Jan-Feb 2019 Issue

Jan/Feb 2019 Volume 22 Issue 1 $4.95

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

SHELINA MAWANI Bharat Samman

Leading GLOBALLY

by Example

WAKE UP TO GANG WARES

ReflectingToday Shaping

Tomorrow

SABI GILL Manager, Mobile Mortgage Specialist

604.356.7147 Serving Metro Vancouver & Fraser Valley sabi.gill@td.com

FROM THE PUBLISHER It is hard to believe that another year has passed, and we are entering 2019. First and foremost, I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year.

It was indeed a busy year, AAJ Magazine and AAJ Media Group has been progressive and involved at grassroots. This past year has been a year of many challenges and achievements. I take this opportunity to thank all our readers, supporters’, community ambassadors for their support and involvement.

As a CEO of AAJ Magazine and AAJ Media group, I am pleased to see the South Asian Community grow in the positive direction. It is such a great feeling to witness community engagement by all ages.

Let this festive season be characterized by the generosity, love and kindness to those who are less fortunate, and let’s make sure that we continue to protect ourselves and our loved ones. We are excited for what 2019 has in store for us all.

Suki Pangalia CEO

REGIONAL TEAM P: 604.590.0007 E: info@aajmag.ca AAJ Media Group Surrey, BC

ISSN 2371-2481

AAJ Magazine is published by AAJ Media Group, doing business as AAJ Magazine Inc. AAJ is a magazine that is published every two months. Any reproduction of the magazine, editorial content, images or advertisements cannot be reproduced or reprinted in any form, without written permission of the Publishers. The views expressed by the writers in this publication are not the views of the Publishers or AAJ Media Group. The Publishers assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Copyright 2018 AAJ Magazine Incorporated. All rights reserved.

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Publishers Suki Pangalia Jim Kalsi Executive Assistant Reshma Mohammed Office Manager Varnnitha V. Editorial Rupa Gopinath Imtiaz Popat Klaus Ferlow Narges Nirumvala Aman Boparai Gill Alex Sangha Ishana Kullar Andrea Hayley-Sankaran Colleen Addison Fraser Health Sehat Kuljeet Kaila

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Design & Layout Yosof Hakimi Advertising and Sales Suki Pangalia Navkiran Brar Photography Jas Kooner Images Credits Jas Kooner Unsplash Pexels

NATIONAL TEAM Thank you Jim Kalsi Kshitija Kekal Abhishek Dobhal Sarah Zafar Jay Nair Jas Kooner Nasimah Nastoh Sonali Pangalia Prem Patel Sanya Dhingra Geeta Dhingra Sarah Uppal Karen Nagra Kerry Gibson Jas Kooner Hershy Hse Sue Zhang Nasima Nastoh Qasim Bajwa Zahra Hashimi Sanj Grewal

British Columbia, Greater Vancouver Atika Bano 778.686.1588 Yosof Hakimi 778.317.7027 Zahara M Kelly Upptal Jay Nair Victoria Sonali Pangalia 604.341.3016

Calgary Sunny Singh 587.501.4804 Saskatchewan, Manitoba Winnipeg Karen Brar 204.510.9298 Ontario, Toronto JP Budwal 647.887.6031

Bhinda Jaswinder Saggi 250.891.3174

Ottawa Sal Rafi 613.889.5682

Kamloops Krishna Lakkineni 250.574.7988

Quebec, Montreal Manvir Singh 514.770.7465

Alberta, Edmonton Aman Gill 780.907.2207 Mike Brar 780.339.4477

PERMINDER CHOHAN

20 Cover Story Shelina Mawani

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Shen Yun - Review

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Perminder Chohan

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Sahib’s Story

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Art Vancouver Returns

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Amarjeet Singh Interview

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Neem The Tree of the 21th Century

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De-Stress with Food

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Dear Editor,

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Renée Sarojini Saklikar Interview

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Musuem

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En Karma The Bhangra Boys are Back

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Crystal Gala Foundation

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Around The Classical Indian Arts Scene in Vancouver, 2018

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New Year, New Brand

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Interfaith Vigil against Hate

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A Trip to the Land of Thunder Dragons

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Wake-Up to Gang Wars

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Fitness Resolutions

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LAND OF THUNDER DRAGONS

SHELINA MAWANI

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6 52 CRYSTAL GALA FOUNDATION

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SHEN YUN REVIEW AAJ MAGAZINE AAJ MAGAZINE

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TODAY

SHELINA SHELINA MAWANI MAWANI Bharat Samman Leading Globally by Example Recipient 2018

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Shelina Mawani, the Co-Founder of Nana’s Kitchen and Hot Sauces Ltd was recognized for her community work and honored with a prestigious award at The NRI World Summit in London, United Kingdom.

NRI Institute, a non-profit NGO, celebrated the 30th year of connecting Indian Diaspora, and organized an award ceremony on October 26, 2018, at the House of Lords in London, United Kingdom. The NRI World Summit – Bharat Samman Global Leader Award 2018 was conferred upon Shelina in presence of other decorated leaders at the House of Lords London, the second chamber of UK Parliament.

BHARAT SAMMAAN AWARDS are being conferred on a group of select Persons of Indian Origin living in India and abroad for their outstanding achievements in the chosen field of activities for the contribution to the socio-economic development of India along with the country of their adoption.

The award was given to NRIs from 14 countries, including Shelina, who was the only Canadian Woman honored as a global leader for promoting heritage and entrepreneurship. This was indeed a special moment as the award was presented to Shelina for surpassing exceptional standards in her business and community engagements. Shelina was recognized for her of selfless service to the community.

Behind every successful man, there is a woman, but this saying stands not only for the success of men but for the functioning of the whole world. Shelina Mawani was born and raised on the shores of Lake Victoria, Mwanza in East Africa. After managing a series of motels back home for her father, Shelina Mawani moved to Canada in 1983.

Being a lifelong businesswoman, in the year 2000, Shelina and her sister

Nasim established Nana’s Kitchen.

Growing up in a South Asian community without the divisions between different South Asian races that she saw here, led Shelina to want to bridge that divide through her food. Shelina wants the whole South Asian community to be united, interacting and celebration as a single community.

She has watched her company grow from a small family restaurant business to a manufacturing business through North America and chains across Canada. Nana’s kitchen products meet the product quality and food safety standards as required by CFIA, USDA, HACCP and BRC Programs.

Nana’s food with a global taste is being sold all the mainstream grocery stores (Superstore, Sobeys, and Save On Foods, are just a few examples) and in hospitality, Pubs and restaurants across North America.

Their food is being sold to 5000 grocery retail and food service. Today their Convenient Com“We got into a market space fort Foods with a Globthat is heavily saturated al Taste are sold in the Deli case at mainstream with samosas already. Even grocery chains across North America and as far today people come to us and as Alaska and Hawaii.

Mawani said she thinks part of the reason her business was successful in cracking the U.S. market was a growing trend towards more “global food palates.”

compare us saying “Oh there is samosa’s in the marketplace for only one dollar!”

However, people don’t appreciate that it is a totally different level of quality product”, Shelina says.

“We had a persistence,” she added.

Nana’s Kitchen’s mission is to become a household name and they are on their way to that becoming a reality because of the high quality of their Samosas.

Their quality is premium and gourmet, especially compared to what is available in the market today and people pay for the quality. Their high-quality samosas are more than three times bigger than a typical samosa, use high quality raw ingredients, and has with more filling and less pastry than their competitors.

“We want to be a household name and I am looking forward to a time when people say it’s the best and I want it in my home like how people love “Heinz ketchup” which is a household brand.” adds Shelina They also have smaller sized samosas as well. The quality of the samosas goes through lots of checks (heat, temperature, expiry dates) to assure high quality and it makes a difference you can taste.

“It was the hardest decision to enter into male dominated industry as I said before that being in a Samosa Industry, the mass cosmopolitan population is looking Samosas as normal Desi Samosas. When you’re out buying a car or when you leave home people might prefer Honda instead of Porsche because of the price difference between the brands. So, my question towards everyone is why people can’t differentiate between the Nana’s Kitchen premium gourmet quality and the local Samosas “ “There was a lot of time when the thought came to my mind

to do the Punjabi samosas. But we were opting to be the best with the highest quality. Today we are branded as a premium quality product. It’s a very proud moment that our Samosas stand out from all other market product where 98 percent is filling with 42 percent pastry and above its all handmade,” states Shelina.

Roughly over 25,000 samosas are being made by hand every day, in seven different flavors along with mango date chutneys which are sold in bulk two-liter jars in select grocery stores. They have also just introduced chimichangas.

Shelina states, “We are supporting women. Nana’s Kitchen is 99% women-based organization. I’m here to support women who are come with minimum language skills were moved recently from other countries”

As a proud supporter of women’s empowerment Shelina’s employees are largely women from foreign countries with minimum English language skills.

She says her employees are her backbone, and she wants her employees to grow as the company grows. She is a proud and successful employer who defines her success by sharing her employees’ growth from ground zero to managerial position.

She became involved with the Lioness club and became one of the chair persons in 1979. Shelina developed and started the leprosy project as it was a major undictated disease at the time and was spreading fast. They had major Ear, Nose and throat camps for locals and sent eight children to England for heart surgery as they were suffering from heart murmur. She was also involved in opening a local orphan-

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age for children which she is still involved in Orphanage. Shelina was invited to speak recently at the Women Economic forum in New Delhi about empowering Women to believe in themselves and how to embrace failures as part of building business and not to give up. This year Shelina was awarded Women of the decade in innovation and enterprise in New Delhi India by Women Economic Forum. In 2016 Shelina won the Business women of the year by Times of Canada and was awarded the 2016 Surrey Board of Trade award for export business.

She was nominated in 2016 for one of the Top 25 fastest growing Businesses in Vancouver. Shelina has also the recipient of the BC Provincial award in 2015 for Multicultural business of the year.

In 2014 she won the BC Ethno Canadian Entrepreneur award.

She also is recipient of Shakti awards in 2013. Shelina has had

the honor to have been featured in many local TV programs, newspaper articles, and magazines.

She has also spoken at the Agakhan Alliance in Toronto about failures to success. In October 2018 she was awarded Bharat Samman Award, where 14 countries were involved. Shelina takes part in a lot of community events to promote the community.

