June 2022 edition of Desi Australia Monthly e-Mgazine by Desi Australia

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NEWS NEWS II HEALTH HEALTH II COMMUNITY ARTS AND LITERATURE NEWS I FESTIVALS I YOGA I I ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT I I SPORTS TRAVEL

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WHAT’S INSIDE Advertisement

and Palvith 17 Bhavagna have finally returned home session by Navya Andhra 20 Yoga Telugu Association NATA Canberra (NATA)

talks and workshops 22 Yoga by Integrated Women’s Network (IWN) The Final Screen 24 Not by Pink Sari Inc. Evening Devoted 28 Anto Literature & Art Inc. Launches Ekonomos, 30 ABSC Issue 3, 2022 At The Langham, Sydney City’-just 36 ‘Smart a buzz or reality? Rahat Project’: 40 ‘The A 20-year-long musical journey

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PUBLISHER Desi Media Group (Desi Australia Pty Ltd)

Editor-in-chief Arti Banga

NSW Editor: Harmohan Walia

Sales and Marketing: Dimple Deez

Victoria Editor: Daljeet Bakshi

Queensland Editor: Priya Singh

ACT Editor: Rajni Ghai Malhotra

Western Australia Editor: Ankita Tandon

South Australia Editor: Daljeet Bakshi

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Ravi Mathur

Address: Desi Australia Pty Ltd PO Box 102, Casula, NSW 2170 Email : info@DesiAustralia.com

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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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Hello Everyone, As we officially entered the Australian winter there were many events and celebrations to keep us warm despite the cold. From community news to entertainment, health, life style, arts & culture, technology and sports we have it all covered for you. Coming up is International Day of Yoga on 21st June when the world comes together to embrace the power and peace that Yoga brings. This year ’s IDY is themed Yoga for Humanity. We hope you enjoy read-

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Arti Banga

Editor-in-Chief

ing this month’s edition. If you have any stories that you would like to share with us, then please contact us on info@DesiAustralia.com

Stay safe and stay healthy. DesiAustralia.com “Keeping you connected”

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Community News | Sydney

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

lacktown City Council Libraries recently launched a special book compiling 50 stories of life during COVID-19 lockdowns, in partnership with a local author.Council worked with Quakers Hill storyteller Emie Roy of ‘The Stories Untold’, the Community Migrant Resource Centre and Westpoint to publish the book, The Light at the End of the Tunnel. This book shares real-life stories of our multicultural residents and the effects the lockdown had on them. Desi Australia had the opportunity to speak with Emie Roy – The Curator of the book. We hope you find the below conversation informative. Why did you decide to work on this book, ‘The Light at the end of the tunnel’? We live in a historically significant period of time. Every human being on this

planet has been impacted by the pandemic. As everyone else, I have been listening to a lot of stories in relation to how people were impacted, in the last couple of years. Stories that are poignant, stories of desperation, suffering, pain, anger, hope, kindness and rarely, funny ones. In fact, I have never listened to so many stories so keenly at any point in my life. Many of these stories that were narrated to me had a positive tweak at the end – regardless whatever they have been through, these people had coped and survived to tell those stories. And thus, I thought I need to play my part in capturing how we collectively survived, which would be a valuable document in the years to come. Once Blacktown City Council, Community Migrant Resource Centre and Westpoint came onboard to support me in this regard, the project was on.

How long did you take to put together this book? It was 10 solid months of work – one satisfying journey, to say the least. Was the original plan to include 50 writers? In the actual fact, yes! Fifty was the magic number I aimed for, and I am so glad we could publish 50 stories in the end. The number was decided on after scoping the project. It was not easy bringing together 50 stories though. Once the council released the media call out, many stories came in organically. A few people were referred to me, and a few others responded to my request. There were a few who started writing, but couldn’t finish. Some people found value in the project, but had hesitation on sharing a personal story. I respected that. It their life, and it was perfectly fine for them to decide not to share it. Sometimes, people who committed couldn’t fulfil it because life took over. I had to politely say no to some, because the stories had to be different. Sometimes, I had 50 odd stories in train, and at other times, less than 50. Eventually, I hit the magic number – 50! Where are these writers from? Many of the writers are from Blacktown, within the councils’ footprint. Beyond these,

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Community News | Sydney

we decided to include stories from Greater Sydney as it was treated as one single entity during the pandemic. There is one story from Blue Mountains too, which aligned with the theme of the book, and the writer was talking about commuting to Sydney as part of her work routine; so, it was quite connected with Greater Sydney in that sense.

during the pandemic. On the day of the book launch, she arrived with 4 friends of hers, all of them dressed in red. They made a date out of it, laughing and enjoying themselves, just like she said in her story – “sometimes, you have got to do what it takes to weather any calamity”.

How did the book impact on the writers? Many writers told me that it helped them reflect on things – to reevaluate their lives, and what they have been through. Re-living all that in words, it made them realize that they are now in a much better place that they thought they are. They are also gratified that making it part of a story collective has given their story the potential to inspire fellow human beings for many generations to come.

The photographs and the design are impressive. What was the thought process there? I wanted to use original photographs in the book. Some photographs supplied by the authors were used, and the rest were curated from various photographers’ original works. The cover pic was taken by Suresh Pokkattu who went on a trip to Blue Mountains solely for this purpose, after being briefed about the theme of the book.

Jill Edmondson, a senior citizen, from the retirement home in Denham Court wrote about what her friends and she did to keep their spirits alive when the retirement villages were separated from the larger community

The designer, Binu Varghese, helped with creating the look and feel of the book. A lot of thought has gone into it. I recollect that my first trip outside my LGA once the lockdown was lifted was to my designer’s office.

The stories had to stand out, and not the colors used in the lay out, hence I decided on soothing, natural colors in the design that go easy on eyes – shades of brown soil, green leaves and cloudy gray sky. Today, when people say that they find it calming to look at the book and read the survival stories, it’s very gratifying. What do you recount as the most pleasant experience of yours from this project? Personally, working on this project has been an enriching as well as pacifying experience for me. Engaging in this project helped to cut out a lot of negative thoughts during a very trying time. Someone said to me that besides being a record of the Covid times, this book could potentially help people dealing with anxiety and depression when they see how we lived through these times. I must say that it is something I experienced myself. I used to get up early in the morning to edit one story a day, during the times of lockdown in 2021. As days progressed, I realised that the exercise was helping me like meditation. Every single day, I was connecting to a fellow human being who persevered and pulled through – and it was helping me to be very optimistic and hopeful about the whole situation. Also, I am so glad this book made many first-time writers published authors – this has been an amazingly positive outcome! It’s a humbling experience to have the book housed in the archives of the state and national libraries, which will make it part of the pandemic time history of Australia. How can people have access to this book? It is available in all the branches of NSW libraries to borrow, and you can place a request through your local library if you live in NSW. E-copies are also available on indyreads, the e-platform by NSW state libraries. http://thestoriesuntold.com.au/ book-project/

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Community News | Sydney

Cultural celebration by In By: Vaibhavi Joshi

Photo credit: Harmohan Walia

ustralia is a vibrant and multicultural country — from the oldest continuous culture of our first Australians to the cultures of our newest arrivals from around the world. Our cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths and is at the heart of who we are. It makes Australia a great place to live.

taking worthy community projects on board, adding value to Club members, supporters and other diverse and multicultural community organizations and generating good will in the community.

We can lead our communities in the appreciation of difference by celebrating and sharing our cultural heritage, practices, beliefs, identities and languages. Last month, India Club celebrated multicultural Harmony, Love, Festivity, Friendship, Laughter and Humour. India Club is a voluntary organization of progressive people of Indian origin and Australians and takes pride in regularly hosting a variety of activities,

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Community News | Sydney

ndia Club

It was all about celebration of Harmony and social cohesion. It was overwhelming to see the participation & inspiring talks from the various dig-

nitaries. Performances included singing by local artist, SriLankan Dances, performance by bag piper, bollywood dances and open dance floor was enjoyed by all present. Solid background work by President Shubha Kumar & Chairman Aksheya Kumar along with the team efforts was the key elements behind this successful event. Not to forget another major celebration coming up in October soon till then let’s all cherish these wonderful memories together..!!

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Community News | Sydney

25 years of Australian Visa & Consultancy Services (AV

uesday, 10th May saw the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of AVMCS and Mr. Sanjay Deshwal’s work within the Australian migration field – the longest serving Australian Indian Migration Agent in NSW. The event was rightly held at the beautiful, heritage listed and oldest public building in Sydney, the NSW

Parliament House.

Minister for Multiculturalism & Seniors;

The attendees to this prestigious event included several NSW Ministers, Counsellors, distinguished community members and several successful clients of AVMCS and Mr. Deshwal – some recent, and some from 25 years ago. The presence of clients from decades ago was a testament to Mr. Deshwal’s communitymindedness, loyalty and service.

