Posts by Neena Bhandari

Zoroastrians Keep Old Traditions Alive in Australia

0 Comments read Diaspora, Features

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 21.03.2010 (Women’s Feature Service): It’s a Sunday morning, a fire is burning on a silver urn in the sanctum sanctorum as about 30 children pray with a priest in the main hall of the Darbe Meher, place of worship and community activities for Zoroastrians, in the Sydney suburb of Annangrove.

Nestling amidst verdant surroundings with a tranquil billabong (pool of water) and fruit trees, the Darbe Meher has become the epicentre of learning and festivities for Zoroastrians, who have migrated to Australia from India, Pakistan and Iran since the 1960s.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2006 Census data, there are 2110 people (1156 males and 954 females) practising Zoroastrianism, the pre-Christian faith founded in Persia (Iran) by Prophet Zarathushtra who believed in a single God, Ahura Mazda.

Continue reading →

Watch Bollywood films to know Indians: Rani Mukerji

0 Comments read Arts, Entertainment & Lifestyle
Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 20.03.2010 (IANS) Cinema can go a long way in promoting positive bilateral relations between Australia and India, especially Bollywood films as they are “all about heart”, said Rani Mukerji, who was here as chief guest at the 2010 Indian Film Festival – Bollywood and Beyond.

“Cinema showcases different cultures and Indian films are all about our culture, our traditions, human relations and all about heart. So when Australians watch Indian films, they will get to know Indians better and that will help in knowing each other better,” Rani told IANS in an exclusive interview.

Continue reading →

Healing touch for Congo’s women

0 Comments read Gender, Health & Science
Lyn Lusi, who passed away in 2012, was the co-founder and program director of HEAL Africa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, working to transform individuals and communities impacted by the atrocities and gender violence of war. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 27.01.2010 (Women’s Feature Service): Kamina Feza is one of the many women brutally raped and abandoned with serious injuries each day in the conflict ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where gender-based violence is systematically being used as a weapon of war by the military and militia.

Some 1,100 rapes are reported each month, with an average of 36 women and girls raped every day, noted United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, during her recent visit to Goma, a provincial capital in eastern DRC, where Lyn Lusi, a social activist, along with her husband, a Congolese orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Jo Lusi, have established HEAL Africa, a health service to treat and care for these women.

Continue reading →