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A festival known for being a celebration of love, compassion, friendship and colour, this year’s Blacktown Holi mela did not disappoint

With up to 10,000 people attending over two days, the Holi Festival of Colours at Blacktown was a large-scale outdoor event.
“The highlight for me was seeing multiculturalism in action,” said organiser Bikram Cheema. “The whole community came together at this event.”
After the success of the Festival of Colours Blacktown 2015, organisers decided to hold a second Holi event for 2016, one designed to target a wider Australian market. The inaugural Colorfest was due to be held at Castle Hill Showgrounds in late February, but after some last minute issues with Council approvals, the event had to be rescheduled for the Saturday preceding the Blacktown event.
Cheema confirmed the Saturday event featured more of a western crowd while the Sunday event had a wider variety of revellers.

As a hub of multiculturalism, Blacktown proved to be a perfect venue for all attendees across the two days, particularly after the cancellation of the annual Darling Harbour Holi event.
Featuring the usual variety of international food stalls, market stalls and children’s amusement rides, the diverse entertainment program across the two days proved a winner.
Dancing among plumes of vibrant colours in the sunshine while live DJs spun tunes added a feeling of being at a summer music festival.

With contemporary music pumping, anecdotally, it was a younger crowd with many attending with groups of friends or young families bringing along the kids. On stage entertainment on the Sunday was more traditional and included the Rhythm Boys Bhangra, Holiya Dance Academy, CK Performing Arts and Viraasat Folk Academy among others who strutted their stuff with boundless enthusiasm, befitting the festive spirit of the occasion.
The carnival of colours continued across the weekend and participants played, chased and threw coloured powder at each other with abandon celebrating the masti of life.

However, stall owners lamented a lack of engagement as people were too busy having fun to avail of their services.
Local politicians and dignitaries graced the event appearing in various hues of gulal including federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, Member for Greenway Michelle Rowland, State Member for Blacktown John Robertson and the Mayor of Blacktown City Council Stephen Bali.
The festival of Holi was named after the evil demon Holika, who burnt to death in a bonfire, but its significance has changed over thousands of years. The festival coincides with the arrival of spring and the beginning of the harvest season in India.

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Indian-Australian Seema Keezhil  has been recognised for her work in the community at the annual Governor’s Multicultural Awards

An unsung hero for all things Indian over the past 30 years, Seema Keezhil was recognised for her diverse work in the community at awards ceremony hosted by His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le AO, Governor of South Australia, at Government House on Tuesday 22 March.

Seema Keezhil stood alongside fellow Adelaidean Megan Lamb as Individual Joint Winners of the South Australian Governor’s Multicultural Award for the Community Sector.
Seema’s activities cover the gamut from organising festivals, teaching Hindi, collaborating on crime prevention with the SA Police to Bollywood singing!
Seema is also a recent addition to the Governor’s Women’s Honour roll.
The Governor’s Multicultural Awards are a celebration of South Australia’s cultural diversity.

“It is important we continue to progress our multicultural journey and learn more about each other, and share our experiences, to build on our tolerant and cohesive society,” he said.

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Community leaders and local politicians look at what women have achieved, and how far we have to go

The ladies wing of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Sydney came together recently to commemorate the successes of women, past and present, at the inaugural International Women’s Day celebrations at the Rosehill temple.

The event was officially opened in a traditional Hindu manner, as the dignitaries lit the lamp after a brief prayer and warm welcome to the guests.
The befitting theme ‘We have made it’ was introduced to the audience by reminding everyone about the struggle of great women of the past – those who promised and have delivered a better tomorrow.

Around 200 women were present to celebrate the day, including special guests Julie Owens MP, Julia Finn MP, Mala Mehta OAM, Dr Bandini Mittal and Dr Gurprit Ganda.

After offering prayers, everyone stood up in unison to applaud and acknowledge their mothers and all other women who have touched their lives significantly.

This was followed by a presentation on successful women who have inscribed their names to the pages of history. Among them were Rani Lakshmi Bai, Mother Teresa, Kalpana Chawla, PT Usha, Mary Kom, Sunita Williams, Jhumpa Lahiri and Lata Mangeshkar.
This day was not just about honouring these stars, but also providing an opportunity to hear from leaders of the local community. They spoke about their own pathways to success, and also the strategies they see women use to challenge the frameworks that still prevent them from reaching their full potential.

As rightly put by Julie Owens MP, “While many of us are making it and doing quite well, there are still so many women who are not being given the opportunity to contribute the way they should be able to, to make this world a better place.”
Reiterating the message she gives each year around International Women’s Day, she said, “While some of us are doing well, there are many more whose talents, abilities, strengths and courage this world is wasting everyday because we don’t create the paths for them to shine.”

