Indian community in Australia had many reasons for cheer in September: to start with, nine-year-old Anirudh Kathirvel was among 52 children drawn from a pool of 3000 nationwide who won the ‘The Great Australia Spelling Bee’ competition. Anirudh made it through to the televised rounds of the spelling competition. The show was produced by Shine, which puts together reality favourites MasterChef Australia, The Voice, and The Bachelor. Educational experts were also enlisted to help with development, including the Office of the Children’s Guardian and Macquarie Dictionary. Anirudh won $50,000 education scholarship along with $10,000 dollars worth goods for his school. This achievement, in many ways, underlines the significance Indian families attach to education in Australia. Anirudh’s success is a true inspiration.
Secondly, Rohini Kappadath, director of the Pitcher Partner’s Cross Border Business practice, has been chosen as the 2015 finalist in the prestigious Telstra Victorian Business Woman of the Year award.
Rohini Kappadath has been one of the main voices behind the Indian Executive Club. Her constant nurturing and support of this organisation from its inception has ensured that IEC has maintained high standards in providing an effective and credible platform for SMEs in Melbourne. Rohini has also been a key motivator for the IEC over the years. Rohini’s commitment and passion towards community work and SMEs is respected and appreciated by one and all in the business community. It’s vital that her work gets recognised and we wish her luck at the awards.
The IEC Awards has reached its fifth year this year. The Club has a received 85 nominations from SME businesses in 2015. This year’s Awards on 21 November at the Atlantinc Peninsula is a stand alone business event with community and popular choice awards being delinked from the event. Based on feedback received from its members and associates, the IEC successfully hosted its first ever hospitality sector awards through Spice Out. Later this year in December, The Indian Sun along with Festival of South Asia will host the community awards at the corporate box in Werribee Race Course.
The judging panel of IEC Awards, headed by the CEO of City of Yarra Vijaya Vaidyanathan, are enthused by the response and quality this year.
The judges told The Indian Sun in an interview: “Recruiters have placed value in these awards. We’ve had informal feedback from past entrants who said that their CVs and resumes looked better after winning awards over the past two or three years. Which suggests mainstream business is looking at this with some degree of interest.”
This shows how the IEC Awards are getting increased traction over the years. If you come out as a winner of the IEC Awards, “their gateways and pathways are getting even more refined”. If you participate in the event, you walk away inspired. It’s important to witness the success stories of so many entrepreneurs in our community who are doing us proud. Our next issue will focus on the milestone year of the IEC Awards with detailed insights from past winners and current contestants.
Celebrate India is hosting its tenth Diwali celebrations at the Fed Square this year in November. The journey to bring Diwali to Melbourne began as a dream Arun Sharma had with his wife Jaya. The reason was simple– to foster understanding and appreciation of Indian culture among one and all in Victoria. They saw no better way to do it than opening the doors to festivals that had long been celebrated privately by Indians in function centres and homes across the suburbs.
Celebrate India now is a key organisation for Victorians. Over the years, they have doubled in size, with the executive committee going from five members to 35. The Diwali management committee now has up to 75 members actively pitching in during the celebrations to ensure everything runs smoothly.
The crowds have increased alongside the festivities. Up to 60,000 people now head to the city for the main day’s celebrations and fireworks. The festival is also celebrated at Melbourne Airport and Flinders Street Station, where Diwali wishes are announced in multiple languages every hour.
The Indian Sun spoke to Arun Sharma and Jaya Sharma who feel it is surreal to be celebrating their milestone year. We hope that all Victorians will rally behind Celebrate India to mark this occasion. We congratulate Celebrate India for reaching this remarkable feat and making all Indian Australians proud.
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