The Hon. Victor Dominello, Member for Ryde, Minister for Customer Service & Digital Government; and

Jazeel Mistry, Master of Ceremonies ably kicked off the event by welcoming all the distinguished guests and honoured Mr. Deshwal for his achievements within the business space and as a community member as President of LIHPBA. The floor was then given to: The Hon. Dr Geoff Lee, Member for Parramatta, Member for Corrections; The Hon. Mark Coure, Member for Oatley, Download Our App

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Hon. Damien Tudehope, Minister for Finance & Employee Relations Each Minister welcomed the guests to the NSW Parliament House and spoke very highly about Mr. Deshwal’s support, his work and community support as the President of Little India Harris Park Business Association (LIHPBA). The Hon. Dr. Geoff Lee added personal anecdotes about his friendship with Mr. Deshwal spanning over a decade. He spoke of the challenges of not only opening and running a small business, but making it a success over decades and highlighted Sanjay as a Friend who has www.DesiAustralia.com

Community News | Sydney

Migration VMCS) been with him from his early days when he was a candidate for the first time. The Hon. Mark Coure thanked Sanjay Deshwal on behalf of NSW Government, Premier and Treasurer for bringing qualified and skilled migrants in NSW. Hon. Victor Dominello added that his work in bringing the community & businesses together through LIHPBA was noted and acknowledged and appreciated. Minister Victor also shared his family experience of his Grandfather celebrating 25 years in a Fruit shop business and he

values how important this milestone is. The Hon. Damien Tudehope, Minister

for Finance & Employee Relations added to the above sentiments and congratulated Mr.Deshwal on his many successes. Hon Julia Finn, MP Granville was not able to attend but her congratulatory video was played in the function. Mr. Deshwal also took to the stage and again welcomed his guests to the NSW Parliament House and thanked everyone for attending. He extended his special thanks to his family, staff and his clients and the community. The most poignant moment at the celebration came from Mr. Deshwal’s son, Mr. Harsh Deshwal, who then spoke exceedingly highly of his father, his work, dedication and sense of style throughout his years in Australia. Mr. Harsh follows in his father’s footsteps and is also a registered migration agent and a lawyer. The night continued with the invitees socialising and celebrating AVMCS’s & Mr. Deshwal’s many successes.

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Community News | Sydney

Saree club celebra W

By: Poornima Menon

It seemed like many suns had descended on Madison Function Centre in Dural on 15th May 2022. Sydney Saree Club was celebrating Mother’s Day and ladies sashayed in through the front gates in different shades of yellow.

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hile the glow spread far and wide, the walls of the hall resonated with laughter and chatter as mothers and daughters and sons came together for an afternoon with a difference. The afternoon was dedicated to celebrating motherhood and what better way to do it than with your children ! The afternoon began with children taking centre stage to talk about their mums, her special features and her idiosyncrasies. We had mothers and daughters performing dance numbers together and crooning some melodious songs too. Queen Sheba visited the shores with her demands and gifts and there was a game of musical chairs for the kids which was played with a keen competitive spirit. Prizes were also through Tambola and raffle. But it was the mother – children fashion show that stole the show. Our oldest participant was over 70 years old and the youngest just under three years old. The food served by Madison Function Centre surpassed all expectations and made the event a very special one. While all kids under 18 years of age took home a customised coffee mug with their names on it, the adult daughters and mothers of the club

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members took home a beautiful saree brooch. A beautiful memento to remember the afternoon by. There were a few stalls to cater for the shopping needs. The afternoon ended on a high and the after-party excitement continued for weeks on end. The kids got to see in person why the

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Community News | Sydney

ates mother’s day Saree Club was special and why their mothers were so passionate about it. The kids are eagerly looking forward to the next time they can join their mums for some fun and frolic with her saree sakhis. And the wait continues …………

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Community News | Melbourne

Me Tv My World singing c

By: Daljeet Bakshi

ETV – An Australian based media Channel has hosted ‘My Voice Season 3’ , The first time in the world global singing competition simultaneously in 2 countries having no age,

language and country restrictions. For the first time in the history of Television & OTT platform, a singing competition is organised physically in 2 locations – Hyderabad(India) and Melbourne(Australia) along with participants from 6 other countries joining from their respective studios by METV channel and MEWorld – A global OTT plus platform. This competition had over 1000 registrations from 30+ countries across the globe and the 7 month journey with the contestants over 6 filtrations has resulted with 24 Finalists from 8 countries who

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will compete with each other for the Winner and Runner titles. The contest template makes it first in the world again as it has contestants singing in all Indian languages and English along with having them from all age groups participating in 4 different categories. Silver (Age 6 to 14), Gold (Age 15 to 23), Diamond( Age 24 to 40) , Platinum (Age 40+). A total of 8 highly eminent musicians are the judges for the participants in this journey. This show has attracted over 150,000 votes from 102 countries in the world on MEWorld platform. www.DesiAustralia.com

Community News | Melbourne

y Voice Season 3 competition sets record Music Director S Thaman is the Chief Guest along with star performances by Indian Idol Title Winner – SreeRama Chandra and the scintillating Nandy sisters. Telangana Agriculture and Market-

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ing Minister, Hon. Singireddy Niranjan Reddy is the Guest of Honor. The grand finale made it to three book of records - world records for being the unique reality show, hosting a grand fi-

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nale at two different locations, comprising of contestants from atleast 4 countries . MeWorld OTT is honored to have entered the Inkzoid Book of World Records, Glorious Book of records and Assist Book of Records, simultaneously, with a claim of Organising Two Distinct Grand Finale Singing Competitions held simultaneously in two Separate Countries-(Australia and India) in two discrete Venues Hosted by a Single OTT Platform first time ever in the World. This event goes in the history of having created multiple world records at the same time!

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Community News | Melbourne

The winners of each category was announced by The guests. For the Silver Category, the winner is, Sidharth from India while Rashika Banerjee and Anna Joseph from Australia made it to runners up. For the Gold Category, The winner is Gopika Kesavan from India while Sai Shreya Paluri from India and Bahrain’s Aaradhya Kaushik bagged the the runner up places. The Diamond and platinum category judging was very tough and we maintained the ethical discretion at all points . Vikhas Dhall wins the crown of platinum category and runner ups are India’s Srinivas Srikanth & Australia’s Paresh Kumar. Canada’s Parthasarathy Vuruputtur crowned as the winner for Diamond Category, while USA’s Kamakshi Subramanian & R.Sujitha from India bags the runner up places. Speaking to Director of Public Relation & Business Growth, Sukruti Narayanan , METV Channel and MEWorld Global OTT plus Platformis an Australian based media channel started in 2016 by Mr.Srihari Kommineni to connect South Asian audience with their communities. This vision to connect communities made him start MEWorld – A global OTT plus platform to create stars by giving them global reach in 2020. This App is viewed by over 3.5M people globally . This OTT platform has gained strong viewership from Australia, India, USA, UK, Singapore, Malaysia and UAE. Me Tv is on a mission to give opportunity to 2M talents worldwide by the next year to make their work visible globally. Download Our App

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Community News | Adelaide

Bhavagna and Palvith have finally returned home Survivor children of car crash in India reached Adelaide

By: Daljeet Bakshi

n Adelaide couple Hemambaradhar “Hems” Peddagamalla and his wife Rama Batthula were killed when their taxi crashed near Hyderabad , India in early May, They along with their children, Bhavagna (9) and Palvith (6) were on their way to the funeral of Ms Batthula’s father. The children survived the crash and had been recovering from their injuries at a hospital in India. Their family GP from Adelaide Dr Sudeer Talari was in India to break the news to the children of their parents’ death. “I’ve broken bad news to my patients, but this was the most traumatic thing to tell the kids that their mum and dad are not there anymore,” Dr Talari said.

The tragic news of the death of this Adelaide couple shocked the Telugu community in South Australia. The couple were active members of the Telugu association and were actively involved in the community events. Telugu association started A GoFundMe page and within days raised more than $200,000 to pay for Mr Peddagamalla and Ms Batthula’s funeral, their mortgage and the children’s medical expenses. The community came together to support the cause. The children’s grandparents, who are in their 70s and do not possess passports, were unable to Download Our App

care for the children in India. Sam Kaladri and Miriam Kaladari, who were close friends of the parents, have come forward to look after these two children. Both families unanimously agreed that the best place for the kids to be is Australia for their mental, physical wellbeing and for their education as they have lots of memories, friends and families here in Adelaide. The kaladaris will become their full time guardians. The Kaladari’s are confident that with the support of the local community they will be able to give the children the best life possible.

came through the gates at Adelaide Airport. Dr Talari, Kaladari’s family and Telugu association members thanked The Australian government, High commission for fast tracking the process. “The power of community has proven here and we are all taking that responsibility now,” the family doctor said.

Photo source ( Rex , supplied )

Telugu Association of South Australia president Sivaji Pathuri said the children “cried for the whole day” when they were told of their parents’ deaths.

They flew to India and have returned along with Bhavagna and Palvith. Members of the Telugu Association of South Australia and Indian community, waited with gifts for the children. There was mixed feelings of emotions and loud cheers as the two children JUNE I 2022

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Community News | Canberra

Yoga session by Navya Andhra Telugu Association NATA Canberra

active participation. The workshop concluded with mindful meditation and chanting of a prayer for the world to be happy, healthy and at peace. The Indian High Commission-Canberra delegate Mr.Narendra Rana graced the event. The event ended with a light refreshment of sattvik food lemon rice for everyone present.

spelling bee etc. It also provides an opportunity for participants to play and win awards in Chess and Carom championship. More information is available on email at events@nata.org.au.

