I have never been to a fashion show in my entire life. And, being a woman of the twenty first century who has some moderate ideas about the latest fashions, I feel appalled to admit that. However, my no-fashion-show-experience changed on Saturday, February 27^th, when I attended University of Toronto’s Rock the Runway 2010.

It was not your average run-of-the-mill university fashion show (I know, I know. I haven’t been to a show before, so how do I know?). For one, the show was held at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), and the settings and design surpassed anything York University has ever seen (source: overheard conversation at the show). Being a York student myself, I should stand to contradict this, but I was blown away with the professionalism in their display. And, they were running on time!!! In my experience, that’s a rarity for York shows.

The show started off with eye candy MC Brendan Beamish whose quirky humour set the tempo of the evening. The show included top brand names like Club Monaco, Bedo and French Connection, with the endorsement of a fantastic jewellery line by Gay Isber (who is also the officially jeweler for ROM). We were also treated to J(two) unisex shirts and Juju shoes, as well as AllieOop bags. The headliner designer was ‘Mis. James’, whose clothes, in my opinion, were made for ultra thin anorexic models, and which also made me wonder how she made it to the headliner slot. Oh well, I did say my sense of fashion was moderate. However, what stayed on in my mind long after the show was over was the musical performance by two jazz musicians that came right after the intermission: a jugalbandi of trumpets.

So, how did the show come about? In 2007, some UofT students (Fatima Yusuf, Juliana White, Heather McCann and Randy Alexander) from Woodsworth College had a vision. They wanted to raise money for War Child Canada, in a fun and engaging way that would bring the student community in Toronto together in the effort. And, it worked! Being their third consecutive year organizing the show, they have managed to move to a 600 attendee event (from just 100 students in their first year), consisting of fashion aficionados from UofT, York and Ryerson, raising over $20,000 in the past two years. As the story goes, the show gained so much popularity over the past two years that this year they had to move the location from Bata Museum to the ROM. It was a first for both Rock the Runway and ROM, because this was ROM’s first fashion show.

But fashion show aside, the cause behind the show is what is compelling. War Child Canada is a “Canadian charity dedicated to providing urgently needed humanitarian assistance to war-affected children around the world. War Child Canada helps generate awareness, support and advocacy for children’s rights everywhere”. The organization has a major role in providing assistance and generating awareness for the support of children in places like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Georgia, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Darfur. Overall, it is a cause that needs more attention, and Rock the Runway does precisely that through an approach that is both appealing and important to our current sensibilities. This is one show that I definitely won’t be missing next year, as fashion for a good cause is a far better excuse than any.

Author: Sanchari Sur

Born in Mississauga and not any exotic place, Sasha Kalra is the President of South Asian Alliance at University of Toronto St. George campus. Studying Political Science and International Relations, Sasha is still struggling with what field to choose: journalism, politics, law, agent for celebrities, or business administration. Talking out loud, Sasha sort of went through elimination process of what professions he does not like, however there are a number of considerations including how good a program is at each university, what parents are recommending, aptitude and of course money.

Free samosas and bar-be-cues attracted Sasha toward South Asian Alliance. Not highly motivated to join SAA, Sasha, initially got involved to embellish his resume. He has learned to work with a team and finds it “fulfilling.” Another advantage is “meeting a lot of new people, I mean, I won’t have met you if it wasn’t for SAA,” Sasha says. As an individual Sasha is funny, intelligent, smart and it is obvious that he knows how to get people engaged otherwise it would have been hard to be the president of SAA.

The first time around, Sasha was unable to run for executive team of SAA because of a class, however as most South Asian organizations, SAA was back to election phase after a semester, and here was the opportunity Sasha had missed earlier.

SAA at St. George has 12 executive members with two presidents. I had to ask why there are two presidents when every country has one president. Sasha joked, well “there is a prime minister and a president.” On his defense he did note that he gets along very well with the co-president of SAA.

In every organization, there are members who are not fully committed and willing to give time that they had promised to other members of the organization. SAA at St. George is no different. However the way to deal with is “we sit them down, we don’t scorn them down, we don’t tell them off, but again if they keep screwing down..we had to cut execs in the past if they do not work in the group or put their weight” says the President.

On the Election Day, 30 to 100 people show up out of a 900 membership list. One of the reasons is “everyone is in the library by themselves and doing their own stuff and then there are 40% international students at our campus.” In spite of the high numbers of international students from South Asia, many international students do not join the South Asian club. Why? “International students, I have noticed, don’t like to join these clubs..they are like I’m in Canada, why would I join a South Asian club, I’ve been in India my whole life. Local kids join because they have no social life, they are lonely.”

Strictly an apolitical body, SAA chose not to join Drop the Fee rally outside Premier Dalton McGunity’s office last Fall. UTSU funds all student clubs. UTSU asked all student bodies to join the rally. An added incentive given to execs of student organizations was to have $5 for every member brought in. Individually Sasha believes that rallies like Drop the Fee exude socialism, and, so he does not support them at an individual level either. “They want the government to fund everything,” he says.