She reveals her secret of success, as the three C’s – conversation, collaboration, and celebration.

“We all have at least one million-dollar idea lurking inside of us. To execute that idea, you need somebody for you so, never be afraid to look outside for help.

Don’t be afraid to come out, network and share your ideas. Once you succeed that stage then, every walk of life you would say it’s a day of celebration,” says Shelina.

She also feels proud to give credit

for her success in the US market to her husband as Nawaz Mawani played a major role in building the market from zero to what they are today. Shelina says while she was struggling with her business and through the ups and downs to success, her children grew up without her. She stresses the importance of spending time with your family and kids, and to not ignore anything important on the road to success. She feels lucky that her kids are doing well and that they tell her that she has

worked hard for them. A message she has for entrepreneurs is to do your research before you do anything, be humble, no stress, no ego, even in difficult times, spend time on yourself and family, love and laugh, change your attitude and always listen to your customer.

Behind every successful person there is always someone, but behind Shelina’s success, she gives credit to her sister and husband, along with her family and staff.

Ishana Kullar Ishana is an AAJ community ambassador and columnist with a strong passion for Hiphop and music.

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HOME STAGING...

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the difference between for sale and sold

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P: 604.657.6612 F: 604.207.0444 E: rita@aneleganttouch.ca

www.aneleganttouch.ca AAJ MAGAZINE

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ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT

THE TRUTH YOU SHOULD

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KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

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Shen Yun Performing Arts catapulted onto the world stage in 2006.

Nobody knew anything about the group that produced it, and now it’s one of the biggest shows on earth. This just doesn’t happen!

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How did Shen Yun achieve such massive success? How come Shen Yun, a show about Chinese culture, is not allowed to perform in China? Why are some people saying that Shen Yun offers hope to China and the world?

It isn’t that these facts are hidden.

It is just that most people don’t know enough about Shen Yun before they go. I’ve seen Shen Yun a bunch of times, and I think I have uncovered the truth. Let’s explore it together in this Shen Yun review.

Shen Yun Review:

What Do You See at a Performance?

Even though this is a show about Chinese culture, the overwhelming majority of theatre audiences are non-Chinese. I was listening this year, and I heard people whispering between performances to each other things like, “beautiful, look at the colors,” and similar sentiments. But mostly, people were just smiling and appeared content.

Speaking of colors, I counted 19 different dance and music performances. This means there were 19 unique color palettes on display, because each one of the dance pieces showcased at least a dozen dancers in totally new apparel.

Talk about quick costume changes!

The Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra, which also performs once a year at Carnegie Hall in New York, accompanies the performers on stage.

This orchestra’s East-West arrangement and style is a true rarity in the world. The Chinese instruments add volumes to the ethnic character of the performances, while the Western instruments lend strength

to the sound and carry the action.

Most of what Shen Yun presents is classical Chinese dance, and it’s on display in great glory.

We are told that this dance form is even older than ballet, and more diverse. You actually see all that diversity on stage. There are leaps, jumps, tumbling, and graceful movements; even hilarious, comedic, and bumbling movements are part of the artistic expression.

And imagine, Chinese dance was also a source for many of the martial arts forms still practiced today..

Shen Yun’s artful choreography—a cascading array of dynamic movement that culminates in many, many moments of sublime beauty—makes you wish you had more time to admire your favorite scenes. However, the action has already moved on.

Speaking of action, a review published by the Society of Classical Poets goes into detail about the story-based element of Shen Yun’s dance form. With classical Chinese dance, performers have an uncanny ability to reveal emotion and subtlety using tiny gestures and details.

Shen Yun’s storytelling is aided by an animated, digitally painted backdrop that brings to life everything from ancient imperial palaces, to a heavenly archery training school.

The dancers actually appear to fly up into the air and transform into heavenly deities on the screen.

There is an element of: you never know what is going to happen next.

The transformation into other dimensions and worlds is rather stunning at first to see. I think the animation effect of the backdrop, which is patented, is far better than any 3-D or IMAX movie.

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Rebecca Laird, a performing arts company director, said, “It feels very cleansing.” “The goodness and beauty of it is not really what we’re used to seeing anymore,” she added. “There was a purity to it, a natural beauty.”

Cleansing and healing is something people say fairly often of Shen Yun.

Tamre Varallo, an owner of a winery and healthcare consultancy, said: “I saw halos behind the dancers—angelic and divine … Very peaceful.”

Watching Shen Yun makes you feel peaceful? I totally agree. I always feel uplifted after watching it.

As you might expect, the official audience feedback on Shen Yun is an impressive collection of superlatives.

Some are ordinary, such as “I loved it,” but many are deeply moving.

Dr. Sean Nolan, a physician specializing in endocrinology, told a media outlet: “I was feeling advancement of my soul. It went to my soul. It went to heaven. It made me feel like this is the future, this is mankind healing and mankind developing back to the beginnings, and to the future and to heaven.”

Really? That is intense, isn’t it? How is it possible for someone to understand all that from a single performance?

I think I know, and will try to answer this question later in my review, but first some more audience feedback.

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Varallo also talked about the music. “Sometimes you cannot describe things that are so profound—it was bigger than life. …

There aren’t words to describe the beauty. … It’s like heaven.”

I find it amazing that people see so much in a Shen Yun performance. Let us dig deeper.

alty, filial piety, dignity, and so on.

After the Communist Party took power in 1949, it launched campaign after campaign to forcibly destroy its traditional culture, and to twist the foundations of the culture in favor of the singular belief that the Communist Party is always “great, glorious, and correct.”

I don’t think most people understand the significance of Shen Yun’s mission, and how before Shen Yun, this glorious heritage of mankind may have been lost forever. Try to imagine the impact of this kind of moral destruction on a people.

It is estimated that 80 million lives have been taken by the communist movement in the name of class struggle.

This is more than the number of casualties in both World Wars combined.

The most well-known of the Party’s campaigns, and the most relevant to Shen Yun, was the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s. You’ve heard of it, but do you really know what it was?

The Sad Truth About Traditional Culture in Today’s China Shen Yun’s mission is vive traditional Chinese

to reculture.

China is the oldest culture in the world, and its foundations include concepts and principles such as heaven, the Tao, God, Buddha, fate, predestination, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faithfulness, honesty, humility, loy-

Shen Yun has grown by popular demand in just twelve years from one company, to five equally-large companies.

The Cultural Revolution sought to destroy the “Four Olds,” defined as old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas.

Countless historical books, sites, and treasures were destroyed, altered, or co-opted by the Party’s Red Guards in a reign of terror across China.

For the dancers, this results in flawless performances. Shen Yun dancers are among the most skilled and well trained in the world. Everyone says this.

If I think about myself, I know that one moment of self doubt can result in a disaster or failure. But these people are flawless.

They perform to perfection night after night, relentlessly bringing their compassion and joy to people around the world.

Despite today’s appearances, temples and cultural sites in China are all operated under the Party’s leadership. They are basically tourist spots bringing in money, and fooling the rest of the world about the regime’s so-called tolerance.

What I Took Away from Shen Yun 2018 Performance Every year that I see Shen Yun, it reveals new truths to me.

This year, what hit me after the curtain opened was an awareness about the unimaginable difficulty the performers have overcome, and their undaunted courage.

The dancers, musicians, choreographers, composers, engineers, teachers, and other support staff who comprise Shen Yun, have quietly persisted despite

the ire of such a powerful regime.

It is clear that the dancers and musicians of Shen Yun Performing Arts are 100 percent dedicated to their craft. This is not a job for them. It is their life’s calling. You can see it in the mastery with which they move, and in the compassion they exude on their faces. This is why Shen Yun moves people so much!

They have faced opposition by those who did not understand them.

They have overcome their own inner questions in order to become rock solid about their purpose.

Andrea Hayley-Sankaran Andrea is a vegetable chef and editor of Buttered Veg. She want to help you eat your vegetables, not just because they are good for you, but because they taste so good! Visit her blog at www.butteredveg.com

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TODAY

PERMINDER CHOHAN

NRI Person of the Year

Global Leader in Philanthropy

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B.C. businessman and philanthropist Perminder Chohan Perminder Chohan receives a prestigious award - The NRI Person of Year for Global Leader in Philanthropy, at The NRI World Summit in London, United Kingdom.

Perminder Chohan tweeted “I am humbled and delighted to share with you all that I am being awarded the prestigious Pravasi-Bharat Samman Award in London in October by NRI Institute.”

BHARAT SAMMAAN AWARDS is the highest honor conferred on overseas Indians, who has made significant contribution in one’s field or outstanding work, which has enhanced India’s prestige in the country of residence. NRI Institute is a non-profit NGO, celebrated the 30th year of connecting Indian Diaspora, and organized an award ceremony on October 26, 2018, at the House of Lords in London, United Kingdom.

Financial Services Expert Perminder Chohan once again proved to be an inspiring business leader and advises that, “Planning for the future of your loved ones is a process that can be exceedingly rewarding, particularly if begun early.” He continues adding, “Many people tend to put off estate planning because they associate it with thinking about disability, illness or death. However, the truth is that estate planning is about the people you love. It’s about how you want them to be taken care of in the event something happens to you. “ Perminder Chohan is a firm believer in being genuine, honest,

and trustworthy. It’s these three principles that have driven him his entire life. He is a Managing Director of Desjardins Financial Security Independent Network (DFSIN) Richmond South office.

His efforts for authentic success has been proven, building a team of over 500 agents and focusing on helping them achieve excellence through organic, grass roots efforts in sales.

Back in 1998, Perminder started his career in the financial services industry, joining Registered Education Savings Plan Company. Within 6 months, he became their number one agent nationally. From there, things began to grow at a rapid pace, one which he kept learning from to become a leader to others in their pursuit of financial and personal success.

Then he expanded into the life insurance industry, becoming a mentor and being instructional to over 600 agents.

Perminder’s success is notable, but it did not come without a lot of hard work. Having been raised in India, when Perminder moved to Canada he did not speak the English language. He didn’t shy away from embracing opportunity, though. He began creating challenges for himself that he was determined to conquer.