Ms Sahithi Paturi, President NATA and the team are looking forward to community participation in the next NATA event - Canberra Indians Got Talen scheduled for 7 August 2022. The highly popular event is a platform for everyone to showcase their talent in several artistic disciplines in addition to singing, performing arts,

Photos Rajni Ghai Malhotra

ATA Canberra, in association with the High Commission of India organised a Yoga Workshop on 5th of June 2022 to celebrate International Day of Yoga. The workshop was focussed on promoting yoga awareness and its health benefits to community. Ms Rajni Ghai Malhotra renowned Yoga and mindfulness consultant from Canberra, guided the attendees and advised them that yoga is all about finding balance between mind, movement and coordination. The workshop included a practical demonstration of yogasanas, that assist in improving focus, balancing of mind, digestion and general physical and mental health. Both children and adults enjoyed

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Yoga

YouGo with Rajni-Let’s Be Mindful Series

Yoga for Humanity – International Day of Yoga 2022

of the 8th International Day of Yoga 2022 themed Yoga for Humanity, let us look at the all-encompassing nature of Yoga that viberates positive energy and a wish for wellness for all humanity.

By: Rajni Ghai Malhotra

ost of us know that the term Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Yuj’ which means ‘to yoke’ or ‘to unite’ indicating a bond, a coming together of body, mind and soul in perfect harmony. Yoga is also about harmonizing oneself with the Universe. “It is the technology of aligning individual geometry with the cosmic, to achieve the highest level of perception and harmony” Dr. Ishwar V. Basavaraddi. Each year, on 21 June, the world comes together through Yoga to embrace the power and peace that Yoga brings. On the occasion Download Our App

The ‘Shanti Paath’ or the Peace Prayer – is a verse often recited at the end of a yoga practice for the wellbeing of humanity. The words of the prayer in Sanskrit and their meaning in English are explored below. Shanti Paath: Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah Sarve Santu Niraamayaah | Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet | Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih || Meaning in English: Om, May All be at peace (state of happiness and content), May All be Free from Illness (sickness, disease), May All See what is Auspicious, May no one Suffer (pain or sorrow), Om Peace, Peace, Peace. JUNE I 2022

The Shanti Paath is a universal prayer for all sentient beings promoting a feeling of wellness, alignment and balance with the world and within ourselves. It works on the approach that we mirror what we see around us. Hence, for us to experience complete and true happiness, content and peace within us, we need to be able to see that in our surrounds. The prayer is an all-embracing wish for the wellbeing of the entire universe and thereby our own selves. ‘When we pray for all, we pray for ourselves too, that’s when we begin to heal. This prayer is really a reminder of our universal self. To know that we are no different from the Universe, even though our way of seeing the world doesn’t usually feel that way. We pray so we may be joined in with the whole again’ Guarav Rastogi. There YouGo! Let us come together in Yoga, to pray for the wellbeing and peace of all humanity. Yours mindfully, Rajni Follow Rajni on Facebook @YogaWithRajni www.DesiAustralia.com

Yoga

Yoga talks and workshops by Integrated Women’s Network (IWN)

and can be practiced with ease. On Saturday 28 May was ‘Yoga on the go and anywhere anytime yoga’ by Rajni Ghai Malhotra (yoga and mindfulness consultant, founder of YouGo Yoga with Rajni). The series kicked off with the first session, a live demonstration on practical tips on incorporating the practice of yoga off the mat and making it a part of our day. The workshop explored variations and adaptations of yoga asanas and breathwork that can be practiced with comfort and ease on a chair, at the workplace or in any safe and secure environment.

By: Rajni Ghai Malhotra

ntegrated Women’s Network (IWN) and Integrated Cultures ACT (ICACT), in association with the High Commission of India, Canberra have organised a series of online Yoga talks and practical sessions for the community to celebrate the 8th International Day of Yoga - IDY2022. In 2021, the network organised 8 talks/sessions (coincidentally reflecting the Ashtanga yoga by Patanjali) in the lead up to the 7th International day of yoga and a meditation session. This year, catering to the expressed interest of session participants, most of the sessions are practical in nature Download Our App

On Saturday 4 June was ‘Ashtanga Yoga’ by Alan Goode, Yoga Mandir, Canberra. The online session identified the 8 limbs of yoga and their relevance to our daily lives. It was very well attended especially by practitioners of Iyengar yoga in Australia. Last year Alan Goode had JUNE I 2022

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Yoga

spoken on ‘Yoga in the modern world’ and ‘Yoga marga - the role of practice in the path of Yoga’. On Sunday 5 June was ‘Yoga in the kitchen’ by Elena Amani, Founder Director, Yoga for Posture. This session focussed on practical tips to relieve back pain while cooking. More workshops are scheduled as follows: Saturday 11 June – ‘Power of Mind – Meditation’ by Vijay Arora of ‘VA YogaOnLine’ and senior yoga teacher, Yoga Australia. Time: 12.45 pm for 1.00 pm start to 1.45 pm Sunday 19 June – ‘Neck and shoulder release practice’ by Eliane (Eli) Haski, Director and teacher, Canberra Yoga Space. Time: 10.45 am for 11.00 am start to 11.45 am Saturday 25 June – ‘Karma yoga’ by Gaurav Rastogi, Dean, Hindu Community Institute USA. Time: 12.45 pm for 1.00 pm start to 1.45 pm Please feel free to contact IWN at iwomensnetwork@gmail.com to register for sessions.

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Ms Jayanti Gupta, Founder Chair IWN, is delighted with the response and participation of the community, in Canberra,

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interstate and overseas. Through these series people are gaining insights into better health and wellbeing management across the globe. IWN acknowledges the support of the Yoga teachers, Yoga schools, Desi Canberra, People Powered Radio 2XX; Radio Harmony {Samanvay} (Wednesdays 7 – 8 pm) and Radio Gender Equity Matters {GEM} (Sundays 2-3pm) broadcast on 2XX FM 98.3.

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Health

Not The Final Screen by Pink Sari Inc. The Castle Hill Cultural Centre was awash with pink recently for Not The Final Screen. The valedictory event marked yet another successful milestone for muchloved community organisation, Pink Sari Inc (PSI).

earing trademark pink saris, the dinner gala brought together various stakeholders and representatives from community organisations to showcase remarkable achievements of PSI and ponder over the year that was. After firing the imagination of South Asian community with innovative projects and award-winning campaigns for breast and bowel cancer awareness, the team of dedicated volunteers at PSI turned the spotlight on another preventable cancer – cervical cancer. ‘Cervical Screening for Survival’ project raised awareness among Indian and Sri Lankan women in the age group 25-74 about the Download Our App

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importance of early detection through periodic screening, encouraging them to access the National Cervical Screening Program. Pink Sari partnered with Australian Indian Medical Graduates Association (AIMGA) and Australian Medical Aid Foundation (AMAF) to increase screening rates in Western and South western Sydney. Community presentations were complemented by live Q and A sessions with well-known GPs. “This was a big highlight of the program and really helped dispel common myths and misconceptions,” Shantha explained. The project which was launched in February 2021 has already reached hundreds of women across Sydney, with requests to run more outreach events. “As COVID posed www.DesiAustralia.com

Health

was Harmohan Walia from Desi Australia. Sarah McGill, Interim CEO of Cancer Institute of NSW gave an overview of the institute and its work in the wider community. AIMGA member Dr Rekha Rao spoke about the challenges and barriers that South Asian women faced in undertaking cervical screening, and how PSI helped in overcoming these barriers and increasing their participation in screening. Sagarika Venkat and Divya Krishnan from Rasika Dance Academy performed on the occasion. “It was such a pleasure to celebrate the achievements of our Cervical Screening Project with Cancer Institute NSW, NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service and our partners in this project AIMGA – Australian Indian Medical Graduates Association and AMAF – Australian Medical Aid Foundation,”Aparna Tijoriwala who emceed the night’s proceedings, acknowledged. Among the dignitaries who joined the celebrations were Councillors Jessica Brazier, Reena Jethi, Sabrin Farooqui and Usha Dommaraju, and Durga Owen, representatives from various community organizations, women’s groups, Department of Health, ethnic language schools, SBS radio and ethnic newspapers and all the GPs who presented at various outreach sessions. Also present

The function concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Dr Rugmini Venkatraman who had the following message, ”Workshops may come and go, but the screening tide will go on. We look forward to the day when we can confidently say that this is ‘The Final Screen’,. Till then, the team are ready to roll up their sleeves for more grassroots engagement.

Photo credit Harmohan Walia

quite a challenge for face-to-face engagement, Pink Sari had to re-invent, innovate and adapt. Our initial sessions went online but once restrictions lifted, we were able to resume in person programs, including the very recent Pink Bus, a fun day out in southwest Sydney,” Shantha Viswanathan from Pink Sari recalled, looking back on the year that was.

