Celebrating Humanity’s Diversity Superheroes without Capes Five-Year Anniversary

Celebrating Humanity’s Diversity

Superheroes without Capes Five-Year Anniversary

Joseph Kolapudi

Being ordinary is usually not celebrated today but having a gala event in honour of those who have survived extraordinary odds and overcome was certainly the theme of a recent charity dinner known as Superheroes without Capes - the Gala of Ordinaries.

Hosted by Simply Human, a nonprofit organisation founded by Prerna Pahwa, the winner of the Australia Day Achievement Award a few years ago, also celebrated five years since founding her charity, and it was attended by hundreds of supporters and leaders from multicultural communities.

As part of the celebrations, the origin story behind the organisation was revealed, starting from simple beginnings of fundraising for cancer patients, to partnering with leading cancer research centers, to highlighting stories of cancer survivors.

For Prerna, the community that rallied behind her were the real “superheroes without capes” and remained the reason why her charity gala was meant to be. The event also marks the milestone support of many Indian businesses who were also present at the event, including Dosa Hut, Hyderabad Flavours and Swades, traditionally owned family restaurants that have now become household names.

Additionally, the evening of celebrations brought together many leading voices in the medical, political and social field, including recent 2021 Queensland Australian of the Year, Dr. Dinesh Palipana OAM, one of the highlight speakers of the night.

The gala evening also honoured the stories of cancer survivors and current ambassadors for the charity, including Ujwal Poudel, a leukemia survivor, who first inspired Prerna to launch her charity organisation.

Above all, the event’s focus shined on ordinary people within the community who were able to take up a cause greater than themselves, to become a superhero in their own right, through extraordinary means.

Beyond the celebrations, the dinner also helped raise awareness and much-needed funds to continue the fight against cancer, and to highlight the ongoing need for other champions for the cause, who could lead the charge for supporting survivors within the community.

A special endorsement by the Mayoress of the City of Brisbane, and chair of the Mayor’s Charitable Fund, capped the night off, with a tribute to the work of the organisations that was, in her own words, “truly saving lives”.

Prerna herself was able to acknowledge that the efforts of her 100% volunteer team, throughout the years, has encouraged the community to get involved, through bone marrow drives to big fundraising efforts, and had raised the bar for survivors to thrive on their journey to recovery.

For the rest of the Indian community, it was an open opportunity to play our part in supporting the ordinaries among us, who often are striving to survive, and are still able to contribute back through their abilities to be superheroes.

Though five years young, the organisation continues to pave the way for other survivors to become ambassadors for their community, and for the wider society, as they empower others to become involved in the cause.

Being simply human is often something worth celebrating.

Turning Pink for a Noble Cause

Avirtual Pink Ribbon Breakfast was organised in Sydney on October 10th to raise donations for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. This event has been organised for many years by breast cancer survivors Rekha Rajvanshi and Sue Advani.

Each year, the breakfast grows in size and importance, with many dignitaries, breast cancer survivors, and community people in attendance.

Two courageous women who are now undergoing therapy shared their experiences. SBS Hindi Radio Producer Anita Barar was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer earlier this year and is currently undergoing treatment. She claims that keeping positive and active has aided her recovery.

Dr. Palu Malaowalla, a general practitioner, gave some health advice before speaking with Jyoti Jadeja, 32, one of her patients. Jyoti revealed that she was pregnant with her second child when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had to choose between the unborn child in her womb or terminating the pregnancy for the other baby.

Saroni Roy, a model and actor, also discussed her battle with cancer and how she overcame it. Everyone’s eyes welled up with tears as they told their heartbreaking stories.

The Pink Ribbon Breakfast was attended by Dr Geoff Lee- MP Parramatta, Jodi McKay - MP Strathfield, Julia Finn - MP Granville, Clrs Reena Jethi, Sameer Pandey, and Charishma Kaliyanda. They all insisted on annual breast screening and check-ups. Nimeesha Gupta discussed the rise in breast cancer cases in India and better treatment options. Usha Salagame, a NSW Health programme manager, led an educational quiz about breast cancer.

Glimpses of last year’s fashion show, choreographed by Shikha Kaushik, were also shown. At the end, Meena Mohanty, another team member and breast cancer survivor, thanked everyone.

Through this event, $4,300.00 was donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

‘This event is about raising breast cancer awareness as well as supporting research work done by NBCF to prevent breast cancer. Next year will be our 10th anniversary, and we will be planning it in a big way.’ Rekha said.

The Pink Ribbon Breakfast also supports women who have gone through it or are currently receiving treatment. It creates a feeling of sisterhood.’ Sue Advani added.

This breakfast truly represented breast cancer survivors as it was organised by the BC Survivors for the women going through breast cancer.

Memories from 2020

Sydney’s very own and wellrespected production house KH Brothers Films (headed by Harjot Singh), who are known for creating thought provoking style short films, have always captured our hearts with their work. Coming as a complete surprise KH Brothers films have released a new song “Sawera -The Ray of Hope” which has gone viral on Facebook and is receiving a lot of love and attention.