Being an executive of SAA means you have to have a lot of time and energy. Every two weeks, the Alliance aims to do an event whether it is a fund raiser or a skating event.

Doing good things in the community is top priority for SAA. Other than that, the conversation among members of SAA is “God I missed that class, can I have notes from that class.” Focus on education is the top priority of these students.

SAA organizes events like poker. Revenue generated from such games is donated to charity organizations. Of course there are angry people at the end of the poker game, “but everyone is happy at the end because you see your friends’ win and be happy. Then sometimes we have faculty members come play poker with us. It’s kinda funny to watch them lose to their own students.” These charity organizations are local as well as international. They have donated to Canadian Cancer Society, Sick Children Hospital; we did a run for CIBC Run for the Cure and so on.

One of SAA’s biggest events is a formal that attracts more than a thousand South Asian students from universities and colleges across GTA. However, in this event students of Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan decent were nowhere to be seen. “Our membership is open to all South Asians, but I don’t know why they don’t join. Our President is Bengali this year and last year it was Tamil, but I should think about it” says Sasha, but are the execs of SAA really outreaching to Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan students is a real question.

As a President of SAA, Sasha believes that “coordination” is a huge challenge. “Dividing work” is another issue. “Essentially when everyone is doing everything, that leads to so much confusion,” Sasha says.

A few years ago, there was rivalry among members of different student bodies, however “now we don’t care, we are friends with everyone and all we care about is our campus,” says Sasha.

As a student of Political Science, Sasha follows politics closely. He is not satisfied by MP Michael Ignatieff’s leadership. “He’s a talker and charming, Stephan Dion wasn’t a great speaker but his policies on climate change were really good, Bob Rae should be the leader of Liberal Party,” but that’s just Sasha’s humble opinion.

By: Asma Amanat

A broad smile on their faces, a bounce in their step, and a twinkle in their eyes…is how one would describe every single person in Canada during Spring time. India’s most celebrated choreographer and artist, Shiamak Davar, adds a new flavour to this year’s spring with SPRING FUNK^TM, a first-of-its-kind initiative in Canada. The Spring Funk^TM classes will be conducted at all centres of Shiamak’s Institute in Canada i.e. Vancouver and Toronto.

Shiamak launches Spring Funk^TM on popular demand post the phenomenal success of his previous batches, Summer Funk^TM and Winter Funk^TM. With Spring Funk^TM, Shiamak once again provides all in Canada a unique opportunity of learning the latest Bollywood blockbuster dance moves and showcasing them in a professionally run event complete with majestic sets, rich costumes and innovative props. Shiamak’s Spring Funk^TM will be staged across Canada: Toronto – 14^th March 2010 and Vancouver: 11^th April 2010.

What makes Spring Funk^TM even more special is that besides having spectacular acts by the students of Shiamak’s institute, it will also have heart-rending performances by Shiamak’s Victory Arts Foundation (VAF) – the non-profit wing of Shiamak’s organisation committed towards spreading the joy of dance to children with special needs. With Spring Funk^TM the special children will be given an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of performing like stars in front of a huge audiences reinforcing Shiamak’s belief Have Spirit. Will Triumph^TM.

Shiamak has been successfully conducting dance classes in Canada since the past 9 years; educating, entertaining and empowering all the dance aficionados in the country. Shiamak’s Summer Funk^TM and Winter Funk^TM are unique programs, training amateur dancers to perform like confident professionals. Shiamak’s Institute trains, energizes and reaches out to people from all walks of life. Aged 4 to 74 years, SDI students attend dance classes in the age groups of 4-6 years for kids, 7-12 years for pre-teens and 13 years and above for adults. Spring Funk^TM aims to do all this and much more…

Spring Funk^TM classes will be conducted at Toronto (Markham, Mississauga, Brampton, Downtown, Scarborough, Woodbridge & Vaughan) and Vancouver (North Vancouver, Richmond, Downtown Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby)

TiEQuest is an annual business venture competition held in Toronto to encourage entrepreneurship, engage emerging entrepreneurial talent and to foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Founded in 2005, the mission of TiEQuest is to connect entrepreneurs with angel investors, venture capitalists and fund managers.

TiEQuest attracts over 200 entrepreneurs every year. The contestants include existing and emerging entrepreneurs, patent holders and/or applicants, university students and alumni across North America. TiEQuest offers over $150,000 in prizes to the winners. To encourage participation of youth, TiEQuest offers the New Entrepreneur Prize to the best student team. In addition the top teams also have an opportunity to win up to $1,000,000 investment from sponsors.

TiEQuest has over 25 success stories, where the contestants were able to take their business idea to successful enterprises, which have obtained financing, signed partnerships, acquired customers and generated revenues. The contestants see value in participating in the competition as it offers networking opportunities with leading entrepreneurs and investors, recognition with investment, legal and accounting firms, opportunity to practice the process of pitching their venture to investors, and opportunity to turn an innovative idea into a real businesses.