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Life Experiences

SAREES AND COMMUNITY BELONGING

ur treasured saree is the oldest piece of unstitched garment dating back to Indus Valley Civilisation. It is the cultural icon of the Indian sub-continent. For us it not just a way of life, but a medium of expression, though we may come different regions and drape it in different styles. This six-yard beauty also called a ‘Poshak’ or garment has three segments to it – Antariya, Uttariya and Stanapatt. The saree has continued to rule our wardrobes like no other garment has, this proving its versatility! It has soared global heights in leading fashion shows, Indo-Western ramp walks etc. This wonderful garment has often replaced a blanket, a hammock, a climbing rope, a kitchen towel, and a tissue for a runny nose. One can picturize a real “Mom” in action in her saree.

behind ‘The Saree Gallery’. She has always draped a minimum of three sarees a day – a saree at home, a casual saree for a market round and a third one to go to the Temple in the evenings for her chanting. It was not until 2018, that I questioned her as to who appreciates her sarees. The answer was a bunch of friends and the ladies in the neighbourhood. I was influenced by the various Saree Groups and decided to start a similar one for my friends and myself. After a chat with my sister, I created a global Facebook group and called it ‘The Saree Gallery’. Thus began my journey which I knew needed dedication and commitment. Today, Saree Gallery, that started as a small interactive group has 9000 global members and provides a platform for ladies to showcase their sarees and their talents.

With the saree as the base, I had the urge to create belongingness in the Community promoting art and culture through a virtual platform and made use of the social media to nurture this desire. This also helped maintain virtual ties with my homeland without leaving the lounge. My mom who is a saree lover and has been the inspiration

In June 2020, pre-COVID, a few members from the group approached me to do something different for the group. This was the start of the ‘Wholesome Wednesday” sessions which helped promote art and culture. The sessions are a great platform for showcasing the talent within the Group to the Group and slowly picked up

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momentum. I have successfully completed 100 Sessions without repeating a session or a presenter. It was feel good and satisfying moment, showcasing sarees and promoting community belonging. My love for sarees prompted me to become a member of the Saree Club. I have had several Saree Club members participate in my Wholesome Wednesday sessions and value to them. And in all this, the love for the sarees is the common thread. www.DesiAustralia.com

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Arts and Literature

An Evening Devoted to Litera ‘A room without books is like a body without a soul.’

iterature and books have always played an important role in our lives. Books teach us many things that we cannot learn from our surroundings. Visual media – videos and films – have mostly surpassed book reading in recent years, and we rarely have time to read in our busy life, but we know that technology will never be able to replace the sense of accomplishment that comes from reading books. Books became popular again during the COVID period. While confined, authors completed unfinished work and readers purchased books to pass the time. The Indian Literary and Art Society of Australia (ILASA Inc) conducted a literary event at Epping Leisure and Learning Centre on Saturday, May 14th, 2022, to honour

authors and their publications. The event began with the lighting of the lamp by dignitaries – Consul General of India Mr Manish Gupta, Hornsby Mayor Phillip Ruddock, Melissa Montiero, and Mr Nafas Ambalvi – an award winning Urdu poet from India – followed by Dr Tanima Banerji’s dance on Nobel Prize winner poet R N Tagore. Following the dance performance, Rekha Rajvanshi, the founder & director of ILASA, spoke about the organization’s goals, past activities and future plans. Three multilingual books, written by Australian Indian authors were launched. ‘Dastak’ a Hindi poetry book of 10 poets worldwide was launched first. The work of Sydney poet Vivek Asri was included in the book, which was produced and ed-

ited by the Indian writer and poet Nupur Jaiswal, who was present at the occasion. Nupur and Vivek recited poems from the book. The second book was Harmohan Walia’s Punjabi poetry collection ‘Phalsapha-E-Zindagi’ (Philosophy of Life), which he attended virtually due to health issues. He read his poetry from the collection after the launch. Dr Shailja Chaturvedi’s book ‘The Global Citizens of India’ meant for global citizens of India who are born and brought up outside India but have roots in India. Readers will know more about India and go deeper into its social, cultural, scientific and spiritual heritage. Phillip Ruddock spoke about Dr Chaturvedi’s book and said that cultural diversity of Australia is one of our greatest strengths. All people who migrate to Australia bring with them some of their own culture, language and religious traditions and collectively, these diverse backgrounds have enriched our nation. Melissa Monteiro (CEO CMRC) presented to the dignitaries one of her Amazon’s bestseller books ‘The Girl From Mumbai – A Migrant Story.’ Melissa’s extraordinary career in the community sector in India and Australia over the last 30 years is chronicled in this book. She told the audience about her childhood memories and how she survived being stranded in the Narmada Valley and how she has helped hundreds of families, partnerships, collaborations, awards & achievements of the last three decades. Sydney’s own multi-talented Avijit Sarkar, a well-known musician, painter, cartoonist, writer, and vocalist, received the ILASA Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the arts and literature. Listening to a special guest Shayar from India, Dr. Nafas Ambalvi’s mean-

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Arts and Literature

ature & Art

ingful shayri, was an amazing delight. Dr Ambalvi is a doctor by profession but he has received Urdu Academy and Haryana Academy awards. One of his famous lines (Sher) quoted many times by the film personalities and politicians including PM Modi. It was an incredible pleasure to listen to a special guest Shayar from India, Dr. Nafas Ambalvi’s poignant shayri. Dr. Ambalvi is a doctor by profession, but he has also won many prizes including Urdu Academy and the Haryana Academy Awards. One of his famous sentences (Sher) has been cited numerous times by film celebs and politicians, including Prime Minister Modi. ‘Use Guma hai ki meri Udan kuchh kam hai Mujhe yaki hai ki ye Asman kuchh kam hai’ Mrs NimeeshaGupta, wife of the Consul General and a well-known poet, also read a moving poem ‘Man ka kavi hai ye Pinjre ka Rahi.’ Hon. Julia Finn MP and Deputy Mayor Parramatta Sameer Pandey spoke about the importance of literature, languages and culture and how it enriches our lives. Dr Manu Mukt Manav International Youth Awards are named after an Indian IPS officer who died very young. His father, Mr Ramnivas Manav, launched the awards 8 years ago, and they are given out annually. Clr Charishma Kaliyanda and Karishma Bhojwani (Mrs India Australia, Radio and TV personality) were honoured this year for their excellent accomplishments in their respective fields.

and entertained the audience with his singing. Shipta Tewani and Mrinal Shrama, the emcees, worked hard to set the tone and keep the audience engaged. The event

drew a large number of community leaders, supporters, and poetry fans. The ILASA team worked tirelessly to organise this post-COVID event, which brought together numerous art and literature enthusiasts.

.Clr Reena Jethi and Clr Sreeni Pillamary presented Hindi Diwas 2021 certificates to the winners Taufeeq Ahmed Sheikh (First Prize story telling), Suryashree Puntambekar ( First Prize skit). And runners up were Anu Shivaram, Pankaj Upadhyay and Nisar Sirguroh. Gaurav Kapoor, a poet and popular singer from Sydney, recited his poems Download Our App

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Mag Corner

ABSC INC. LAUNCHES EKONOM ISSUE 3, 2022 AT THE LANGHAM

midst the lush premises of one of Sydney’s five-star hotel chains, The Australian Business Summit Council Inc. hosted a Who’s Who of business leaders, diplomats and politicians at the 2022 ABSC Inc. Annual Gala Dinner on 5th May 2022 to formally launch the third issue of EKONOMOS, the annual business affairs magazine published by this leading management consulting forum. ABSC Inc. president for the fourth consecutive year, Dr. Frank Alafaci welcomed more than one hundred VIP guests and other persons to this signature event at The Langham, Sydney, including the Ambassador of Turkey, the High Commissioner of Pakistan, the High Commissioner of Bangladesh, the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Ukraine,

the Consuls General of Spain, Austria, Poland, India, Chile, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Turkey, the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism and Seniors, and the state Shadow Minister for Small Business, Multiculturalism and Property. Since its registration as an incorporated association at New South Wales Fair Trading in late 2018, the ABSC Inc. has served the needs and requirements for Australian businesses to expand, increase profitability, and maximise expectations. Under its charter, the ABSC Inc. seeks to promote the bona fide rights of Australian businesses by enhancing Australian entrepreneurship in the domestic market and across the international community.

Dr Frank Alafaci (President, Australian Business Summit Council Inc.)

Mr Mark Coure MP (NSW Minister for Multiculturalism and Seniors) Download Our App

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Mag Corner

MOS, M, SYDNEY Pursuant to this, the Australian Business Summit Council Inc. acts as an intellectual mouthpiece for debates about effective business policies and practices that stimulate a vibrant, sustainable and competitive economic environment with lucrative capabilities for Australian businesses. ABSC Inc.’s e-newsletter, The Rotator (reemerging from hibernation during the worst period of the COVID-19 pandemic) pitches to the general and specialised reading public alike, featuring incisive views, opinions, suggestions and solutions to safeguard the Australian economy as a mature, dynamic and sustainable commercial environment and engender trade and investment possibilities with our known regional trading partners and untapped extra-regional import and export markets. EKONOMOS, the ABSC Inc.’s annual business affairs magazine, presents well-written reports and penetrating appraisals of the current business trends and forces that impact on economic growth by authoritative expert figures in the fields of finance, trade, investment, politics and diplomacy drawn from the Australian and international communities. As an evident Greek-sounding play on the English term that denotes the study of the distribution of wealth and income, EKONOMOS Issue 3, 2022 comprises fourteen article contributions by the ABSC Inc. president Dr. Frank Alafaci, H.E. Mr. Shingo Yamagami (Ambassador of Japan). H.E. Dr. Mykola Kulinich (former Ambassador of Ukraine); H.E. Mrs. Hellen De La Vega (Ambassador of the Philippines); H.E. Dr. Joseph Agoe (High Commissioner of Ghana); H.E. Mr. Mohammad Sufiur Rahman (High Commissioner of Bangladesh); Mr. Joseph Rizk AM / OAM (CEO / Managing Director, Arab Bank Australia); Ms. Lee-May Saw (Barrister, Fredrick Jordan Chambers); Mr. Gary Garner (Director, The Garner Partnership Pty Ltd); Mr. Kian Ghahramani (Principal, RSM Australia Pty Ltd); Ms. Laura Robbie (Managing Director, YouGov Australia); Mr. Schon Condon Download Our App