The song is produced, created by KH Brothers Films in association with Euphony Films and Kehte Sunte Radio from Sydney and Chawla Creations from Melbourne.

“Sawera -The Ray of Hope” is written by Gagan Jassal and conceptualised by Harjot Singh. Alongside Gagan Jassal, the song features two of Australia’s reputable singers, Raman Hiroo and Pritpal Singh. This song is an embodiment of positive emotions and willingness to move forward, no matter what. In these overwhelming difficult times, it is vital that we look after not only our loved ones, friends, family, and foes, but also and of utmost importance is our mental health. The lyrics focus on what is pinnacle now, where we are currently struggling with our ever-changing external environment. Such as, “there is always light after dark” and this is the key message of the song and how we as a community, and society can move forward in unison and remember there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

The song has been recorded in Sash Studios and is orchestrated by Sydney’s well know music director Ali Sarshar. Known for their collaborative style KH Brothers Films have teamed up with Australia’s much loved public figures, the likes of King B Chauhan (Sydney) and Sammy Gill (Melbourne). Some of the other popular faces and crew featuring in this video are Satinder Chawla, GD Singh, Harjot Singh, Gagan Jassal, Jas Arora, Raman Hiroo, Pritpal Singh, Taufeeq Sheikh, Opinderjit Singh, Munish Arora, Pankaj Upadhayay, Ali Sarshar,

SAWERA

THE RAY OF HOPE

Tayi , Surinder kaur, Jaswinder Chawla, Rahul Soni and Channy Bains (DOP).

The irony of the situation is, due to the current restrictions and lockdowns in Sydney/ Melbourne a good part of this song had to be filmed by individual artists and then collaborated into one beautiful video, exuberayting the true spirit of the song.

“Om Gam Ganapathaye !”

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that ‘this’ thing must be attained”. These lines by Marie Curie keep me going through ‘My Journey’.

The journey started started with the struggle to live up to my father’s dream of me becoming a teacher, while I wanted to become a doctor. He believed that women’s role revolved around raising a family and teacher’s job would give me that balance in life. However, being the rebellious one I pursued admission in the science stream and got enrolled for BSc Chemistry. My family was against me pursuing MBBS Ayurveda as it required me to live away from home. BSc Chemistry was one of the many alterations I had to make in my educational journey. There were many hurdles - social, financial, and family values, but as my destiny and my strong will had it, I fought my way through to reach closer to my goals. So, when I was about to complete my DMLT the exams were postponed due to unforeseen reasons, and I diverted my focus on the hospital management course that had caught my attention. If I had not enrolled into this course, my family would have got me married. And I was not planning to get married before proving my metal.

While doing hospital management I got to know about the Diploma course in Naturopathy and was instantly drawn to it as it was the closest I could get to realising my dream of becoming a doctor. Through my hard work and will power, I completed all the three courses simultaneously. My sheer determination and my spiritual Guru whom I had met through books and audio discourses got me going through thick and thin. I found myself multitasking long before I became aware of the existence of the word. Helping my mum and elder sister with the household chores and my dad manage our family grocery shop, while still attending school was part of my daily routine. I also assisted my mum with postal banking collections. My lifestyle constantly kept me on my toes and gave me the opportunity to meet new people and learn new things. And this in turn widened and deepened my hunger to learn and achieve more.

My Journey

After finishing my degree and diploma in hospital management, I started my first ojob as a Lab assistant at Dr. Vasant Pawar Hospital in Nasik. My manager recognised my talent and people skills and promoted me to the post of hospital administrator. In the evenings, after work I ran my own naturopathy clinic. The day I received my first consignment of medicines was the day my family found a good match for me to get married. I was lucky to find an extremely enthusiastic and supportive husband and mother-in-law.

Within a year, in 2006 we moved to Sydney, to begin a new journey, a fresh start.

I went for an interview for the post of blood collection officer. However, after reviewing my qualifications they offered me the job as scientific officer and I started work immediately. The year 2008 was yet another milestone when I was blessed with a baby girl. I resigned and became a full-time mum; I enjoyed every bit of it. Soon I was blessed with a baby boy and raising kids and facing the challenges of motherhood kept me busy. During this time wanting to do something meaningful, I enrolled myself to complete Certificate IV in Disability Services and along with it I also completed Certificate IV to become a Dental Assistant. I also went on to do a short course which qualified me as florist. I have always enjoyed driving and encouraged my friends to learn to drive. Soon a close family friend approached me and suggested I become a driving instructor.

Today along with my job as a social educator in the disability sector, I run a successful enterprise as a driving instructor. Since 2019 I have taught over 150 students. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others” said Mahatma Gandhi, and it struck a chord with me. I keep discovering myself every moment at work and that gives me strength and hope to do more for those who are less abled. The reason I share my story with you all is to give hope to those who feel defeated by not being able to achieve their goals. Never limit yourself. Many of us limit ourselves to what we think we can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you and so have an open mind. Let life happen to you and you will sail through and even achieve far better success than you can imagine. Never let go of your thirst to learn more and work hard to achieve it. While doing all of this, connecting with my saree sisters and reviving my love for the saree has been the icing on the cake. Thank you Poornima Menon for introducing me to this amazing group.