Learning the English language was one of those challenges and he set goals for himself to make that happen! He fed off the energy that setting goals with deadlines gave him and realized that any goals he may have could be achieved through a solid plan, a commitment to success, and, of course—much hard work!

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Community involvement and giving back is one of Perminder Chohan’s greatest passions. He is a tireless supporter of many activities and events that are important to the South Asian community in the Greater Vancouver Area. His generosity and sponsorship include: fundraising for thirty-six different charities in the area, sponsoring sports activities and teams’ year after year, and even bringing fan favorite Bollywood acts to Canada to perform. He is also invited to present at awards ceremonies that honor achievement.

To his community and work environment, Perminder is a valuable contributor; however, to his family he is considered a loving, caring father and husband.

When asked about the factors of his success, he always expresses that none of it would be possible without the support of his loving wife, Deep, and his children, Henna and Armaan. Together, the entire Chohan family finds joy in being involved in their community and giving back.

Perminder Chohan has added two more feathers in his cap this month by acquiring two offices of Desjardins Financial Security Independent Network - one

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in Surrey and one in Victoria.

After the acquisition of Victoria Financial Centre at Fort St. and the DFSIN Surrey Mainland at King George Blvd., Chohan now owns all 9 DFSIN offices in British Columbia.

“When we take over new business, it requires some time to understand the people and needs of those offices.,” says Chohan.

“It is a little challenging and very exciting to work with new people and create new opportunities.”

“The aim is to grow the business, have more advisors and increase the portfolio of investments,” Chohan says.

Perminder Chohan, Signs Publishing Deal with CelebrityPress® To Co-Author Leo Learns About Life Perminder Chohan will team up with other leading ThoughtLeaders® to release a new children’s book, Leo Learns About Life, which will teach inspiring lessons for adolescents to use as they learn and grow throughout life.

The new book is a compilation of the contributors’ favorite lessons for success, which have been turned into children’s fables

starring Leo the dog. Perminder Chohan will also appear as a character in the book to teach Leo the importance of contributing to the community. These lessons are intended to encourage and guide children towards success throughout their lives.

Leo Learns About Life is tentatively scheduled for release in late Fall 2018.

A portion of the royalties earned from Leo Learns About Life will be donated to Entrepreneur’s International Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating awareness for charitable causes.

For more information about the upcoming release visit www.

CelebrityPressPublishing.com.

Perminder Chohan was selected to be in the book because of his own success and his commitment to educate and inspire our future generations. His achievements throughout life make him an asset to the publication and his fable will surely benefit future readers.

TODAY TODAY

SAHIB’S STORY In 2007, Sunny and Navneet Bhatti were preparing for the arrival of their second child. Everything seemed to go as expected—until Sahib was born. Immediately, it became clear that there were serious issues with Sahib’s health. The family was sent from their local hospital in Surrey to BC Children’s Hospital the very next day.

“We were completely shocked,” Sunny said, thinking back on that time.

“Right away, we were venturing into new waters—and we didn’t know how deep they were going to be.

It turns out, they were quite deep.”

A battery of tests revealed Sahib had a developmental disorder called DiGeorge syndrome—in which a small piece of chromosome 22 is missing.

The condition can cause hundreds of differing symptoms in children. For Sahib, it meant severe issues with mul-

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tiple systems throughout his body, including his lungs, heart and intestines.

After two weeks at BC Children’s Hospital, Sahib was finally able to go home to his parents and four-yearold sister Saroop. His family was thrilled—but over the next few months, his health continued to worsen. He didn’t have an appetite. He was losing weight. Most of all, his heart issues were becoming more critical.

Then, Sahib’s health quickly deteriorated even further—doctors weren’t certain he would survive the weekend. They were given two options.

“

We could have a surgery at BC Children’s that weekend that would prolong his life by a few months,” explained Navneet. “Or, the doctors told us about a procedure only offered in California that could fix his heart issues—but it would mean we would have to risk Sahib not surviving the weekend.

from the strokes. There, he worked with a team of physio, occupational, recreational and speech therapists.

After just two weeks, the improvement in Sahib was clear to his parents.

“He was able to open up his left hand and wrap his fingers around toys and carry them from one area to another.

His coordination and balance also started to improve quickly,” Sunny said.

“When you see progress like that, it really gives you hope,” added Navneet.

Today, Sahib is an energetic, loving 11-year-old who attends school in his

The Bhattis chose the latter. Sahib survived the weekend and was transferred to San Francisco on the Tuesday. At just three months old, he had open-heart surgery to fix his pulmonary artery that hadn’t formed properly.

The surgery saved Sahib’s life; however, the family continued to make countless trips to BC Children’s over the years because of complications from his condition. Most of those visits often resulted in stays of up to a week.

In January of 2017, Sahib and his family went to the U.S. for his last open-heart surgery. While it was a success for his heart, air got into his heart and travelled to his brain during the procedure, which caused multiple strokes. That had several consequences—chief among them, Sahib lost the use of his left arm. “That was devastating for a child who was starting to become independent and do the basics of dressing himself and brushing his teeth,” said Navneet.

After returning to Vancouver, Sahib was referred to an intensive six-week outpatient program at Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children, the hospital’s rehabilitation facility, to regain the skills and strength he had lost

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ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT

Art Vancouver Returns!

Forget winter: Art enthusiasts are thinking about spring. This year will mark the 5th anniversary of Western Canada’s contemporary art fair… and another grand celebration of art from around the world.

Over 8,000 attendees were enthralled by the 2018 fair, arriving to see, experience and collect the art works of over 100 exhibitors. “Art Vancouver

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is a great opportunity for the artist and public to view original [creations],” says Vancouver based artist Shelley Brookes.

Next year, the fair will be held on April 25-28, 2019 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Throughout the four-day event, visitors can expect not only a variety of art, but also illustrative talks, artist-led workshops

and other partner events such as the city-wide Gallery Crawl and the Vancouver Opera Festival.

Championing artists The fair was founded and produced by local artist Lisa Wolfin, who wanted to recreate the European art fairs that she became familiar with whilst living abroad. Art Vancouver aims to put a personal twist on those fairs, championing artists and hosting them at the show so that visitors can meet with the creatives directly.

“My buyer came to see the show looking for two eagle sculptures for her ranch, she fell in love with hand carved eagle sculptures and bought both of them,” says 2018 exhibitor Wes Seeley. “ Art Vancouver changed my life, and I can’t wait to be there next year.”

Opening night starts with the Face of Art runway show where the artists strut down a catwalk with a piece of their work in hand, so people can see who the artist is and put a ‘face to the art.’

featuring artists and other creative professionals.

The theme goes hand in hand with the fair’s concept: an immersive showcase of both local and international work. For the 2019 show, exhibitors have been confirmed from across Canada and countries such as Sudan, South Korea, South Africa, Mexico, United Arab Emirates and the States.

As Traci Lombardo of art auctioneer Barnebys states, “Art Vancouver reflects the best of [art] events: championing emerging artists, cultivating public interest in art, and offering something for everyone.”

For more information on exhibiting or to purchase tickets, please visit: www.artvancouver.net.

Uniting Nations through Art Art Vancouver has long since promoted inclusivity and diversity, but this year the fair is making it official with the theme of “Uniting Nations through Art.” Selected speakers will contemplate what the theme historically and currently means to the art world, culminating in a panel talk

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Manjot Hallen, Perm Jawanda, Teri Nicholas, Bob Rai, Lisa Hudson, Robin Dhir, Susan Wannamaker, Will Westeringh

Mauricio Arellano, Anita Gill, Matti Polychronis, Michael Brady

CHAMPION PATIENT—Sahib Bhatti

Carman Chan, Ratana Stephens, Jane Young

Thanks to our donors and sponsors the 10th Annual A Night of Miracles Gala raised $755,000 for the Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children Enhancement Initiative.

Teri Nicholas, Lisa Hudson, Maria Faccio, Harminder Shokar

CO-PRESENTING SPONSORS

The South Asian community has raised a total of over $5.4 million for BC Children’s Hospital Foundation since the gala’s inception.

NIGHT MARKET SPONSOR

AUCTION SPONSOR

ENTERTAINMENT SPONSOR

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2018 A NIGHT OF MIRACLES GALA CABINET MEMBERS Bob Rai, CHAIR

INDO-CANADIAN AWAAZ PUNJABI NEWSPAPER

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Rita Chohan, Marko Dekovic, Karim Kanji, Seema Lal, Alison Lalani, Etienne Moshevich, Eshleen Panatch, Danvir Roopra, Ali Sinawi, Don Stickney, Peter Xotta

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Saragarhi Ball The Canadian Arm Forces is manned by some of the best Men and Women in Canada. They come from all walks of life regardless of their ethnic background, religious affiliation or political preference. Race, color or creed has no bearing on who can be in the Canadian Armed Forces.

I recently sat down with Mr. Chow and Mr. Nijjer at Aaj Studio and was able to observe two well disciplined people who made me proud to be a Canadian in their presence. As a result of my conversation with them I thought I would share a few thoughts of how and when Mr. Chow and Mr. Nijjer decided to Join the Canadian Armed Forces.

In the Fall of 2005 Mr. Chow’s Father a Veteran in having served for thirty seven years in the Canadian Navy sat down with his son and in only the way a Father can had a quite conversation and suggested he take a look at the Canadian Armed Forces. The idea being that in serving your country Canada you could benefit by having your education paid for.

The view was that if there was an offer to join you can always turn it down, no obligation or commitment was necessary.

What was there to loose and maybe a whole lot to gain.

Mr. Chow put in his application in to see what the military had to offer.

He was pleasantly surprised that university would paid for along with a salary and other benefits.

After twelve years here he is with a full occupation as a Naval Warfare Officer on a temporary post, “Attractions and Diversity Officer” recruiting new dedicated young people with a desire to serve a higher calling.

Mr. Chow Goal is in the future to return to the fleet and to be a Captain of his own ship one day.

Mr. Nijjer joined the military twenty four years ago to serve his country Canada. As a Sikh he comes from a long tradition of Sikhs who served in Military service when called upon to do so and in a volunteer capacity.

