Innovative series to showcase the Rising India

Indian Association to host ‘Indi Talks’ with Ashoke Pandit this weekend

Auckland, March 13, 2018

Indian Association of New Zealand (IANZ), a representative body of the Indian diaspora is creating ‘Indi Talks Series,’ to discuss the existing and emerging challenges and opportunities in India.

Association President Suresh Ramji said that the first ‘Indi Talks,’ to demonstrate the ‘India Rising’ phenomenon will be held on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at Vodafone Event Centre, 770 Great South Manukau, Auckland.

“Filmmaker and Social Activist Ashoke Pandit will share the platform with Kiwi Indian representatives. The event is expected to be attended by people of varied ethnicity from both government and nongovernment organisations with multinational alliances,” he said.

“The discussion, from 230 pm to 4 pm, will be followed by a music concert by Neerja Pandit.

Entry tickets, priced at $20 per person are available,” Mr Ramji added.

For further details, please email admin

IANZ Immediate Past President Veer Khar writes:

India is currently striving hard to introduce a culture of innovations and creativity.

Use of breakthrough technology, new institutions and restructuring of the processes have started showing effectiveness in governance, highlighted by the transparency and accountability.

Among a few ground-breaking efforts in this connection are E-Market Platform; Smart Communication- Mann Ki Baat; Institutional Transformation – NITI Aayog and Invest India; Dalit Fund on the Social Front; Celebrate India – International Yoga Day; Easing Life Projects – Unnat Jyoti or Railway Twitter Sewa are a few of the ground-breaking efforts.

Courageous measures

Bold steps like demonetisation, GST and facing up to the bullies are positioning India at its due pedestal. The corruption-free and development-focused government machinery is flushing the bad eggs rapidly and the whole nation seems to be determined to make India the centre of the world humanism.

The Indian Diaspora and the rest of the civilised world must align themselves by being a part of this process and contribute to the major paradigm shift.

India is orchestrating a New World Order where freedom and prosperity go hand in hand – reaching all.

Humanity needs to shun religious fundamentalism and non-democratic governance to save the perils of human rights violations including displacements and freedom-curbing authoritarianism.

About Ashoke Pandit

Ashoke Pandit is known for his highly successful television series such as ‘Filmi Chakkar’ (which featured Satish Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, wife of Nazeeruddin Shah), ‘Tere Mere Sapne,’ ‘Colgate Top Ten,’ ‘Thriller at 10,’ ‘Rishte,’ and ‘Vilayati Babu.’

Beyond showbusiness, Ashoke is a champion of social causes.

His documentary, based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, ‘And the World Remained Silent’ portrayed starkly the pain and pathos of a community that was reduced to the status of refugees. It received a standing ovation at International Film Festivals held in Goa and Pune (India), Geneva (Switzerland), the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image and the House of Commons in London. It also received the ‘Radio and TV Advertising Professionals Association (RAPA) Award.

Ashoke’s second documentary, ‘Paani,’ based on the deluge that Mumbai experienced on July 26, 2005, was an eye-opener.

His third documentary, ‘Village of Widows,’ received the ‘Indian Television Academy Award (ITA) in the ‘Best Documentary Series).

Ashoke’s debut as a Director in ‘Sheen,’ proved his courage in dealing with real issues. The film was based on the tension in Kashmir and the resulting ouster of Hindus was critically reviewed as ‘hard-hitting’ and ‘bold.’

He recently lashed out at the attackers of Sanjay Leela Bhansali over the ‘Padmaavat’ controversy.

About Neerja Pandit

Neerja Pandit is an Indian playback singer in Hindi film and television music and a performer at live shows and music concerts.

A postgraduate (MA) in Music from Chandigarh University, she has been trained by well-known masters including Shambhunath Sopori, Bhajan Sopori, Shambhu Senji and Dhruba Ghosh.

Her voice can be heard on popular television soaps including ‘Sarhad,’ ‘Tere Mere Sapne,’ ‘Mukkammal,’ ‘Gul Gulshan Gulfam,’ ‘Shapath,’ ‘Maharaja Ranjit Singh’ and ‘Filmi Chakkar.’

She has rendered songs composed by Lalit Sen, Raju Singh, Nadeem Shravan, M M Keeravani, Roop Kumar Rathod, Shamir Tandon and others.

Neerja is associated with Kashmiri folk music. Her album credits include ‘Cheshma bu Wondai,’ ‘Yaadvotur,’ ‘Patram Pushpam,’ ‘Kashmiri Club Mix,’ the last of which aimed to acquaint the new generation with the folklore of Kashmir.

She has performed in live concerts with Bappi Lahiri, Nadeem Shravan, Jatin Latin, Abhijeet and others.

With best wishes and Regards

Venkat