Shane Warne just might have done more for Victoria's relationship with India in one hour than the state government has done in a year.
The spin bowler was mobbed by dozens of members of the Indian community during a picnic of curries, samosas and sandwiches held at Parliament House, for an informal chat about the violence against Indian students in Melbourne.
No one seemed to care about the food: it was all about shaking hands with "Warnie", getting his autograph, exchanging jibes about the Indian Premier League (IPL) and receiving a few tips from cricket's greatest leg spinner.
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And Warne was more than happy to oblige, posing for photo after photo, his worn bowling hands never seeming to tire of signing shirts, cricket bats and posters for close to an hour.
Tucking into curry puffs
When he encouraged the crowd to dig in to the Indian tucker, one person replied: "We're not here for the food, we're here to see you."
There was no sign of baked beans, Warne's preferred food while on tour in India - instead he happily helped himself to curry puffs.
"It's important for me as a Victorian ... to keep building the relationship with India and Australia, and in particular Victoria," he told the crowd.
"I want to listen, really, to hear what the students have to say and see what these guys, how they're feeling about things.
Melbourne 'a great city'
"I think the state sells itself, it's just such a great state, it's a great city to live in.
"I'll keep pushing the message across over there, I love India, I love Rajasthan when I play cricket there, so to me it was a natural thing."
The Victorian government has been reeling from a recent spate of attacks against Indian students in Melbourne.
Among the most serious was the murder of Nitin Garg in January, who was stabbed to death in a Footscray park while his way to work.
Kavar Singh said it was important for Warne to pass the message on to India that Melbourne was safe.
"Melbourne is a very safe place to be, a lot of people think it's not safe but I reckon a lot of students are happy and want to stay in Melbourne the rest of their life," he told AAP.
Building bridges
Melbourne University student Shaan Ali, 19, said it was a good opportunity to build a bridge between the two communities, as many Indians and Australians had grown up with pictures of Warne on their bedroom walls.
"I think Warne is someone that the Indian community can definitely associate with because of his sporting prowess in
cricket," he told AAP.
"And so as a key player and a star of that sport, he's definitely been the starting stone in creating that bridge."
Premier John Brumby said Warne was loved by so many people in India that he was the perfect person to get the message out.