Meaning without being asked they join to serve a higher call

ENTERTAINMENT

Amarjeet Singh

of Naad Foundation The founder of the Naad Foundation, Amarjeet Singh has a master’s degree in music. He’s a disciple of Sd Deedar Singh ji and Guru Thakur Kishan Singh, both of whom are Tabla maestros of Benaras Gharana ( Benares style).

Amarjeet was appointed as the Cultural Ambassador by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations New Delhi, to teach and perform Tabla in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Later, he took up a position as a staff artist at the Faculty of Music

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and Fine Arts at the University of Delhi. He has trained students in India, Germany, Uzbekistan, Canada, and the USA, and has accompanied a myriad of leading Indian musicians and dancers on Tabla.

A scholarship winner from the Music and Drama Academy of Rajasthan, Amarjeet Singh has also won many laurels, such as the “Sangeet Bhushan” from the Rajasthan Education Department, the “Leadership Circle Award” from the Canadian Red Cross, the

“Heritage Defender Award” from Darpan magazine, the “Innovation in The Arts” honor from Drishti magazine, and was nominated for the Surrey Mayor’s Arts Award.

I have known Amarjeet Singh since 2002 and have seen him perform at various events all over Vancouver. Last Friday evening he graciously agreed to answering a few questions over the phone.

Rupa: Could you please share your experiences as a student of music and Tabla in India and the training that you received from your Gurus?

Amarjeet: I come from the Guru-Shishya parampara (Teacher-Student traditional learning) and truly believe that this traditional way of learning teaches students not only the art, but also discipline, stage manners, respect for the young and the old, and how to listen to the Guru and receive the knowledge in a humble way. I used to go to the teacher’s house at 6:00 AM and help the Guru in cleaning, cooking, and doing all his household chores so that I could imbibe all the knowledge that he could impart. Gurus become mentors and help us develop good values and become better human beings as well. For roughly about 7 years, I followed this routine and later moved to Delhi. In 2001, I moved to Canada and unfortunately in 2002 both my Guru and my mother passed away. I went through a rough patch at that time and was devasted by the loss. The concern, love, and affection that my Guru showered on me, along with his strict discipline while training will always be missed. Children growing up in Canada show a lot of interest in learning classical arts but are not aware or do not understand the Guru Shishya parampara. A Guru is found by good luck and destiny. Every year I do a program to pay homage to my Guruji

Thakur Kishan Singh.

Rupa: How was it teaching in Tashkent and being an ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) Cultural Ambassador?

Amarjeet: It was a wonderful experience, me and Mrs. Mangala Bhat who is an accomplished classical dancer, were the first people selected by ICCR to go to Tashkent to teach music and arts to students. We had multicultural and multinational students who showed a keen interest in learning the Indian arts.

Rupa: How did you start Naad Foundation?

Amarjeet: Naad Foundation emerged from my dream of starting a school for all arts under one umbrella for music, dance, literature and other arts. We even had language classes for Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, and Persian and many attended these courses and completed them. I enjoy all kinds of music and admire people who have gone through rigorous training in the arts. I enjoy Bollywood music too, but I promote classical music mainly because we already have a huge audience for Bollywood or popular music but not for the classical music.

Rupa: Could you tell us about your work with fusion music?

pure traditional classical Indian Raagas and then do the fusion with other classical western musicians as I believe in adhering to the classical roots. Today if you present a pure raaga with elaborate alaap stretching for a long time, you lose the audience interest as everyone in the audience is not capable of appreciating pure classical music, so you have to present the classical arts in such a way that you preserve it and at the same time keep the audience interested.

Rupa: Is there any performance or award that is very significant to you?

Amarjeet: I have received a number of awards and scholarships in my life, but the Leadership Circle Award from the Canadian Red Cross is very close to my heart. In 2005 I was asked to compose a melody for a Tsunami fundraising event, and the lady who asked us to compose became very emotional and bought the copyright for the music and said it would be played all over as the Tsunami melody. This experience I will always treasure.

Rupa: Amarjeet Bhai, thank you very much for sharing your views on music and the arts by taking time out of your busy schedule.

Amarjeet: Yes, I have worked a lot with fusion music with many western musicians. I work with

Rupa Gopinath Mrs. Rupa Gopinath is a classical Indian dancer, teacher, choreographer and CEO and Artistic Director of Mihika Arts.

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TODAY

NEEM: AZADIRACHTA indica A. Juss THE TREE OF THE 21st CENTURY Human ingenuity has created wondrous developments from fires to evolving an extraordinary complex social structure, splitting atom, reaching for the moon, mapping the human gnome, evolving the most complex repertoire of communication connecting the world, creating a “dangerous� radiation wireless world!

Man has taken apart and put together everything he could lay his hands upon or think about it.

An extraordinary range of creativity has enriched our lives. Some of these activities have helped us

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wriggle out of situations confining all other forms of life. These are exciting times! We are today living in an age of unprecedented technology strides and some even say this is just the beginning, internet, electronic mail and jet speed travel have conveniently helped bridge the geographical distances. The challenge before us is to link the wisdom of our past with current knowledge and advanced technology to find ecologically sound solutions to emerging global requirements such as climate change, pollution etc.

The future food security and economic independence of developing Nations depend on meeting our emerging requirements with degree of caution and an eye on growth based on environmental friendly technologies and a collaborative approach with nature.

India and China together constitute 27% of all humanity which translates into 2.6 billion people who need better food, shelter and medicines with minimum damage to ecological integrity of our precious land and forest resources. .

Neem – The Healer For thousands of years humans have sought to fortify their health and cure various ills with herbal remedies. The search for the true panacea or “cure-all” has been undertaken by virtually every civilization. While hundreds of substances have been tried and tested, few have withstood modern science scrutiny. Perhaps no other botanical better meets the true definition of a panacea than neem a tropical evergreen belonging to the mahogany family native to India and Myanmar (Burma). Every part of this fascinating tree has been used from ancient to modern times to treat hundreds of different maladies. While it is still revered in India for its superior healing properties recent research has dramatically increased worldwide interest in neem and many products are now manufactured and distributed around the globe using this miraculous herb.

While legendary herbs such as ginseng are better known, comprehensive research has proven that neem has a far wider array of uses than any other herb! The first recorded use of neem is attributed to ancient Indian culture adding the plant to dozens of health and beauty aids several thousand years ago. The centuries old botanical healing system known as AYURVEDA from India with a history of over 5000 years has utilized these timeless neem formulations in mainstays Ayurvedic pharmacy. Medicinal attributes of neem were extolled in the oldest Sanskrit writings. Neem

has been continuously referred to Village pharmacy, sarva roga nivarini or healer of all ailments, the divine tree, the holy tree, free tree of India, the life giving tree, the noble tree and nature’s drug store. No wonder that the United Nations declared the neem tree as “the tree of the 21st century!”

Other fascinating properties further increase the phenomenal applications. It is only in the last years that the rest of the world has started to show interest in and recognize neem’s versatility and huge potential. Scientific research reports from universities ranging from Bangalore, India to Baltimore, United States of America have explored neem’s ability to help prevent and treat an astonishing number of health disorders including many that are not successfully addressed by modern conventional pharmaceuticals.

The entire neem tree has medicinal value and all parts of the tree can be used, such as bark, cake, fruit, flowers, gum, honey, leaves, oil (derived from the kernels in the seeds), pulp, resin, root, tea, timber.

ganic farming as non-toxic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, veterinarian medicine, cosmetics and personal care products.

My own personal experience with neem and psoriasis has been nothing short of a miracle. I suffered for over 40 years with severe psoriasis on my scalp and elbows and after I started in beginning of 1994 using neem cream, shampoo, oil, tincture and soap I am free of psoriasis! More information about the benefits and healing power of neem can be obtained from my book “Neem – Nature’s Healing Gift to Humanity”, www.neemresearch.ca/shop

Of all the plants that have proven useful to us throughout the ages, few have offered as much value and versatility as the unique neem tree. With growing research supporting its healing and beneficial properties,neem is finally getting the attention it deserves This miraculous healing herb is truly an ancient cure for a modern world and able to solve global problems.

Bark and leaves contain pharmaceutical constituents that offer some impressive therapeutic qualities. Neem is beneficial in preventing environmental pollution, offers flood control, soil erosion, rehabilitation of degraded eco-systems and wastelands.

Recommended also for reforestation, useful for wind breaks in areas of low rain fall and high speed wind, protect crops, used in or-

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WNO

–

World

Neem

Organisation I am one of the 14 core-founding neem researchers from Africa, Australia, Bangladesh, India, North America, Europe and The Middle East establishing in 2017 the new WNO – World Neem Organisation, Mumbai, India to educate, market and promote the benefits and healing power of the miraculous versatile medicinal neem tree that offers better plant, human, animal, and environmental health under the banner “NEEM – THE EARTH’S SAVIOR!” www.worldneemorganisation.org

dom accumulated in the minds of people based on trials and errors of the generations gone by. Thus, the new awakening in the people the world over, especially among scientists, to try to understand traditional customs, values and practices is a welcome change.

We have made a good beginning with neem and have learned how good an example it provides of science learning from culture. A whole world of traditional knowledge awaits our objective scrutiny.

Words of Wisdom It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver,

Conclusion

Mahatma Gandhi

In our quest for technological advancement, we have forgotten to learn from the practice of our forefathers. As a result, we have not been making good use of the centuries of knowledge and wis-

Klaus Ferlow Honorary Master Herbalist, (HMH) Dominion Herbal College, Herbal Advocate, (HA) Canadian Herbalist’s Association of B.C., innovator, lecturer, researcher, writer, founder of Ferlow Botanicals and NEEM RESEARCH, Vancouver, B.C., member of Health Action Network Society, National Health Federation, International Herb Association, United Plant Savers, Ayurveda Association of Canada, core-founding member of the World Neem Organisation, Mumbai, India author book “Neem – Nature’s Healing Gift to Humanity,”.

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Artwork by Jodie Blaney

April 25–28, 2019 Vancouver Convention Centre Vancouver, BC, Canada

> For information about exhibiting or attending visit www.artvancouver.net

HEALTH

DE-STRESS WITH FOOD 36

AAJ MAGAZINE

Do you find yourself craving junk food or overeating when you’re stressed? You’re not alone.

