FEATURE: 'Jai Ho!' diplomacy
Tens of thousands of Australians packed out a free concert held by Indian musician AR Rahman, the Oscar-winning composer for the film 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
Mr Rahman says he chose to come to Australia because fans sent his song 'Jai Ho!' to the top of the charts.
His visit comes at a time when relations between Australia and India is at its lowest ebb, following the series of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney.
![Bollywood superstar and two-time Oscar winner A.R. Rahman from India takes in the view near the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2010. Rahman will perform as part of the 34th Sydney Festival on January 16 to promote cultural harmony and understanding with the Indian community. [AFP]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201001/r498507_2622567.jpg "Bollywood superstar and two-time Oscar winner A.R. Rahman from India takes in the view near the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2010. Rahman will perform as part of the 34th Sydney Festival on January 16 to promote cultural harmony and understanding with the Indian community. [AFP]")
PHOTO
Bollywood superstar and two-time Oscar winner A.R. Rahman from India takes in the view near the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2010. Rahman will perform as part of the 34th Sydney Festival on January 16 to promote cultural harmony and understanding with the Indian community. [AFP]
Anne Maria Nicholson, Rebecca Baillie
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Australia's Indian community was especially out in force to see their national hero perform live for the Sydney Festival.
Dubbed the 'Mozart of Madras', AR Rahman has sold 300 million albums worldwide.
Mr Rahman says the concert was an important cultural step towards rebuilding Australia's relations with India.
"First of all, to clear confusions, to clear negativity, and to have a great concert, to give music to the people and through that, send a message of peace."
"It is an historic show for me because I think music is a great language to say things not directly, but indirectly about love and the linkages," he said.
He said he hoped his visit could help mend ties between the two countries.
For fans, the concert was a chance to enjoy Bollywood's best.
"The only reason [I'm here] is AR Rahman, nothing else. Just for his music, just for his passion, just for his dedication - it's nothing else," said one fan.
While for others, the event at Parramatta Park was, for at least a few hours, a harmonious display of diversity.
"It's amazing to see the diversity of cultures that we have in Sydney, and see them all mixing together and having fun and the Indians in particular sure know how to have fun!" said one concert-goer.
Mr Rahman says he never considered cancelling his trip to Australia in the wake of recent violence against Indian students in Melbourne.
"No. I felt the urge even more to do that [perform] because of all the stuff [that has been happening]. I thought it was very important to do that," he said.
"I want to have a great concert for people to enjoy, and also to spread the message of togetherness and peace; build a bridge for people who are trying to break it."
When asked by the ABC, whether Australia was the racist country that was being portrayed in India, Mr Rahman replied "it could become, though people that know, Australians are not like that."
"But for a gentleperson who's never gone abroad might think like that, so it's important people... Indians living here to explain to Indians over there what Australia is and what it stands for," he said.
"And if there are any racists in Australia, please change, we are lovely people and don't affect us."
Media responsibility
Rahman also rejected widely reported accusations in India that the killing of one student and attacks on others were racist, instead blaming the attacks on drugs.
"I think the media should be responsible and not attribute them to racist killings," he said.
"Media's a great tool but it can also be misused and provoke people," he told reporters.
"Just one wrong news item can kill thousands of people - that's happened in the past."
Safety
He advised young Indians to avoid walking at night in areas frequented by drug addicts and alcoholics.
"Because that's the main reason for the killing. It doesn't matter what race they are, they just want to kill because they're not in their own senses."
The Australian and New South Wales governments have seized on Rahman's visit as a way of mending relations between the two countries.
Welcoming Mr Rahman at a news conference, Acting NSW Premier Carmel Tebbutt said the concert was an opportunity for Sydneysiders to get a taste of Bollywood while acknowledging "the amazing contribution Indians have made to our city and country".
"We're very much committed to community harmony. We're very much committed to continuing strengthening our relationship with India," she said.
"We recognise that music and creative activities is a way to strengthen our cultural bonds."
Observers
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade paid for a group of Indian journalists to visit Australia to coincide with the concert.
Requests to interview the journalists were denied by department officials, who said they would talk at the end of the visit.
Individual Indian journalists also declined to be interviewed because they said they would need the permission of their news organisations.
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