundamental aspects of dance: Bhava meaning emotion, Raaga meaning music, Taala meaning rhythm and Natyam meaning dance. Arangetram is the debut on stage performance that is part of the traditional format known as the Margam. It reflects the different stages of the dancer’s

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Sanidhya started her dance training at the age of 6 where her parents forced her into attending weekly dance lessons. For the first 6 years, she perceived weekly dance lessons as an avenue to socialise with her friends. Sanidhya started developing a key interest and passion for Bharathanatyam when she was 12 years old. Shortly upon developing a passion, she received training from her Gurus in Sydney and India, where she completed her Salangai Pooja at the age of 14. Dance has been has been integral in Sanidhya’s personal and spiritual development. “Bharathanatyam allows me to connect to my faith and religion through dancing and depiction of stories about the Hindu gods. It is my form of meditation and I

The Arangetram Margam on the night consisted of the Pushpanjali, Alarippu, Jatiswaram (Chakravaha), Varnam (Maathey), Bhajan: Bho Shambo, Keerthane in praise of Shringeri Sharade, Kriti on Lord Krishna: Vishama Kara Kanan, Dhanashree Thillana and the finishing piece which was the Mangalam. The climax of the Arangetram was the Varnam where the continued challenge for Sanidhya during her training was to uphold her stamina and make sure it followed till the very end. An amazing and talented music ensemble of nattuvangam by Guru Smt. Nikhila Kiran, Smt. Prema Anandakrishnan the vocalist, Janakan Suthanthiraraj on the mrindangam, Venkhatesh Sritharan as the flautist, Saumya Sritharan playing the Veena joined Sanidhya on the stage. Sanidhya is extremely overwhelmed by the acclaim she received from the audience on the night and thank her Gurus, parents and God, because of who she was able to truly connect herself through each and every dance piece. As they say, Arangetram is only the beginning of an endless and fruitful journey .

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Technology

Centralised Storage – The Smart Choice in your Home & Office Sarang Vengulekar

Do you know what a storage solution is? We all have many technology products at home. If you look around your home you will find technology products such as Laptops, Desktop’s, Xbox, PlayStation, Smart Phones, iPads/Tablets, Digital Cameras, Video Camcorders, iPods, CCTV System etc. Most of the devices mentioned have some sort of storage media such as SD Cards or a small built in hard drive. This probably means that you also have a lot of data lying around on all those devices with storage media.

cameras and video camcorders. I would refer to this as “DATA OVERLOAD” just to keep things simple. Also take in to consideration that we are online 24x7 which may mean extra files as attachments in your email messages. All of this can get out of hand very quickly and easily, it will also start building up even further as time passes. Technology advancement is inevitable and there is no running away from itsince our online presence is going to get much larger in coming years. The revolution of IoT will also connect all our electronics to the internet regardless of your personal opinion. The ever increasing online exposure will mean we definitely need to have some storage management in place.

In a typical scenario you have data stored on the hard drive of your computer (Laptop, Desktop Machines) and more data on your Smart Phones such as business files, personal files, photos, videos, songs, movies and more. The same applies to all the digital

Now let’s stop there and think ---- “What will happen if you lost all the data you ever had in an instant”,I know it is a very scary thought about losing all your business information, family photos, family videos, collection of songs and even collection of old movies.

YES this can happen to anyone and in fact I personally have known families that have gone through this excruciating pain. In some cases people formatted their hard drives, SD Cards or hard drive crashed or corrupted even without having any secondary back up,in other instances some people lost their homes in a sudden fire and everything burnt away. In some cases it was water damage due to flooding. We hear about these natural disaster news all the time and it has been on an increase over the past few years. The point I am trying to make is we need to manage our data better and there should be a central storage within the home that will ensure that no data gets missed as it is all stored in one place. If you have been doing this you are already ahead of millions of people who do not. Although you have this stored on a single hard drive there is a possibility these hard drives can crash anytime or get corrupted which will mean you have lost data regardless. It is now time to take the next step by having two hard drives with same data so if one crashes at least you have another one as a backup. Although you now you have two hard drives what happens if the house is on fire and you end up losing it all? We are now entering the next phase where we need to take the matter of storage seriously. We need to think outside the boxon how to retain data in worst case scenario. This process of copying to multiple hard drives is very cumbersome and can confuse many of you. You require a solution that will backup files automatically and without you going

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June, 2018

DESI AUSTRALIA | Technology

through the rigorous task of copying. Let me introduce you to Centralised Storage known as NAS (Network Attached Storage). NAS will make your life easier by performing certain functions automatically and to ensure that the Data is available 24x7 in your home and also available from outside your home.NAS is a small box with multiple hard drives. They are available in 2 Bay, 4 Bay, 8 Bay or higher. The most basic one for home use is typically a 2 bay NAS which will have two internal hard drives (removable)that can be set to mirror datato the secondary hard drive automatically. The next version ahead of the 2 Bay is probably the best solution for homes and that would be the 4 bay NAS. In this scenario there are four hard drives installed inside the NAS (removable) and they work in a RAID 5 configuration (tech term). In simple terms what that means is if one hard drive fails you simply replace it with a similar new hard drive and the NAS system will start to automatically rebuild the hard drive with all the data. I won’t go in to the technicality on how it does it but in short you will never lose any of your information. The NAS systems also have the ability

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to upload and synchronise your files to the cloud environment automatically so all the data will get backed up. This is especially good if there are any natural disasters scenario. Your data is always available in the cloud which can be downloaded from anywhere in the world.

•

Easier automated backups from central location

•

Easier collaboration, Less mess

•

Easy file sharing where you can access files from any PC or Mac or even through your Smart TV.

Centralised

•

Automated Cloud backup

•

Share a USB Printer across your network

•

Automatically and continuously backup your data to give you peace of mind that all of the files are safe and secure

home

media

storage

solutions have many benefits. The benefits include: •

Easily and inexpensively increase the storage capacity of all your home PC’s and Macs

There are many NAS Systems available currently. The most popular ones are from QNAP, D-Link, Seagate and Synology. They are all available in 2, 4, 8 Bay configuration. I highly recommend 4 Bay NAS as it will give you that extra protection. A lot of them also have Virus Scanners built in depending on the version of NAS that you purchase. This article is targeted towards Home users as well as Small Business Owners (SOHO) as our data is our world and without it we would be lost.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Community News (Canberra)

Largest-ever R&D collaboration deal signed

he largest-ever joint R&D collaboration agreement between Australia and India was signed in Canberra on Wednesday, May 30, 2018.

Company representatives who signed the agreements were V. Manoharan (Chief of NLCIL’s Centre for Applied Research and Development), P. Selvakumar (Director Projects &

scale up process and, if successful on to commercial deployment. “Today marks a significant milestone on the journey which, all going to plan, will see the commissioning of our ColdryMatmor pilot plant in India by the end of 2019.” Director Projects & Planning, NLCIL, Mr Selvakumarsaid, “We want to use our lignite for alternative purposes. We want to dry the lignite. Coldry is a good technology for transforming lignite. When discussing lignite use with NMDC, we saw the opportunity to work together to achieve iron ore reduction as well, adding higher value to our resource through new applications.”

Australian firm Environmental Clean Technologies Limited (ECT) signed the Master Project Agreement with India’s NeyveliLignite Corporation India Limited (NLCIL) and National Mineral Development Corporation Limited (NMDC) to manufacture high quality iron and steel using a combination of lignite (brown coal) and low grade iron ore using ECT’s advanced Coldry and Matmor technologies. The project aims to jointly develop an integrated Coldry-Matmor pilot plant. It entails two phases, commencing with an A$35 million R&D phase funded by NLCIL and NMDC, which aims to scale-up ECT’s Matmor and Coldry technologies to deliver an integrated pilot plant capable of producing 2 tonnes of metal per hour (up from the current output of 40 kg per hour).

Planning, NLCIL), Ashley Moore (Chairman-Managing Director, ECT India), Glenn Fozard (Chairman, ECT), Dr N.K. Nanda (Director – Technical, NMDC) and Rajan Kumar (General Manager – R&D, NMDC). ECT chairman Glenn Fozardsaid: “We’ve spent the past four years building the relationship and crafting the process with NLCIL and NMDC in India with the aim of taking our two technologies – Coldry and Matmor – through the

“We look forward to a successful project for the betterment of India.” Dr Nanda, Director (Technical) of NMDC added, “We are standing here on this auspicious day to sign this agreement to build the pilot plant. If the pilot plant is successful, it can be taken to commercial scale.” “We wish the project great success for all companies and both countries.”