Many people tend to overeat foods that are high in fat and sugar when they are stressed to find comfort.

Unfortunately, stress eating only provides a temporary solution.

Stress eating can worsen negative feelings and lead to weight gain.

Fight the urge to stress eat by eating a balanced diet. A diet that is balanced will include food from all four food groups—vegetables and fruit, grain products, milk and alternatives, and meat and alternatives. A balanced diet will keep you full and energized throughout the day.

Healthy snacks are just as important as eating a balanced diet. Snacks between meals will give your body nutrients and hydration. Aim for 3-4 healthy snack between meals a day.

Here are some healthy snack ideas for when you have the urge to overeat or reach for junk food: •

Fresh fruit

• Whole wheat roti or pita wedges with hummus • Slice of toast with peanut butter and banana slices • Small whole grain muffin with milk •

Arrowroot cookies

• Whole grain crackers with peanut butter or cheese • Vegetables (carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber, bell pepper slices) with dip •

Simple fruit smoothie

made by blending frozen fruit, yogurt and/or milk • milk

Whole grain cereal and

• Yogurt topped with fresh, frozen, or canned fruit • Sweet or savoury rice cake without topping or topped with peanut butter • A handful of unsalted mixed nuts • Hard-boiled egg and a piece of fruit •

Plain air-popped popcorn

Your lifestyle also plays a role in how effectively you deal with stress. Here are some easy lifestyle tips to help reduce your stress: • Going for a walk – aim for at least 30 minutes a day • Find a new hobby – make it a goal to do an activity you find fun at least once a week • Spend time with your family or friends – several studies have shown that spending time with company you enjoy can increase your overall health • Get more sleep – try aiming for 7 to 9 hours of sleep so you wake up feeling refreshed and well-rested Everyone experiences stress in today’s busy world but don’t forget to take care of yourself and your mental well-being: nourish your body with essential nutrients and make time for yourself.

Written By, Fraser Health Sehat Program (SAHI)

AAJ MAGAZINE MAGAZINE AAJ

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TODAY

38

DEAR EDITOR, AAJ MAGAZINE

Now that the holiday season is fast approaching, I thought I would put forward my beliefs around religion, spirituality, and God. Many people claim to follow religion and believe in God so why not discuss and debate these important values and beliefs in our society.

Unfortunately, I believe religion has very little to do with God. Some of the key religious figures that many of us believe in such as Jesus, Buddha, Moses, or Guru Nanak, all of which just happen to be men, may have had a spiritual experience of some kind.

Nonetheless, I feel religion is manmade and an instrument of power and social control and ultimately oppression.

Millions of people have been killed in the name of religion.

I am sure God would be very disappointed that so many have suffered in his or her name including gay people.

We are all God’s children and all deserve divine blessings.

Religion has also been a force for good. Ideas such as the golden rule of the Bible which states

that we should treat people how we want to be treated or selfless service or “seva” which is a fundamental tenant of Sikhism are great ideas to ascribe to.

So,

what

do

I

believe?

I am convinced that we are essentially walking spirits. We all have spiritual energy within us and we are connected to the spiritual world and the divine.

What

is

the

proof

for

this?

Well, many people claim to have had a life after death experience.

They state that they have seen a “light” or a type of spiritual energy.

Just because science cannot explain these experiences does not mean they are not real or valid.

Furthermore, as part of the human experience, we all know that we have a conscious or experience love. Yet, how can we measure or provide proof that we are experiencing these emotions, feelings, and thoughts? Again, science cannot fully explain the full breadth of the human condition.

I fundamentally believe that we are spiritual beings that are going through a human experience.

AAJ AAJ MAGAZINE MAGAZINE

39 39

We are form for

in the physical the time being.

However, we are more than our physical bodies. Our bodies just turn to ash and mix with the Earth when we die.

Our spirit is immortal and never dies and moves onto its next journey with the Supreme Being or the spiritual world or perhaps even reincarnation into a human form again. I am open to all possibilities.

I am also awestruck by the miracle of creation all around us in nature and in the universe. Everything is so perfectly designed. If we had slightly more oxygen in the atmosphere we would all be wiped out.

If astronauts landed on a distant planet and found a Lamborghini on the beach, what would they think? Did the Lamborghini evolve naturally or did the Lamborghini have a creator?

We all know the answer. Of course, the Lamborghini had a creator.

Nonetheless, even if evolution plays a role in creation, evolu-

tion must have been triggered by something and that something could possibly be God. It’s a plausible explanation.

The

question

of

evil.

Many people ask why is there evil in the world if there is a God? This is an excellent question and I feel only God can answer that. I feel one day all our questions will be answered. Some people believe suffering brings us closer to God or is a test.

Other people believe there is good and evil within each person, as well as society-at-large and the entire universe. If you feed the evil then the evil comes out and if you feed the good then the good comes out. This battle between good and evil is a struggle for everyone and constantly playing out in our world.

Why that

am I there

so is

convinced a God?

I find the explanations in the major world religions trying to explain the awesomeness and majesty of our existence and

creation and infinite universe and galaxies that surround us to be horribly insufficient.

I think future generations will look back and find our religious texts interesting and entertaining like we enjoy the stories of the ancient Greco-Roman gods.

So,

what

is

Most importantly, if you are spiritual and believe in God, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You can go through life feeling that you have hope and are loved and supported by the divine and that you are never alone.

Alex Sangha is an award-winning social worker based in Surrey, B.C.  He was recently awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) from the Governor General of Canada for founding Sher Vancouver which is a social, cultural, and support non-profit organization for lesbian, gay, bi-

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conclusion?

There are many benefits for being spiritual and believing in God, as opposed to being an atheist or religious. We are one people and one humanity and should seek what unites us and not divides us as a people. That is a fundamental concept of being a spiritual person. I am convinced it can lead to more caring and compassion and concern for each other.

Alex Sangha

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ENTERTAINMENT

Renée Sarojini Saklikar

Surrey’s First Poet Laureate I was sitting at a Blenz café in Surrey on a cold, dark Friday evening in November. The café door opened and in came this beautiful, well-dressed lady with a charming smile. This was Renée Saklikar, Surrey’s first Poet Laureate, whom I first met at the City

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Centre Library during the release of her book, Listening to the Bees.

Renée is not only wonderful with poetry but is one of the few people who remembers all her friends by name and will acknowledge each of them, even when they are in the audience. This is a very spe-

cial and rare quality that indicates her excellent upbringing, along with her compassion and respect for people. That evening I had the pleasure of spending some time with her and learning about her journey so far. musicians.

Rupa: Renée, is there anything you would like to share with us about your Indian heritage or anything about India that is significant to you?

Renée: My connection and journey with my Indian heritage is a little complicated, lots of ups and downs. I was born in Pune and was named Sarojini by my grandfather Saklikar who was a High Court Judge and had been influenced by Sarojini Naidu. As a young man at some point in time, he met Sarojini Naidu, who was by then an old lady (Sarojini Naidu was a poet and follower of Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian Independence movement and later was appointed as the governor of Uttar Pradesh). My father came from a family of proud Lakshmi Brahmin Hindu Marathis and my mother was a Gujarati Sunni Muslim. My parents met when they were in Mumbai University, then it was Bombay, later got married, but they were not accepted by either family, as inter-religious and inter-faith marriages were not readily accepted during those times. Many years later, a major tragedy brought the two families together. The Air India tragedy, where we lost my mom’s youngest sister and brother-in-law, ultimately brought everyone together.

Rupa: Your father became a part of the United Church, could you please share how this happened?

Renée: My parents were both working as teachers in Northern Canada employed by the department of Indian Affairs. My father was the principal of a school for First Nations students and my mother was a teacher, and there

he had some religious experience about which he never talked much, but it was so profound and life-changing, that he was the first south Asian to enroll as a student in the Department of Theology at McGill University and graduate.

Later he was ordained as a United Church minister at the Québec conference, and at that time, United Church was the state church of Canada. During that time, if you were a part of Timothy Eaton United Church in downtown Toronto, you were in Establishment Canada, that is, if you were not Catholic.

It is really interesting that my father became a minister of United Church, as a south Asian, raised a Hindu, a brahmin, married to a Sunni Muslim, and becoming Christian, and not just any Christian, but in the United Church of Canada. Only years later, when he was at the end of his life, did I learn that what instigated his religious conversion was his witnessing of the abuse of First Nations students in the residential schools.

I am incredibly proud of my parents, very proud to be an Indo-Canadian, and lucky to have the gift of gods of three big religions in me.

Rupa: You always mention your grandmother with a lot of affection, would you like to share some experiences?

My memories of my grandmother are of when she came to visit us in Saskatchewan, and she was a widow at that time. She used to bring pickles, turmeric, ginger and many other spices along with her and did yoga and at that time, I was really embarrassed by her as I was a teenager and thought she was weird, but today you see all these spices all over the world, and Yoga has become so popular both in the east and west. Today when I do Vinyasa, I connect strongly with my Indian culture.

She used to tell us a lot of stories about Indian mythology and her culture. She always called me a lotus flower because Sarojini in Sanskrit means lotus cluster.

Rupa: What was the journey like becoming Surrey’s first Poet Laureate?

Renée: It was life changing, Surrey is so diverse and as Poet Laureate, I was in schools meeting new immigrants and people speaking all languages and helping them to share their stories. It has been an incredible journey.

Rupa: Where do you see the future of Indian poets and writers in BC and in Canada?

Renée: Now this is an interesting story. My Grandmother Godavari did not have an easy life, she was married at 14 to a lawyer and he worked very hard and became a High Court Judge. My grandmother loved roses and planted them in her beautiful garden at her estate called Shantidoot, and in this garden she had lots of bees.

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Renée: This is a good question.

I will begin by saying that I have been privileged to be a volunteer curator for the lunch poem series at SFU Surrey and SFU downtown, and as part of this, we have Ajmer Rhode who basically writes in Hindi and Punjabi and will be presenting his poems paired with another poet. Times have changed

now, and we have a lot of publishing houses and writers of Indian origin who write in different languages including English.

Rupa: Finally any interest in the classical arts or Bollywood?

Renée: I enjoy the classical arts and I wish I had the chance to study them in detail and I do like

Rupa Gopinath Mrs. Rupa Gopinath is a classical Indian dancer, teacher, choreographer and CEO and Artistic Director of Mihika Arts.

