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Lashkaaraa Diwali Couture Show 2022, accelerator for Women
A small & micro-businesses accelerator initiative powered by SRf Creatists, a Saroni Roy Foundation initiative, the festive couture show supports women entrepreneurs in the business of fashion
The inaugural Lashkaaraa Diwali Couture Show 2022 powered by SRf Creatists, a Saroni Roy Foundation initiative, was hosted on the 30th of October 2022 at the Ryde Diwali Fair 2022 by Ryde Indian Association.
A small & micro-businesses accelerator initiative to support and promote women entrepreneurs in the business of fashion, the festive couture show was conceptualised and produced by the Indian-Australian Actor,
Model & Global Influencer Saroni Roy.
A community-empowerment initiative, the couture show featured Australia’s top models, actors & influencers, like Jessica Grace, Norah Masige,
Carolina Ovalle, Zoran
Saher, Indy Halder, Saroni Roy, Nripesh Ahuja, to name a few, supporting women entrepreneurs in the business of fashion, showcasing the opulent, heritage craftsmanship of India’s festive couture, blended with the Australian Spring-Summer Fashion colour palette of mauve, sky, lilac, pastel pink, peace, silver, a soiree of bling, sparkle & elegance.
“Festive couture is one of the biggest markets in the business of fashion globally,
and has almost surpassed the bridal fashion market. I figured, several South Asian women in Australia run these small & micro-businesses, mostly from home, selling exquisite collection of traditional jewellery, ethnic wear, accessories and more. Most of them have the dream and the passion to become a global brand but lack the vision, the platform and the resources to achieve it. With my vast experience and knowledge of working in the media, PR, entertainment & fashion industry, I wanted to create an accelerator platform, an ecosystem, a couture show which brings together professional models, hair & makeup artists, influencers, a large audience of potential buyers, showcasing their collection, aspects which only bigger fashion brands & runways have access to. So It’s not just to promote these small & micro-businesses during the festive season but to help them achieve that bigger dream of becoming a global fashion label.” - Founder & Director, SRf Creatists & Saroni Roy Foundation (SRf).
The fashion labels showcased were Pooja’s Couture, Orchid Fashion Club, Noor-ELucknow as the jewellery partner, Hair & Makeup by Makeup Artistry by Rashi & Glam Soul by Kaur, all women-founded micro businesses.
The former Ms India Australia Goodwill Ambassador 2018 and Indian-Australian actor, Saroni Roy turned showstopper wearing a peach & silver, Swarovski-studded, handcrafted, festive lehenga by Pooja’s Couture.
“As a cancer-survivor, facing multiple invisible disabilities, it’s imperative to highlight body diversity at fashion shows & editorial shoots. The models & influencers that walked my show reflect the DEI ethos of diversity of age, size, ethnicity, disability, in the fashion & entertainment industry, showcasing the modern multicultural Australia.” – DEI Advocate & Body Activist, Saroni Roy. The Lashkaaraa Diwali Couture Show with funding support aims to scale-up over the years creating more opportunities for upcoming fashion labels, models, actors, influencers, creatives and artists from diverse background.
Zindagi Dobara - Shedding light on Men’s Mental Health issues
By Anannya Bandaru
The light and hope festival, held by The Harman Foundation, showcases the film Zindagi Dobara, which shows how different individuals who are men face their mental health issues with their loved ones. The film showcases the importance of men’s mental health an unspoken topic in terms of individual well-being. The film shows how men don’t always need to ‘man up’ and that their voice counts as well. The Harman Foundation made the event amazing by adding cultural performances to enlighten the sense of Diwali. This showed how to find ‘light and hope’ for this Diwali with the film also indicating the same moral in relation to mental well-being. The event consisted of cultural performances, speeches, and of course the screening of the film made by Euphony films.
Speeches
The speeches by Maninder Singh and Manu Preet Singh indicated the purpose of the Harman foundation and the screening of Zindagi Dobaara. Maninder Singh invites the Blacktown City council counsillors, Julie Griffiths Deputy mayor, Councillor Livingstone Chettipally, Councillor Kathie Collins, Councillor Moninder Singh, sponsors and partner of this event Jaya Deep Dontula,
Surjeet Singh “Partner in your care”, Mrs. and Mr. Duggal “Helping hands complete care” , Anshu from Australis Forever 8x, media partners Harmohan Walia. He continues to talk about how we are here to nourish our youth- celebrating Diwali kids4kids- youth nurturing younger kids with sharing values of equality, kindness, unity, determination, and Justice. He finishes his speech by talking about the Harman Foundations’ major projects such as the Harman helpline 24/7 Helpline 1800 116 675, established for Women and their children refuge since 2016-17 ( HER House), established Sikh and Multifaith chaplaincy services, weekly Food drives, opened a mobile café van to called Fancy a cuppa for the homeless people, by a team of all more than 200 volunteers in a different capacity.
Manu Singh talks about how we are a grassroots community not for profit, we are very agile, have our pulse on the community needs, and can challenge the status quo. and how the Harman Foundation is taking action by launching a chapter of Harman Foundation Men’s mental health awareness Our fathers, partners, brothers, and friends face a health crisis that isn’t being talked about. Men are dying too young. “We can’t afford to stay silent. That’s why we’re taking action. We’re one of the leading organizations tackling men’s health awareness.”
