Desi News Corp - Index

Desi News Corp - Desi News - July 2009 - Index

Hello ji!
Isometimes think new immigrants and relative newcomers
to the country appreciate Canada more than
those who have been here all their lives.
I guess that’s natural, and to be expected. If you have
nothing to compare it to, it’s easy to take the best for
granted. To grumble about the weather or the taxes.
About long waits at the clinic and about the gridlock on
our roads. Those who come to Canada seeking a better
quality of life, better education for their children, stability,
or refuge from war and abuse have a better understanding
of what a privilege it is to call yourself Canadian.
Reader Pratibha Panday forwarded an e-mail which
I think is particularly appropriate in the month we
celebrate Canada Day.
It describes Canadians as people of Afghan, African,
Arab, Australian, Chinese, English, French, German,
Greek, Indian, Italian, Iranian, Irish, Japanese, Korean,
Mexican, Pakistani, Polish, Russian or Spanish – you get
the picture – origin. A Canadian may also be a Cree,
Métis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux, or one of the many
other tribes known as native Canadians.
A Canadian’s religious beliefs can be Christian, Jewish,
Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or other or none of the
above. In Canada, each is free to worship as they choose.
Whether they have a religion or no religion, each
Canadian ultimately answers to God, not to armed thugs
claiming to speak for the government or for God.
A Canadian lives in one of the most prosperous lands
in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity
can be found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
which recognizes each person’s right to the pursuit of
happiness.
A Canadian is generous and Canadians have helped
out just about every other nation in the world in their
time of need, never asking a thing in return.
Canadians welcome the best of everything, the best
products, the best books, the best music, the best food,
the best services, and the best minds. But they also
welcome the oppressed, the outcast, and the rejected.
These are the people who built Canada. Canadians
are not a particular people from a particular place. They
are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone
who holds to that spirit, everywhere, can be a Canadian.
Happy Canada Day!
Editor
touchBASE
Refreshing change
What a refreshing change
Srivatsa and Noah (How a desi
Canadian is bringing cheer to a
Kolkata slum, June) are in a
world that is obsessed with
me and mine. The work they
are doing in a Kolkata slum
is truly inspirational. I found
it particularly interesting juxtaposed
with the article on
Grant’s Community achiever
Alina Chatterjee’s work in
Toronto.
– HEMANT DAS, VIA E-MAIL
Tales of two cities
A few good people
Srivatsa Marthi working in a
Kolkata slum (How a desi Canadian
is bringing cheer to a Kolkata slum),
Alina Chatterjee working to provide
the best public housing to the city’s
underprivileged (Lives are built with
bricks, mortar and hope) and Caroline
D’Souza collecting money for poor
children in India (Li’l girl dreams big)...
Good people, doing great work.
– AAMNA KAMRAN, VIA E-MAIL
Enough already!
If you mention Slumdog Millionaire
one more time I’m going to scream.
– DIMPIE S ANDHU, VIA E-MAIL
On the other hand...
Though I admire Nandan
Nilekani for putting India on the
IT map of the world, I don’t share
his faith in the human dividend
(Rethinking India Inc, June), or his
unbridled optimism. India may
have four young people for every
older person, but are the four gainfully
employed? I don’t think so.
For India to maximize its potential,
each child must have access
to education and a prejudice-free
environment. Children who don’t
have clean drinking water can’t
change the world.
– SAGAR G ILL, VIA E-MAIL
More money saving tips
I’d like to add to the tips provided in Stretch your dollar (May). Don’t be
taken in by offers of lowered interest rates by switching your credit
cards. Read the fine print, the lower rates are generally applicable only
for a few months; after that, significantly higher ones kick in. Instead,
negotiate a better deal on your existing card. Don’t pay for extended
warranties for appliances. Defects, if any, will show up within the first
year. If you are renovating, don’t be intimidated into paying a portion of
the cost when you sign the contract. Most contractors insist on it, and
then give you the runaround for dates. Agree to pay after the materials are
delivered. That way, you have something to show for your money if the
contractor pulls a vanishing act on you. – S ACHIDANAND BHIDE, VIA E-MAIL
Publisher G. A. Easwar
Editor Shagorika Easwar
Address 37 Firestone Road,
Etobicoke, ON M9C 4N1
Phone 416-695-4357
Fax 416-621-2691
Email desinews@rogers.com
Writers’
riters’ Pool S. Gopikrishna,
(Toronto), Derek Bose, K.R.N.
Swami, V. Ananth (India)
Photographer Nari Mavalwalla
Advertising 416-695-4357
Circulation Downtown Toronto,
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Markham, Richmond Hill, East
York, Thornhill, Concord, North
York, Oakville, Mississauga,
Malton, Etobicoke, Brampton,
Woodbridge, Hamilton, Stoney
Creek, Burlington, Windsor,
Oshawa, Whitby.
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July 2009 Desi News 9