beautifully about Deepavali. It was a

great opportunity not only to meet the

Minister and others but also to meet

each other and get to know other asso-

ciations better.

And finally, we have our own Gala Diwa-

li Dinner coming up! I hope you have

already booked your tickets to the ex-

citing event at Hotel Intercontinental.

We are putting a lot of effort into plan-

ning a great event for your enjoyment

and look forward to meeting you there.

Do book your tickets immediately if you

haven’t yet. Please do attend and make

this event a grand success!

For any information or to give sugges-

tions please do not hesitate to contact

us. We have planned many more events

in the coming months, so look out for

our mail outs.

I hope you enjoy reading our first News-

letter

Thank you for your interest and support

in IAASA

Narayana Rai

IAASA President

Dear Members and Friends of IAASA,

I am delighted to write to you about the

activities of your committee and the

plans we have for the Association. We,

your new executive committee mem-

bers, are just over a month old and

have been very busy. We had to attend

to or organise several events very

quickly and I am proud of my com-

mittee members for rising to the occa-

sion quickly and efficiently.

We got off to a quick start with a very

interesting workshop by David Dahm on

Corporate Governance, the Role of the

Committee and the legal context to

being a committee member etc. We

definitely got a better understanding of

good governance.

Then our first event, Gandhi Jayanti was

upon us on 2nd October exactly 2 weeks

after taking office. We had a lovely

function at the Bust of Mahatma Gan-

dhi in the University of Adelaide

grounds which was well attended by

about 60 people, the pro Vice-

Chancellor International, Adelaide Uni

Prof. Nancy Cromar, Dr Jagan Ma-

zumdar and others. Special thanks to

Prof. Purnendra Jain for his assistance

and Rajendra Pandey for songs by chil-

dren of the Hindi School.

A week later we organised a Meet &

Greet session where new and old mem-

bers came to meet each other and the

new committee. Nearly 80 people

attended and actively participated by

giving suggestions and ideas and also

singing songs, enjoying antakshari and a

delicious lunch!

We were invited to Parliament House

to meet with the Minister for Multicul-

tural Affairs, Zoe Bettison and other

members of SA Parliament like Dana

Wortley, Russell Wortley. Our discus-

sions included how to improve our

services to the community, lobbying

the Govt for funds and the need for

more Indian origin people getting

involved in politics. The minister was

impressed with our vision for IAASA

and said she would invite us again to

discuss our needs and progress.

Soon after, we had a meeting with

the Chair of SAMEAC, Grace Portole-

si and SAMEAC member, Vikram

Madan where we discussed grants

and funding for programs to deal

with social issues in our community

particularly in relation to ageing,

women, youth and settlement.

To elevate IAASA programs to the

next level, our Community Programs

Coordinator, Susila Palani is working

on direct services to the community

such as Volunteer meetings, English

classes, music, fun indoor sports

sessions and more. The plans for

putting the Hall to good use are in

full swing!

We also represented the Indian

community at the Oz Asia Festival

Opening and have been asked to

give more input to the planning of

Indian events in the future. A VIP

India Reception was also given by

Dept of State Development as part

of the Oz Asia Festival. At this event

it was incredible to meet a wonder-

ful dancer from UK, Akaash Odedra

and the producer of his Show, Anand

Bhatt.

Just the other day, a Diwali Recep-

tion was organised by the Premier

Jay Wetherill for all Indian communi-

ty leaders. I was asked to address

the gathering and I made it a point

that a street or building in Adelaide

CBD should be lit up next year for

Diwali! Our Cultural Secretary, Saloni

Gadhia was also asked to speak as a

Youth Representative and spoke

Narayan Rai, President IAASA

Note from President

I N S I D E

T H I S

I S S U E :

Gandhi

Jayanthi

Community &

Seniors

IAASA Meet

and Greet

Akaashvani

Adelaide

English

Lessons

Yoga for all

Pranayam

Secretary’s

Say

The Cookie

Thief — Story

IAASA Newsletter 1 / 1 1 / 2 0 1 7 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8 , V O L M E 1

U P C O M I N G

E V E N T S

• IAASA Diwali Gala

Dinner 4th

November 2017

• IAASA Christmas

Meet and Greet 3rd

December 2017

• Indian Republic Day

Function January

2018

• Australia Day

Parade January 18

IAASA Meet and Greet

P A G E 2

For most of us first generation mi-

grants, it's been a great experience

to meet and greet new people and

settle in Australia through formal and

informal friendships and connec-

tions. IAASA continues to play a

key role in welcoming new settlers by

offering free membership for the first

year. IAASA's "Meet & Greet" pro-

gram is held on a monthly basis as

much as possible. Some of us have

mingled and mixed more readily with

people of different regions and cul-

tures from India here in South Aus-

tralia than in our home coun-

try. The program also gives new

migrants the opportunity to learn

from the wisdom and experience of

earlier migrants on understanding and

fitting into the Australian culture and

exchanging our own culture, language

and traditions in a multicultural socie-

ty.