If the R&D phase is successful, phase two involves commercial expansion, targeting an integrated steelmaking facility with a proposed capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum and an estimated cost of A$300 million. The project partners will then assess opportunities for global commercial expansion based on market assessment at that time. The agreement was signed in the presence of the Indian High Commissioner to Australia, His Excellency Dr A M Gondane. AIBC ACT president Sanjay Bhosale and vice-president Jorawar Sandhu were also present at the signing.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Legal

Countdown to Christmas Shopping! Mittu Gopalan

Lay By: A lay by agreement exists when you pay for the goods by way of instalments and do not receive the goods until the full price has been paid. Many people choose to buy their Christmas gifts by adopting this method. Kindly be aware of all the terms and conditions including any termination charge. A trader or a shop keeper must give you a copy of the lay by agreement and you must be aware of the termination fee if you wish to cancel the same. ZipPay: What is ZipPay? ZipPay option entitles and offers you a credit of $250 or $500 or $1000 that can be spent in the participating retailers. A customer can make their repayments on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis as long as there a minimum repayment plan is adhered to. It conducts a formal ID check and credit check in order to ensure that the limit could be$250, $500 or $1000. However, watch out for interest, charges being swapped for flat fees. For every month where there is a balance owing, you will be hit with a fee. Accordingly, if you were to miss all of your repayments

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on a $100 pair of jeans, or a toy, you would have to spend an extra $33 on the fees. After pay: After pay is a digital service that makes it possible to buy something now and pay it off in fortnightly instalments after. However, unlike lay by, you will get the product straight away whether you are shopping online or in store. However, if you miss the fortnightly repayment plan, you will be hit with a fee and there would be other charges that you would incur for any further delays. After pay does conduct a credit check on you when you sign up and accordingly it makes it much easier for any person to obtain the same. It does not charge interest and it makes it more attractive. Of course, if you default in any payment, you will be liable for hefty late payments. Portals like ZipPay and after pay allow you to send money which you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have and there is nothing to beat the good old concept of saving up before a purchase. Accordingly, before the Christmas purchase is undertaken, kindly ensure that you adhere to the following;

Read all the terms and conditions, Ensure that the termination policy/ cancellation policy/late payment fees are read in detail Try not to default in any repayment plans or instalment payments; failing which you would be incurring hefty late fees and finally; Plan, Prepare and Shop - This should be the agenda for Christmas shopping in 2018, and happy shopping!

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Fashion

Fur n Feathers for Fashion Birds. This season fly high with feathers. Abbey Singh

eather fashion trends have sure come a long way and are no longer just associated with Las Vegas Showgirls and Burlesque stage acts.

to planet fringes: we are not talking of the hairstyle, what’s being brought back into fashion has to do with threads left loose or formed into tassels or twists, used to edge clothing or material.

From ruffles and frills to high waist jeans, chunky socks and lace, athleisure and tartan, this year is going to take us

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The power of fringes is in their ability of creating movement. Feathers often add character to a look and can bring a certain glamour and spirit to a silhouette. Feathers bring an airy, poetic look to any kind of style. They’re the clever

twist that makes the evening festive. It looks like fashion is suddenly flocking to feathers. Tassels n feathers can be ornate anywhere from hems to, cuffs, necklines, chests, sandals, silky pyjamas, bridal gowns or on your bags. These fluffy 1920s details are making a striking comeback, this trend is sure to make you feel proud as a peacock. Statutory Warning: crueltyfree faux feathers

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Community News (Sydney)

Celebration of Motherhood “Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.” – Barbara Kingsolver

Alpana Srivastava

“Being a mother is discovering the strengths you didn’t know you had and dealing with fears you never knew existed.”There is nothing as powerful and as greater as a mother. To celebrate the tenderness and warmth of motherhood this Mother’s Day an event was organised by Neha Sumit Arora on 13th of May 2018. It was one of its kind and the first ever Mother’s Day event to be held in Sydney. The motive behind organising this day,

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to treat and pamper the mums was well achieved. They welcomed their guests with welcome drinks and fruit platter. A special food table was arranged for kids too. As this event was kids friendly so kids were kept busy with various activities like face painting, drawing etc. ‘Nature crown’ was the theme and everybody wore it proudly. They also gave away specially customised tiaras to winners of online competitions. They conducted many competitions online and winners were announced

fair and square, but every Mum was the winner in this event as each and every Mum received a mobile as a gift. The event team made special mention and thanked the sponsors. A few special mums won a chance to participate in the Ramp Walk and they all looked stunning as makeup was provided at the event. It was the highlight of the day! Every mum is special and the attempt to make them feel special at this event was quite successful. Mums of all age were part of this event and they all enjoyed the event to fullest.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Community News (Adelaide)

Standing Up, Standing out... An arts project displaying superb bypass of cultural differences with new fresh shades of unity. Daljeet Bakshi

Suniana Sharma

n arts project Standing Up, Standing Out is initiated by Tutti visual artists at Tutti Arts hub, Adelaide, people with an obvious disability and Sikh community together, exploring the theme of being different . This project exhibition opened on 31st May in Adelaide ,reflecting the different styles of the artists which is eye captivating and surely this superb work will invite more closer look by viewers. Members of Sikh community helped tie the artists freshly decorated turbans. Local Sikh businessman & active

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community leader S. Amrik singh Thandi, Gurinder Singh, tied these turbans with exquisite artwork by Tutti artists. Turbans and Trust donated turbans for the project . This outstanding initiative is collective team work by organiser Jane Gronow , Tutti Visual Artists: Aimee Crathern, Chris Dyke, Jianna Georgiou, Dougie Jacobssen, Megan Long, Hannah Mexted, Giorgio Mouzakitis, Charlie Taplin, Supporting Artists: Ellen Schlobohm, Daniel Connell and Saravan from SR Media . The tutti artists work would be on display in two exhibitions : 23rd May to June 13th @ The Hawk Centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kerry Packer Civic Gallery, North Tce, Adelaide City and May 31st to July 13th @Nexus Arts Gallery, Lion Arts Centre, North Tce, Adelaide City . It is worthwhile to mention that Daniel Connell, Adelaide based renowned artist have been working since long with Sikh community on different projects and

have participated in exhibitions of these projects and his work across Australia and overseas. He is always passionate with his selfless ,community spirit and working within the community. For this unique project Standing up, Standing out too, he worked closely with Sikh community and is regularly updating with the ongoing progress of the exhibition.

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Rotary Club of Brisbane Sets the Wheels in Motion for Community Project. Priya Singh

n May 19th the Rotary Club of Brisbane Queensland International held a high tea and an auction for the Fiji Wheel Chair Project. A beautiful Tea Pot cake hand made by Whisk & Create was auctioned off to raise funds for the charity. Many other businesses backed and donated to the event such as Intimo (who regularly donate lingerie to the under privledged women in Fiji) along with Rhea Jewellers, DKhat Spices, Pinaash along with many private donors. This was a sold out high tea event attended by many prominent members of our Brisbane Indian community.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Mental Health and Wellbeing

Understanding and managing anxiety ongoing stress (for example: job related stress, relationship breakdown, grief issues, abuse (verbal, physical, sexual), pregnancy childbirth etc.., It can also contribute from family background, physical health issues, a traumatic event, substance abuse and last but not least, personality types (for example: being a perfectionist, having low esteem or needing to be in control).

Sumeet Chawla

n last month’s mental health and wellbeing segment, I invited you to e-mail me with your, stories, strategies, to share with us all, what little or big things you do to keep your cup topped up. A common response received was that some of you meditate. Meditation is helpful for allowing your mind to rest and feel more relaxed. All you need is a few minutes to stop and allow your mind to take a break. It is also helpful to relieve anxiety and a great preventative for anxiety occurring as well. Another simple and effective example from one of our readers was that she puts down her phone, every now and again and enjoys life, heading outside for a walk in the fresh air. As for me, taking my kids to the park and seeing them happy surrounded by nature, helps me disconnect from my worries and everything else and makes me feel and be in the present. Let us remind ourselves, to care for and ourselves… “Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths.” -Charles H. Spurgeon

Common Types of Anxiety: and in extreme cases avoid going out altogether. Individuals experiencing (mild, moderate, severe) anxiety may commonly experience physical and emotional symptoms. Examples of physical symptoms include: shortness of breath, or breathing rapidly (hyperventilation), increased heart rate, mind racing making it difficult to think, trembling, sweating, feeling dizzy, muscle tension, headaches, stomach or chest pain, dry mouth and difficulty sleeping. Example of emotional symptoms can include excessive worry about the past, present or future, difficulty concentrating and feeling apprehensive. Anxiety can be caused by one, or a combination of contributing factors. These may include genetic factors,

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Generalised anxiety disorder is excessive, uncontrollable worry about a range of ordinary situations like health, work or finances. This worry can be difficult to control, leading to problems in concentration, restlessness and difficulty sleeping.

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Panic disorder is associated with regular panic attacks, which are sudden intense episodes of irrational fear, shortness of breath, dizziness and other physical symptoms.

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Social phobia causes people to avoid social or performance situations for fear of being embarrassed or rejected.

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Agoraphobia is often associated

Everyone occasionally experiences some anxiety. It is a normal response to a stressful event or perceived threat. For someone experiencing high anxiety, this often means interpreting situations negatively and having unhelpful thoughts. Symptoms can develop gradually which can make it difficult to work out when anxiety has become a serious issue and if anxiety is left untreated this can lead to depression. Anxiety can range from feeling uneasy and worried to severe panic. For many of us, worry can become a constant feature of everyday life. Anxiety is a treatable condition and learning about it is an important first step. Anxiety can affect your ability to concentrate, sleep and carry out ordinary tasks at work, home or school. People with anxiety disorders often feel compelled to avoid stressful situations

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with panic disorder, and involves avoiding certain situations due to fear of having a panic attack. •

•

Specific phobias are irrational fears that only apply to one particular situation, such as a fear of animals, insects, places or people (for example claustrophobia is a specific fear of enclosed or confined spaces). Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) involves unwanted thoughts and impulses (obsessions), causing repetitive, routine behaviours (compulsions) as a way of coping with anxiety.

