INDIRA LAISRAM

Last week, Bollywood actor Vidya Balan came calling. I think Melbourne’s autumn just got livelier especially with the Indian community who love Bollywood. I do like Bollywood but more for all the masalas news that revolve round the industry. In truth, I still revel in the memories of my meeting with Aamir Khan, whose wife I really envy. They form such a cute couple. It is one of the few perks of my part time job to hobnob with a few celebrities. And of course my facebook wall gets painted with all my photo ops.
I thought of all the years I spent as a rookie journalist in PTI meeting politicians, singers, stars et al and coming home starry-eyed and envied by friends. I still feel excited about doing these things again after so many years. Forgive this transgression, but in all this, my exposure to Melbourne’s page three Indians is getting wider. Between bites of snacks and sips of tea, I see a versatile group – some are just frogs in the well, some display an all too important air, a…

My first trip to Australia was in 2001. Doing a tourist run of the country, I spent three weeks in Sydney and one week in Melbourne. I was not backpacking (we don’t have the concept of backpacking in India) and thanks to a network of friends who lived here and their generosity, I was looked after well. At the end of the stay, I felt a month was not enough to soak in Australia in its entirety. After all, I had still to get oriented to its wines, explore the many, many amazing beaches and I had not skinny dipped! 
My memory of Australia in 2001 was of a predominantly white country. I saw very few Indians, quiet suburbs and some of the places reminded me of the Shillong I grew up in. Friends would not believe when I compared the two places but the Shillongites’ love for flowers and garden is something I can identify with the Australians’ love for their gardens. Everyone takes pride in not only mowing their lawns but also the nature’s strip or public property, which is the area of grass …