(Managing Principal, Condon Advisory Group); Mr. Art Phillips (Founder / Director, 101 Music Pty Ltd); and Mr. Stephen Parker (Director / Digital Transformation Specialist, 1Vision OT). One evident measure of the ABSC Inc.’s reputation is the high calibre of corporate, SME and individual members, and the gold, silver and bronze sponsors whose generous financial assistance towards the recent Annual Gala Dinner and the publication of EKONOMOS Issue 3, 2022 was formally recognized with the conferral of acknowledgement awards to Mrs Sylvia Alafaci (ABSC Inc. secretary, as the gold sponsor), Mr Wei Li (CEO, Swan Wine Group, as the silver sponsor), Mr Rouad El Ayoubi (Founding Director, Alliance Project Group and ABSC Inc. vice-president as a bronze sponsor), and Ms Asther Lam (on behalf of the Executive Director of the Australia China Economics, Trade and Culture Association, Dr Ven Tan, as another bronze sponsor). Heading the eminent VIP speakers at the 2022 ABSC Inc. Annual Gala Dinner, the Ambassador of Turkey, H. E Mr. Korhan Karakoc and the High Commissioner of Bangladesh, H.E. Mr. Mohammad Sufiur Rahman joined with Mr. Joseph Rizk AM / OAM, the CEO / Managing Director of the Arab Bank Australia Limited, the Hon. Mr. Mark Coure MP, NSW Minister for Multiculturalism and Seniors and the Hon. Mr. Steve Kamper MP, NSW Shadow Minister for Small Business, Multiculturalism and Property to commend the Australian Business Summit Council Inc. for its remarkable successes and continuing efforts to promote Australian businesses. Under the current ABSC Inc. president, Dr. Frank Alafaci, the Australian Business Summit Council Inc. is expanding rapidly to augment its influence and pervasiveness within the business community in Australia and abroad by actively promoting business investment and innovation into high valueadded and technologically advanced sectors and industries, and assisting small, medium-sized and large businesses to further multilateral business relationships within the national economy and extraterritorially. Indeed, the ABSC Inc. is increasing its elaborate links within the Australian and global business networks and continuing to JUNE I 2022

Mr Steve Kamper MP (NSW Member for Rockdale)

H.E. Mr Mohammad Sufiur Rahman (High Commissioner of Bangladesh)

H.E. Mr Korhan Karakoc (Ambassador of Turkey)

Mr Joseph Rizk (CEO, Arab Bank Australia) formulate comprehensive policies, measures and recommendations through the Council’s seminars, conferences, partnerships, EXPOs, memoranda of understanding, trade delegations, negotiations with political and business leaders and participation in national and international economic roundtables in order to strengthen trade and investment opportunities for our country’s economic growth www.DesiAustralia.com

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Mag Corner

Samsharad Shibiram By: Sowmya Sundar

he much-awaited Annual Autumn camp “Samsharad Shibiram” of Sydney Sanskrit School took place at Bundilla Scout Camp, Winston Hills during the Autumn term break. This year’s theme was “Jaladhijarakshanam,” efforts in conserving the habitat of the sea animals. The event began with Deepajwalanam (lighting of the lamp) by Shri Ramanand Garge from the office of CGI and Veda chanting by Shri Venkatraman. The 3-day journey began with a book

reading session on the Dashaavataras of Mahavishnu. The book “Ten Heroes” is the creative work of an ISKCON devotee, Chanel Enjoem aka Shyam Sakhi including the illustrations. Along with “Janma Lila” by Devi Sri books, the two books were donated to Sydney Sanskrit School by one of their parents. Students attended the book reading session of Ten Heroes with special emphasis on the first three of the avataaras, i.e., Matsya, Koorma and Varaha, followed by

a colouring activity of these avataaras. One of our teachers presented the seven significant rivers of Bharatadesha. According to Sanatana Dharma, these rivers, Ganga, Yamuna Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu, and Kaveri have a vahana each, a colour and a story about their origins, the population they sustain and other significances. These were elaborately explained along with the significant rivers of Australia and their role in the growth of their surrounding regions. A quiz was conducted for the students as the learning activity. Malini aka Sarah Louise Gates from Hindu Human Rights spoke to the students in having one’s cultural identity as a badge of honour. She shed light on how to find and tackle Hindu phobia in the society. She cited various historical references to show the fame and history of ancient India and the various misappropriation of the facts leading to Hindu shaming. Standing up to discrimination and calling it out is the right approach in building a secure multicultural society. Shri Deepak Vinod led the students to a serene and sunny morning activity through beautiful short stories in helping oneself realise God. “The moment you realise you are absent, you become present”

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Mag Corner

m 2022

With this profound thought, he conducted the japa sessions and coaxed students to harness the power of meditation in their day-to-day lives. Shri Srinivasan’s yoga was a revelation in realising and pushing our limits to greater physical and mental health. The Gomukhasana helps us evaluate the flexibity of our muscles of both sides of the body. Simhasana, Baddha Konasana, Vrikshasana were among the many that he instructed the students. He stressed highly upon performing 12 sets of Suryanamaskar every day for overall benefits for the body and mind. His laughter therapy literally had the audience in splits. Amita Bhat explained the science behind water. She also spoke about the necessities of being waterwise. Water is an essential commodity which is not abundant as fresh water supply. Minor changes to habits go a long way in preserving yet continuing to use water for our future generations. Shri Nandkishore Garge shared his experience with the seniors on his yatra along River Narmada, from her place of origin Amarkantak till the place of her confluence to the Arabian Sea. This personal experience came as a huge motivation for the students. The dharmic significance of water conservation was explained to the juniors with a shloka from Bhagavad

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Gita. Students picked up the shloka and its essence very beautifully. They also learnt about the diverse types of water that forms the oceans around the world like salty, sweet, milky frothy etc. Along these lines, a peppy rhyme for a beachside picnic was instructed, which students ardently learnt and eagerly performed during the valedictory function. The students danced in the evening, learning Punjabi dance forms. It brought out the artist in each of them.

this event. Councillor Suman Saha presided over the valedictory function, which saw performances and presentations from the students. Suman Saha is well-known for taking his oath in Sanskrit. He motivated the audience in proudly displaying one’s cultural identity. He spoke passionately about the influence of Bhagavad Gita in his life. He also distributed the participation certificates for the students.

One of our teachers highlighted the problem of microplastics in the waterbodies and students were given the task to prepare their various approaches in tackling this issue. The presentation touched upon nearly all areas of one’s lifestyle that contributes to this growing problem of plastic pollution. Our choices define the contours of the future that we leave behind for our children.

The camp’s success is attributed to the teachers, students, organisers, and the sponsors from our community some of whom provided us with homemade dinner for one of the nights. The wider Hindu community also sponsored various fruits and other eatables for the camp making everyone feel at home. The core aim of the camp is to show the ease with which one can incorporate yoga, japa and new learning into our day-to-day lives.

Shrimati Jayanti spoke on the easy and significant steps towards judicious water usage. An Australian folklore about the necessity of water was an interesting one to know. Students were presented with easy-to-follow ideas towards conserving water. A quiz on these facts concluded

Feedback from the students were extremely positive giving the organisers a big boost towards the next year’s camp. With yet another successful camp, Sydney Sanskrit School looks forward to conducting more such camps and enriching lives along the way.

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Technology

‘Smart City’-just a buzz or reality? S

SV: What is a Smart City? UK: In reality, there is no single definition of a smart city. In my opinion, it is a city, town, or place where the community and the local economy are benefited from innovative infrastructure and urban services, thus fostering quality of life. In some instances, the smart city is viewed as a smart community, intelligent infrastructure, e-community, citizencentric service/s, and sustainable. The rhetoric is that smart cities are being developed to solve the urban problems mostly through the use of modern technology – for example, traffic management, pollution monitoring,

Photo Credit : participate.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au

By: Sarang Vengurlekar

ince early 2000, there has been a lot of movement in the ‘Smart City’ domain across almost every industry sector (including Government, Private, Education, Transport, Health etc.). Thus, raising questions about the ‘Smart City’ concept and its adoption across Australia and the world. To demystify the picture, we interviewed Uday Kulkarni, a doctoral researcher and an experienced Information Technology management professional. He is currently researching the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies in local governments.