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the popular culture songs and dances too. The classical music where in they play the instruments and sing with the drums playing is very fascinating.

Rupa: Thank you Renée, it was wonderful to have you share your thoughts on life, poetry and interests.

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Vancouver | Richmond | Surrey Beijing | Shanghai | Hong Kong | Delhi Services offered in: Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Chinese, Mandarin, Cantonese, English and French

TODAY

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AAJ MAGAZINE

The exhibition tentatively called Punjabis Build Bridges, will open October 2, 2019 and run until December 22, 2019 at the Museum of Surrey, which recently reopened after a major $15.7 Million expansion located at 17710 56A Avenue in Cloverdale.

The museum has chosen Punjab of Surrey as the subject of the first large community led exhibition in the new Feature Gallery.

Punjabi culture is one of the oldest and richest cultures in the world, and Punjabi immigrants have had a key role to play in the history of Canada, and especially of British Columbia. The first people from India to migrate to British Columbia were Sikhs from Punjab. Punjabi’s now form a large part of Surrey’s population.

They come from both sides of the Indian and Pakistani border and come from diverse religious backgrounds including Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist communities. Punjabi is the second most spoken language in Surrey after English and is spoken by 20% of the city’s 631,486 population according to the 2016 census.

In 2017 the museum launched a new vison, to be the best people museum in Canada, connecting people and stories. One way the museum will achieve this is to engage the community in their museum. “It is essential for the

Museum of Surrey to partner with diverse communities to identify and tell the stories of those who are part of our collective history,” said, Museum Manager Lynn Saffery.

The Punjab of Surrey exhibit will focus on the key idea, “Punjabis Build Bridges: Surrey and the story of Punjabi settlement”. The exhibit will reflect the importance of bridging generations by sharing history while also describing the connections and collaborations between Punjabis and a diversity of people in Surrey. Included will be highlights of the 150-year history of Punjabi settlement in British Columbia, focused on the Surrey region. Historic challenges will be included alongside a celebration of Punjabi contributions in the building of contemporary Surrey.

An advisory committee has been working with museum to guide the exhibit process. The committee has decided key themes for the exhibition and now the real work begins. All interested people from Surrey’s diverse Punjabi communities are invited to add their input to the exhibit at a series of community consultation events throughout Surrey in January and February. Community members are invited to meet with Advisory Committee members, and Museum Representatives to give input into the exhibit, share personal stories, and suggest objects for display.

The exhibition Punjabis Build Bridges is an opportunity for Punjabi community members to have their culture and history presented and celebrated in a major public forum in Surrey, and will be one of the first feature exhibits ever in British Columbia. It is very important that community members participate so that the final exhibition is truly reflective of the Punjabi Community in Surrey.

Every week, thousands of visitors will experience the histories of real Surrey residents. Don’t miss out on this rare chance to have your voice heard in this exciting new exhibition. Info sessions are scheduled as follows: City Centre Library, Room 418 on January 15 (Tuesday) from 3 pm to 7 pm.

Fleetwood Community Centre in Room 5 on January 26 (Saturday) from 12:30 to 4:30 pm.

Guildford Town Centre Mall on February 1 (Friday) from 1 pm to 5 pm.

Newton Senior Centre, Room 3 on February 5 (Tuesday) from 9 am to 1 pm.

Grandview Aquatic Centre classroom on February 10 from 9 am to 1 pm.

Museum of Surrey on February 17 from 12 noon to 4 pm.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Pip Dhaliwal on drums

Inder Kooner, the bands lead vocalist

Nick Chowlia on keys

Karm on Dhol

Good Karma Always Comes Back Around.

En Karma: The Bhangra Boys are Back!

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Vancouver based and internationally known bhangra group, En Karma, is back with new music, new dreams and new intentions. What a way to kick off the New Year.

dropped countless singles and two full feature albums.

This is the third album release and it’s like no other music you’ve heard from them.

Their most recent release of the single “Femme Fatale - Chori Chori” is now making the rounds on radio, iTunes and television.

“People can expect more electronic vibe and bhangra dance as opposed to the rock sound our fans our used to. Think of a fusion between electronic, dhol and bhangra beats. We’ve grown with the trends of the music industry and hoping our fans follow and at the same time attract a new generation of music lovers.” says band member Nick Chowlia.

“This is a new sound for us; we have tried and tested these songs live during 2018 and now we feel it’s time to share them with our fans. We are also mega stocked about signing with Speed Records / Times Music and personally being handled

by Dinesh (CEO Speed Records)” says drummer Pip Dhaliwal.

2019 will see the release of even more music with singles and a full album expected this spring. AAJ magazine sat down the award winning group who has been dropping dhol and drum beats for a decade.

“We never really took a break over the years and continued to do shows since we started. We had a busy 2017 after releasing the single “She Kills.” We were on stage so much and enjoying performing for our fans. We finally made our way to the studio to do a full album and had the pleasure of working with super producer Harj Nagra,” says lead vocalist, Inder Kooner.

Over the years, En Karma has

En Karma isn’t just releasing a new style of music but also getting ready to jump on stage again and returning to the festival scene as well as touring around the world. Under two new labels, Speed Music and Times Music, En Karma is looking to make a mark on the traditional Punjabi music scene as well as the mainstream stage around the world.

En Karma is the only active bhangra band on the mainstream circuit. With their roots firmly planted in Canada, India and the UK - En Karma has branched out to reach fans around the world and dominate the Canadian World music scene for over a decade.

“Bhangra music and dance is one of the most recognized styles of music anywhere you go in the world. We love be-

ing a part of it!” says Nick Chowlia, the bands keyboardist.

Music

over

the

years…

Their debut album titled “En Karma” reached #1 on the iTunes World Music chart and featured the lead single Tohar Naal Jeena, and hosting artists such as K. S. Makhan, H Dhami, and Delhi2Dublin - 2010 It was followed by the release of “EnKarmafied” in 2014 - which reached #2 on the iTunes World Music charts featuring the singles Dil Naal Khedey & Tu Nach.

Since they started together, En Karma has collaborating with some of the biggest names in the Bhangra industry over the years including Jazzy B, Malkit Singh, Sharry Mann, Sarbjit Cheema, KS Makhan and HDhami.

“The most memorable performances included being part of the Canada 150 celebrations at the capital and being part of the electrifying energy at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and Canada Day celebrations this past year on the biggest live event stage in BC,” says drummer Pip Dhaliwal.

En Karma is back to dominate the dance floors at International Jazz Festivals, numerous Indian, Fusion, and World Music festivals. It is a known fact that your feet will remember dancing for days after hearing and seeing En Karma live!

Kuljeet Kaila

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TODAY TODAY

CRYSTAL GALA FOUNDATION

Years of Raising Money to Fight Breast Cancer

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The Crystal Gala—your Crystal Gala—has built a reputation as the premiere fundraising event in Abbotsford and surrounding areas of the Fraser Valley. Elaborate décor, decadent meal service, and engaging entertainment are always on the evening’s agenda:

• Guests are greeted with a Crystal Gala themed reception drink and appetizers • Silent auction and/or marketplace and games for pleasure throughout the evening • A multi-course gourmet plated dinner is served, with wine • Live auction excitement after dinner • Entertainment and dancing until the wee hours • Entertainment and dancing until the wee hours

The Crystal Gala Foundation is based in Abbotsford, BC, but serves the people of the Fraser Valley, from Langley to Hope and Harrison Hot Springs, Agassiz, Mission, and Maple Ridge.

The all-volunteer committee of dynamic women from all walks of life, meets monthly around a kitchen table, to achieve boardroom results. With no overhead, no staff. Every dollar raised goes to promote early breast cancer detection and optimal treatment to support the women and families who suffer the effects of breast cancer. The team, along with their partners, have raised over $2,600,000.00 dollars for breast cancer. The group meets monthly to collaborate on ways to improve the patient experience, as well as fundraising strategies.

From 1999 to 2004, the Crystal Gala funds were donated in the community and through the Canadian Breast Cancer Founda-

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– BC/Yukon chapter. Donations included specific purchases of equipment for the Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Langley and Mission hospitals. The Crystal Gala became a foundation in 2004 to ensure all donations could and would remain local. In 2007, the Crystal Gala Foundation pledged a lead gift of $500,000 to A Campaign for Health Care Excellence to ensure that hospital patients receive the best possible treatment and care. “We’re very proud of the naming of the 2nd floor Crystal Gala Breast Health Unit, for screening mammography”Chair Gerri Charles. In 2010, a further $500,000 was pledged and with the generous support of our

sponsors, donors and guests, the Foundation fulfilled this $1M commitment in 2014. Also purchasing an Ultra Sound machine for the ARHCC Screening Mammography unit in 2013. In 2015 they donated a further $250,000.00 toward equipment and furnishings needed for the new Breast Health Centre, located in the Atrium of Abbotsford Regional Hospital.

The 2018 Crystal Gala took place on Saturday, October 20th, at the Abbotsford Tradex, the 20th annual Crystal Gala, “Time Flies” Vintage Aviation Glamour, presented by Polar Electric. Earlier in 2018 the Crystal Gala Foundation committed to purchase a new $725,000.00 Digital Mammog-

raphy machine with stero-tactic biopsy for ARHCC, with a deposit of $362,000.00. With net Gala 2018 proceeds of $283,000.00 that goal is nearly complete.

When a community comes together, we can achieve anything!

If you would like to further support the Crystal Gala foundation you can become a sponsor, cash donor, volunteer or provide donations to our live or silent auction. For more details please contact us at info@crystalgala.com. h t t p s : // w w w . c r y s t a l g a l a . c a

Aman Gill Boparai Aman is an AAJ community ambassador and columnist with a strong passion for community and philanthropic work..

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ENTERTAINMENT

Around The Classical Indian Arts Scene in Vancouver, 2018 Classical Indian music and dance is slowly gaining momentum due to the hard work of those who are enthusiastically promoting the classical arts. Although there have been many performances over the years, recently there has been a sudden surge in the Indian classical Arts scene.