Common treatments include: •

•

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is when feelings of fear or avoidance do not fade after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic life event.

Treatments for anxiety: •

medication. Improvement and recovery is possible with the right care.

•

Mild anxiety may be treated with lifestyle changes, whereas more severe cases may require

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), which involves working towards changing any problematic thinking patterns that are causing anxiety. Behaviour therapy is a component of CBT and includes desensitisation - a method of slowly and safely exposing you to feared situations to reduce the anxiety that comes with them. Breathing and relaxation techniques are especially important for physical symptoms, and deep breathing exercises can stop panic attacks effectively. Mindfulness and other types of meditation are also helpful for anxiety management. Medication such as antidepressants can be necessary if the above treatments are not enough. Medication is usually recommended in combination

with the therapeutic treatments above. There are services, health care professionals and online support tools available to assist people with anxiety disorders. To read more about anxiety you can visit: www.beyondblue.org.au Where to get help: •

Your doctor

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Psychologists

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Online support and therapy

Reference: •

http://www.mindhealthconnect. org.au/anxiety

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Image credit: http://www. newvitruvian.com/soul/

Email: chawla_sumeet@yahoo.com

Build Connections, Develop Presentation Skills, Dress for Success, Motivational Stories and Getting Help with Domestic Violence SATURDAY 14 JULY 2018 from 11.00 am – 2:00pm at BLACKTOWN RSL CLUB ENTRY $10 (light lunch included) Limited Seats A/C Name: Lean In, BSB 032179 A/C No. 348264 For Registration or more information please email - contactus@leanin.com.au Kiran 0423 731 834, Sunaina 0431 316 919, Urvashi 0423 059 566 June, 2018

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Cover Story

The pride of our community A Culture of Contribution

Harmohan Singh Walia

ur community members have been awarded Australia’s highest civilian honour, Medal of the Order of Australia, on Queen’s birthday on 9 June 2018. The award is conferred to recognise Australian citizens for their extraordinary achievements or meritorious service. The Order of Australia was established on 14 February 1975 by letters patent of Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, and countersigned by the then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. The Order of Australia has five levels: Knight/Dame of the Order (AK/AD) Companion of the Order (AC) Officer of the Order (AO) Member of the Order (AM), and Medal of the Order (OAM).

Ms Padma Priya Raman - Public Service Medal Ms Padma Raman migrated to Australia in 1983. She has completed BA/LLB (Hons) from the Australian National University (ANU) Canberra, Graduate Diploma Legal Professional Practice from ANU and LLM from University of Melbourne. Padma Raman is the only recipient,

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from people of Indian origin (PIO), who was honoured with the Public Service Medal, 2018 from the Governor-General of Australia. The Medal recognises “outstanding service” by employees of the federal, state, territory and local governments. Padma Raman was singled out for her outstanding work as Executive Director of the Commission and previously as CEO of the Victorian Law Reform Commission.

she also made sustained high level contributions.

Ms Raman ran the Victorian Law Reform Commission for nearly a decade, beginning in 2000. During this time she oversaw major law reform projects on many important areas of social policy reform including: family violence; sexual assault; defences to homicide; access to reproductive technology; privacy; and property. Since 2010 Ms Raman has provided outstanding service and exceptional leadership as Executive Director of the Australian Human Rights Commission through some very challenging periods. She has been an exemplary public servant, providing fearless advice to the Commissioners and President, and remaining strongly focused on staff and the professional service provided by the organisation as Australia’s national human rights institution. Some of her key achievements include managing a large cultural change transition; the introduction of several new processes, technologies and systems that have increased efficiencies; the implementation of robust frameworks and governance protocols to ensure appropriate risk assessment and best practice compliance; the development of sophisticated networks across government and civil society; and, the creation of innovative partnerships with government and the corporate sector. She has created governance regimes in times when the Commission was rapidly changing, and in an evolving political, legal and media landscape. Ms Raman also served as the CEO of the Victorian Law Reform Commission for over nine years, where

Professor Ram Chander Dalal OAM Professor Ram Dalal, 74, migrated to Australia in 1975. He is a Land Scientist and did his PhD in Soil Science in 1969. He is a Professor in the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Formerly, he was with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Department of Natural Resources, and Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation. Professor Dalal led projects on soil fertility restoration, sustainable rotations, combating subsoil constraints, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics and the management of sodic and magnesic or dispersive soils. Professor Dalal has worked towards sustainable land management systems, soil carbon and nitrogen management and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from different ecosystems, including agriculture, grasslands, forestry and estuarine systems (2000 – 2015). He has published over 430 papers, including 230 refereed journal papers, one book and 20 book chapters. He was the reviewer for the IPCC Good DOWNLOAD OUR APP

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Cover Story

recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours Practice Guidance (2006) for the land sector. He has been a consultant and project research contributor on conservation agriculture to the International Atomic Energy Agency (2004-2009). He also led the National Soil Carbon Program from 2012 to 2015. He has contributed significantly to create awareness among the farming, scientific and general community to the seriousness and insidious nature of soil degradation. Policy makers now embrace the land degradation and sustainable land management as the national and international priorities.

He is the chairman of the Power Generation Corporation, Darwin Performing Arts Centre and Crimestoppers. He is also a board member of Darwin Waterfront Corporation, Tennis NT and Territory Equities. David helped win a $16 million grant from the Territory Government to set up the 16-court NT Tennis Centre, which will allow the Territory to attract international tournaments. Earlier, Darwin Entertainment Centre had been in deficit for five years, but now is adequately improving since he joined the board three years ago. David also took over Crime-stoppers at a tough time - when there was widespread governance issues and the board was in disarray. He restored the organisation’s credibility.

Mr. Kantilal Jinna is the current Vice President of Hindu Council of Australia. He is known for his services to the multicultural community of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). He is co-founder and former president of Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre, Australian Capital Territory (ACT). He is Advisor Ageing for Canberra Multicultural Community Forum since 2010 and member since 2005. He was president of Royal Commonwealth Society, ACT from 2014 - 2016 and Council member since 2017. He is Vice President of Indian Senior Citizen’s Association, ACT since 2010. He is also Board member of ACT Public Cemeteries Authority Board and member, Partnering with Consumers and Carers Advisory Group, Calvary Hospital since 2015.

Although, De Silva Hebron has up to 10 lawyers and covers a wide range of legal matters, his best known asset is the commercial work. His wife, Wendy works in administration support and daughter Jenna is the office manager. “It’s great working with family,” he says. “My family is everything to me. It doesn’t matter how busy I get, I always try to find time for them.”

Mr. David Robert De-Silva OAM Mr. David De-Silva, 56, migrated to Adelaide with his parents in 1972, at the age of 11 and was in a primary school. This was just when the White Australia policy ended. He completed law in Adelaide University. David is now the principal of Darwin-based De Silva Hebron since 2008, one of the northern Australia’s most successful law firm. David is married to his long-time girlfriend Wendy and have been together for 37 years and have three children, Jenna, Khia and Xavier, and much loved grandson, Talan. His parents - Portuguese-Indian dad Anthony, 85 and his Irish-Burmese mum Doreen, 78 are proud of their boy.

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Dr. Sudarshan Kumar Sachdev OAM

Mr. Kantilal Jinna OAM Mr. Kantilal Jinna, 79, migrated to Australia 36 years ago from Fiji. He is Master of Arts in librarianship, major in administration of corporate and business planning. He lives in Canberra (ACT).

Dr. Sudarshan Kumar Sachdev, 74, migrated to Australia in 1975 with a degree from Maulana Azad College, New Delhi in 1965 and an eye specialist from Edinburgh in 1972. To begin with, he was teaching in Newcastle Medical College in Taree for about 10 years and serving the local people as an eye specialist. In 1984 he came to Sydney and started his own practice in Dee Why and still continuing. He has his own surgery in Rosebery, where his wife, son and two daughters (all doctors and specialist in different fields) work.

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He has been a Rotarian for the last 30 years and has held different positions from time to time. He visited Fiji on a six monthly basis for free eye operations to needy people. In recognition to his work, Rotary Club presented him the Humanitarian Service Award and prestigious Paul Harris Fellowship. Dr. Sachdeva is currently working with World Health Organisation (WHO) to eradicate trachoma, a public health disease that causes blindness or impaired vision for the indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. He is a Board member of CHEBA. He also support research at Sydney’s Girvan Institute of Medical Research for insulin-resistant diabetes and Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing at Prince of Wales hospital in Randwick. He is a Medical Director of ROMAC (rotary oceanic medical aid for children), who bring children from oceanic countries with complicated medical and surgical conditions and treat them here. His own foundation supports different charities for research work only.

her husband’s Anaesthetic Private Practice, she quickly learnt to manage her own business. She has learnt many skills during her life time, such as book keeping, minute taking and she is a very skilled organiser for various events they run. Early in her life in Darwin to assimilate into the main stream and give back to the community for the wonderful home they had in Australia, she started her volunteering stint. Her main volunteering organisation was the Cancer Council of the Northern Territory. She helped the Council in various ways in all their fund raising activities. She has done this for the past 35 years and still helping out in the same way. She is also the main coordinator and President of a community based Irish Dance School, which has 65 members. She put many hours into these two organisations on a voluntary capacity.

from 1986 - 1988, Associate Professor from 1989 - 1999 and 2000- to date Professor of Physics. Professor Jai Singh’s research collaboration on Scintillators was with Department of Physics, Wake Forest University (R.T. Williams), WinstonSalem, USA in 2012, and in Life Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, (W.W. Moses), Department of Energy and University of California, Berkeley, USA from 2007 - 2009. He was Chair, Founder and Organiser of Inaugural International Conference on Excitonic Processes in Condensed Matter (EXCON), Darwin in 1994 and 5th EXCON in 2002 and 9th International Conference on Excitonic and Photonic Processes in Condensed and Nano Materials (EXCON), Brisbane in 2010. He was Chair, Founder and Organiser of Inaugural International Conference on Optical and Optoelectronic Properties of Materials and Applications (ICOOPMA), Darwin in 2006. He is currently a member of International Advisory Committee and Steering Committee. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics since 1996. He is the president of Northern Territory Branch of Australian New Zealand Solar Energy Society (now the Australian Solar Council) since 1998.