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Technology

e-services, remote health services, distance education, and many more. SV: How did the Smart City movement evolve? UK: The smart city phenomenon evolved from the need to address the social, economic and environmental developments which put significant pressure on infrastructure and services, giving birth to unfamiliar challenges. There is no choice but to develop innovative and intelligent solutions tailored to meet community needs and expectations to address these challenges. For example, in Australia, there are predictions that the population will reach 40 million by the middle of the century, which calls for opportunities to explore smart and visionary ways to address emerging challenges. SV: What are the inclusions within Smart City? UK: Smart City is fundamentally a multifaceted idea and has many components associated with its implementation. Communities are critical stakeholders and play an essential role in their adoption. Additional factors that influence the smart city are local demographics, apt technologies, the willingness of governments, local infrastructure, available services, supporting legislation, and supporting policies. However, every community has its own desires. The place has unique characteristics, so these factors need to be considered when implementing innovative city initiatives. Most importantly, Smart Cities result from a thoughtful collaboration between the communities, governments, local authorities, private businesses, and other sectors – education, transport, and so on. SV: How does Smart City benefit the local community? UK: Smart City initiatives benefit the community in many ways. Smart technologies help the citizens improve their quality of life by enabling the delivery of effective and sustainable services like energy management, healthcare, education etc. The governments can offer 24 x 7 innovative online services by reducing red tape and engaging with the community in developing the plans & strategies for the future of their city. For example – the local council’s online services. Other sectors like transport, education & private businesses also benefit from smart city attributes. Adoption of advanced technologies helps deliver initiatives like e-Health, Virtual Classrooms and Live Traffic Updates. The technoloDownload Our App

reach more potential buyers through online marketplaces and speedy delivery arrangements. Subsequently, more and more cities are competing with their counterparts worldwide by increasingly embracing intelligent infrastructure and online services to elevate their global socioeconomic status.

gies include high-speed Internet, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, smart sensors etc. There are numerous smart opportunities in every walk of life that can be developed and adopted to be converted into a smart community. SV: Are there any obstacles in developing or implementing Smart City initiatives? UK: The research indicates that the expression smoke and mirrors can be categorically used concerning the smart city concept. There is a lot of confusion about what the word ‘smart’ in the city context really entails? The reason is that every city, town, or place has its own characteristics associated with local impediments and aspirations of the local community. This means every city, town, or place has varying pieces of the smart city puzzle that need to be put together. The puzzle pieces include local priorities from government, citizen, and business perspectives. For example – the priority City of Brisbane will be alerting residents with flood warnings. In contrast, the Sydney residents will prioritise addressing traffic congestion. SV: Does Smart City elevate the status of a particular locality or a suburb? UK: As discussed earlier, smart city initiatives provide many benefits to a particular locality or a suburb, especially from the demographics, tourism and industry perspective. For example, the pandemic has significantly increased the demand for efficient and reliable Internet services because people now choose to work from home to take care of their families. So, working families prefer to live where infrastructure and services are available that meet their needs. From the tourism perspective, cities or towns can broaden the reach to local, national, and international visitors through smart e-portals to market their presence. Further, the industry benefits from smart initiatives because it can JUNE I 2022

SV: Can local community members have a say in the local council Smart City Project? UK: As I have suggested earlier, local communities play an essential role in Smart City projects (or initiatives). After all, almost all smart city projects are executed to meet the needs of communities and foster the local economy. You can reach out to your local representative or council to seek further information and ways to involve in the smart city program. Also, you can reach out to the private/community organisations and groups that represent citizens in the development of smart city plans and strategies alongside the local council and other authorities. SV: It was an absolute honour to interview Uday Kulkarni who has such vast knowledge in the field of smart cities. He was able to highlight the importance of such cities going forward. In conclusion I would like to point my direction towards how our cities are evolving and how we can leverage technology to assist such a massive feat. We are just seeing the tip of iceberg as the future cities will be very advanced since the technology will keep evolving. The standard of service offerings from local councils will increase over time, so we can rest easy and be assured that our rates payments are being utilised in a correct manner to bring these facilities to fruition. I would also like to thank the local & state government for such initiatives and the massive effort to push forward such high technology construction projects. I hope you enjoyed reading this article and found it to be informative. Please drop me a line or any feedback on sarang@vengurlekar. com. All your feedback provides me with an opportunity to bring the best technology news to my readers every month.

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Arts and Culture

‘The Rahat Project’: A 20-y musical journey

Gandhi) about this project, and an acknowledgement of the creative artists. The youngest speaker at the event was Ashar Hasnain Zaheer, a 10-year-old boy from Western Sydney, who spoke about the importance of Peace & Harmony and appealed to everyone including leaders and guests to invest their time and efforts into creating a vibrant, colourful and safe future for the next generation. He mentioned that children want to see more schools, playgrounds, parks and art centres where they can thrive and realise their talents. Guns and wars should only belong in history books.

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“Rahat” CD was released in the NSW parliament on Tuesday 17th May 2022 joined by several members of the NSW Parliament, distinguished community leaders, VIPs and creative artists of the Rahat project. The event included a few short speeches on community social cohesion, short video clips of the VIPs (including the grandson of Mahatma JUNE I 2022

The “Rahat” project is produced by WAACI (We Australians are Creative Inc), a not for profit Australian organisation, networking Creativity in Australia. WAACI believes that Creativity has no boundaries, limitations, nationalities, religions, colour or racial differences or any other barriers that humans erect around www.DesiAustralia.com

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year-long

themselves. Creativity is a gift to humankind to express the feelings of joy and sorrow experienced by humanity and our society. In WAACI, we share and network creativity with established as well as new artists. Another aspect of WAACI is to promote peace and harmony by way of networking creative concepts. With the above spirit and thought, WAACI has arranged the production of the unique Ghazal album “Rahat” featuring the poetry of Mr Om Krishan Rahat, a senior Urdu/Hindi poet in Australia who passed away in 2018 in Western Sydney.

Zealand, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Spain, Fiji, UK, Malaysia, Spain and Cambodia. “Rahat” CD comprises 2 CDs and contains a 28-page booklet which elaborates information on WAACI, profiles of poet Rahat and artists and seven poetry tracks written in Hindi and Urdu supported by an English summary (gist) of 7 music tracks.

Photo credit: Harmohan Walia

“Rahat” is a digital quality Australian album recorded and produced in Australia, which includes the most popular and melodious voices of Australian talents. Rahat is a noncommercial project reflecting the essence of community social cohesion. “Rahat” is an Australian initiative and has been dedicated to enhancing Community Social Cohesion, Peace & Harmony. There were close to 65 creative artists, who contributed to this project. This project has been produced in collaboration with creative artists of ethnicities from Australia, New Download Our App

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Life Style

Crowning Glory

By Rashmi Kataria

onfidence is your Crowning Glory; it is the state of being clear headed. It boosts one’s energy within oneself. In my previous article I mentioned, as is our confidence so is our capacity and it is one of the most beautiful attire one can dawn. Selfassurance is another word for confidence.

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Let’s see some rules for sustaining confidence: 1. Self-Acceptance: A person cannot be comfortable without one’s own approval and the worst loneliness is not being comfortable with oneself. Embrace your all positive and negative attributes. Accept the person who you are. You yourself deserve your love and affection the most. Pamper yourself and fall in love with yourself. 2. Work on your strengths: You are the captain of your ship in the journey of your life. Your strengths are like the sail of the ship which gives you momentum to move and grow in your life. Struggles help to identify and develop strengths. Your strengths are your assets and every one of you has it.

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3. Know your weaknesses: Identify and address your weaknesses. Its always good to know your weakness, so that we can take care of the leaks in our ship. Every individual has weakness, confident people know their weaknesses and never shy away from accepting it and having a laugh about it. 4. Accountability: It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable. Accountability justifies one’s intentions. Accountability leads to self-dependence and assures 100% done rate of any task or action. There is no blame game and everything is on you. This leads to a beautiful confidence built and boost.

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Fashion

Diversity & Inclusion Advocate, Saroni Roy perpetuates Body Diversity on 2022 Starry Sari Night Runway

he South Asian-Australian Actor & Model Saroni Roy symbolised body diversity & inclusion on the 2022 Starry Sari Night Runway Showcase by Faces of FOMA

first Indian-origin brand ambassador for world’s leading body-confidence brand for women, Nancy Ganz and has been redefining the narrow ideals of beauty in the Fashion and Entertainment industry with her Diversity & Inclusion campaigns.

Sydney, 29th May, 2022 – Diversity & Inclusion advocate, Indian-Australian Actor & Model Saroni Roy joined the Faces of FOMA Runway Showcase at the ‘2022 Starry Sari Night – Experience South Asia in the South West’ by Liverpool City Council, held from the 20th May 2022 – 22nd May 2022, promoting Body Diversity at Australia’s biggest South Asian Cultural Showcase, celebrating Australia’s incredible South Asian couturiers.

Representing Body Diversity & Disabled Models, Saroni highlights, “it’s imperative to perpetuate Body Diversity in the business of fashion. As a South Asianorigin actor & model, cancer-survivor, facing multiple invisible disabilities like endometriosis, femoral tumour, essential thrombocythemia, crippling pain in my leg, to name a few, having faced bullying and body-shaming, walking the Faces of FOMA Starry Sari Night Runway was truly empowering and inclusive.”

The Faces of FOMA (Fabrics of Multicultural Australia), an initiative by Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, featured an ensemble of prolific models from across Sydney donning original designs from the local South Asian fashion designer boutiques & shops that populate George Street aka Sari Street in Liverpool City, NSW. As Ms India Australia Goodwill Ambassador and a Body-activist, Saroni is the Download Our App

Asia, with live performances by pop sensation Pav Dharia, Hip Hop artist L-Fresh The LION, contemporary R&B singer Lara D, Punjabi Australian singer and dancer Parvyn, The Voice contestant, Janaki Easwar, and South Asian Fusion Arts dance company Bindi Bosses. While Council’s official Beverage Partner, Archie Rose Distilling Co., mixed delectable cocktail and mocktail concoctions, Australia’s favourite gelato, Messina dished out special Starry Sari Night creations, inspired by South Asian flavours.

