Desi Today Magazine
Increasingly, researchers, educators and service providers are recognizing the importance of the early years (newborn to age 6) – that positive and nurturing caregivers, families and communities during those years will lead to socially and emotionally healthy children, teenagers and ultimately adults. The needs of children and their caregivers are of particular importance to communities in the Lower Mainland, given …
Read More »Features
“They Said We Deserved This”
Police Violence Against Gay and Bisexual Men in Kyrgyzstan In May 2012, 32-year-old Fathullo F. (not his real name) received a phone call from a friend who said he had arranged a date for him with another man near a local hotel. Police officers grabbed him soon after he arrived at the designated meeting location, placed handcuffs on him and …
Read More »Tiger Population Grows in India, as Does the Number of Tiger Attacks
Tigers are not an uncommon sight in India, which is home to about 1,700 of them, but most don’t eat humans. Yet over the last month there have been reports of at least 17 people eaten by the beasts in various parts of the country. In Ooty, a town in the south of India, schools were shut down for more …
Read More »Bangladesh Urged to End Spate of Extrajudicial Killings
An alarming rise in the number of killings of political activists in Bangladesh since disputed parliamentary polls has left grassroots campaigners across the country fearing for their lives. Labelling the arrests and subsequent deaths of activists “extrajudicial killings”, opposition leaders have blamed the government for targeting opposition activists. Several ruling party activists have also been killed over the past two …
Read More »Remembering Komagata Maru: A Passage To Canada
A short story by Gary Thandi It was early morning in late February, 1985, when the plane finally set down. It had been over 25 years since that visit, but now that I was back, it felt like it was just yesterday. I remember the big sign as we got off the plane that said, “Welcome to India,” but …
Read More »Punjab’s favourite protest venue… The Water Tank!
Protests by various groups and organizations in Punjab are going sky high – literally, that is! People are now clambering up water tanks to hold protest. In recent years, tower-type community water tanks have become the newest, and sometimes deadliest, protest points in the state – something akin to what actor Dharmendra did in the 1975 blockbuster movie “Sholay”. Dharmendra, …
Read More »People may not respect parliament any more: India’s oldest lawmaker
Rishang Keishing, 94, arguably India’s – perhaps the world’s – oldest lawmaker who has served four terms in parliament, laments the depths to which parliamentary proceedings have plummeted but is confident that the younger generation will restore the balance. The four-time Manipur chief minster, who has escaped many an assassination attempt, says it’s time to bid adieu to active politics …
Read More »The Business of Being Sonya Gill
Taking the tech industry by storm quick bio Sonya Gill has achieved the impossible: She is one of the first South Asian female entrepreneurs tackling a predominantly male field of tech and social media, has self-published a book and launched Canada’s first social media magazine and get this, she’s done it all before turning 33. Born in BC and raised …
Read More »Gang Prevention
A group of like-minded people who exhibit anti-social and criminal behavior illustrates a dark image of the term “Gang.” Since the day gangs were defined, they have gathered endless media glorification shining through newspapers and television reports to the average citizen. Scattered violence, random mass shootings, gruesome murders; unpredictable victim profiles all evoke fear in the eyes of our society. …
Read More »Punjabi Society and Religion
At an individual level everyone should have the absolute freedom to accept or reject any idea or belief, including the belief in God. When an idea or belief is forced upon people with the help of social, political and economic power, it is an attack on the freedom of the individual and at the same time it is harmful to …
Read More »