Professor Jai Singh AM

Ms Romola Marie Sebastianpillai OAM Ms Romola Marie Sebastianpillai was born in Sri Lanka in 1944. Her husband is an Anaesthetist and obtained a job in New Zealand. She came to Darwin (Australia) in 1978 with her husband and two young children. In her early years in Darwin, she was busy rearing her two young daughters and being the Practice Manager for

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Professor Jai Singh, 70, did his PhD in Physics from IIT, New Delhi in 1972 and then worked in Germany and England for five years, before joining the Research School of Chemistry (RSC), Australian National University (ANU), Canberra in 1977. During his tenure at ANU, 1977-82 he obtained Australian citizenship. Then he worked as a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Physics, National University Singapore (NUS) until 1986. He returned to Darwin (Australia) in 1986 and joined the University, then the newly established University College of the Northern Territory as a foundation Senior Lecturer in Physics

Ms Jaya Srinivas OAM Ms Jaya Srinivas, 55, was born in Chennai (Madras) and grew up in New Delhi and has called Darwin DOWNLOAD OUR APP

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Cover Story

home for the last 28 years. She migrated to Australia in 1990 along with her husband and a daughter. She completed her Master of Education from Northern Territory University and Master of Business Administration from Australian Institute of Business. She has been working as Executive Assistant Principal at The Essington International School Darwin (NT) since 2003. There is a long list of her achievements, but to name an important few, she was president of Multicultural Council of Northern Territory 2011, member of the Federal Ministerial Consultative Committee for the Subcontinent since 2012, appointed People of Australia Ambassador in 2013, executive member of Federation of Ethnic Council of Australia from 2010 - 2015 and current Publicity and Sponsorship Coordinator of India@Mindil from 2010. President of Indian Cultural Society of NT in 2007. She bagged Rotary Pride of Workmanship award in 2006 and state winner for community work in 2017 from Institute of Managers and Leaders.

Technology Centre (1993 - 1999) and Course Director, Graduate Diploma in ‘Advanced Manufacturing Technology’ (1993 - 1999). His academic and research interests have been in the field of Mechanisms, Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), Robotics, Automation and Engineering education. He has contributed in these areas, published books and research papers in peer reviewed journals and participated in conference presentations and lectured in International universities as invited lecturer and visiting Professor. Mr. Shrivastava is the founder and Patron of Sankat Mochan Samiti (SMK) in Melbourne with a mission to provide physical, spiritual and moral assistance to people and community in critical need. SMK also provides Educational - knowledge sharing, yoga, meditation, children summer/spring educational camps etc. SMK has family violence prevention and support group, where awareness towards respectful relationships, gender equality, counselling and referral services to family violence victims are provided.

Music from Indian Music Association in 2002. “Hinduism is a way of life, a distinct culture, marked by politeness, hospitality, an intricate web of social courtesies, values and relationships,”. He says, “We should all take that as our personal responsibility and work towards achieving this goal. We are laying the foundation for the coming generations to build the infrastructure to reflect our identity.” Mr. Shrivastava’s mission is to plead to every individual of the Hindu community, to take a personal pledge to work towards building the social welfare infrastructure and educational facilities to spread the beneficiary aspects of the spiritual values inherent in our religion for the generations to come.

He has been a member of Vishva Hindu Parishad since 2015, member of MultiFaith Council of Victoria Police since 2012 and a representative of Hindu Community to Interfaith Network from 2002 - 2008. He was President of Multi-Faith Network, City of Greater Dandenong from 2004 - 2006. He is a popular folk, gazal and spiritual singer and Sunderkand recitation performer. Music is his meditation.

Mr. Arvind Kumar Shrivastava OAM Mr. Arvind Kumar Shrivastava, 74, migrated to Australia in 1968. He obtained Master of Engineering from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore (India) and Master of Engineering Science from Monash University, Melbourne. He worked in the Faculty of Engineering, Monash University as an academic on various positions, including the Executive Director, Advanced Manufacturing June, 2018

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He is an advisor for North Indian related religious activities of the Hindu Society of Victoria and was advisor to the Hindu Foundation of Victoria in 2012. He was the Founding Secretary of Australian Indian Innovations Incorporated for 4 years. He is a spiritual singing founder of Havan Group in Melbourne founded in 1978. Mr. Shrivastava’s services were recognised with a Certificate of Appreciation by Victoria Police in 2011. He received Excellence in Community Services Award and Excellence in Multicultural Affairs Award from the Government of Victoria in 2009. He is a recipient of Community Service Award from Northern Region Indian Senior’s Association (Victoria) in 2008 and from Hindi Neketan in 2007, Certificate of Appreciation from Indian Tamil Association of Victoria in 2003 and Excellence in Contributions to the Indian

Mr. Deepak Vinayak OAM Deepak, 45, migrated to Australia in 1996 after completing BTech in Civil Engineering. He extended a helping hand to new migrants in their settlement, raised his voice against domestic violence and fought racism. Deepak was awarded “Pride of Australia” medal earlier this year, “Multicultural Champion of Victoria” in 2017, “Australia Day Ambassador” in 2014 and “People of Australia Ambassador” in 2012 from the Prime Minister of Australia. He is working as a community liaison officer for metro trains in Melbourne and is a patron of South Asian Community Link Group Australasia. Deepak Vinayak belongs to Rampura Phul of Punjab state of India.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | View Point

Australian Born Confused Desis Giti Datt

Rishi Sharma

remember the awkwardness I felt when I used to eat aloo parantha in the schoolyard. I absolutely hated it. In hindsight, I realise my awkwardness was actually mostly embarrassment. I was Australian after all, so why did my lunch have to be different to everyone else’s, why was it the only one that smelt like achar? I guess I’ve come a long way. Just last month I made a killer MalaiKofta for a friend’s potluck dinner. I’m now comfortable calling myself DesiAustralian. Or Australian-Desi. Either way, it’s an acknowledgement of my dual identities. This is a difficult balance to strike. Every now and then, I’m reminded that being

Desi-Australian means that I’m never at any point really fully Desi or Australian. I’m a hybrid. In Australia, the common question “where do you come from?” carries an underlying assumption of being an outsider, while in India the very same question points to your status as an NRI. Where to do we actually belong? I recently came across a term for this feeling of rootlessness. The kids on the internet are calling it ‘Australian Bred, Confused Desi’, or ABCD. We’re an unavoidable by-product of migration, and I’m one of them. Definitely on the more confused side. People like us are continually straddling two cultures, which sometimes feel diametrically opposed. It’s tough business hanging on to our desi roots while doing our best to assimilate into our new home countries. Benefits of being bi-cultural Of course, as with everything, there are positives to being bi-cultural; we can jam equally hard to the Sabri Brothers and ABBA, we’ve got at least two languages of curse words to drawn upon in a tight situation, and we take real ownership of fusion cuisine. The popularity of South Asian practices like yoga, meditation and even newer trends like Bollywood films and music bring mixed feelings. It’s always nice to see your own culture appreciated by the majority, however it can also be frustrating when it still leads to cultural stereotyping or misunderstanding.

Photo credit: Fatografi (Simon Hewson)

Ultimately the pros of having a bi-cultural identity are strongest when we feel that we don’t have to compromise on any part of it - when we can openly share our desi life with our non-desi friends, and vice versa. There’s something beautiful about taking ownership of our bi-cultural identity but it takes years of cultural reconciliation and self-awareness to get to this point. It also helps when there’s a hybrid Desi Australian culture to draw upon and get involved with. With a longer history of South Asian migration, the UK has a more established hybrid desi culture, which includes prominent public figures like Nitin Sawhney, Akram Khan and Bally Sagoo. More recent examples from the US and Canada include Youtube star SuperWoman, poet Rupi

Kaur, activist Alok Vaid-Menon and Babbu The Painter. In the last decade or so, we can see the emergence of a more identifiable Desi Australian culture as well. Public figures like these give us an avenue to express and celebrate both sides of our identity at the same time, without compromising either one. Cultural clash A more common narrative, though, refers to the clash of cultural identities, and it plays out both within ourselves and in our relationships, particularly parent-child ones. What happens when you want your children to study Bharatanatyam, but they just want to learn jazz-tap? Do they see eye to eye with you on what work-life balance looks like? For all the ABCDs reading this, what about when you start dating outside your desi culture against your parent’s will? Wait, what happens when you start dating at all?! The main reason cultural conflicts like this arise is because there is no one way to be Desi-Australian. There is no definitive set of cultural norms, values and aspirations that we can define as being Desi-Australian. As individuals, we each negotiate what it means to us, which parts of our cultural heritage we want to continue, which parts of our new culture we want to adopt, and sometimes it forces a wedge in our community when we find that others, particularly our family members, negotiate these choices differently to us. There’s another layer to add here too, which is the generational gap that exists irrespective of whether you migrate or not. Parents and children all over the world have the same conflicts, the same disagreements, the same frustrations, and every generation in every culture always thinks they know better than their kids. Even their own parents

Model: Shyamla Eswaran

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thought the same about them when they were younger. The added dimension for migrants is that often they hold on to the values and culture of the motherland they left. That is, most uncles and aunties I talk to still base their understanding of Indian culture on India from the 1980’s. While India has moved on, they haven’t. It’s no surprise, as it can feel unsettling to abandon your values and culture when you move to a completely foreign place. East West It can’t be easy realising that your children, despite all your efforts, may end up with vastly different values from you. In reality it’s just not a process that can be controlled. Although cultural conflicts between parents and children are very common, their impacts can be very damaging. For children, feeling like your parents don’t accept you can lead to alienation, anxiety, double lives and depression. For parents, the constant

struggle of trying to control your children can’t be easy either.

