When G. A. Easwar first arrived in Canada 26 years ago with his wife Shagorika and his two young sons, he was astonished at the vast differences that separated the Canadian landscape from his home in India. During his early years in India and later in Dubai, Easwar was surrounded by local members of the Indian community – a stark difference to Canada, where the South Asian community was much smaller in the mid-1990s.
Growing up in a Canadian Punjabi community, Ashna Jassi was quickly exposed to differences in expectations for sons and daughters within South Asian households including expectations around elderly care. Being attentive to these differences would prove to be more than fruitful for Ashna, a second-generation Punjabi Canadian, as it would guide her PhD research and dissertation focus at the University of Guelph.
The Guelph & District Multicultural Festival, held annually since 1978, is one of the City of Guelph’s biggest outdoor events. More than 50 cultural backgrounds are represented and an average attendance of 25,000 people at this event. Among the booths of sizzling food, crafts, and cultural dance performances, Guelphites can travel the globe from the comforts of Riverside Park.
Like many South Asians, I grew up watching Bollywood movies. When I first arrived in Canada in 2013, they were like a piece of home for me. So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to learn about women in film, working behind the camera as writers, producers and directors, when I enthusiastically signed up for the Research Assistant position with the Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). My role was to assist with the conference "Women in Films and Media Conference" funded by the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute.
An exhausting travel schedule awaited Dr. Karine Gagné when she arrived in Delhi, India, after a 14-hour journey from Canada in April 2019. Her destination, Zanskar in the Himalayan Mountains, was still a full two days away, in a bumpy truck over very rocky roads. And while the heat of Delhi gave way to more moderate temperatures in higher elevations, it was a gruelling trip nonetheless.
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Dr. Praveen Saxena delivered the Dr G Rangaswami Endowment Lecture at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India in March 2020.
Dr.Jayasankar Subramanian is one of the recipients of the 2020 Grant’s Desi Achiever award. The Grant’s Desi Achiever Award recognizes the outstanding service to the community and setting the bar higher for south Asians in Canada.
Muhammad Saif Islam, from the School of English and Theatre Studies, defended his MA thesis, Representing the Partition of 1947: Rohinton Mistry’s Tales from Firozsha Baag, Such a Long Journey, and A Fine Balance as Political Allegories (co-advisors Ajay Heble and Gregor Campbell), September 2020.
Josie Wittmer successfully defended her PhD dissertation, "Women's work in the 'clean city': Perspectives on wellbeing, waste governance, and inclusion from the urban margins in Ahmedabad India," on December 15, 2020.