Sadly, not all women enjoy the same freedom that we do, as is reflected in the statistics from the UN: one in three women around the world will experience violence in her lifetime.
Real change can only happen when women are empowered. It is estimated that across the world, gender parity will be achieved only in 2133, noted Dr Gurpreet Gupta.

Julia Finn MP highlighted in her speech that here in Australia, women earn 17 per cent less than men and gender equality at senior levels in the workplace is yet to be achieved.
In terms of women’s success, she stressed the importance of elevating women at all levels and having equal access to opportunities.
Speeches from Mala Mehta OAM and Dr Gurprit Ganda also provided encouragement to the audience.

The event ended with a small skit on Rani Lakshmi Bai and a video about the excellent community work being carried out by BAPS.
While women have come a long way, a lot more needs to be done. With a feeling of empowerment and drive for bringing further change, everyone felt bittersweet, standing together and proudly saying, ‘we have made it’ in our own small and mighty ways!

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What men can do to help in the fight against domestic violence 

Only days before we heard of yet another domestic violence fatality in our community (this time in Queensland), Sydney’s Mohit Kumar was urging men to stand up against such crime.
“Men are in a unique position to stop other men from perpetrating this crime,” Kumar said at a Blacktown forum. “If you see or suspect that this is affecting someone in your family or friends, call it out. Call the police and do something about it.”
His message clearly did not reach out to the community in which 43-year-old Balwinder Ghumman lived, who killed his wife Manjinder and her mother on 14 March.
In the light of this horrific incident in which two other family members were seriously wounded, Kumar’s message needs to be repeated, louder and clearer.
As a White Ribbon Ambassador, Police Prosecutor Mohit Kumar was speaking at an Indian subcontinent community forum organised by White Ribbon Australia in collaboration with Seva International and the NSW Department of Social Services.

White Ribbon is Australia’s only national male-led campaign to end violence against women.
The forum, held at Blacktown Workers Club, was intended to spread their message of primary prevention among people from multicultural backgrounds. In conjunction with Blacktown’s law enforcement agencies, the campaign has been working to encourage male leadership in the Indian community to support the prevention of men’s violence perpetrated against women.
Blacktown’s Local Area Commander Superintendent Gary Merryweather, also a White Ribbon Ambassador, spoke passionately about tackling domestic violence. “Everybody has the right to feel safe out in the public or in their homes,” he said. He talked about the work being done by the Blacktown police to combat domestic violence, and in reaching out to the public in their community-driven campaign.
Senior Constable Genelle Warne, a Domestic Violence Liaison Officer, also addressed the forum. “Domestic and family violence occurs in all sections of the community and in all cultures, and one in three women is experiencing it,” she said. “My one role is to ensure that a victim is being protected by the law. If they still want to be with their family, those perpetrators have to realise that their actions are wrong. Very often perpetrators do not realise that their behaviour is incorrect. This is where we need to create awareness.”

Recipient of the 2015 Blacktown Woman of the Year award, Sr Const. Warne urged people to call the police if they need help dealing with a domestic violence situation. “You should be able to live in your home without any fear,” she said. “I would like to tell the men who have sons and daughters to teach them to respect each other and to treat each other well.”
In his address, Police Prosecutor Mohit Kumar engaged the audience with stories from the Indian community and described some of the deep rooted cultural barriers in maintaining respectful relationships.
Diversity and Inclusion Manager at White Ribbon Australia, Sunila Kotwal, and Sumati Advani, Chief Operating Officer of Seva International, also spoke. Both reiterated the need to safely and effectively challenge the outlook of the minority of men who use or condone violence against women.
Other speakers highlighted different aspects of the social, physical and emotional factors associated with these behaviours.
Akshay Raj, a lawyer by profession, spoke from a legal perspective about societal gender inequality. He also spoke about his work with university students in promoting respectful relationships.
White Ribbon Ambassadors Umesh Chandra (who flew in for the event from Brisbane) and Liam Dooley (Community Engagement Manager at White Ribbon), highlighted the extensive work of the White Ribbon Ambassadors to raise awareness and provide tools to prevent men’s violence against women.
Other speakers included hip hop artist L-FRESH, The Lion (Sukhdeep Singh), local barrister Susai Benjamin, and Allied Health Consultant Anne Kalra.
Avnish Sandhu from Pink Ladoo brought in a different perspective and spoke about focusing on gender equality at birth, by celebrating the birth of a daughter.
Perhaps the men who lived and worked with Balwinder Ghumman would like to answer this question: could you have done something to save the lives of two innocent women?