Sharing: VIGGY’S TRIP TO AUSTRALIA

Albatross with tour organiser Andy. Vignesh is second from left

My son VigneshKumar got a chance to go to Australia along with Heavy Metal Band ALBATROSS that he is a part of. They had three gigs at Melbourne, Sydney and Wollongong last weekend.

A street in Melbourne

The five-member band flew to Melbourne by Malaysian Airlines on October 23, 2013 with a break in journey at the Kuala Lumpur airport. They reached Melbourne on the 24th and had a relaxing day. Viggy says that he was too excited to sleep off the jet lag in his motel room. He and a couple of others walked around the area they stayed in.

Melbourne Cricket Ground

They visited the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). While his friends took a tour, Viggy – who is not too fond of cricket – sat in the stadium, drinking a beer. He says the weather was so cold – around 5-6 degrees – and so was the beer.

Can you see the stuffed toys of spiders hanging off that building?

I took a virtual tour through the pictures that Viggy brought back. It kind of makes me want to shift to Melbourne.

A lake in that area

I was amazed to know that Melbourne with roughly double the area of Mumbai, has a population of 4 million while Amchi Mumbai has 25 million. No wonder I feel claustrophobic whenever I step out of my building. I feel people all around me and walking is not the fun it used to be a few years back.

Tram running through the streets of Melbourne

Anyway, enough of Mumbai-bashing and back to Viggy’s trip! Albatross had a show at Melbourne on Friday night. It was extremely well received. Vignesh found that the Aussies were pretty cool and chilled out. From what he could see, they lead a stress-free existence. I am sure, with the roads so empty and green. There was no dust, I believe. I suppose I can imagine.

Outside their motel

When they stepped out at around 9 pm, the road was empty. There was no one. Amazing! Of course, where they were put up was in the suburbs. Vignesh says he did not hear one ‘honk’ throughout the two days at Melbourne. Astounding!

For pedestrians. Cool, isn't it!

I liked the idea of how pedestrians crossed roads there. There is a pole with a button. A pedestrian presses that to ‘red signal’ the vehicles. He only crosses the road when the light changes. Discipline at its best! I am impressed.

Public Toilet

Public toilets are available on the roadside every kilometre. And I am sure they don’t stink. What won’t I give for that kind of an infrastructure in our city! Sigh…!

Yarra River @ Melbourne

The next morning, they left for Sydney by Virgin Atlantic. They reached there and checked into a dormitory that had been booked for them.

Sydney

Viggy says Sydney is more like Mumbai and quite commercial. That same night, Saturday, Albatross performed at Bald Faced Stag Hotel. Here too, the show went off extremely well and the public was encouraging.

Albatross performed here

The next day, around noon, they went to Wollongong for their final show of the tour. The ride was for an hour or so and just superb, says Viggy. It being a Sunday, there was not much of a crowd, but the audience who were present enjoyed their performance.

Sydney Opera House

They returned to Sydney the same night to stay at a Service Apartment as they were not too comfortable with the dormitory.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The next morning, they checked out of the apartment at around 9 am, left their luggage at the reception and went around Sydney.

Albatross with Colin, a hardcore fan

They went to check out Sydney Opera House, Parramatta River and Sydney Harbour Bridge. I believe there was some kind of construction work going on nearby. But it was so well organised that there was no flying dust.

A church in Melbourne

Viggy and gang left Sydney at around 4 pm local time by Malaysian Airlines to return to Mumbai on October 29 by 11.30 am IST. Albatross had had a superb and successful Australian tour. Way to go Guys!

@ Melbourne - so much green. I love it!

Random: ATTACKS ON INDIANS IN AUSTRALIA

Our newspapers and television channels talk no end about the racist attacks on Indians abroad, for over the past year in Australia and recently in Canada.

I think it is most important to clean up our homes before pointing our fingers outside. The Shiv Sena has been attacking people who have shifted to Mumbai from other states, earlier against the South Indians and now against the North Indians. India has been a Republic since 1950. It is high time that the Sainiks get out of their Rip Van Winkle mode and realise that ‘we are going global’.

It is not enough to just hoist the national flag, parade the various divisions of the defence system, etc on January 26 every year. All the people, especially those holding responsible posts in the government and politicians who have a strong influence over the public, need to set right their attitudes.

Be it caste, creed, language, colour or whatever, we need to understand that we are all human beings. We all cannot be the same as we are not clones. When each one’s fingerprints are different, how can we all be the same?

Then what is the sense in fighting over differences?

Charity begins at home. Set things right within our country, especially our state. Let’s stop dividing people by their states and languages. Let’s not lay waste the efforts made by freedom fighters such as Vallabhbhai Patel and others to make this country one and a Republic at that. Let’s begin to understand that we all belong to one country, one Republic that is ruled by one government.

When we reach a point when not even one finger is raised against someone who belongs to our own country, we will qualify to address the problems our countrymen face abroad.

Let’s not aspire to reach the top of the ladder before setting our foot on Step One.