Showcasing fine South Asian Couture, Saroni mesmerised the multi-cultural audience with her winning smile, dressed in luxurious sharaaras, lehengas and jewellery, sashaying to the beats of Bollywood Lounge & EDM on the Faces of FOMA Starry Sari Night runway. Starry Sari Night encapsulated sights, sounds, colours and flavours of South JUNE I 2022

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Mag Corner

The hand that rocks th

‘Mum’ or ‘Mom’ or “Mummy’, or ‘Aayi’ or ‘Amma’, al encompassing word ‘Mother’. There is no one word tha She brings you into this world and is your nurtur By: Poornima Menon

his journey together and the relation between the mother and her child begins from the womb and the first real experience happens with that first ‘kick’. Your mother is your first cook, your first groomer, your first stylist, your first teacher and mentor, your first playmate, your first best friend and your first confidante. You are yourself when you are around her and as you grow, she steps aside and watches from the sidelines, revelling in your achievements and glory, always there to catch you whenever you stumble. And slowly yet surely, with a heavy heart she lets you go as you start creating your own space in this world and continue on your individual journey using all the tools she has provided you with.

It goes without saying that mothers are to be celebrated every day. However, ‘Mother’s Day’ gives everyone the opportunity to do something special for their mothers. While she is showered with tangible gifts, all she looks forward to is your presence, your company, a nice tight hug, or a phone call if you are miles away. I spoke with my sakhis from the Saree Club and posed them with five questions. This is what some of them had to say, What is the one thing you have learnt from your mother that you have imbibed in your life and helped you in raising your kid/s? Sneha: My mum taught me from a very young age to be independent and self-sufficient. When I got married, many people gave me advice, but my parents only said a couple of things that will remain with me for life. My mum said, “Never give up your independence, including financial independence.” Sanjyot: My first Guru is my mother. The best thing I have learnt from my mother is the discipline to wake up early in the morning and have a productive morning routine. I believe this has been the key skill that has helped me balance motherhood, career and all other obligations throughout my life. Ratandeep: My mom taught me to always work hard in whatever I do and take pride in the work that I do and know that I have done my best. I learned this from the way she lived her life. She always went above and beyond both in her personal and professional lives. What is the one thing you have seen that you have changed in your journey thus far as a mother? Sneha: The birth of my second child changed my journey as a mother significantly. You don’t understand until you have a second child that parenting is not the same for each child. Each child is different and for their unique personality to flourish you cannot take the same approach with both children.

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Sanjyot: I am trying to transition from the role of a mother to a more neutral role. Ratandeep: I have become more patient. How have you welcomed motherhood? Do you recall that first feeling when you held your first born in your arms? Sneha: My first words when my first child was born were “what is it?” and the words, “A girl” filled my heart with immense joy. Every day since has been a journey of self-discovery, learning, and love. Sanjyot: I welcomed motherhood, but I was not trained for the job. I was overwhelmed with happiness when I held my first born in my arms for the first time but was uncertain whether I would be able to raise this precious life and be a good mother. Ratandeep: When I first held my daughter in my arm, I felt complete. It was the most amazing feeling I ever had. www.DesiAustralia.com

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he cradle

ll different versions of the one at can define or describe her. rer and your protector. One interesting incident from your journey? Sneha: I have loved and learnt a lot through my journey as a mother. The most interesting incident for me through this time is observing the love for a grandchild and lengths my father went to, to get his older granddaughter, Sahana (then 2 years old) the fruit of her choice. This incident really did open up my eyes to the bond, which I unfortunately could not share as much of as my grandparents passed away when I was young. Sanjyot: It has been interesting to be in the role of a child (to my mother) and now see my own children as adults. It has given me great sense of understanding and empathy for how my mother may have felt raising me. Ratandeep: There are many wonderful memories but the one cute little memory that stands out is how my daughter would smile and point the spoon towards my mouth asking me to eat, every time I tried to feed her.

I’m going to be fine no matter what. As a mom myself, I hope to pass this advice to my children as well.”

This advice has helped me face any situation in my life with confidence and a trust that

What do you want for your children? Sneha: I want both my children to be happy and filled with joy. I want them to always smile and bring smiles to other people’s faces. Sanjyot: I would like my children to be responsible human beings and contribute well to society. Ratandeep: I want my daughter to be a good human being, always help others and have a healthy and happy life.

Pooja’s mum taught her the importance of hard work and to stand up for herself and speak up when others are wrong. Speaking about her mother, she said, “My mother always maintained a balanced approach during trying times. And so, whenever I am faced with life’s challenges, this learning has given me the strength to walk through the problems. I knew I would be a good mum and prayed that I could pass on to my children what I had received as a child from my parents. All I want for my children is for them to be themselves”. “Staying true to oneself is the best thing we can do for ourselves and we should teach our children the same”, she continued. Motherhood is precious and more precious are the life lessons we learn from our mothers that we can pass on to our children. It is the most valuable keepsake.

Abhilasha remembers her mother very fondly as she remarks, “My beautiful mom was that special person who spread her warmth to anyone she met. I was amazed at her kind heartedness and her ability to treat everyone with so much love and respect. My mom always reminded her four children that our greatest strength lies within us. No matter what the circumstance, she always had this beautiful smile on her calm face. Even though she left us 13 years ago to join the angels in heaven, she always reminds me that I am strong, and my true strength lies within me. Download Our App

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World News

BALJEET KAUR

is the first Indian climber to summit four of the world’s highest peaks in a single season

Baljeet Kaur: Who Is She? The 27-year-old Himachal Pradesh woman made history when she became the first Indian woman to climb four 8,000-meter peaks in less than a month. Mt Everest (May 22), Mt Annapurna (April 28), Mt Kanchenjunga (May 12), and Mt Lhotse (May 12) are the four mountain peaks she has conquered (May 23) Since childhood, Baljeet has been fascinated by mountains. She would even climb small hills near her village Panjrol in Kandhaghat tehsil of Himachal’s Solan district. Her mother Shanti Devi was quite sure that she would accomplish something huge in the field of mountaineering. Meri beti ne jo kar dikhaya hai, woh toh hamare liye sabse uncha kam hai (Our daughter’s feat is the highest honour for us),” said Shanti Devi She has three siblings and all of them would help the mother in managing the farm work. Her father Amrik Singh was working as a bus driver with Himachal Road Transport Corporation

She pursued her studies in the Government Senior Secondary School at Mamligh, a neighbouring village. That’s where she enrolled herself with the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and that’s when her tryst with mountaineering started. Download Our App

Her mother is hopeful that her story will inspire girls all over the country to dream big. In an interview, she revealed that she had to sell some of her gold ornaments to support her. She also ran a crowd funding campaign to support her dream. Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) president Harshwanti Bisht also congratulated her. He said, “Such a feat is highly positive for the women mountaineering in India. More JUNE I 2022

and more Indian women climbers are breaking and setting new records, which in turn are encouraging more talent to come forward,” said Bisht. She is also the first Indian female mountaineer to successfully climb the 8,167-m high Mt Dhaulagiri. Read more at: https://www.shethepeople.tv/topstories/who-is-baljeet-kaur-indian-mountaineer/ www.DesiAustralia.com

World News

How This Indian American Won the 2022 Spelling Bee in 21 Words in 90 Seconds

arini Logan, a child of Indian descent, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2022 on Thursday.

The Texas Class 8 kid won the tournament by properly spelling more words in a spell-off, the Bee’s first since its founding in 1925. Ms Logan defeated Vikram Raju, another Indian-origin student in Denver’s year 7. The Spelling Bee had its difficult moments, according to USA Today, when both participants failed to correctly spell two words in a row between Rounds 13 and 18. According to the source, this prompted the judges to chose a spell-off, which is a 90-second round in which contestants must accurately spell as many words as possible.

moment when she was ousted in the finals, according to the New York Times. The judges, however, later concluded that her definition of the word pullulation was permissible. According to the New York Times, this was Ms Logan’s fourth and final appearance in the Bee, and she described the victory as “surreal.”

The game has previously been dominated by Indian Americans, but last year, 14-year-old Zaila Avantgarde became the first African-American participant to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The National Bee is as much a nerd spelling competition as it is a high-profile, high-pressure endurance test, and spellers spend months preparing for it.

After the three-hour competition, Vikram Raju, 12, stood with his head bent.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bee was cancelled in 2020 for the first time since World War II.

However, when host LeVar Burton asked if he will return to the Bee next year, he responded with a resounding “yes.”

In 2019, however, there were eight co-champions, with seven of them being Indian Americans.

Ms Logan properly spelt 21 words while her opponent only managed 15, resulting in her victory. Ms Logan, 14, had a heart-stopping

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Sports

T20 Cricket tournament r

ith the summer cricket season all but over, Sharjeel Siddiqui decided to organise a winter cricket tournament for young cricketers who didn’t get a chance to play due to almost all games were washed out last summer season. The T20 Junior Winter Cricket Tournament, a first for the Fairfield Liverpool Cricket Association, began over the weekend with around 100 children competing in under-12s, under-13s, and under-14s divisions. The games were played on Saturdays at Amalfi Park and Brownes Farm Reserve. “Overall, the T20 winter competition was organised with the incentive to give kids the opportunity to continue playing in matches, regularly maintain exercise and make up for what was lost in the summer season,” said Sharjeel, who is the organiser of the competition along with committee members Peter Moore (president and secretary FLCA), Salim

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Khatri, Syed Jafar and Kashif Khan.

matches.”