The Raaga Experience was a beautiful television program on Shaw TV curated by Mrs. Nina Buddhadev in collaboration with AAJ Magazine and Media Group and

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was hosted by Smt Gayatri Kaul and Mr. Sharanjeet Singh Mand.

The show gives several classical artists a medium to present their views, talent, and expertise.

In the summer, Vancouver saw Pt Sanjeev Abhayankar and Pta Gargee Siddhanth of Pandit Jasraj School of Music, who presented a wonderful Hindustani classical music performance. Then we had a superb vocalist Kunnakudi Balmurali Krishna present Carnatic music at the Shankar Jayanti

concert. Over the years, Vancouver has developed a small yet very knowledgeable audience for Carnatic and Hindustani music. Another highlight was Rhythms in Unity, which featured vocal salutations to gurus performed by Dr. Vidyasagar’s Sa Pa Sa students.

We also saw the two maestros, Pt Rajan Mishra and Pt Sajan Mishra, who mesmerized the audience with their singing. Pt Harvinder Sharma, the well-known Sitarist, gave a new perspective on music

in his concert. He first presented a classical raaga on sitar and then sang popular light songs and Bollywood songs based on these raaga, which captivated the audience.

In July, the annual Indian Summer Festival brought us Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia who enchanted the audience with his heavenly flute. Living in Vancouver is a blessing as we have the opportunity to watch and listen to so many great musicians from all over the world. The Indian Summer Festival is organised each year by Sirish Rao and wife Laura Byspalko, which presents highly renowned artists locally, from India, and around the world.

In the fall, we also saw Cassius Khan and Amika Kushwaha Khan work tirelessly to bring Indian classical music to the local audience through their annual Mushtari Begum Festival. Cassius Khan has the unique talent

of playing Tabla while singing Ghazals, and this he does with great sophistication and ease.

Amika, an excellent Kathak dancer, enthralls her audience with her exquisite footwork and artistry. She is also a talented musician who accompanies her husband on the harmonium. This year, the festival also featured superb performances by Dr. Kamaljeet Gill, Pt Harvinder Sharma, Sharanjeet Singh Mand, Abhishek Iyer and Dr. Disha Mehta.

lar show on stage. In Vancouver there are excellent dancers of all styles and forms, but it took Sri Raghav Raj Bhatt’s extraordinary vision, supported by Tabla maestro and artistic director of Naad Foundation, Mr. Amarjeet Singh, to bring all these dancers together. With no breaks between dances, each performance flowed from one to another to create a visually fabulous cinematic experience.

Naad Foundation’s dance presentation in October impressed the audience with their unique production, which included classical Indian, folk and ballet dance forms. The excellent choreography can be credited to Guru Sri Raghav Raj Bhatt, who is an exponent of Kathak, a classical dance form of Northern India. As a visiting expert choreographer from India, he quickly trained local dancers to create a spectacu-

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In late October, during Diwali in BC organised by Mr. Rohit Chokhani, The Vancouver Tagore Society and Mandala Arts presented the dance drama Shyama, written by Rabindranath Tagore.

Arno Kamolika as Shyama was excellent. Jayalakshmi Ravindra as the Kotwal (palace guard) added a special touch to her character by using humor. They were joined on stage by three other dancers, Vidya Kotamraju, Malavika Santosh, and Grihalakshmi Soundarapandian, who enacted their

roles with beauty and grace. Music by Shankhnaad Mullick was perfect along with the impressive the stage setting. To hold the audience interest in the classical arts, these dance dramas are going to play a very important role in the future. The choreography

by Guru Jai Govindaji of Mandala Arts and Arno was superb.

with her dance performance at the Round House Theater in Vancouver. The event was also organised by Jai Govindaji, who has himself presented many excellent performances, and has trained many young local dancers with great passion and devotion.

Last but not the least, Vancouver was visited by the beautiful and talented Smt Lavanya Ananth who captivated the audience

Rupa Gopinath Mrs. Rupa Gopinath is a classical Indian dancer, teacher, choreographer and CEO and Artistic Director of Mihika Arts.

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LIFESTYLE

NEW YEAR! NEW BRAND! 5 WAYS TO REFRESH YOUR BRAND IN 2019 The start of a new calendar year for me is about making resolutions and setting goals. One goal I’ve quietly been working on for months now, is rebranding my small business. The process has taught me that it can be quite daunting and it is hard to know where to begin. So I thought I would share five ways you can refresh your personal or business brand in 2018. When I talk about branding people immediately think of their logo and yes that is one element. But there is much more to it than that.

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1. Revisit Your Values.

Hopefully when you first created your personal or business brand you started with a foundation of values. But if you did not, this is a great place to start. What do you believe in? What is important to you?

Think of 3-5 personal qualities or values that really resonate with you and define you are deep in your core. Values like Integrity, Courage and Diversity to name just a few.

2. Get New Headshots.

New headshots are a great way to refresh your brand and well worth the investment of time and money. Do not use a selfie or picture of you taken at a party (yes I’ve seen that). Go to a professional photographer. Take a couple of different outfit with you, one for a casual look and one for a formal business look. Being a professional speaker I often have photographers send me or tag in photos of me speaking, so a photo from an event you attended or media photo is a great source of potential headshots too.

3. Refresh Your Website.

Six months ago I started “renovating” my website and then I realized I needed to change it completely. So for all that time we’ve been working on a completely new website behind the scenes that should launch by Spring 2018. Your website is absolutely one of the most important aspects of your personal or business brand.

You need it to be up to date and engaging.

You could change your cover image and title or use a different template. Another good area of improvement is to remember to add any recent awards and accomplishments. People often forget that and it is a pity because it is great for branding and business development.

Rebuilding your website also gives you an opportunity to pivot your business slightly in terms of the products and services you offer or refocus your area of expertise if it’s your personal website.

4. Change Your Logo.

So I added this one in the list because it is such a key part of anyone’s brand, particularly your business brand. You could do a complete redesign through an online service like 99designs.ca or fiverr.com.

Both are excellent resources so check them out. Or just change one element like the colour or the font. Either way it is a good way to take your brand to the next level or reflect a change in direction.

update it. Make sure it contains the most current information and of course a good headshot or company logo.

Having a clear and persuasive personal or business brand is what helps you stand out and gives you the edge in a very competitive marketplace.

A strong brand will also help you attract more opportunities if you’re looking for a job or leads for your small business, so it’s a good place to focus your time and energy. I want to leave with this final thought; you define who you are and how people see you. So think big; help people see how amazing you and your business really is.

Remember what Walt Disney said “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” Make 2019 that year for you.

5. Update Your LinkedIn Profile or Company Page.

Hands down the most important social media platform for any professional or business is LinkedIn. Every individual and business should have a presence on LinkedIn. I hope to focus on it more in a future article, but for now you need to have a profile. It’s completely free and the only investment is your time. If you already have a personal profile or a company page then take this opportunity to

Narges Nirumvala Narges Nirumvala is Canada’s leading executive speech coach, an award winning entrepreneur, international keynote speaker, author of the Amazon bestselling book “Capture the Spotlight” and a humanitarian.

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TODAY

Solidarity Interfaith Vigil Against Hate Attacks 62

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We have seen a rise in Islamophobia as we mark the second anniversary to shooting of at Grand Mosque in Quebec City killing six and injuring others permanently on January 29. We have also seen the rise of attacks at Jewish synagogues in US and Canada. We also mark almost 30 years of the shooting of six women by Marc Lepine at Ecole Polytechnique in Quebec and we also mark 20 years of when Reena Virk was killed by a mob in a racist attack in Victoria.

An interfaith solidarity vigil will be organized by the Coalition Against Bigotry – Pacific at the Vancouver Masjid Al Jamia, the first Mosque in BC on Tuesday, January 29th at 6 pm at 655 West 8th Avenues on these occupied, traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples – specifically the sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), sel̓ íl̓ witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) nations.

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LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLE

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As the holiday season is a here, I love to think back of my travel memories with my partner to the – “The Land of Dragons”- Bhutan- a perfect getaway for all Canadians who want to relax and escape from the cold weather. A trip to the secret this world holds, an unspoiled kingdom nestled in the eastern part of the Himalayas which isn’t just Carbon NeutralIt’s the Carbon-Negative nation

equal importance to the non-economic aspects of wellbeing like Bhutan.

We picked Bhutan as our holiday destination since we both preferred an exotic place with a mild climate, also a way to escape the terrible Indian summer and Bhutan was the right choice. It was the best time of our lives yet.

The construction of the Gross National Happiness Index includes 9 domains such as Psychological wellbeing, Health, Education, Time use, Cultural diversity and resilience, Good governance, Community vitality, Ecological diversity and resilience, Living standards. It is a holistic reflection of the general wellbeing of the Bhutanese population rather than a subjective psychological ranking of ‘happiness’ alone.

Bhutan is incredibly beautiful, and we were fascinated by the beauty of nature, the freshness of the air and it was the perfect place to relax in the lap of nature, enjoying the sights of this picturesque kingdom.

Yes, it is the phrase called ‘gross national happiness’ (GNH) which was first coined by the 4th King of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972 when he declared, “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.”

Bhutan never failed to impress and surprise me during the whole trip as I came to know about their economic and social policy. Many developed economies have never even thought about or had given

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Bhutan’s breathtaking, distinctive culture, with its Buddhist legends and spectacular memorials of stately deities, and the celebrated Lakhangs, a dazzling realm of glistening temples with towering pinnacles. Fascinating fog covered hills, ornate valleys decorated with Buddhist prayer flags, princely fortresses, and airy chants from faraway monasteries are the enchanting lure of Bhutan. Its remote corners had the most dazzling scenery.

It was truly a wow-experience, that no man on the earth should never miss experiencing it.

This is a walk-through of my experience in Bhutan, which was the most delightful and magical experience close to our heart.

We choose MakeMyTrip as our online travel agency, who offered us a stress-free vacation planning.

We were super excited and happy to begin our much-awaited Bhutan trip for 7 days and 2 nights in Delhi from Coimbatore airport to Delhi. As we safely landed in the Capital city NEW DELHI around in the evening, we had only a few hours left in Delhi and we never want to miss the chance of visiting INDIA GATE located in the center of New Delhi, the capital of India.