IAASA is often painted as a social

club. A "Meet & Greet" is not a bad

place to start lifelong friendships and

support systems particularly when we

are away from our families and usual

support networks. Feel free to invite

new arrivals to the next "Meet &

Greet" function to be held on Sunday

3rd December at 12:00 noon at the

IAASA Community Centre at Broad-

view. Come and welcome new arri-

vals, share your experience and let us

have fun together.

The Programs are broadcast every Saturday morning 7.00- 8.00am and Sunday afternoon 3.30-4.00pm. The Telugu pro-gram is on Saturdays 1.00-1.30pm. Programs are also live streamed on www.5ebi.com.au

You can support our commu-nity radio station with partici-pation in the Radio program

and/or with monetary dona-tions. Please email indi-an@5ebi.com.au if you are interested in broadcasting or sharing your story or to pledge your support.

For more information please call Vinaya Rai on 0432 321 832 or 8268 3734 (AH).

Our very own community ra-dio program, broadcasting on 5EBI 103.1 FM needs your sup-port and patronage. The Indian program broadcasts mainly in Hindi with regular regional language segments in Kanna-da, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi and other languages with a regular Telu-gu program too!

Meet and

Greet,

IAASA

Community

Centre

October

2017

Akaashvani Adelaide Indian Community Radio – 103.1 FM

ARE YOU LIFE OR THE CLOCK ~ BY MANNA

I adore you, I adorn you

I know you are precious and

Wait for none…

I may cry, I may laugh

That never turns you off

Wonder if you care for me____

But you never stop

The time has come to say goodbye….

I am quiet BUT you are not

Are you Life or the Clock??

“The best way

to find yourself

is to lose

yourself in the

service of

others.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

P A G E 3

Having enjoyed the role of Treasurer/Mela Finance Manager of

IAASA over the last six years, I considered what other role I could

play to assist our organisation’s objectives. Amongst IAASA’s many

strengths, one area that could be further improved upon was Gov-

ernance and the establishment of a core set of policies, procedures and guidelines for its Committee Mem-

bers to follow when transacting business on behalf of the Association. My new role as Secretary allows me

to work with the Committee and membership to achieve these aims. Within 4 weeks of the AGM the new

Committee recruited the pro-bono services of an expert speaker in the field, David Dahm

CA,FCPA,CTA,FTIA,F.FIN,FAAPM,FAIM,CPM,FGLF , who travels nationally all over Australia on behalf of profes-

sional bodies to deliver Corporate Governance presentations. The Committee appreciates David taking the

time from his busy schedule. After listening and actively interacting to a 3 hour slide presentation specifically

tailored for our organisation, the Committee Members felt more empowered and committed to fulfilling

their individual roles and responsibilities in the best inter-

ests of IAASA members. The next step is to obtain a form

of Quality Management Accreditation for the organisation

which would further improve IAASA’s ability to secure fu-

ture Government Grants. Watch this space!

Sam Dahm

IAASA Secretary

Secretary’s Say What is Governance?

The Australian Standard on

corporate governance says ‘the

essence of good governance is

accountability’ i.e. ‘do no harm’

P A G E 4

P A G E 5

Program Options:

• Bridge

• Yoga (Offered Saturday am /

Sunday pm)

• Sitar

• Guitar

• Ukulele

• Tombola afternoons

• Carnatic music

• Water Colour painting

• Languages for travel or

communication: English

(commencing November),

Tamil, French, Spanish, Italian

• Career and social support:

Preparation of Job

Application, Interview skills

including mock practice

session and informal feedback,

Working smarter, not harder,

Young person’s network,

Women's network,

Motivational Speakers)

• Planning your holiday

• Sewing, Knitting/crochet

• Gardening - green fingers

• Regional cooking

Community Programs (including Seniors)

Gandhi Jayanthi Celebration The new committee embarked on

their journey towards celebration

through a very special event organ-

ised to honour the life of one of

India’s most celebrated freedom

fighters, Mohandas Karamchand

Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 Janu-

ary 1948) .

