By Jessica Anstice
With great pride that the team at Indian Association Cardinia Casey (IACC) hosted the India Day event to mark the Indian Independence day celebrations and help generate awareness about the rich and colourful Indian ethnic culture in the community of Cardinia.
The team at IACC dreamed of a united and joint effort from members of the community who migrated from various regions/ethnic backgrounds within India to deliver a humble yet simple message of brotherhood, diversity and respect for other communities of Cardinia.
With the view of promoting healthy living in Cardinia’s abundant lifestyle, IACC hosted Tournaments for badminton, chess and carromboard on Saturday 17 August.
“The response was overwhelming with participants coming in from Drouin, Craigieburn, Keysborough and having a great time challenging opponents in a competitive fixture of matches,” IACC member Mayur Meshram said.
The hero activity of the day was Brick Masters which involved a team of younger members of the family and a parent.
“The engaging one hour of adrenaline rush to build something cool and creative was thoroughly cherished by the participating teams and the audience and was proudly supported by Bindi from Bricks4Kidz,” Mr Meshram said.
“It was difficult for bystanders not to get involved and show off their love for Lego.”
The IACC team also leveraged the YMCA facility in the John Henry Primary School premise to showcase ornaments, jewellery, memorabilia, souvenirs, traditional ethnic wear, quirky show pieces and created an Indian Cultural street-walk-like experience which was “very much admired and well received” by the visiting audience.
To wrap up the long day full of sporting activities, IACC opened the platform for the younglings in the community to showcase their curricular talents by hosting a cultural show. Children from the age group of four and above took part in delivering various cultural performances including playing Australian and Indian national anthems on piano, solo and chorus singing, dance performances and more.
The opening performance painted a picture of unity in diversity with children and adults performing in traditional dresses from various states of India: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal etc.
Local business sponsors included: Spice and Smiles, Pooja Jidani Makeovers, Cut n Dry Hair & Beauty, Deep’s Driving School, StarMotorWorks, Pulse Electrics and Terri Fellows from BarryPlant.
Cardinia Shire Council Cr Collin Ross along his wife attended the event and honoured the tournament winners with trophies and gift vouchers.
Pakenham Show president and Bunyip Rotary member Geoff Young was assigned with the tough task of being in the judging panel for the BrickMasters creations.
Wendy Andrews and Jillian Ronald were very sharp and appreciative on selecting the best art work submitted by various talented individuals in the community.