Beginning cultural events
The beginning cultural events consisted of a song and a Kuchipudi dance. Pawan Sajin a Year 10 student aspiring to pursue music sang a song from the movie “Roja” called Yeh Haseen Vadiyan. He amazed the crowd with his amazing talent singing the song in different languages. His song started the event with light and hope. A kuchipudi dance followed, performed by Anannya Bandaru. Deepavali the festival of lights is not just to eliminate the darkness in the world by lighting diyas but to also eliminate darkness in our Minds such as jealousy anger ego etc and to fill our minds with brightness fill our mind with positivity and kindness. Anannya presented this is her own Kuchipudi choreography dancing for the Swalla Jathi mix music.
The Awards Ceremony
The cast and team were given awards as well as performers.
We occasionally see men who are feeling overwhelmed be unwilling to ask for help. Their quality of life may suffer as a result of untreated and frequently misdiagnosed mental health issues. Men have a reputation for holding things in. However, it is the appropriate thing to do to take action and get additional support when you are feeling low. Due to the significant disparity in suicide rates between men and women, depression is a major risk factor for suicide.
This is very important, and I want to thank Harinder Kaur from the Harman Foundation for coming up with this idea and bringing it to the public’s attention.The film concept was created by Harinder Kaur & Maninder Singh, story & dialogues by Mamta Upadhayay and directed by Pankaj Upadhayay.
The film shows how the men in the film are resilient and with the help of their loved ones are able to get through their mental health issues. The film shows the importance of everyone’s mental health including men and how itis vital that these issues be taken seriously and that they can occur in anyone’s life including a man’s. Men are stereotyped as people who shouldn’t be in vulnerable states but everyone is human and it is important to help everyone and help gain light and hope in everyone’s lives in our community.
OPINIONS OF THE AUDIENCE ON MEN’S MENTAL WELL- BEING
We are all aware of the stigma our culture places on males who communicate their feelings. Every time I learn why it’s viewed as a weakness, I’m astonished. It’s time to alter that viewpoint and see how crucial it is for males to express their emotions and act on their frustrations.
Anxiety and depression affect one in five and one in eight men, respectively, at some point in their lives. Men can play a variety of roles and carry out a variety of duties, such as taking care of their homes and family, making a living, developing their careers, being excellent friends, and giving back to their community. While these things might be satisfying, they can also be stressful. The main takeaway from this film is that there is a better way to handle this kind of stress.
Vaibhavi Joshi states that” The opportunity to moderate a panel at the event is unquestionably an honor and a privilege. Being a writer, motivational speaker, and social activist, I have always spoken about social concerns and conducted open talks about them. However, this panel discussion focused on a topic that is much needed: men’s mental health.”
Suman Mathur, Manbir Singh Kohli, Pankaj Upadhyay, and Harinder Kaur, as well as special guests Blacktown Clr. Livingston Chatipally, Durga Owen, Indranil Bengal Halder, and an audience member who is a psychologist, provided the audience with a distinct point of view and viewpoint.
THE ENDING
The event ended with a celebration! as there was a delicious dinner and dance. Another cultural performance was held with another bharatanatyam passionate dancer named Pramitha Santosh who is a teacher but a dedicated dancer. Bhangra was being performed as everyone in the audience also joined in for the Diwali celebration spirit. The raffle was also being held with winners and prizes!
Deepa, Ahalya and Kiret K Mangar have headed this event in well-organized manner. A wonderful teamwork can always result in a grand success. Harman Foundation & Euphony films would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge few hardworking people without whom this event wouldn’t have been possible.
First & foremost, the entire team of Harman foundation including all the student volunteers and supporters who made this event a huge success. Deepest gratitude to Multicultural NSW for encouraging such initiatives to bring back energy and charm in our life.
Continuing support from the Blacktown council is always appreciated by local residents. Thank you Hon. Deputy Mayor Julie Griffiths, Clr. Livingston Chettipally , Clr Moninder Singh for gracing the occasion with their valuable presence. who has done solid ground work without seeing day and night in organizing this event smooth and flawless. A big shout out for another beautiful soul Sony Sodhi & her loving, caring & always supportive husband Paul McKenzie for taking care of the entire kitchen responsibilities and feeding every single person present there. Its not a piece of cake to feed a huge crowd that to live. Nidhi Sharma, another blessed soul who joined hands with Sony in making the dinner and live counter of Pani puri possible that everyone enjoyed.
Entire cast and crew of Euphony films headed by Pankaj Upadhyay. All the wonderful artists and performers for amazing performances. Thank you Inderpreet and puneet for taking care of certificates while Raffle team did beautiful packaging for the gifts and Jyoti providing free henna to everyone.
Thank you Kabir and RJ Entertainer Monty for looking after kids entertainment. Kudos to Devinder for a beautiful decoration. Apologies if any names are missing as this was a great example of solid team work and I am sure there are many people who had worked tirelessly behind the scene in turning this event to a meaningful one.
Heartfelt gratitude to a pure soul Harmohan Walia ji and Desi Australia for their continuous support by proving excellent coverage & highlights and making every event beautiful with his valuable presence. Extending gratitude to Neena Badhwar from The Indian Down Under Newspaper, Manju Mittal & Rachana Bhatnagar from SAI Creative Arts Network.
Rekha Rajvanshi from Indian Literary and Art Society of Australia Inc.(ILASA) Manbir Ji from Kehte Sunte Radio-zine 89.3 FM Sydney, Harry Singh from Sanjhe Vichar Channel , Sunny Singh from The Unmute, Harpreet Singh from PUNJAB TIMES, Jyotsna Sharma from @Crescendo Harjot Singh from KH Brothers Films & PANKAJ from Euphony Films.
Last but not the least, we would like to acknowledge our sponsors Partner In Your Care, AUSTRALIS FOREVER8X, HHCC NDIS, Signature Training RTO 32000 without whom this would not have been a huge success. Already looking forward for another meaningful event soon.
