INDIRA LAISRAM

Now that I have enlisted myself in the media list of the Consular General of India in Melbourne, I get all kinds of invite - things that you would normally pass in India. But with so few events over here, you try not to miss out on any in that hunt for a news peg. I am just back from a Hinduism summit at the Sai Baba temple in Camberwell. It's a suburb Lolo and I would ultimately want to settle down in because of its sheer greenery and unique houses. It's a beautiful suburb. And tucked inside it was the Shirdi Sai Baba temple, where a group of Hindu enthusiasts held their conference to protect the religion from denigration. I find myself at odds in such forums, especially when I see dhoti clad men with sindoor on their heads and professing their love for Hinduism and advocating chanting of the names of God to keep in touch with spirituality and the religion. Nonetheless I found myself in one such situation where I couldn't avoid the inquisitive looks of people, especially

I didn't want to talk about Mother's Day. I hate it when I see mothers and children having fun. It's a form of bitter envy because you can't have that in your life for the simple reason that your mom is not there in your life anymore. And nomatter how old you are, a mother's absence from your life is one that will always be stark in its absence, especially if the mother you had was one like mine. Last Sunday was Mother's Day. Lolo brought flowers for his mom in the morning and gave it to her. I was thinking she would have been one happy person that day. I asked my 70-year old neighbour Lynn as to how she celebrated. She said her daughters took her for wine tasting in the morning, then a sumptuous lunch at noon and then champagne tasting again later in the day. I joked she would have been pretty high by the end of the day. She replied modestly, "I quite enjoyed it all." I could see from the gleam in her eyes how much she enjoyed it all, but exaggeratio

In five days we travelled 2000 km by car across Canberra, Sydney, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay, Brisbane and Gold Coast - almost all the A lists on the tourist map. We were dropping off the little Yaris - it did not let us down and is now parked in Brisbane, its new home. Canberra did surprise me. As the capital of Australia, I guess I was expecting more in terms of population, breadth, width, size et al, just like Delhi. As our car veered towards Eagle resort, the hotel we had booked in, I thought there is more than meets the eye. But as we drove around, much of Canberra, save the small hub of shops and apartments in the main city area, was like an endless stretch of suburbs and parks, inhabited mainly by bureaucrats and students. I was trying to feel the soul of the place but I could not connect. However, ask any Australian, and you will find that he/she loves the quietness and solitude and vast stretches of what would seem like a no-man's land! Boy was I happy the next morning whe