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Glimpses of a rich culture
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The three-day interdisciplinary international conference of the Indian Association for the Study of Australia (IASA) focussed on the common features of the two distinctly different cultures. A report.
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AUSTRALIA HAS existed as an idea long before the land was colonised by the White man. The vision of the southern continent had lured two centuries of adventurers into the Pacific. It was left to the greatest navigator of the era, Captain Cook, to end speculations and establish concretely its colonisation.
In time, it grew into a prosperous nation with surges of new waves of immigrants, formulating a cultural identity of its own.
The bush and the mountains of the land nurtured their own characteristic music and literature and the young nation began to emerge distinct with vitality comparable to the mother country.
Australia, which for a century was regarded as a displaced part of Europe, has now acknowledged itself as a concerned neighbour of Asia for vital economic connections. There has also been a growing need to better relationships with South East Asia.
India and Australia may have different characteristics and problems, but they also have a lot in common. Both are full of energy and change and both have a multicultural population and moving towards a new identity, economically and politically.
The three-day interdisciplinary international conference of the Indian Association for the Study of Australia (IASA) commenced on a positive note at the Madras University this past week. The theme of the conference was `Understanding Australia: Culture, Society and Polity'. The presence of Australia's High Commissioner Penelope Wensley, who inaugurated the conference, gave the right tone to the ensuing events.
As this was the first international conference organised by IASA, there was considerable anticipation among the delegates who were looking forward to interacting with experts from various fields.
In her inaugural address, Ms Wensley said that she perceived the occasion as one that would foster the ties between the governments and the academic world.
She confessed that literature was her lifelong passion and classics needed to be looked at in a fresh perspective. She approved of the current emphasis on gender issues and stressed that the task today is to interpret relationships between individuals, communities and nations.
She pointed out that the shared democratic values between Australia and India. Australians are concerned about the Indian Ocean Rim and wish for a new strategic dialogue not just on regional, but global issues.
Education and trade offer opportunities of bringing the two nations closer.
The chairman of the Australia-India Council, Michael Abbot, traced the past links between the two nations and commented on the phenomenal growth of the Indian Republic. He said that they value power contributed by the people of the two countries much more than tangible wealth. He complimented India's achievement in the field of information technology. High priority is being given to the development of `bilateral relationships' between the nations, he said.
Australia has many strengths and yet the focus is to promote the country as an educational destination for Indian students. Student exchange programmes have so far been successful and so far about 10,500 Indian students are studying there.
The Australian Indian Council has achieved the objective of establishing `people to people' dialogue, thereby creating better understanding between the two nations.
Because of the geographic location, it is necessary to cultivate a worthwhile relationship, which can be achieved by learning from and respecting each other, Abbot said.
The Vice-Chancellor, Pon. Kothandaraman commended the idea of the seminar. He complimented the English Department, headed by Prof C.T. Indra, (the local secretary of the organising committee) for hosting the seminar and offering a course in Australian Studies.
The English Department has been promoting Australian studies by inviting writers in the last five years.
The VC remarked that the translation activity should be encouraged especially in a multilingual situation as in India, in order to comprehend cultures.
G.K. Prasad of the Department of Politics and Public Administration proposed the vote of thanks.
The following three days were spent on discovering the rich layers of interest, colour, history and cultures of the two countries, well known to be (in the words of Mark Twain) "full of surprises, incongruities, contradictions and incredibilities."
PREMA SRINIVASAN
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