Mahatma Gandhi also called Bapu ji,

the Father of the Nation, was the

leader of the Indian independence

movement against British rule. Em-

ploying non-violent civil disobedi-

ence, Gandhi led India to independ-

ence and inspired movements for

civil rights and freedom across the

world.

Gandhi Jayanthi in Adelaide was

celebrated on 2nd October 2017 by

honouring the statue of Gandhi Ji with

garlands (located at Adelaide Univer-

sity, North Terrace Adelaide).

The event was honoured with the

presence of Dr Mazumdar, Adjunct

Prof. University of Adelaide,

Chief Guest Professor Nan-

cy Cromar, Pro Vice-Chancellor

(international) University of Adelaide

and distinguished guests.

The event also featured patriotic

songs sung by a group of enthusiastic

children representing the Vishwa

Hindu Parishad lead by Mr Rajendra

Pandey.

We hope to bring more of such occa-

sions to you. Happy Gandhi Jayanthi!

fun as you learn, connect and

improve. The more interest

there is expressed in any of the

programs listed above, the soon-

er the focus will be to provide

it. Costs are anticipated to be

between $4-$10 per ses-

sion. IAASA members are to be

offered discounts. Upfront pay-

ment will ensure certainty

and viability in spite of partici-

pants withdrawing. Refunds are

unlikely unless very special cir-

cumstances dictate it.

Some presenters have come

forward already. Do volunteer

your skills if you have the talent,

inclination and time to teach and

share various programs. More

hands mean greater variety and

greater fun.

What you need to do:

Submit an expression of interest

straightaway (particularly for

English) or latest by 30 Nov 2017

to communityprogramsiaasa@gm

ail.com detailing your area of

interest.

The sooner you indicate your

interest, the earlier a program

can be scheduled. Get friends

to submit expressions of inter-

est to ensure a particular pro-

gram does commence and is at

a time and length that suits

you.

These are early attempts to

make the IAASA Community

Centre more of a Communi-

ty Centre. Teething problems

are likely. Let's work together

and succeed.

~ Susila Palani

IAASA Community Programs

Coordinator

Let's come together, have fun

and make better use of the

IAASA Community Centre!

The Meet & Greet gathering on

Sunday 8 October 2017 was

vibrant with ideas on what

members want to offer IAASA

and what they want from

IAASA. By great fortune there

was considerable common

ground.

There has been a call to have

the IAASA Community Centre

open at least one day a week –

possibly starting with Tuesdays

between hours of 10:00am –

2.30pm to allow for the conven-

ience of parents and to avoid

traffic congestion – not to men-

tion free bus travel for those

with a Seniors card.

Based on sufficient interest

noted on the day and availability

of presenters through known

networks, IAASA is currently

exploring opportunity to pre-

sent various programs

When sufficient interest is

gauged to make any program

viable, it can be scheduled. Have

Gandhi Jayanthi Celebration, Adelaide University

I A A S A N E W S L E T T E R

IAASA is launching a new program to teach English on a regular basis

at the IAASA Community Centre at Broadview. Students can learn to

speak, read, listen and write in the English language including prepara-

tion for International English Language Test (IELT) or similar

tests. There is no need to buy text books as instructional material

will be provided (other than in specialist and technical areas of Eng-

lish). Where needed, there is to be a Hindi language speaker to assist

with learning English. Based on demand and preference and the num-

ber of teachers available, the aim is to provide assistance in a class-

room situation and/or on an individual basis or as a mix of the two as

needed.

English With Purpose English language classes

P A G E 6

I A A S A N E W S L E T T E R

nerve channels carrying the vital

force to every cell and organ in-

fusing them with life and dyna-

mism. Pranayama’s are also the

preparatory practices for the

awakening of the chakras

(psychic centers) and aid in the

perfection of kriya and kundalini

yoga’s.

Pranayama is generally defined as

‘breath control’. Prana means ‘vital

energy’ or ‘life force’, ayama means

‘to expand’, accordingly pranayama is

expansion of the vital energy. This vi-

tal energy is responsible for all life ex-

periences including physical and spir-

itual. Pranayama harmonize the

‘pranic’ body which is a network of

Did you know that IAASA

offer free Pranayam Yoga

sessions every week.

