India Australia Friendship Fair kicked off in style

The largest gathering of Indians in the Southern hemisphere, India Australia Friendship Fair was held on 12th August at the Sydney Olympic Grounds in Sydney.

The Fair was held to celebrate India’s 60th Independence Day. Extensive planning coupled with warm and sunny day helped generate a record crowd for the event with ticket sales swelling to 22,000. The mood in UIA is ecstatic with members happy that they had a profitable fair this year.

That the Australian political class has started to notice and engage the Indian community was well evident, with political leaders from both sides of the spectrum attending the Fair. Prominent political personalities included NSW Premier Morris Iemma, Ex. Premier Neville Wran, Attorney General Philip Ruddock, Federal Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews, Julie Owens, Parramatta Federal MP, Barbara Perry, Auburn Federal MP and Parrammatta Mayor David Borger. Maxine McKew, Labour candidate for Bennelong, used the occasion to make friends with the Indian people and tried her best to sing Bengali songs with the audience who mobbed around her. Indian Consul General joined the dignitaries and the highlighted the opportunities India provided and termed democracy as the bond binding the two countries. Morris Iemma was also given a small statue of Ganesha by the sponsors. He highlighted the similarities between India and Australia and the acknowledged the contributions of the Indian community terming them as a model community comprising of responsible and law-abiding citizens, who should be treated with the respect they deserve. Raj Natarajan, President of United Indian Associations, welcomed the fair attendees as well as the invited Guests and spoke about the emotional attachment Australians of Indian background have for their country of birth, India and the vital role they can play in enhancing the trade, sporting, cultural and  commercial ties between India and Australia.

Immigration Minister, Kevin Andrews, acknowledged the hurt Dr.Haneef’s case had caused to the Indian community and reiterated that this issue in no way diminishes the high esteem in which the Indian Community is held in Australia. He also had his blood pressure and cholesterol checked by doctors of Indian origin. A group of young children with accompaniments sang the Australian and Indian national anthems and the whole mood at the Athletic Centre turned patriotic.

One of the highlights of the show was the India Cultural capsule which narrated India’s story and the history and grandeur of its regions interspersed with dances from some of these regions – Bihu, Lavani, Kerala folk dance, Bhangra and Bollywood dances. The UIA Cultural committee comprising of Partha Mukherjee, Khursheed Irani and hip hop singer Vijay Jogia won accolades for their work in putting up a beautiful show for the whole day. Partha drew upon his IIT and IIM background and used Project management software to time the 54 cultural items to the last seconds which including speeches, sponsor messages and acts.

Federal Attorney General Philip Ruddock gave special young India achiever awards to Nuclear Scientist Vijay Kumar, Cricketer Jayant Poria, Badminton Player Spoortiratan and Miss Punjab Australia Japsi Kher. AFL, one of the main sponsors of the event has a special coaching session for Indian community kids.

Tanya Zyeta and Bret Lee were the major attractions of the event along with singer Kamhal. Tania told the audiences about her stay in Bandra where she shared Sachin Tendulkar, Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai as her neighbours. She said she just flew out of London to be with Amitabh Bacchan next day to shoot in Taj Mahal for Bunty and Babli. She also sang a few lines from a Hindi song. Bret Lee mesmerized the audience with his sharp answers and said he was looking forward to the Boxing Day test match with India and was not so happy when Laxman starts hitting the ball. When asked about his next moves in Bollywood he said he was going to India next week to record another song with Asha Bhosale. Both Bret Lee and Tanya Zyeata were mobbed by the people of all ages who wanted to take pictures with their favourite stars.

The evening culminated with Bhangra, Bollywood songs and exciting fire works. The stall owners had a field day, especially the food stalls, with some of these stall owners earning 10,000 dollars during the day. UIA President Raj Natarajan termed the event as a great success and said this was the finest and the biggest UIA fair ever held.

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