Photo credit: Fatografi (Simon Hewson) Model: Shyamla Eswaran

So, how do we reach a compromise? How do we ensure that ABCDs find peace and reconciliation in their bicultural identities? Research indicates that children who develop a strong command of their bi-cultural identity in supportive environments are more selfconfident. Parents have an important, probably the most important, part to play in this. We don’t have to resign ourselves to a lifetime of parent-child conflict due to generational and cultural differences. People have an incredible ability to learn and adapt to new experiences in a bicultural landscape. While I don’t claim to have all of the answers I do believe that creating an environment for open and honest conversations is an essential first step. You can’t learn about someone without communicating, and you can’t communicate effectively if one party doesn’t feel comfortable expressing themselves. You won’t always agree, but it will create an understanding of the varied ways in which Desi Australian identities can manifest themselves. In essence, get curious. Rather than trying to control or change the other person, try understanding them. Those discussions can also extend themselves into sharing experiences together; films, books, television, music and food are all accessible ways of developing an appreciation of culture. And most of all, being open-minded to change. Let them learn Jazz-Tap, experience the thrill of dating, or pursue a career outside of STEM if they want. And as they’re out their pioneering their Desi-Australian identities, be there to support them. It’ll go a long way in turning a generation of Australian Born Confused Desi’s into Confident ones.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Community News (Sydney)

Delight Wedding Expo Sydney

rganised by Upkar Virdi and Sahib Dhoni the expo took place on 27th May at Glenwood community hub 28 talented and creative exhibitors came with lot of new things to showcase along with attractive discount offers on expo day. One could find almost everything

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needed to plan a wedding: weddings cars to party bus ,jewellery to designer bridal wear , holiday package tours, cake artist , makeup artist, photo booths , magician , kids entertainment and much more Live fashion show by Kaur Kollection , Riva Designer collection and an Exclusive ramp walk by Tuli jewellers

showcasing their latest diamonds was an attraction of the day. Complimentary drinks and appetizers were served on arrival to nearly 300 visitors throughout the day

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Photo Gallery

Gurdas Maan spreads love through his music

unjabi Music sensation Gurdas Maan delivered a power-packed performance to the Sydney audience and wowed his fans. Organised by Jatinder Vicki, Amit Chauhan and Raj Chauhan, the concert was echoing with claps and people danced to their favourite songs as the legend led the stage.

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Spreading the message of love and peace Maan sahib blessed each and everyone in the audience.

The glimpses of Maan sahib’s performance is wonderfully captured by Vishaal of Evergreen Memories.

The first look of the poster of Gurdas Man’s upcoming movie ‘Nankana’ was released on that night. Directed by Gurdas Maan’s wife Manjeet Maan, the movie will have their son Gurikk Maan as assistant director. The movie is slated for release on 6th July 2018. www.DesiAustralia.com

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Culture

Australian Zoroastrian Association of NSW Philip Boniface

oroastians are the Parsis, as known in India and all over, of Sydney. They worship Zarathustra and the holy fire. Their belief in life is simple â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds. The AZA DrabeMehr (the community centre know as AZA House) is located in Annangrove, on the outskirts of Sydney, which was completed in 1994 and will be celebrating 25 years in 2019. A full fledged committee is regularly voted, looking after the running of the association. Community volunteers look after the maintenance of the property and grounds. Being the generous race many Parsis make donations towards the upkeep of the premises. There is a prayer hall and special days prayers are carried out by local Parsi priests. The community meet here and celebrate the festivals of Nowruz, Shahenshai New Year, Annual Ghambhar and various indoor and outdoor events. The community dress up in traditional garments and enjoy a feast of Paris delicasies. At these events discerning persons and academic achieving youth are acknowledged and presented with awards. The Zarthusti Iranians also join in at all events. Today there are about 300 members in NSW. A quarterly community newsletter is published and distributed. There are also similar associations in Victoria and Western Australia. The World Zoroastrian Conference is going to be held in Perth 01-04 June 18. The Parsis all over the world have always been respected as a peace and fun loving race. They establish themselves wherever they go in various fields of employment and entrepreneurship.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Mag Corner

“Your story is the Australian story”:

Affinity celebrates its 10th Friendship & Dialogue Iftar at historic NSW Parliament House

n Tuesday 29 May more than 300 guests gathered at NSW Parliament House to break bread in the spirit of harmony and diversity at Affinity Intercultural Foundation’s tenth annual Friendship and Dialogue Iftar dinner. The gathering saw guests from diverse backgrounds in attendance, including members of Parliament, police, religious, community and education leaders, business people, members of the judiciary and media as well as representatives from other faiths. In his keynote address, Chief Justice Tom Bathurst, seventeenth Chief Justice of New South Wales said the dinner contributed to building social cohesion and trust between different people. “It is a wonderful thing that in this country, everyone is welcome to celebrate their religious traditions and we have the freedom to share those traditions with others. In doing so, we can strengthen the ties between our various communities.” he said. “This is of particular importance in the current climate of increasing fear and distrust of people who are different to us. These gestures are important at a time when some voices in our society use their position to stoke mistrust rather than quell it.” In his speech as co-host, Dr Geoff Lee MP, Member for Parramatta, called on everyone to contribute to a diverse society. “We all have a role to play to ensure that we

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have a harmonious and peaceful society. We can’t let hate divide us.” he said. Co-host Jihad Dib MP, Member for Lakemba, touched on how the Australian narrative has evolved to become more inclusive. “Australia is built on the stories of two groups of people: First Nations and migrants. Individual stories weave to form modern Australia,” he said. “Our 25 million stories are equally important. Everyone is important. Whoever thought that the Australian narrative isn’t for them - it is. We all contribute to the Australian narrative. That’s why it makes nights like tonight unique. Your story is the Australian story.” Adhan and Quran recitations were provided by Bilal Kilic and Ibrahim Karaisli from Amity College.

Musical performances were provided by the Amity College Choir and Indigenous Australian didgeridoo player, Walangari Karntawara. Adam Sayadi, Amity College school captain provided a short speech. The audience was transported to Konya with a special whirling dervishes showcase from the Naqshbandi Sufi and Anatolian Music groups. Floor reflections were provided by representatives from Multicultural NSW, Royal Australian Navy, ABC and United Nations Association of Australia NSW. A vote of thanks was offered by Annabelle Bennett, President of the Anti-Discrimination Board NSW and concluding remarks were provided by Mary Crock, professor of Public Law at Sydney University and Affinity advisory board member.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Health and Well-Being

YouGo with Rajni – Let’s Be Mindful Series Learn to de-stress through these mindfulness tips and exercises on-the-go Rajni Ghai Malhotra

Part 1 Why Mindfulness - Mindful idling Last month we discussed what mindfulness is – the state of being aware of your thoughts, feelings, emotions and surroundings in the present moment as they are, without judgement. A moment by moment awareness of your thoughts, feelings and surroundings. By being present in the here and now, people are less likely to focus on past worries and anxieties about the future. Mindfulness promotes acceptance; it empowers people to accept the good and bad alike. It makes way for acceptance rather than reaction and rejection of experiences or emotions, especially painful emotions. It helps people cope with adverse situations and negative emotions calmly and carefully. During my workshops, I have often encountered this question – “Why do I need mindfulness?” My response is that you ask yourself “Why do I need quality ME time?” and therein you’ll find your answer. It

chatter and connecting with yourself. It is about observation without criticism; being compassionate with yourself. Additionally, mindfulness helps you: To connect with yourself and become familiar with the workings of your mind, To help you gain a different way of knowing yourself and the world, To notice small beauties and pleasures in your surroundings, Be kind to yourself instead of wishing things were different all the time or driving yourself to meet impossible goals, Accept yourself as you are and not judge yourself all the time, and at the same time, To accept others as they are and to not judge them

is because mindfulness is nothing but tuning into your inner self, calming the

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When to be mindful If you, like me, are caught in the hustle and bustle of surviving the day with kids, friends, cooking meals, exercise, work, emails, texts, phone calls, appointments, then mindfulness is for you. And if, when not attending to any of these commitments, you find yourself reaching for your mobile in the spare moments, to log into one of the many social media platforms, scrolling endlessly, more out

of habit than necessity then mindfulness is for you. But, where is the time or the place to bring in mindfulness? Anywhere. Anytime. You could be walking, eating, dancing, singing or doing nothing at all and turn it into a mindful experience. Mindfulness is a practice, it is an attitude that one brings to any and every activity of the day. For our discussion today, let us start with what are possibly the easiest times of the day to identify and work with – the idle moments. Moments of idle waiting that can turned into a productive enriching experience for yourself. To better explain my thoughts of idling, I’ll relate a recent observation, one that I’m sure almost anyone would be able to relate to. I was catching up with a friend at a café recently. As we were leaving, I happened to look around. It was a quiet afternoon and there were only five other people (and a baby) besides us in the cafe. A cheerful couple sharing coffee and cake, oblivious of the world around them, A smart young person attired in a prim office suit and carrying a laptop, scrolling on his mobile,

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Health and Well-Being

A young lady dressed in casual yoga pants and t-shirt with a little bubby in a stroller. The bubby was munching on his teething toy and the lady was busy texting on her phone. An older gentleman with a book by his side constantly looking at his watch and at the door, presumably waiting for someone.

