A slice of Australia in India

With India among the top 10 destinations for Austrialia, the country is shelling out a whopping sum for the Oz fest in the country.
They received a rap for sledging in cricket matches and faced a public outcry over cases of racism against Indian students. But of late, Australia seems to have found a perfect diplomacy carrot to develop cultural ties with India.Of late, there has been an upsurge of Australian expatriates setting up base in India. According to the Australian High Commission, India entered the top 10 overseas destinations for Australian travellers for the first time in 2011. “A growing number of Australians are coming to India to live and work, thereby helping us drive a much bigger people-to-people relationship,” says Lachlan Strahan, Australian Deputy High Comm-issioner.
According to the Deputy High Commissioner, there are between 13,000 and 27,000 Australians in India at any one time. “Around 35-40% are residents in India for some period of time, the rest are short-term visitors. This means the number of Australians residing in India fluctuate between around 5,000 and 10,000 depending on the season,” he shares, this in addition to the Indian community in Australia (all people of Indian ethnic origin, both permanent and temporary resident) which is now 4,00,000 strong.
“The four month long Oz Fest will celebrate and promote these expanding links and foster a better understanding of culture,” says Strahan.
Incidentally, food has become the gastronomical tactic for cultural diplomacy, India’s rise as a preferred destination for Australians could also be one of the reasons for unveiling this mega fest, that reportedly has a budget of three million dollars.
With the soaring popularity of Masterchef Australia, the feisty hosts George Calombaris and Garry Mehigan are the main attractions of the Oz Fest. “The reality show is unlike any other that I have seen and I like the way they host it. They make everything appear so simple,” points out engineering student Suhas Mohan.
Bangalore-based entrepreneur Biswamit Dwi-bedy, an ardent fan of Australian literature as well as the short n’ sweet theatre fest, is looking forward to the literature events happening next month. “Our cultures are completely different, so I really want to see how writers approach the subject matter and their concerns,” says Biswamit.
richa.bhatia@timesgroup.com