Hello.
I'm Vijay Khurana.
Welcome to My Australia, the show about people from overseas having Australian experiences.
On today's show,
Preeti dances in the Adelaide Christmas Pageant,
Priya tries to cook Moroccan food
and Raymund brews his own beer.
First up today, we get a look at an annual Christmas tradition.
Adelaide's Christmas Pageant is a huge celebration for adults and kids alike.
And as our first guest Preeti is about to find out, the locals love to get involved.
My name is Preeti and originally, I am from India.
My state is Punjab.
That is at the north part of India.
We have a little family like me, my mother and my father and my younger brother.
My father didn't work.
He has some physical problems so it was only my mother who brought us up.
She's my idol and she is the bravest lady on Earth I have ever seen.
I don't know when it come out but my mum used to tell me that when you were a toddler you
started doing like this.
When you can't even speak you dancing like anything.
My competitions started in my Masters when I participated in inter-college and inter-universities
competitions
so, yeah, that was good and I won lots of prizes.
Being an Indian girl, you don't have any other concern except your husband.
Your family wants you to go away with your husband wherever he takes you.
He came here about four to five years ago.
He was on student visa and later he decided to stay here because he saw better opportunities
here
and he's enjoying his job and he had fun here.
I live with my husband and my brother and my husband's two brothers.
We rent this house and it is not very far from the city
and I really like this house because it's not a small one, it's not an apartment, it's
not a unit.
It's a big house.
In the evening, we spend time with each other.
We have our evening tea, doing our cooking stuff, helping each other.
Hectic for you.
Yes it was.
Busy?
Yeah.
Yeah it's fun because girls can't live with each other because they fight a lot.
I don't experience that much because I don't have any other girl.
Some days we spend the whole day at home doing movie marathons.
Yeah, we spend our Saturdays doing that and on Sundays we do all the home works like cleaning
and everything.
The difficult thing which I have experienced here in Australia that is to find job
because, being a teacher, I have to get registered with Australian Teachers Board,
and for that I have to clear some test.
Not impossible but a little difficult, you know, you have to study.
Presently I work as a checkout operator.
It is just a part time job.
I need time for myself.
So far I have experienced all the good things in Australia because people, they are fabulous,
they are friendly.
They don't have that feeling like you're from other country, you're alien to us or something
like that.
They are very supportive, co-operative but you have to initiate yourself, you know.
You have to make friends.
I am very much excited about that Pageant because I know there will be lots and lots
of people who will be looking at us.
I guess I'm late.
The other day I went for rehearsal and it was kind of fun coz we are about more than
ten girls.
We will be dancing on the Indian songs and that's a good part I must say.
And that's it, and then wave.
I want to know why, what people share, what the audience wants to see in the Pageant
and what other people are going to show them, how they make them happy, how they make them
smile.
No, we're doing something different, we're doing something different.
Yeah, for sure, I learn a lot of things,
to be a part of the most important and most precious festival of Christianity.
Yeah, Ah yeah, I'll be ...
I'll be having butterflies in my stomach for sure.
We're at the Credit Union Christmas Pageant ...
I got up early in the morning at five thirty.
I'm not a morning person at all.
I reached here at six thirty.
To be very frank I didn't expect that there were gonna be so much crowd.
Ah, it's more than my expectations, seriously.
And they say it's gonna be three hundred thousand people as an audience.
Oh my God!
I didn't know that in Christmas Pageant all age group can participate.
I always had this misconception that Christmas is only the festival for the kids but it's
not.
I can see here the participants ranges from sixty to forty to thirty and kids as well.
Hello.
The most people who are involved in this Pageant, they all are the member of credit unions but
I am lucky I have participated in this one.
I have taken part in India in lots of competitions but not like this.
This is gonna be my life's greatest experience I must say.
Right, now pretend you're doing the line.
Not walking, we will be dancing for about three kilometres.
And I don't know how we'll manage but I'm hoping for the best.
We'll have fun.
I don't think we need to practice it again.
Yep.
Oooh, where did that come from?
Now ladies and gentlemen just to let you know, what a great morning it's been ...
I want more.
I am really very excited.
I can't share my feelings you know, I don't have words.
Lots of crowd and fascinating costumes.
Lots of clowns and Father Christmas of course.
Everything fascinates here.
The first Pageant that was in 1933 it had only eight floats
but now, on its 77th anniversary, it has sixty-three floats and fifteen bands.
Lots of dance groups.
Yes, more than two hundred clowns are there in this pageant.
I'm gonna count each one of the clowns.
The whole Adelaide's kids were there, and they were waving like anything.
They were spraying water on us.
It was very hot and we didn't care actually.
We were enjoying the views, the people, our music, our dance.
There are a lot of Christian people in India as well.
We all know the importance of Christmas for the Christians.
They in return would definitely look at us when we celebrate our Diwali.
It's like our biggest festival of India.
It's great.
When we look in their eyes and they are there with a big smile and it looks fabulous you
know.
That's the most amazing experience.
Yes, I made a couple of friends here and one of them is working at the same place where
I work and we didn't even know that.
They have taken my mobile number as well and they said whenever they will hang around they're
gonna ring me.
Let's see, hope for the best.
And now we are friends.
Yes, I've asked Francesca about this thing and she told me that probably in future she
will need extra help in this dance school.
She does not have any classical form so probably for that she will call me.
Yeah, that is great.
My shoes were pinching but still it's okay.
But my arms are really hurting.
It was very comfortable to me because it was my stream.
Dancing is like, you know, I'm very comfortable in dancing.
But next time it'll be very tough because I'll be doing rock climbing and I haven't
done in my entire life.
God, please help me for that.
I'm sure she'll do fine.
That's Preeti, dancing up a storm at the Christmas Pageant.
Now, when it comes to cooking, do you have a signature dish?
Something that impresses your friends every time you make it?
Mine is a beef and eggplant lasagne.
Priya is not much of a cook but she's keen to learn.
So let's see how she goes.