In these busy times of quick button clicks, instant information access, rushed meetings and multiple commitments we seem to have lost the ability to wait patiently. Our hyper connectivity and digital addiction (whether conscious or not) almost always win and we lose the opportunity of turning those moments into mindful moments, or as I like to call it, mindful idling.

Aside from the couple, each of the other three individuals seemed to be waiting either for their drinks or for a friend to join them. Each of them had busied themselves with looking at their mobiles or their watches.

Mindful Idling Mindful idling is the art of turning your idle time into meaningful minutes of mindfulness. Why not give it a try? All you need are a few idle moments and the will to try being mindful!

This is not the first and it certainly won’t be the last time that such a scenario presents itself – where endless (mostly mindless) scrolling on mobile phones and minute by minute check on the time become an easy filler for those minutes of waiting. In an elevator, café, at the park, while sitting in traffic or the dentists waiting room and nearly always waiting for their partners outside the trial rooms at clothing stores, there are always to be found people idling away these moments on their gadgets. And it makes me wonder...

So, the next time you are waiting for your coffee (or turmeric latte), standing in a queue, sitting in traffic, waiting for a colleague, a friend, or a delayed train to turn up – be alert! You have just found yourself with a few minutes of idling. Let us use that time to be present without impatience, without judgement.

Why has it become a universally accepted default scenario to pick our phones and connect with the world far away from us whenever we find a few minutes to spare? When was the last time you used a few spare moments of waiting to check in with yourself and to connect with your inner self ?

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Follow the steps to convert these idle minutes into minutes of mindful idling. Identify the idle moments - You have just found yourself with a few moments of waiting and are about to reach for your mobile…PAUSE.

Stop and notice the sounds that are going on around you at this moment - It could be a car horn, hum of the computer, music playing in the background, people chatting, chirping of the birds. Focus your awareness on these sounds and really listen to them. Do not attach any thought to the sounds. Your aim is simply to observe them. As you continue to stay focused on the sounds and activity around you, bring your attention to your breath. Take slow gentle breaths, and if possible, try mindful breathing (explained in Part 1). For a minute, two or even more, continue with this exercise as long as you comfortably can. There YouGo! (no, that wasn’t a typo, “YouGo Mindfulness” is the name of my mindfulness workshops”) You have made the conscious choice to connect with yourself and the world around you by turning a few idle minutes into a mindful experience. You are now in the moment (and hopefully enjoying every step of it).

Ask yourself - Could these moments be used for mindfulness ? If your answer is YES …

Yours mindfully,

Start by making a conscious effort to focus on your surroundings.

Founder, YouGo Yoga and Mindfulness

Rajni

Get a real sense of where you are sitting/ standing/ waiting.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Community News (Adelaide)

Long Stay Visa campaign leaders concerned on the changes to the AOS Discussion with Hon Peter Malinauskas Leader of the Opposition, Hon Steve Georganas Federal MP Hindmarsh , Hon Dana Wortley MP Torrens and Hon Russell Wortley MLC @ Parliament of SA.

Daljeet Bakshi

Suniana Sharma

ong Stay Visa Campaign Convenor along with members of community have been instrumental in making it as a broader campaign within migrant community throughout Australia , raising concerns over the proposed changes by Federal Government for this visa category. Dana Wortley MP Torrens and Hon Russell Wortley MLC were approached by the Long Stay Visa campaign leaders who stated their concerns on the changes to the AOS and that they had not had any response regarding the Parents Long Stay visa for so long. Hon Russell assured them support from Labor party and organised meeting in Parliament to have discussion with Hon Steve Georganas Federal MP Hindmarsh and Hon Peter Malinauskas,Leader of the opposition.

The concerns were shared about the delay and conditions of new parent visa as well. Both communities acknowledged the importance of long-stay visa for parents and are hopeful for good and positive outcome. Hon Peter Malinauskas , Leader of Opposition shared his concern over the way the government was treating migrants. Hon. Steve Georganas MP - Federal Member for Hindmarsh , emphasised that it is important and basic right of everybody to live with family & parents and the proposed changes are depriving this basic right from migrant community which is un-acceptable . He

about this issue have been raised by him. The Long stay visa campaign leaders Arvind Duggal, Daniel Connell , Rikki ,Devanesan shared the community concerns about the proposed changes and also raised issues about irrelevance of proposed income test for this visa category. They also extended thanks to Labor party leaders, , Hon. Peter Malinauskas leader of the opposition.

Team members of ‘Say No to AOS Changes’ campaign were joined by members of Chinese community leaders and ethic media representative.

Hon. Russel Wortley, MLC, and Hon. Dana Wortley MP - Member for Torrens, Monika Budhiraja Kumar, laison officer for their continuous support to their campaign. extended his support for the campaign to bring it up in Federal Parliament next week. He also stated that during previous speeches in Parliament , the concerns

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Among others Mr.Balwant Singh , Mrs. Molly Johal,Mr.Mintu Brar, Mr.Tim, Mr.Druv were present during the meeting. DOWNLOAD OUR APP

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Ayurveda

Rejuvenate in Winters with Ayurveda Dr Naveen Shukla

Dr Vishal Sharma

very season has a precise pros and cons that can either balance or aggravate your health and wellbeing. The concept of various seasonal regimen explained beautifully under RITUCHARYA (Ritu-Season, Charya-Lifestyle) in Ayurveda. Winter is the season to invite the warmth into your body mind & spirit. It is the right time to invigorate with the Ayurvedic principles as it gives opportunity to redirect energy and create balance. This is the time to build body strength and enhance the Immunity (the essence of Physiology). The ancient medical science of prevention & healing has a unique approach to all the relevant aspects of human living like season, diet, lifestyle, exercise etc. In this article, we are going to understand the simple basics of staying healthy in winters. As winters create a feel of cold, dry, heavy, sluggish due to coolness & dryness in the weather. This is the time when body constricts the skin pores and drawn heat from all areas of the body to the digestive track and increases the fire of digestion means increase appetite also finding ways to stay fit and free from flu, cold, lighter, active can be challenging in winters.

Life Style Recommendations:

Therapies for a delightful winter

•

Start your day with warm water boiled with warming spices like Cumin, Clove & Fenugreek to promote digestion. It can be an ideal drink for winter season.

•

Alternatively, you can try Organic Ginger or Basil Tea.

•

Gargling with warm water mixed with pinch of turmeric and salt to clear throat and prevent cough, cold and flu.

Ayurvedic therapies are one of the best ways to support optimal health in winters. It is very imperative to listen to your body and act so. At Nature Care Ayurveda you can have blissful Ayurvedic therapies especially recommended in winter include Abhyanga (warm herbal Oil massage), Shastika Shali Pinda Sweda, Herbal Steam, Khizi, Shirodhara, Nasal Medication and for many other supportive winter therapies contact NCA.

•

Do self - body massage/abhyanga with warm Organic Sesame oil or any recommended oil by Ayurvedic practitioner to balance VATA Dosha.

•

Yoga and Pranayama is highly recommended to enhance and maintain energy throughout the day.

•

Eat more proteins like Sprouts, Lentils, Kidney beans and add spice flavour into your food.

•

Spices like Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric, Fenugreek, Cinnamon, Basil, Curry leaves, Black Pepper etc in diet can help to prevent accumulation of Ama/toxins in the body.

•

Avoid day naps as can accumulate KAPHA in the body.

•

Before bed Foot bath with warm water followed by foot massage with sesame oil is recommended.

