Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd recently unveiled his vision for making Australia the most “Asia-literate country” in the West. In continuation of this theme Rudd would be the keynote speaker at the fortnight-long OzAsia cultural festival at Adelaide that showcases arts, music and dances of Asia-Pacific region.
A special symposium would be held on the occasion “to explore the challenges and opportunities for closer cultural engagement with Asia in the 21st Century.”
According to Rudd: “Australia’s future will also depend on our ability to engage constructively and effectively with the countries of the Asia Pacific. That is why I am committed to making Australia the most Asia-literate country in the collective West.”
The Australian prime minister’s vision is a refreshing departure from other powerful world leaders who are seeking alliances with one another primarily based on military and economic considerations. Pity the US leaders never attempted any cultural interaction with Iraq and Afghanistan in the past six years of engagement in the two countries.
The Adelaide Festival Centre CEO and Artistic Director Douglas Gautier said, “I encourage everyone to sample the delights of Australasian culture that are on offer in this year’s program. The Festival is an exciting time for the Adelaide Festival Centre as we continue to cultivate relationships with our Asian neighbours as well as Australian artists with an Asian heritage.”
The 2008 OzAsia Festival program also includes an eclectic mix of dance, music, theatre, visual art, food and free events, involving a wide variety of Australian and Asian artists and a number of Australian premieres. For the first time, in 2008 the OzAsia Festival also includes a film component: OzAsia On Screen.
The event will open with the free Moon Lantern Festival. Elder Park will come alive with community dance and music performances and workshops, and a parade by hundreds of South Australian school children with beautiful hand-made lanterns. Guest artists will also perform, and a delicious selection of Asian cuisine and moon cakes would be available. More here…
However, Kevin Rudd is also taking a realistic view of developments in Asia. He warned that nations across Asia were modernising their military forces, particularly with more powerful jet fighters and submarines, and that Australia must respond with its own
upgrade. More here…
(Photo above: Artistes from India and Australia rehearsing for the festival.)
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.