India Calling’ - A joint session

‘India Calling’ - A joint session by Indian Consulate , Sydney and Australia India Travel & Tourism Council (AITTC)

To motivate further growth of travel to India , Indian Consulate , Sydney in joint collaboration with Australia India Travel & Tourism Council (AITTC) hosted an information session, titled ‘India Calling’ on 26th February evening at the Indian Consulate premises in Sydney.

As the title suggests, India is warmly calling more tourists from down under.

The purpose of this event was to showcase some of India’s interesting tourism specialities that spread across the country.

For example the growing opportunities for seeing exciting wild animals in their own habitat to cruising in luxury boats some of the nation’s legendary waterways. While eminent wildlife photographer and tour operator Dennis Jones intrigued the large audience mainly comprising of outbound India focussed tour operators with his multiple wildlife safaris in India , AITTC Chairman and reputed travel writer Sandip Hor, who has visted over 100 countries talked about the growing popularity of cruising the two fabled rivers – Ganges and the Brahmaputra and the backwaters of Kerala. Award

winning autor and travel writer Julie Miller who has visited India several times thrilled everyone with her recent horse riding and palace stay experience in Rajasthan.Train journeys are a different kind of travelling experience in India and experienced tour operator Scott McGregor elaborated more on that topic. One of the key issues which is negating the growth of bilateral travel is the aviation capacity between Australia and India and airline specialist Melvyn Almeida outlined the current scenario.

Earlier is his welcoming address, Manish Gupta Indian Consul General in Sydney talked about India’s economic development and pro

grees in different areas including tourism. Phillip Boniface , Co- Chairman and Treasurer of AITTC , who did a good job as the MC for the evening, touched on achievements of AITTC while Sanjay Muleka , Deputy Consul General at the end extended the vote of thanks.

The well attended event started with a short but engaging musical performance, organised by Ramanand Garge, Director Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) in Sydney.

Mausaum ka Taandav

Sydney and Delhi are both home cities for me. High temperatures of 40 degrees are common at both places in peak of summer. Monsoonal rains bought traffic chaos and local flooding because the nallahs couldn’t cope with the drainage. Here in Sydney, there is no time for monsoonal rains. The drought conditions of the last six months led to Stage 2 water restrictions for NSW. Foggy conditions trap both cities and many flights are cancelled in the thick of winter. 15 years and I have not missed Delhi much as I was constantly battling these weather conditions when travelling for work and study. Summer of ’69 ka toh nahi pata but Summer of 2019 – 2020 will be something we don’t want to witness again. Aag hi Aag – Bushfires followed by smashing monsoonal torrential rains, lightening thunderstorms that led to regional flooding Sydney wide. By Poonam Naik

Mausaum ka yeh Taandav had never been witnessed before in Australia in the recent years. Each state had it own share of bushfires. NSW had fires burning in Blue Mountains and Port Macquarie. The Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie was inundated with wildlife casualties – koalas with burnt fur and paws. Then there were South coastal towns of Batemans Bay, Nowra, Mogo, Bega and Narooma. The beautiful Kangaroo Island off South Australia burnt embers and cinders from the bushfire. Fires further ravaged destruction in ACT, Qld and Victoria as well.

The arid and dry Australian continent is highly susceptible to the impact of climate changes. At least 4 Prime Ministers have been ousted in their positions over climate politics. Mid February firefighters announced that all blazes in the hard hit areas of NSW were under control for the first time since September 2019. The relief was palpable. Most Australians can finally abandon the grim rituals of the last half year – morning checks of smog monitors

and Fires near me apps, deciding whether the kids can play outside – whether to flee or defend their homes.

The bushfires were followed by torrential monsoonal rains Sydney wide. The Warragamba dam was filled up to 80% of its capacity. Local creeks and catchments were full and when water swept away – silt and mud pools became playgrounds for fun and safe led mud kitchens. My little one lost his blue boat in the local creek. One memorable and fun experience we did with the kids when they found themselves stuck indoors on those rainy days. Stage 2 water restrictions were lifted from 1st March. The general advice is to stay Water Wise and have an emergency bushfire evacuation plan. Keep praying that we don’t witness this tandaav again.