“As representative cricket matches begin in October, it will be a good opportunity for kids to regularly maintain exercise and play

Round 1 results: Under-12s: Hoxton Park Tigers Blue 4-102 def Western Tigers 3-97, Western

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Sports

retakes in Winter 6-158 def Team Rising Stars 115. Under-14s: South West Champions 4-74 def Western Sydney Kings 2-72, Northern Raiders 3-255 def Western Super Kings 115. The awards night function was the cherry on the cake as it recognized the dedication and perseverance of young players. The event was attended by local MPs, community leaders and dignitaries. Nathan Hagarty the Councillor for Liverpool said since our local federal MP Anne Stantley has been reelected we will push to put some funding towards some more cricket pitches in her electorate.

Sydney Warriors 1-137 def Western Tigers 2-136.

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Under-13s: Mighty Magpies 4-99 def Hoxton Park Tigers Orange 6-97, Mighty Magpies

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Entertainment

An Evening of Wonde

By: Poornima Menon

t is difficult to pin point if the songs in his movies made the movies famous or if it is the movies that made the songs famous or it could be both. Whatever

the case, all Yash Chopra movies have their own usp. All his heroines were beautiful and received special treatment. On Friday 3rd June, 2022 a packed Pioneer Theatre witnessed the celebration of this legendary film maker and the credit for this goes to Manju Mittal and her team of very talented singers and musicians. ‘Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein’ was indeed a fitting tribute to Yash Chopra. It was a well thought out string of beautiful melodies from Yash Raj Films. Though one evening can not encompass the plethora of songs from the Yash Chopra repertoire, the evening

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definitely served us a beautiful slice. There was nostalgia and a whole lot of fun. It was a perfect evening out with ten members from my saree tribe. We turned up in our chiffons, occupied almost an entire row, sang and moved along like a tribe would, danced and grooved and soon were transported back to our college days. Yash Chopra songs have that effect on you. Enchanting music has the potential to take you back in time and it is not a understatement when I say ‘We were all lost in those magical melodies’. A huge round of applause to the talented

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erment and Nostalgia

team that graced the stage and made this happen. Sydney is very proud of its local artists. Thank you Heena Sachdeva, Vikas Kolar, Ruchi Lange, Ruhani Dhillon and Dilip Bhave for the beautiful renditions. And the very talented musicians complemented the singers very well. The emceeing by Kartik Mohandas was impeccable as always.

continued to ask for more. Congratulations to Manju Mittal on a very successful event that was thoroughly enjoyed by every

person in the hall. It was indeed a well spent Friday evening and a complete paisa vasool’ show.

From the very first song to the last medley, music loving Sydneysiders and Yash Chopra fans who had travelled from Wollongong and New Castle remained enthralled.There were whistles and standing ovations and the audience repeatedly

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Entertainment

Bollywood Bash 2.0- Disco Deewane

Presented by myloanpaysme in partnership with Dr Mike Hamidi Bollywood Bash 2.0- Disco Deewane was a great mix of Bollywood performances, Fashion show, Birthday celebrations along with Super extensive variety of food stalls followed by open dance floor

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Mag Corner

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea-A Collective effort by the community

& my family as more than 50 people gathered at my place to support this charity event & together we have raised more than $2000 for Cancer Council.

By: Vaibhavi Joshi

hen you are doing something with a soft heart & your intention is pure then the outcome is incredibly generous. “Cancer” is one such word where we have strong emotions attached & hence every year, I participate in Cancer Council - Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea. “Let’s Stop Talking about “Battling Cancer”: Yes you read it right. If you want to bring a change in the society then first start from yourself and I decided to change myself first for how I use these metaphors…Have I confused you ?? If yes then my humble request to spend your 5 min & read this carefully till the end. To bring this change within the society, for the first time I hosted “Live Afternoon Tea” to support this awareness campaign. Being a responsible citizen, I support “Biggest Morning Tea” by Cancer Council NSW every year but this time I decided to host one. What a feeling ..!! It was overwhelming for me Download Our App

I am extremely proud to say that my parents who are an overseas visitor also decided to support this noble cause via this local charity event that happens every year in the months of May & June. With the blessings of god & my parents we could also contribute from our side which I really feel some Drops in the Ocean. It’s always about taking a first little step and you have won half the battle there. It’s all about taking an initiative and you will witness that how you are achieving your targets magically. If your intention is pure then people will keep supporting you until the end. We have strong emotions attached to this word “Cancer” as we have lost our loved ones. The moment I decided to host this afternoon tea to raise funds for Cancer Patients, my dad Bharat Kumar Joshi immediately decided to support & mentioned to me that he will make live Indian tea (healthy one with ginger & mint) for everyone. My mum Rashmi Joshi who is always a by default supporter no matter what I do, took the entire responsibilities for arranging & taking care of little things that we often tend to forget. She is the real force behind my strengths. JUNE I 2022

My little daughter Shanvi who is already doing a fantastic work by herself in raising funds for Cancer Council in her school last week & also continuing this week too. She was very excited to help me & decided to take care of posters, decorations and making a handmade donation box. My husband Phani Kumar who is my rock solid support was the first one to encourage me to do something for the Cancer patients as he works in the RPA – Cancer Hospital. He is someone who is always a STAR behind the scene. He is the biggest source of inspiration for me & without his support, I couldn’t have arranged this. He couldn’t attend due to work commitments however he made all the possible efforts so that entire event can run smoothly. We hosted our first ever Australia’s Afternoon Tea for Cancer Council last Sunday on 5th June between 3-5 PM. Bunch of ladies got so much of savoury items, home cooked snacks & much more. We had stalls of Panipuri & Chat items too & that was the most rocking part of the entire event. My Dad’s Indian tea was the highlights of this event as people had it 2-3 times. When you have blessings from your parents & full support from your family, you always succeed in whatever you aretrying to achieve. Together we could achieve the target 7 times higher than I thought. I had a small target of $300 initially but with the help of everyone, together we have raised more than $2000. Bunch www.DesiAustralia.com

Mag Corner

of people got the prizes for hitting $500, $1000 and $1500 milestones too. My daughter is still raising funds this week in her school too. My heartfelt thanks to all the supporters for their genuine efforts in making this happen. So many individuals, women entrepreneurs, community leaders & business owners came on board to contribute for this noble cause in support of Cancer Council NSW. So coming to the point, why did I say in the beginning that Let’s Stop Talking about “Battling Cancer” ?? Cancer is not a war. It’s not a battle to be won. Cancer is a disease that plays by its own rules and does not always respond the way it is supposed to. It is unfair to call a diagnosis and the treatment plan a fight. This indicates that when the cancer does what cancer often does, and the patient either succumbs to the illness or to complications from the disease or treatment, he or she did not fight hard enough, or has given up. This type of rhetoric can be damaging to patients, their

families and their caregivers. If a patient sees cancer treatment as a battle that must be fought, they can feel they have not done enough if the treatment does not work, or if they cannot tolerate the side effects of treatment.

treatment and taking some control against the disease. However, when others place the impetus to “fight” and “beat” cancer on the patient, an already emotionally and physically exhausting process can be made even difficult.

Some patients feel using fighting and battle terminology helps them galvanize themselves and gain a sense of playing an active part in their

Recently, a 35-year-old woman with breast cancer shared with me that she had stopped attending family functions. The constant “war analogies” made her feel like she wasn’t doing enough to “fight” when she was trying to survive and thrive while enjoying her life with her young children and undergoing treatment. By talking about beating cancer and fighting cancer, it can give the impression that the patient is not trying hard enough to get better, and that is why the cancer is “winning.” Recent study suggests, “Battle metaphors could have a negative impact on how individuals think about cancer, and those thoughts could undermine people’s intentions to engage in healthy behaviors.” These battle metaphors also resulted in people being more fatalistic. Battle metaphors can put a great deal of pressure on the newly diagnosed patient. Individuals describe feelings of letting friends and family down when they are not seen as constantly “fighting the cancer.” Unfortunately, cancer is not an opponent that can stomped out by sheer will, determination or persistence. Battle metaphors can easily be removed from our discussions—unless that is the patient’s preference. Not many people would say a patient was fighting a battle against a stroke or a heart attack, so putting such massive responsibility on a patient newly diagnosed with cancer is a losing proposition. So let’s be a part of this change..!!

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Advertisement ai1653543168178_15Yrs_Birthday_499_A4.pdf 9 26/05/2022 3:33:02 PM

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June 2022 edition of Desi Australia Monthly e-Mgazine

Articles inside

‘The Rahat Project’: A 20-year-long musical journey

Not The Final Screen by Pink Sari Inc

ABSC Inc. Launches Ekonomos, Issue 3, 2022 At The Langham Sydney

Yoga session by Navya Andhra Telugu Association

‘Smart City’-just a buzz or reality?

An Evening Devoted to Literature & Art

Yoga talks and workshops by Integrated Women’s Network (IWN)

Bhavagna and Palvith have finally returned home