Ahimsa Peace Symposium 2021

by Saroni Roy

Saroni Roy Foundation, SRf Creatists and Strathfield Rotary Club hosted a live virtual global community-cohesion event to commemorate Gandhi Jayanti and UN International Day of Non-Violence on the 2nd of October 2021. The first-of-its-kind, inaugural Ahimsa Peace Symposium 2021 (APS 2021) is a tribute to the global peace hero Mahatma Gandhi and presented a virtual panel of inspirational guest speakers from India and Australia, and a global community forum to discuss Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Ahimsa (non-violence), their articulation with UN Sustainable Development Goals and the global ‘Women, Peace and Security’ agenda.

“Though Mahatma Gandhi is a great peace hero of history, the Gandhian values of Ahimsa — social action, justice and peace through non-violence — have universal relevance today, and inform this Peace Symposium, and perfectly align with Saroni Roy Foundation (SRf) & SRf Creatists’s core principles of ‘Diversity, Sustainability & Social Justice’ to create a more peaceful, more inclusive ‘One World’ to live and love. Which is essentially Rotary’s vision of fostering lasting peace in the world as well.” said, Saroni Roy, Founder & CEO, Saroni Roy Foundation, and also the Creator & Producer of the Ahimsa Peace Symposium.

Amidst the chaos and unprecedented trying times we’re living in, APS 2021 is a call for action to multicultural communities, peacebuilders, artists, government leaders, advocacy, media and academia worldwide, for global partnerships, to create a shared blueprint to achieve a better, peaceful and more sustainable future for all. Violence against women and girls has risen globally since lockdowns, which has led to what we see as a ‘Shadow Pandemic’, and thus the focus on the global ‘Women Peace and Security’ agenda this year.

APS 2021 is also a celebration of the shared values between Australia and India bi-lateral friendship and is seen as a prelude to the India@75 initiative – when India completes 75 years of independence.

The event started with Rick Vosila, Member of the Rotary Club of Strath-

field, Assistant Governor, Sydney Central Clubs and Saroni Roy, Member of the Rotary Club of Strathfield & Director, SRf Creatists, welcoming the dignitaries and attendees, with Kartik Mohandas, Country Manager, Forum Films, as the MC.

APS 2021 showcased a stellar line up of Guest Speakers and Keynote Speakers with HE Manpreet Vohra, High Commissioner of India to Australia doing the Opening Address, followed by distinguished guests such as:

Jeremy Wright AM, District Governor Rotary District 9675, Hon Manish Gupta Consul General of India, Sydney, Hon Fiona Martin MP, Federal Member for Reid, Hon Jodi McKay MP State Member for Strathfield, Hon Julia Finn MP State Member for Granville, Shadow Minister for Sport, and Shadow Minister for Youth, A video message from Hon Julian Leeser MP Federal Member for Berowra. Chair, Parliamentary Friends of India as he was unable to join the live event. Clr Reena Jethi, The Hills Shire Council.

While keynote speaker, Dr Janice Hall, District Governor Elect Rotary District 9675 & Ambassador – Empowering Women and Girls, presented an awe-inspiring talk about Ahimsa & its articulation in the Global Women Peace & Security (WPS) Agenda by Rotary, Patricia Garcia AO, Partnership Development Manager, Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) demonstrated Ahimsa and its articulation in the UN SDGs and highlighted the IEP and Rotary International peacebuilding framework.

The APS 2021 was attended by multicultural communities from across the globe and were utterly motivated and actuated by the high-impact presentation about ‘Non-violent Defence – Choosing the Gandhian Way’ by Dr Suman Khanna Aggarwal, Former Professor, Delhi University, Founder & President, Shanti Sahyog – a Gandhian NGO and Shanti Sahyog Centre for Nonviolence, who had virtually joined the live event from India.

APS 2021 also featured a live virtual concert performed by actor & artist Saroni Roy. She presented a selection of Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite songs, showcasing CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) artists from India and Australia. Adapting to the Covid-19 restrictions, Saroni remotely worked with musicians & artists based in India to curate this authentic and exquisite piece of art, ensconced in the Gandhian values of Ahimsa, courage, determination, solidarity, harmony and peace.

Performing a medley of songs in three different languages, namely Vaishnav Jan To (Gujrati), Raghupati Raghav (Hindi), and Ekla Cholo Re (Bengali) she underscored, “As an actor, singer, dancer and connoisseur of the arts, I truly believe that art is a platform that showcases and also weaves together diverse cultures. It transcends all barriers, and doesn’t conform to the limitations of language, faith, geography, race or nationality. If we look at some of the diverse ethnicities that have come together today, many of us, have experienced loss, war and conflict in our homeland. Art & artists, are therefore an integral catalyst in uniting people, celebrating our rich cultural heritage, and perpetuating a culture of peace and harmony.”

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Wishing you and your family a joyful Diwali

Jodi McKay MEMBER FOR STRATHFIELD

Office: Suite 2, 36 - 38 Victoria Street, Burwood NSW 2134 Phone: (02) 9747 1711 Email: Strathfield@parliament.nsw.gov.au