rosetta moon

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Of all that has happened to Melbourne one of the most marvellous gifts has been the arrival of the Indians, forget the cavalry, the Indians have far more to offer and they come bearing gifts not guns. They are beautiful in all aspects of appearance and manner and their humor adds a perfect layer upon that which we have in Australia, and mostly I enjoy their terrific food….well that’s not quite correct… mostly I enjoy what I have learned from the beautiful indian’s I have had the good fortune to meet in Melbourne. One of my sweetest Indian friends took me to Footscray in Melbourne to supervise my Indian grocery shopping and oh was it a joy and oh how insistent was my friend that as well as my groceries I purchase a copy of the great Indian classic the Mahabharat , the Indian equivalent TV series of ‘Neighbors’ in Australia – and as much as an avid fan of our cultural epic, how my eyes opened to the cosmos and the world when I compared their cultural fare to our Grundy production which now sadly pales into insignificance,  no disrespect of course to our Kylie and the musical gems of the post Neighbors period, especially ‘locomotion’ which must have helped many a fat aussie work off a couple of layers of beer sweat.

Yes, its a shame that Melbourne people are not exploring the gift and are in fact attacking the gift horse which has so much to offer and I wonder aloud if this may be an outward reflection of inherent ‘racism’ displayed within state and federal government policy otherwise we would have to assume the worst…. that many Australian’s are just plain lousy people.

The Melbourne Age is definitely lousy, they are not acting in a manner to solve the dilemma, they are adding fuel to the fire by publishing inflammatory articles suggesting racism is the core reason behind the dis-rest while failing to publish information which could otherwise be helpful in bringing Indians and Bogan Australians together, in a mutual bonding effort which would/could surely take the hard edge off the Melbourne train system and the perils in the western suburbs.

Enough is enough Melbourne!!!! – get a grip on yourself and make some human and conscious efforts to protect these people in your town – take them home for dinner – go to the football – but for gods sake don’t attack!

Here is number 589 of my ‘unpublished Letters to The Melbourne Age’ ( If a publisher is interested it could make an interesting book?)

Unpublished Letter to The Melbourne Age # 589: to letters@theage.com.au

Treatment of Indians No Surprise Really

During my frequent visits to Melbourne in recent years I have witnessed racist taunts toward Indians on the public transport system and heard direct accounts from Indian friends living in Melbourne.

The taunts are of a simplistic but nevertheless damaging nature, and related to skin color and the stealing of jobs from Australians. One could identify two areas of cause present which may need consideration in the repair of Australia’s now damaged reputation as a tolerant society, which on the whole I believe it to be.

As with the taxi industry and further to that now the retail chain industry ( supermarket checkouts and convenience stores for example) , a form of slave wages has emerged and individuals on restricted student visa’s become the prime targets and raison d’etre of such a situation. This is not a situation of the foreign students making, but a reality they will find on arrival to Australia, and can be put forward as contributing to the unsettling situation that has transpired. Enable invited students to participate in our economy on an equal footing or don’t entertain policies which are at odds with the mult-billion dollar international students business which has emerged over the past two decades.  As I haven’t heard Kevin Rudd explore the causation of the dilemma, it may be time for him to now explore the streets of Melbourne and discover the reality for himself – it would be far more practical and helpful than sending diplomatic envoys to India or state governments ramping up security, which without knowing reason, could be said to add further tension to the situation.

The other factor at cause could be said to be the long term psychology underpinning the many waves of immigration that underscore Australian history, and the ritualistic bastardisation of the ‘new comers’ by the previous waves or progeny thereof. At some level a minority of people who have experienced early teething problems with their own resettlement, have a tendency to project this in unhealthy ways toward other people they identify as residing in their prior (or still current) economic and social predicament. How government(s) address such systemic causes which are a natural and yet embarrassing at times aspect of our population makeup is a complex question due for consideration.

Further Information:

Watch the Mahabharat TV series on youtube