Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence, the week commencing Monday 15 August was the busiest one for everyone interested in India, living in Victoria. Officially it is a public holiday in India but it started on a very high spiritual and patriotic note when members of the Indian diaspora gathered at the Indian Consulate office in Melbourne for the official flag hoisting by the Consul General of India in Melbourne Dr Sushill Kumar.
Ever since he landed in Melbourne, only just over two weeks prior to immersing himself in the zeal and gusto of national spirit and celebrations, there was no time for him to put his foot on the brakes.
Although not the official ceremony, but earlier on Saturday, 13 August, legendary Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan had hoisted the Tricolor at Fed Square in Melbourne, marking the start of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2022.
On Tuesday, August 16, the Consul General Dr Sushil Kumar and his wife Mrs Mona Sushil hosted the local Indian community at the Thornbury Theatre in Thornbury to celebrate the occasion and meet with the local Indian community.
Also read: Dharmendra Pradhan launches ARCH-India and AIRS Fellowship, raises Visa backlog Issues
Two days later, most of the familiar faces got together at the Great Hall of the National Gallery of Victoria to dine and celebrate the Indian milestone, hosted by the Australia India Institute on behalf of the government of Victoria. The Australia Indian Institute CEO Lisa Singh, Victorian Multicultural Affairs Minister Ros Spence, among others addressed the guests on the evening interspersed with cultural performances.
To cap off the week of celebrations, the local Indian diaspora (although majorly different from the first two events) got together at the FIAV headquarters in Rowville where they celebrated the auspicious 76th Independence Day (or the 75th anniversary) again wining, dining and singing Indian patriotic songs.
The celebrations are not over yet. This week, it is the Australia India Chamber of Commerce organizing the event to celebrate the very noble and joyous occasion of 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence. The Indian Union minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan is joining in to add his bit to the ever-improving Australia India bilateral relations.
Indeed, the untiring diaspora could not have enough of the occasion, with thousands of people partaking. Many other organizations also held celebrations in many suburbs of Melbourne.
Celebrated with the warmest emotions, the occasion of 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence gave some of the rusted (having gone through the world’s longest lockdowns) local leaders to polish off their skills and sharpen their pens to write fresh CVs to plead their case to their godfathers in local political parties – particularly with the state elections only 95 days away.
It is long overdue that more and more talented Victorian Indians put their hand up to claim our place in the local, state and federal parliament.
Similar Posts by The Author:
- The Untold story of the ANZAC-India friendship
- Australia Post – new performance standards from 15 April
- Premier’s department fighting the release of SECRET hotel quarantine documents
- Vic Gov funds 13 programs that help international Students
- Nationals call for more funding to fight rising crime rates in regional Victoria