This landmark in Delhi made

by Edwin Lutyens in 1921 commemorates the members of the erstwhile British Indian Army who sacrificed their lives fighting for the Indian Empire in the Afghan Wars and World War We were at this memorial at the best time to visit (between 7 pm and 9:30 pm) as the structure was illuminated. We also enjoyed the evening, as there were many street food vendors selling local snacks and delicacies.

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We were all set for the next day trip to ‘The Land of Thunder Dragon’.

Destination Thimphu Paro Airport is the only international airport of the four airports in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Coming out of the clouds toward Paro Airport, you can 18,000-foot peaks of the Himalayas on one or both sides of you.

Landing at Paro Airport has been described by many people as breathtaking. Conversely, the tiny airstrip situated a mile and a half above sea level has also been described as completely terrifying and is roundly regarded as one of the most challenging airports to land in the world.

On reaching Thimphu, checked in to our hotel, Terma Linca Resort & Spa – Thimphu where we stayed for 3 days.

Terma Linca Resort is located right at the entrance to the capital city of Bhutan: Thimphu. Proudly sitting on a curved bank of the Wangchhu (Thimpu River) the resort showcases local architecture and Bhutanese charm. The location of Terma Linca together with its elegant architecture and refined simplicity gives the resort an understated magical lull.

Despite the challenges associated with the airport, the eight pilots that are certified to land at the airport still manage to bring over 30,000 people per year into the mountainous Asian country.

Of all the places we stayed while in Bhutan Terma Linca was our favorite! The silence is broken only by the constant murmur of a glacial river in the backyard.

Too lovely! Beautiful rooms with large windows overlooking hills and a river.it was a perfect location for relaxing after a day of exploring the wonderful bounty of Bhutan’s charm and majesty.

On arrival at Paro, we met by a MakeMyTrip representative Mr.Sonam, a lively character was our designated guide and driver for the next 7 days who gave us brief about the entire tour plan in Bhutan.

The warm and attentive staff made sure we had a splendid time with them and even treated us like royalty. The last night we stayed there they dressed us in traditional Bhutanese clothes, which was a wonderful experience for us.

The Capital city of Thimphu is an hour and fifteen minutes by road from Paro. Paro to Thimphu has some amazing scenic views of mountains and rivers flowing along. This trip has the best stretch of road in Bhutan – speed limit is 50km/hour (about 33miles/hour).

We were told that the tolerance was up to a maximum of 60km/ hour – above that, hefty fines were charged. The disciplined drivers kept within the dreaded 60km/ hour limits unlike their counterparts in neighboring India.

The cozy intimate feeling, the remote setting while being so close to town is great. The food was the best and we got to try many Bhutanese delicacies, also they served a variety of cuisines.

Forever in love with this place with all the sweet memories and most beautiful time and the best holiday ever. If time lets us we have made up our mind to visit the same place again after 10 years, cherishing the memories.

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REFLECTING TODAY, SHAPING TOMORROW

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TODAY

Community Calls to

Wake Up to the Gang Wars Ranjeev “Raj” Sangha well-known Bhangra promoter is one of the latest victims to the gang war that has taken lives of many South Asian young men in the last few years, shot down at the age of 41 on Southview Drive near 146th Street in the Panorama Ridge around 11:45 a.m. PT on Monday, Nov. 26.

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He was said to be a “legend” in the Punjabi community and called him a “stand-up guy” willing to help anyone. This has been a big shock and loss for the community. He is one of almost 250 young men who have be lost in the gang war since 2015.

Table meeting on December 8th with all three levels of government presents including the Mayors of Surrey and Abbotsford and BC Solicitor General Mike Farnsworth to talk about looking for solutions to cracking down on the gang violence.

Wake Up Surrey held a Round

Many experts in field including

policing and community services talked about solutions and how they could collaborate and work together in finding multiple approaches to working on preventative measures to helping gang members get out.

There was general agreement that more funding was needed to fund community-based organizations to work on prevention. Some said that there wasn’t enough funding to fund existing programs let alone new initiatives.

Wake Up Abbotsford also held a packed Town Hall meeting a few days before on December 5th at Abbottsford City Hall where elected representatives including Abbotsford Mayor was also present on a very cold December evening.

Both Wake Abbotsford and Wake Up Surrey have working together in the last few months. Abbotsford has also been dealing with ongoing gang related shootings.

Mandeep Grewal was gunned down outside the front door of a bank in the 32000-block of South Fraser Way in Abbotsford in October 2018 was the elder brother of Gavin Grewal, the gang leader murdered in his penthouse apartment last December. Grewal was not believed to be involved in the ongoing gang conflict, but could have been targeted as retribution for murders linked to his brother’s gang — the Brothers’ Keepers. Gavin, and another brother Manbir, have both been the subject of public warnings by

police because of their involvement in the regional gang war.

Former gang member Shenan Charania spoke at the Abbotsford Town hall about how he was drawn into the gang lifestyle. He said that our youth are drawn to gangs because they get a sense of belonging that they are not getting from their families because they are too busy working to support their families. But they are losing their families in the process.

He said that he was lucky that he was able to get himself out because they was a turning point in his life when he realized that he needed to get out. But others that he knows are not so lucky and are still stuck in that trap.

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LIFESTYLE

TIPS TO HELP YOU MAINTAIN YOUR

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION As we prepare to begin 2018, many of us have set goals or have come up with resolutions that we would like to stick to in the coming year.

Statistically many will fail at this attempt to bring forth the change they want in their lives. So, why does this tend to happen repeatedly year after year?

The answers are very simple, if you look at the facts. Many of the ones that tend to fail at keeping their resolutions do so because they aren’t using the right tools to bring forth this change into their lives.

To change your habits is to change your character. That is something very empowering to do and once you can change your character, you can bring forth an abundance of positive changes into your lives.

Psychology teaches us that the habits of the mind can be changed by the development of pathways in our brains which are created by daily habits, emotions, our interactions with others and so forth. Our brains have the power to bring forth drastic changes in our lives through synaptic plasticity.

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Synaptic plasticity controls how effectively the neurons in our brains communicate with each other. Long term bad habits cause stable changes in the brain at the molecular and cellular levels. Therefore, you really need to get down to the nitty gritty things in your life and start changing yourself on a microscopic level.

I would suggest that you create daily rituals for yourself to get you into a routine of good habits that will strengthen the ability of your mind to adapt and stick to changes.

Some rituals that you can start doing daily pertain to the little things in your life.

Start your day by getting up on time and making your bed. Eat breakfast and enjoy your first meal of the day and plan your tasks for the day. This will help raise your self awareness.

Clean up your space constantly. When you declutter your space and clean up, the visual affect will influence your brain.

Complete small tasks on time, be nicer to people, listen more than talking and really hear people out when listening, go on

small walks, make time to meet friends and visit family.

Exercising really helps change the chemicals in your body. By increasing physical activity in your schedule, your body will release more endorphins, and balance dopamine and serotonin levels, which will in turn will boost your energy levels, change your mood, and prompt better sleep.

These rituals will bring a balance into your days and hence help your brain adapt to the changes you want to bring forth in your life.

Nothing great comes easy and fast. Everything worth having takes time to build, but you have to start somewhere and stick to the path you have taken. Just remember: it’s ok to fall down, as long as you keep getting back up.

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LIFESTYLE

TIPS TO HELP YOU STICK TO YOUR NEW YEAR’S

FITNESS RESOLUTION 1.

Treat your transformation like a startup firm. There will be days when you want to give up. Some of your friends might stop talking to you as you embark on this journey of self-improvement, and trust me you will not miss those friends. Don’t be disappointed by bumps on the road; embrace the process and fall in love with it. It is YOU working on your own body. The only body that will stay with you until your last breath. If you fall off track, get back on it and be realistic. It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about pushing onwards.

2.

or who have already achieved what you want to achieve. If you are too shy to make new friends, use your phone and follow people on Instagram and Facebook. Reap benefits from new technology. Do not let others’ thoughts deviate you from your target. Many older people in the South Asian culture have a tendency to think chubby people look good and well, and lean people look gaunt and sick. Do not listen to them and instead continue to head towards your target.

Embrace the Process

Build a Support Team Having a support team is always a great idea. But how do you build a support team? Surround yourself with people who have similar goals,

3.

Set Your Goals Set clear short-term and long-term goals. A short-term goal could be a monthly goal, whereas a long-term goal is a weight target you want to reach. For example, a short-term goal is to lose 6-10 lbs in 1 month, and a

long-term goal is to lose 60-100 lbs in a year. Make sure to have realistic, specific, and measurable goals. For example, don’t say you’re going to give up eating aloo paronta, when it’s what you look forward to every Sunday afternoon. Instead, limit that meal to once a month – or change the ingredients to make it healthier.

Change one variable at a time. Start with working out three times per week and once you are consistent, then it will be time to work on your diet. Take time to celebrate small success and pause for a moment to cherish that success.

4.

Eat Right Food Make sure to have a balanced diet and enough calories in every meal based on your goals, and please don’t be afraid of eating fat like cheese, butter, and dairy. Plan weekly meals ahead of time - weekends are always best. Try new healthy recipes so that you don’t get bored of eating the same food again and again. Eat a healthy snack before going to a dinner party to avoid binging on pakore and samose as appetizers.

Give friends and relatives strict instructions to bring fruits and nuts instead of laddoo (Indian sweets) on festive occasions. Avoid fat free and sugar replacement products.

Have a cheat MEAL not a cheat day to celebrate your weekly hard work.

5.

Invest in Yourself Starting this year, put money aside for your health every month. If achieving your health resolution requires you to join a gym – do it!

Join that Pilates class you’ve been intrigued about, or go with friends to a Bhangra workout class. Do it now rather than later. If your budget allows, hire a personal trainer so that you know you are on track and doing the right exercises. This makes you accountable to someone. Health should be first on your priority list.

Money to upgrade your car or to get a new kitchen can wait. Let this year be about your investment in your health and wellness.

Brought to you by: The Fitness Funk – Stay Fit Stand Strong Instagram/thefitnessfunk Facebook/thefitnessfunk1 Sundeep Sandhu

Sandeep Singh Sandhu is an amateur filmmaker/YouTuber and fitness instructor.

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