When Rhea Verma and Rashim Joshi first held a ‘Chai and Chat’ session in 2023, they thought nobody would show up.
“We were very tight on budget because we had absolutely $0 in our bank account at that point. We were all chipping in out of our own pockets to help make this event possible,” Verma remembers.
“We were nervous…Right up until the morning of, things come into play – if weather’s not good, people don’t come. I remember that morning it was quite chilly and there was a bit of a drizzle, so we were panicking, like, oh my God, no one’s gonna come, it’s gonna be a flop event!”
Luckily, they welcomed around 30 people, including complete strangers, to their western suburbs venue, connecting over hot beverages and cross-cultural experiences that they’d never really had a space to share until now.
These days, ‘Chai and Chai’ sessions are a staple event for what has blossomed into the Indian Youth Association of Victoria, or IYAV, a space for desi youth to socialise, reconnect with heritage, and serve the community.
“I think what we want to do is have a place where people can socialise…learn about the key principles of seva and then find a safe space to grow as a person and lead the community,” Verma says of IYAV’s vision.
“[Youth] is a vulnerable time period, a time of experiencing firsts, and I think the kind of people that you surround yourself influences how you grow as a person. Having a community space like this, which can help provide guidance and a sense of belonging is very important.”
Growing up in Melbourne’s west in the 2000s, Rhea Verma found her ties to India through volunteering with the Sri Durga Mandir in Rockbank, where she also met her best friend and IYAV co-founder, Rashim Joshi. Verma and Joshi’s fathers are currently on the committee of the temple, something which continues to inspire their work.
“I feel like that temple has kind of become my second home for me and my little sister,” Verma reflects.
“Seeing our dads doing all this work for the community, doing community leadership – what I saw growing up – helped me shape my identity and my community mindset as well.”
With most community spaces led by older generation migrants, the two friends craved a space where likeminded youth could be heard.
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IYAV
Collaborating with local businesses and even the Indian Consulate of Melbourne, IYAV focus on grassroots, youth-led volunteering; past events include donating to the Lost Dogs Home in North Melbourne, a high school dance competition, and supporting Body Buddies’ Organ Donation campaign.
Through activities like dodgeball, food and blood donation drives, and dance workshops, IYAV’s members are finding ways to connect outside of the devotional and familial activities of elders.
The accessibility of IYAV’s events has seen them transcend traditional divides; recently, a run club event at Albert Park saw youth flock from as far away as Bendigo and Geelong, and included visitors from Perth.
“There’s no political agenda, no religious agenda, no social agenda in any deceiving way. At our events, we’re not just attracting Indians, we’re attracting a lot of South Asians – Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, we’ve had white Australians as well,” says Verma.
“It’s good to see that people are breaking these biases and borders essentially, and coming together as one, which is what we want to see.”
Uniquely, IYAV foster enriching interactions between second-generation Indian Australians and recently migrated international students and young professionals, uniting their differing perspectives on the Indian Australian experience.
“What we really wanted was to combine the two groups together and create a space where international students can come in and learn about the Australian culture, to help them become Indian Australians, and then the kids who are born here who are struggling to have that connection have a space to connect and learn about their ethnicity, basically,” Verma says.
Despite different upbringings, bonding over shared values and heritage helps ease the uncertainty of having a hyphenated identity.
“The most important thing is finding ways to preserve culture and preserve those values which our families have grown up with. A community like this reduces that sense of being not fully Aussie, not fully desi,” says Verma.
At the heart of IYAV’s success are the friendships formed and initiative fuelled, something which Verma says ‘drives [her] to keep going and pushing’.
“I remember one person that we met at that first Chai and Chat who came as a complete stranger – he just saw the event on a friend’s [Instagram] story and he came along knowing absolutely nobody. Now he’s one of our closest friends, a very loyal member of IYAV,” Verma recalls.
“We have genuinely seen so many lasting friendships come out of this organisation, it’s so fulfilling…[members] are getting actively involved, they’re not just attending, they’re volunteering.”
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As the diaspora looks to chart their direction in Australia, Verma hopes IYAV can continue to empower and connect youth.
“We’re driven, we’re well engaged, we know what’s going on, we’re close with our family values and our work ethics. We’re growing in terms of having a civic voice…We’re such a strong diaspora and a smart generation; our [diaspora’s] future depends on how well we bring young people into these conversations.”
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