Nature Care Ayurveda Yoga Detox & Rejuvenation is the only Sydney based Ayurvedic centre where you can experience a complete range of Ayurvedic therapies like Panchakarma, Shirodhara, Detox, Abhyanga Body massage and consultation from experts. The team is highly professional and working under the direction of Director’s Dr Naveen Shukla (Representative Australasian association of Ayurveda for NSW) & Dr Vishal Sharma (Member International Academy of Ayurved). Nature Care Ayurveda & Desi Australia in synergy focused to spread the word of Ayurveda in the community and promote wellbeing as “WE CARE FOR YOU” For more information /to see a doctor/ for specific health concern visit our website www.naturecareayurveda.com. au or call us on 02 9572 6990

Ayurveda consider this season as Kapha Dosha (Water + Earth) accumulation and aggravation of Vata Dosha (Air + Space) in the body. We should follow Vata Pacifying and Kapha balancing regimen.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Travel

Business and Pleasure–An Old Adage, or A New Endeavour? Joseph F. Kolapudi

ravelling overseas has always been a family adventure – visiting relatives, trying out new food, and the occasional, last-minute sightseeing tour. However, travelling solo can be quite a different journey altogether, especially when traveling to a new country for work, or so it seems. I spent the last year working in Hyderabad, also known as ‘The City of Pearls’, in Southern India. About six months into working with a nonprofit, I was given the opportunity to speak at a conference in Holland. Having never been to Europe before, I jumped at the opportunity, not knowing what I was getting myself into. After arriving in Amsterdam, I realised I had no local contact number of the organising committee who had arranged to pick me up, no map or method of transportation, and no idea of how to even attempt speaking the language. All I had was a photograph of the meeting point and an approximate time of when to meet ‘the contact’. Somehow, after circling around the airport arrivals hall a dozen times, I approached a group of friendly tourists and found out they were, of course, the welcoming party. It seemed that my overexertion was overhyped. Having made subsequent work trips overseas, I have found the art of mixing business and pleasure – whether

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squeezing in a trip into the city marketplace during seventeen-hourlayovers, or coercing taxi drivers to drive across town to capture the local scenery, or having a breakfast meeting with a business partner and ending up gaining entry to a conference session with serial entrepreneurs, it makes no difference. Ensuring that you live and you learn makes all the difference in the world. Returning to Australia this past December, I have had the opportunity to reminisce on the last few months, especially my recent travel forays, and have been blessed by God to know that He has helped me through my travels to see the ways where I have been able to be a blessing to others. I have been blessed in more ways than one, but continue to change and be changed by my experiences, including the journeys that I contemplate taking in the not-toodistant future.

My fourteen months in India taught me a lot, but combining my interest in making change in the local community, as well as using technology as a platform to impact others, has got me thinking about how to take business and pleasure a step further. Using my interest in technology, I was able to redesign an online platform to encourage users to think about ways they could initiate change within their community. Taking this message of change with me enabled me to effect change in others, whether speaking in conferences on my travels, or talking one-on-one with community leaders in the villages, I was able to identify with their story, and help them to see the connection between my story and theirs. Can travel and tech be combined into an unprecedented journey of adventure? I think it can be.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Community News (Sydney)

High Tea with an Indian twist Sanjana Suryawanshi

he Indian Tea Room is when east meets the west. With an aim of creating an unique experience with fabulous Indian food in a different style The Indian Tea Room is high tea with an Indian twist. While offering a unique experience to the patrons, the Indian Tea Room raises funds for and awareness about The Lisa Harnum Foundation. Lisa Harnum was thirty years old when she died tragically as a result of her then fiancé Simon Gittany throwing her from the fifteenth floor balcony of their apartment in the City of Sydney.The Lisa Harnum Foundation supports and empowers families affected by domestic violence while striving to prevent and end the cycle of abuse through education and social change. Held at the Lachland House, a heritage property at Parramatta Park the day saw the ladies come out dressed in gorgeous lace sarees to beautiful dresses keeping to

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the theme of Vintage and showed their support for the work The Lisa Harnum Foundation is doing. It was indeed a great occasion for people to glam up, socialise and share laughter with family and friends over some delicious food. While the women had fun shopping, playing games and competing to win prizes, they weren’t there to only have fun but because they cared. They were there to help stop the suffering of a sister, a mother, a daughter and a friend maybe not their own but someone they know. Amongst the guests present were Ailleen Mountfield, the founder of the foundation, and Terri Sedmak, the wife of the Chairman of the foundation, Julie Owens Shadow Minister for Small business, Mayor of the Hills Michelle Brynne and Councillor Reena Jethi who all came to support the organisation Domestic violence is real issue in Australian society and its victims are many. It doesn’t discriminate based on age, colour or social status.

The organiser Mansi Khanna Bhatia & her team made a difference by raising community awareness of Domestic Violence and the support available to those affected. Photo credit: Mitcy Photography

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Mag Corner

NSW Government continues to deliver for NSW families and small business new arrivals and migrants to prosper in our State.” Harmohan Singh Walia

he NSW Government continue to deliver a strong economy to provide opportunities for NSW families and small businesses to get ahead. On 22nd May Minister for Multiculturalism Ray Williams hosted a morning breakfast in the New South Wales Parliament for multicultural media and provided a NSW Government update.

Recent key milestones for the NSW Government include: •

A record-breaking 500,000 new jobs have been created since April 2011, being driven by female participation and an increase of jobs in rural and regional areas.

•

The $4.2 billion announcement in last year’s Budget for major school building projects will fund 120 new and upgraded schools, creating 32,000 more student places, or 1500 new classrooms to cater for 8500 new enrolments every year.

•

The NSW Government is investing $4.9 billion for the renewal of Western Sydney’s hospitals, including $1 billion for Westmead, $1 billion for Napean and $700 million for Blacktown.

Minister Williams was joined by his colleagues: Scott Farlow MLC, Kevin Conolly MP, Natasha Maclaren Jones MLC, Lou Amato MLC, Damien Tudehope MP and David Clarke MLC. Mr. Williams said the NSW Government is committed to easing the cost of living for multicultural families, improving frontline services and creating more local jobs. “We are delivering on this promise. In the month of May alone, we hired more police, provided training for pharmacists in palliative care and saw a surge in enrolments in public schools”, Mr. Williams said. “The strong financial management of the NSW Government allows us to invest more in the community to allow

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•

More than 13,000 families have been able to purchase a new home under the NSW Government First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme.

•

Strengthened Australia’s a $41 million boost to expand cancer research.

•

Committed $100 million to secure strategic open green space while also setting aside an extra $20 million to build more than 200 new or upgraded playgrounds that are more inclusive and engaging.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Mag Corner

The Age of Development (from 6TH Century BCE to 21st Century) The land that lies to the north of the great ocean and to the south of the mighty Himalayas is called Bharat and its people Bharatiya If we read the famous Buddhist text, AnguttaraNikaya, a part picture of the political map of India at the time of the rise of Buddhism is available. Jaina sources also present more or less a similar account. So, we can say that the sixth century was the beginning of the political history of India.

Eshan Sharma

harata, Hindustan or India is the land of diverse cultures, ideologies, religions, languages, geographical features and mesmerizing landscape. Today I remember a Bollywood song (undoubtedly Bollywood is one of the most famous things about India) which suits my current situation and this song was picturized on Manoj Kumar and sung by Mahendra Kapoor, which goes like “bharat ka rehne wala hu, bharat ki baat sunata hu” India is the youngest nation with the oldest civilization. India experienced one of the earliest civilizations, The Indus Valley Civilization (c.2600 and 1900 BCE) contemporary to the Mesopotamian Civilization. The Harappan Civilization was one of the most developed civilizations with a well-planned system of town planning,

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drainage system and the domestic architecture; it is almost thousands of years ago. The fact that even today’s developed cities are unable to become as welldeveloped as the Indus Valley Civilization makes us think about the need of studying history. Following this, there came the age of development, the sixth century BCE. This time period is also referred to be the turning point in the history of India. There were obvious reasons for this claim.

The emergence of different mahajanapadas was an important event in our history. There were sixteen states known as the ‘Sodasha Malianjanpada’ at that time which extended over most of the part of nowadays Pakistan to the banks of the river Godavari. In different texts, there are different names for the states but some common states were Vajji, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Avanti, Gandhara, Maghadha, Kosala. There were other states too that were not included in the list of the great sixteen mahajanapadas like Brahmanical and Buddhist tests shows that there were territories like Kalinga on the eastern sea coast extending from Vaitarani river to the river Godavari. Most of these states were ruled by kings but some of them were ruled by ganas or sanghas, they were oligarchies, where the power was shared by a number of men, often collectively known as rajas. There are evidences that both Mahavira and Buddha came from such ganas. So, our country had a glorious past and undoubtedly a glorious future ahead. Bharata, as India was previously known or Hindustan, a word which was used for the land beyond the Hindkush Mountain,

During the sixth century BCE, India experienced the spread of two religions in the Indian subcontinent Buddhism and Jainism, religious reforms were taking place and development of early states which were known as Mahajanapadas. Another change which took during this century was the usage of iron and development of coinage; coins were used for economic transactions, it was clear that new economic policies were formed because of a new monetary system that was coinage.

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June, 2018

DESI AUSTRALIA | Mag Corner

our history is as old as the Indus Valley Civilization dated back 1900 years to 2500 BCE. We were contemporary to the Mesopotamian Civilization, a civilization which blossomed on and between two rivers that were Euphrates and Tigris. India was ruled by not just one colonial power that was the British but many more like Danish East India Company, Dutch East India Company, French East India Company, Portuguese and then came the British East India Company which came to India for trading and business purposes but soon developed their capital in Calcutta (nowadays Kolkata), and then in Madras (Chennai) subsequently in Bombay (Mumbai) and then shifted their capital to Delhi. For more than 250 years, India was a part of a colony. India is also a land of accommodating people coming from distant lands for refuge and we shared our history with many communities with equal love, support and togetherness for many years. India, as this land was renamed by the colonial powers has the largest youth population in the world which is approximately 356 Million. India is the largest democracy in the world and the

youth of the country is revolutionary, they don’t follow the stereotypes, they try to make their own way. It is unafraid and wants to know more, they want to explore and express their opinions freely without any fear of suppression.

