Born in India, having spent a major part of his life in Australia, and having workedon building Indo-Australian ties both on the government and business level, We can think of no one better than Mr. Neville Roach to shed light on the current state of affairs between India and Australia.

Aditya at IndiCast Podcast Network talks with Neville Roach as part of the Point Blank series. Aditya adds, “this podcast has a special significance given the recent attack on the Indian student community in Australia. Are they really racially motivated? Neville tells us what is really happening in Australia.” In January 2008, Mr Roach received the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (Overseas Indian Honour Award) from the President of India.

Ted Kennedy passed away today, the third-longest serving member of the Senate in history, and a man who affected the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans. In a family of public servants, he perhaps did the most for our country of any of the Kennedy brothers, and he certainly made a profound impact in almost all of our lives, as immigrants and the descendants of immigrants. Most notably in civil rights and immigration, but also in practically every other walk of life, he has affected the lives of South Asian immigrants.”

Ravi at Sepia Mutiny highlights the contribution of Ted Kennedy to the welfare of South Asian immigrants.

One of the conditions of the offer was that my friend had to produce copies of his A Level, undergraduate and post graduate degree certificates. Within a day of emailing scanned copies of the certificates, my friend received a call from his future employer’s HR department which wanted him to explain why the name on his A Level and undergraduate certificates was different from the one on his passport and post certificates.

Winnowed makes a case against expecting surnames (last names) as the world shrinks simply because surnames are not what most expect them to be.[hat tip: Harini]

Me: Could you I have ‘lett-yus’ on my sandwich please?
Subway girl: Excuse me?
Me: ‘Lett-yus’, ‘lett-yus’ (I guessed she didn’t hear me)
Subway girl: (embarrassed laugh) Ha ha – I am sorry, I don’t get you…
Me now pointing at the lettuce
Subway girl: Oh you mean the ‘lett(i)s’!

Kokonad recounts few of several Indian-isms that poor graduate students fall for when they land in the U.S. Feel free to add to the list.

Violent attacks against Indian students in Australia have made headlines in India this week. It started with Times Now making the case of Shravan Kumar a prime time issue – not for a day, but over the entire week. Now, it’s been taken up across the Indian media.

Rashmi at Youth Curry comments on the so-called rising incidents of attacks on Indian students in Australia. As usual the media is making a big hullabaloo but it might be worthwhile to pause and ask, are all 500-odd attacks in the last six months racially motivated and among 95,000 students that left Indian shores for Australia in 2008, is it wise enough to term these so-called attacks pervasive?

Your move to India will quite possibly be one of the most difficult moves of your life. You will gain a deep, philosophical understanding of the phrase “WTF?!”

In these dire economic times out west, reverse brain drain is a viable option for many expats. Neoindian compiles a list of resources that might prove useful to ease your transition back to India.

The story of Rinku and Dinesh in a way mirrors those of a lot of non-desi immigrants to the US – they come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and this is truly the opportunity for them to advance themselves and their families. They call everyone “sir”, especially their coaches (and me???!!!). Coming from rural India to Los Angeles, they feel Angelenos are good drivers, love pizza and Hollywood action movies.

Uber Desi has an exclusive interview with the Indian duo who have signed up with a Major League Baseball (MLB) team [earlier link]. Santosh tells us that apart from their struggles to master the curveball, they are also working on their English language. The interview is presented in its unedited format for authenticity.

Anand Giridharadas talks about the hyphenated first-generation returning to their ancestral lands. Will it only be while the good times last? I wonder…

“In the U.S., there’s a crisis of confidence,” said Nandan Nilekani, co-chairman of Infosys Technologies, the Indian software giant, and author of a forthcoming book, “Imagining India.”

“In India,” he added, “for the first time after decades or centuries, there is a sense of optimism about the future, a sense that our children’s futures can be better than ours if we try hard enough.”

My love for my birth country never flickered. But these new times piqued my interest in my ancestral land. Many of us, the stepchildren of India, felt its change of spirit, felt the gravitational force of condensed hope. And we came.

Following the guilty verdict handed down to Anand Jon, Indiatime looks at the other bad apples who at times use the crutch of desi-desi-bhai-bhai to excuse their crimes.