When: Every Saturday

8.00 am

Where: IAASA Hall, 6

Blamey Ave, Broadview

Pranayam Yoga

Due to space restrictions, attendance to Yoga

classes will be limited to 25, so register your name

as soon as possible. Yoga mats are available at the

venue. Please bring a blanket and a large towel.

Doors will be closed at 3:30pm and hence come

early. Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn

Yoga from experts.

Send your name, phone number and email address

to iaaofsa@gmail.com to register your name and

book your place.

After Yoga you can stay back and socialise with

your friends.

We are pleased to announce that a group of accom-

plished professional Yoga teachers have joined

hands to teach yoga on regular basis at IAASA. This

program was inaugurated during the recent celebra-

tion of India’s Independence Day on 13 Aug. by His

Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le, the Gover-

nor of South Australia.

The benefits of yoga are well known. Regular prac-

tice of Yoga enhances the health, mental abilities

and the quality of life enormously. If you wish to

know more visit http://yogaproof.blogspot.com.au/

where scientific evidences are summarised.

Did you know that

IAASA offer Yoga ses-

sions every week.

When: Every Sunday

3:30 to 5:00 pm

Cost: by donation

Where:

IAASA Community

Centre, 6 Blamey

Ave, Broadview

New program launch

From Tuesday 21 November 2017

Tuesday & Thursday 10 am to 12 noon

Saturday 10:30 to 12:30 pm

Wednesday 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Cost: $4 for the 2 hour session with

experienced teachers

(Discount for IAASA members and

bulk payment)

Yoga for all and Yoga for Wellbeing

With best compliments from

The Cookie Thief ~ a Story by Valerie Cox A woman was waiting at an airport one night,

With several long hours before her flight.

She hunted for a book in the airport shops.

Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,

That the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be.

Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between,

Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.

So she munched the cookies and watched the clock,

As the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock.

She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,

Thinking, “If I wasn’t so nice, I would blacken his eye.”

With each cookie she took, he took one too,

When only one was left, she wondered what he would do.

With a smile on his face, and a nervous laugh,

He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other,

She snatched it from him and thought… oooh, brother.

This guy has some nerve and he’s also rude,

Why he didn’t even show any gratitude!

She had never known when she had been so galled,

And sighed with relief when her flight was called.

She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,

Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.

She boarded the plane, and sank in her seat,

Then she sought her book, which was almost complete.

As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise,

There was her bag of cookies, in front of her eyes.

If mine are here, she moaned in despair,

The others were his, and he tried to share.

Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,

That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

How many times in our lives,

have we absolutely known

that something was a certain way,

only to discover later that

what we believed to be true … was not?

P A G E 7

President: Mr. Narayan Rai Peradka

Vice President: Mr. Mandeep Rikhi

Secretary; Mr. Sam Dahm

Treasurer: Ms. Manna Abraham

Committee Members:

Mr. Deepak Vasisht

Mr. Dhruv Kumar

Mr. Gagan Sharma

Mr. Gurdeep Singh

Mr. Hargobind Singh

Ms. Saloni Gadhia

Mr. Sunil Bhatia

Co-Opted Members

Ms Susila Palani

Mr Amarjit Grewal

I write and I write but oh-what-should-I-say-to-you! Should I thank you

for taking time to support IAASA and the community, or should I

acknowledge how important your presence is in forming our ever grow-

ing, strong community in South Australia, especially Adelaide. No

matter how I word it, one thing is crystal clear – Indians in Adelaide will

not be the same without you.

Thank you for your support and efforts!

~ Saloni Gadhia

THANK YOU!

Editor’s Note

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QUARTER PAGE—$25.00

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DID YOU KNOW THAT THE IAASA COMMUNITY CENTRE IS AVAILABLE FOR HIRE*. THE COMMUNITY CENTRE IS LOCATED CLOSE TO

THR CITY IN BROADVIEW (6 BLAMEY AVENUE). FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HIRE COSTS, FACILITY DETAILS AND OTHER AR-

RANGEMENTS, PLEASE CONTACT A COMMITTEE MEMBER OR COMMUNITY CENTRE HALL MANAGER (Mr Niral Patel: 0400 626 949)

*Hire charges and Terms & Conditions for hire are currently being reviewed and will be available shortly

P A G E 8