"Baahubali' is beautifully shot'

Australian connect

Australian Consul-General for South India, Sean Kelly is always delighted to be in Bengaluru, a city which he considers as his second home in India.

Sean, who was here from Chennai to announce the ‘Australian Film Showcase’ taking place next weekend, spoke to Anushree Agarwal about his stint in the country, his vivid experiences here and more.

How has the Indian experience been?
I’ve been in India for just over three years now. My previous postings have been in China, and I wanted to do something different, something that was important for Australia. India has a very important relationship for Australia. Also, I have this family connection to South India, so when the posting in Chennai came up, I thought it was great. I think South India is the best part of India and am really lucky to work here.

So do you prefer India over Australia?
Every place has its own attractions. I am very proud of Australia and it’s a great place to live in. India is a vibrant, exciting place and I am really enjoying being here. I won’t make any comparisons!

Of all the cities you’ve visited here, which did you like the most?
I have a personal passion for Bengaluru. It’s an exciting city — very young and modern and even the microbrewery culture is great. There is so much happening in the technology sector here. The people are incredibly impressive, with great ambitions and visions for the future. I enjoy coming here.

A pleasant memory in this country...
When I went to Coimbatore for the first time, a conference was hosted by the Chamber of Commerce at Rotary Club. They’d found out about my family connections — my grandfather was born in Coimbatore. When I arrived at the event, they made me wear this traditional shawl and turban and presented me with a certificate of the ‘grandson of the city’. That was kind of touching.

Have you watched any Indian films?
Yes! Kamal Haasan is a good friend of mine and I’ve seen a couple of his films. The big experience for me was watching ‘Baahubali’. I watched the first part in Tamil without subtitles and found that I was able to follow the story very well. It’s a beautifully shot film and I was
impressed.

Do you like Indian food?
My wife and I are very fond of ‘dosas’. I also like ‘tandoori’ items and ‘chicken tikka’ is my favourite.

What can India learn from Australia?
India has an amazing wealth of cultural and geographical landscape and they can take better advantage of the tourism potential of the country. The tourism industry is not as well-organised as it needs to be. In that sense, Australia does tourism pretty well.

One thing Australia could learn from India...
The way India has built its technology sector is impressive. It is internationally competitive and very dynamic. We could surely learn from that.