It wants to explore, build and discover more than any generation before it, and as my guru Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam said that the biggest resource our nation has is its youth. The youth of India is aware that they don’t have it all and they are ready to fight for it, they know how to get what we deserve. India, a nation of more than billion dreams, working with countries like Australia for a better future, both the nations can do wonders and they are ready to do so.

Not just cricket but in India-Australia relations, we also share political, economic, security, lingual and sporting ties. As a result of British rule for years, cricket has emerged as a strong cultural connection between the two nations, as well as the English language, the official language of both the nations and we both organize military cooperation between Australia and India includes the regular joint naval exercise AUSINDEX. Both the nations are young, energetic and have the caliber to change the world and both the governments are trying to create more bilateral ties for better development. India’s projected GDP rate is 7% which is significant in itself. Not just the 6th century but this 21st century is also the age of development for the youth of my nation and this world and for the development of this wonderful, beautiful world, where million opportunities are waiting for the youth and the youth is ready for the change. Jai Hind. The Eshan Sharma is one of the youngest Indian author and has authored a book on Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam titled ‘The Teacher I Never Met.’

PTC Dhol TV has been launched at #MusicInc in Mumbai. Great opportunity for budding singers to showcase their work to the world on World’s first ever 24x7 television channel, exclusively on Facebook.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Sports

Origin Cricket Celeberates end of the Season with Awards Night

rigin Cricket headed by Mahin Abedin Founder Advisory Board Member, Modasser Rabbai Dipta Chaiperson Ali Ahraf Himel Deputy Vice President and Dileep Kumar Head of the Tournament celebrated another successful season with an awards night along with the 120 players and the other guests. Origin Cricket is part of the NSW Cricket and Mosaic Cricket. All the sub-continent communities are represented in the Origin Cricket competition This year the chief guest was former Pakistani cricket player great Waqar Younis.

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After having participated in two pool competition each consisting of eight teams Nation X1 and Stars X1 played their finals in Bankstown International Stadium.

Harish Velji organiser and Aisha Amjad master of ceremony for the evening saw the first set of awards being given to the umpires by Canterbury Bankstown Clr Mohammed Huda.

Stars X1 were victorious the Nation X1

Later followed by the awards recognising the sponsors. These were presented by the Origin Cricket executives. The major sponsor of the tournament Kingsgrove Sports Harry Solomon also spoke on the occasion.

Nations X1 batted first and scored 139/5 at the end of 20th over. Stars X1 were able to achieve this target on 19.4 overs scoring 141/6. Man, of the match was Faisal Naseem scoring 61 suns and taking 2 wickets.

Man of the series was Manish Malhotra, who had scored 417 runs and took 23 wickets.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Australia News

5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NBN

s the nbn™network rolls out across the country,here’s what you need to know before getting connected. What is the nbn? The nbn network is a Federal Government initiative to replace the existing network that delivers home phone and internet services. In areas where nbn’s fibre network is being introduced, you will need to move your home phone and internet services over to the nbn network if you want them to keep working. As a wholesaler, nbn does not sell directly to the public, so you need to contact a phone or internet provider such as Telstra to move your services over to the nbn network. How do I connect to the nbn network? Once the nbn network is available in your area, a service provider like Telstra can help you get set up with the broadband and home phone services to suit your needs. Visit your local Telstra Store or contact Telstra on 1800 834 273to discuss your transition to the nbn network and Telstra’s range of bundle

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options.You can check whether the nbnnetwork is available in your area using the roll-out map here. What type of modem do I need to connect to the nbn network? Your service provider will be able to recommend the correct modem, as it will depend on the type of nbn connection available to your premises. All newcustomers signing up to a Telstra home internet bundle, or existing Telstra customers moving to the nbn network who don’t already have an nbn-compatible modem, will receive a Telstra Smart Modem™ to help keep you connected throughout your transition. Once plugged in, the modem will connect a home to the internet via the mobile network, without having to wait for the fixed service to be connected. If there’s an interruption to your broadband service, the gateway will automatically switch over to a mobile connection within minutes. What Telstra services are available to me over the nbn network? Telstra offers a range of services and

products including a home phone and internet that works via an nbn connection. An International calling pack from Telstra provides unlimited calls to fixed line and mobiles in selected overseas destinations including India, Bangladesh, UK, Canada and US among others. Telstra also offers unique products to create your connected home includingTelstra Smart Home that allows you to automate lighting, appliances and monitor your home when you’re not there by connecting a range of smart devices through a central hub and app.A world of on-demand entertainment content is also available through Telstra TV (which has premium South Asian content on Yupp TV) as well asFoxtel Now. Where can I find out more information in my local area? Visit your local Telstra store to speak to one of our friendly staff about getting connected to the nbn with Australia’s best network. Head to Telstra.com.au/ Telstra-store to look up your nearest store and book an appointment for personalised technical guidance from an advisor.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Mag Corner

NSW Government Invests in Community Languages Review. Although the government advised that the rationale behind the Review was a part of the procedure of general evaluations of government supported programs it has not been able to provide a date for the report’s release or a timeline. The Government has however encouraged community members to put forth public submissions and contributions to help address any existing short falls. The NSW Government also used the the opportunity to make a further funding announcement of $700,000. This funding will be directed to develop new syllabuses in the languages of Hindi, Macedonian, Farsi/Dari, Punjabi and Tamil. This announcement of has been met with positive sentiments from South Asian communities as four out of the five languages that have experienced the highest growth levels are native to regions in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka.

Akshay Raj

n the 6th of June 2018 the NSW Government announced their plan to review the delivery, management and teaching standards for Community Language Schools as part of the $10.9M in funding announcement over the next three years. The Review with be conducted in partnership with Sydney Institute of Community Languages Education through the University of Sydney. The Review will include a trial in ten community language schools and will include teachers and students. The aim of the Review is said to be focused on boosting the quality of teacher training and methods across the board.

“ It’s about embracing culture and language. A bilingual society is important and gives us an advantage. It’s about the spoken as well as the written language as it helps form a connection between the elders and younger people in these communities”, said Hon. Ray Williams , Minister for Multiculturalism.

Current close to 35,000 students participate in the study of 58 recognised languages, taught in 545 locations across NSW. Many of these students are only able to access these classes during out of school hours, either on the weekend or in their own time, at their own financial expense.

Minister Stokes said “ We need to focus on the commercial benefits of learning languages. Education needs to be a lifelong adventure. It increases our capacity to communicate.As a government we celebrate diversity and wish to maintain and strengthen those cultural connections.”

Over the past 5 years enrolments have increased by over 10 percent and are set to continue their increase in the future. Although the Government has speculated more funding in the future, no commitments have yet been made for the all important budget before the 2019 State Election.

As part of the package Hon.Rob Stokes, Minister for Education announced the opportunity for Community language teachers to access new resources as well as the availability of 200 scholarships for teachers in these schools for further education and development.

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DESI AUSTRALIA | Art of Living

Rush! Rush! Rush! Take time to reflect childhood - when I was carefree. I just lived in the moment, every moment. I moved along, living.

Margaret Goodwin

I don’t know why it happened that my mind went back, but I’m glad of it.

I have to do this!

It made a difference to my day.

I have to do that!

It put things into perspective for me and in an interesting way.

When? Now!

I was making mud pies.

It wasn’t that I organised

Oh no! Life is crazy. How do I handle this?

I was climbing onto the roof of the chicken shed.

or reorganised

I was wishing I could go with my big brother over the fence to play in the old trains. One day, against my mother’s wishes, he took me with him. It was wonderful in those old train carriages. It was like time had stood still in there.

I’m running late and people are expecting me to be there and on the ball. But I don’t know if I can do it all.

I would imagine what they would look like, such old-fashioned carriages, with people in there back in time. I was in another world there.

or re-assessed or managed my tasks or my mind. It just made a difference without any effort from me. It put the present into its place and it made me put things in perspective. It was a subtle thing within me. It reset my “clock”, my inner clock; it reset me. Why rush? Do what I have to do. Do it carefully and well. Give myself time to reflect every now and then.

And I’m running late!

My goodness, I forgot everything else but what I was experiencing.

Oh no!

It was wonderful.

All right, I’ll get there. I’ll do it.

I remember watching my brother play marbles with a group of neighbourhood boys.

(Margaret Goodwin is a practitioner and teacher of Brahma Kumaris meditation.

I have to do them.

My brother always won. One day he let me play too.

She can be contacted on blacktown@ au.brahmakumaris.org)

They’re waiting for them.

He let me win. I was so happy.

This is crazy. I can’t handle this.

When I reached the next “demand”, I was feeling much lighter.

But, what about the rest of the things they’re waiting for?

As I was driving myself on to fulfil yet another demand, my mind went back to when I was little. It was a timeless time. I played all day until mum called me inside for lunch or dinner. My whole focus was on what I was doing: June, 2018

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See myself in that reflection. See my life and what is important.

I was open to others and could appreciate their ideas and was ready to accept their way. It made a difference, thinking back for a short while. Later in the day, my mind drifted back again to the special times in my www.DesiAustralia.com

DESI AUSTRALIA | Photo Gallery

Ramadan Eid Bazaar 2018

Photo credit: AJ Singh/Eventoz

Entertainment,food,shopping & lots of fun under one roof at Ramadan Eid Bazaar organised by Sashi Lal.

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