Diwali celebrations in Melbourne
Published on 09 November, 2009
Melbourne's inner west came to life recently as celebrations for the Indian festival ‘Diwali' filled Footscray and the Whitten Oval, home of the AFL's Western Bulldogs.
The event ‘Diwali in the West' was organised by Marsha Thompson, Victoria's Minister for Information and Communications Technology, in an effort to strengthen solidarity in the community.
CQUni student Ashish Nishanth meets Merv Hughes after his man-of-match performance
Among the festivities were local community market stalls, fireworks, a fashion parade, lots of Bollywood entertainment and a cricket match.
The cricket match featured ex-Australian fast bowler and current international selector Merv Hughes, local fire fighters and students including CQUniversity Melbourne student Ashish Nishanth, whose effort was good enough to be named ‘man of the match' and rewarded with a host of prizes including Cricket Australia goodies.
A Master of IT student, Ashish is a keen cricket player. He was the captain of the Melbourne Campus team in the inter-campus cricket competition organised by CQUniversity.
"Cricket helps to break down barriers" says Ashish.
Many students attended the day, along with CQUniversity State Director Victoria, Darryl Stewart, and other staff members on hand to show their support.
"This was great day, which was a pleasure to sponsor and participate in. The CQUniversity stand was buzzing all day despite a cold Melbourne south wind. The day was further proof of the acceptance of international students and the multicultural community of Melbourne," Darryl Stewart said.
