Sabh kuch thik thak hai

Updated on: Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Melbourne: White Australian students may be doing the bump and grind to Bollywood numbers on stage at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University’s Diwali celebrations this year.

The request initially took the fest’s organiser Divya Sharma, a PhD student from Chandigarh at RMIT University, by surprise. “Australians that I meet are aware of Bollywood. They love the movies and dances and yes, they will be in Indian outfits,” says Divya, who admits that it will be “interesting” to teach the students how to dance Bollywood style.

Multicultural events are seen as a way to help the Australian and newly arrived Indian students better understand each other’s community.

“I wanted to send a message that everything was okay after the attacks on students, so the theme of this year’s celebrations to be sabh kuch thik thak hai. We wanted people to know that things are fine here,” she says.

The festival will be held a week before Diwali.

This year’s Diwali celebrations in Melboune will be held at Federation Square in the heart of the city.

“We want to showcase Indian culture to the wider committee,” said Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle, adding that “There is a range of Indians in Melbourne from those who have been here for generations to those who arrived a few months ago.”

Funding on this year’s Diwali celebrations will be decided upon at the end of the month and will depend upon the council and the number of participants. The funding last year was AUD 20,000 (just over Rs 8 lakh) from the Mayor’s office.

“Diwali festivals see active participation from both the local community and Indians,” said the Lord Mayor.

Sabh kuch thik thak hai

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