TiEQuest is different from other business plan competitions as it offers mentoring to the contestants. We connect contestants with industry experts, successful entrepreneurs and professional advisors. As mentors, TiE charter members introduce contacts and insights on where to go. TiEQuest enhances the opportunity for obtaining financing. We have 30+ venture capitalists, angel investors, fund managers and other business leaders acts as judges. The participants get an opportunity to present to the investors. In addition, the sponsoring funds offer expression of interest to the top teams. The competition is designed to go through multiple stages to help polish business idea and promote networking opportunities. The judging criteria include value proposition, marketability, viability, management strengths and investibility.

TiEQuest is organized by TiE Toronto, a chapter of global, not-for-profit network of entrepreneurs and professionals dedicated to the advancement of entrepreneurship. TiE provides a platform for mentoring, networking and education. TiE’s mission is to foster and advance entrepreneurship across the globe. Its principle objective is to provide a platform on which people with entrepreneurial spirit and those interested in economic value creation can come together to share ideas. TiE endeavors to cultivate and nurture the ecosystems of entrepreneurship as it sees this to be the single most powerful instrument of prosperity.

TiE regular members are aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community, TiE’s focus is on generating and nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs.

TiEQuest 2010 is now accepting applications. Visit www.tiequest.org for details.

Author: Suresh Madan

In quest of finding real happiness and spirituality, Sayone went from temple to temple in Toronto. It was a learning process for him whereby he prodded different faiths including Christianity. However, he was most comfortable at Hindu temples. In these Hindu temples he was exposed to their philosophies as well as their “good sense of community,” nonetheless some of these temples were not very well attended.

That is when he got the idea of networking and forming an organization called Hindu Youth Network (HYN). Within three years, HYN has gathered more than 6,000 members of which almost 5000 are in Toronto. The age group of bulk of the membership is 18-27 though the organization is open for youth between the ages of 15 and 30.

Deeply spiritual himself, Sayone believes “you have to understand yourself before you understand others.” He feels that most “religious leaders are seekers; they are still exploring at higher levels but they are not quite there yet.” “To bring out the best in other people” is far more challenging, he says.

The spiritual events held by HYN bring out more or less 150 people, however social events can be attended by as many as 300 people.

After seeing the response of the first event held by HYN almost three years ago, Sayone started a website. Now HYN has become the largest South Asian HYN Facebook group with over 2200 members. Sayone encourages more people to check www.hinduyouth.net.

Sayone says “we as a group focus on spirituality, not politics. I do have my own opinion; and I don’t hide it.” HYN has been approached by candidates from Canadian political parties however; HYN’s policy is “I love you guys all. We will promise we won’t support the other side, but we won’t support you either.”

HYN has earned respect within South Asian community. It has a lot of impact in the community. Sayone strongly believes that “our job is to try to reach out to all faiths, but not to impose our faith on others. We want to bring out the best in individuals.”

Sayone’s seeking nature had turned him form a hard core atheist into a spiritual individual. He describes culture as something that we have internalized as kids without knowing why we are doing what we are doing. It is something that we are “forced to do,” he says. He cites going to temple with his mother as an example. “A lot of people in South Asia can’t articulate because they pass on values from generation to generation. In the West, you have to be very specific.” It is this deep rooted sense of humility that allows the President of HYN to think that Universal Brotherhood is “not idealistic” and googling is pushing people toward universal brotherhood.

A Hindu Tamil by origin, Sayone has travelled almost all over the world to find relief from what is happening in Sri Lanka. He has graduated from York University. Uncertain of his career path as a teenager, he had interest in being an architect, a game developer, a computer engineer, a businessman and so on. Finally he settled as an IT professional.

HYN is a space where youth expresses itself says Sayone. If youth wants us to do something, we will do it. At HYN “We respect it.” If at some point people would ask for political action, we will become involved. Women at HYN wanted a women’s wing. And our membership is thrilled to have a women’s wing. “So we take into consideration what our membership wants.”

The criterion to be an executive member of HYN is simple. You have to be able to work as if you are family; you have to be smart and you have to be a down-to-earth person. Perhaps because of these qualities of individuals, HYN has either taken over small groups that worked toward inspiring youth.

The Clean City High School Green Club Council is a new initiative formed in an effort to provide the “environmentally passionate” youth of Brampton an outlet to express their “green” creativity in an educational, safe, and hands on environment. The youth council is composed of more than 20 dedicated, devoted, and passionate young people, representing several local Brampton high schools. The group discusses, plans, and implements a variety of environmentally conscious projects and initiatives, year round, in an effort to make Brampton a “greener” place to live and play.

            Membership in the Clean City High School Green Club Council offers a wide variety of opportunities, from website development, to the coordination of community events, to the chance to hold a seat at the Brampton Clean City Committee’s round table.

             The Clean City High School Green Club Council is also a great way to get involved in your community, and network with other environmentally focused youth. Members who are involved can also receive community service hours to place toward their high school community service requirements.

             I have had the chance to interact and make friends with several youth from around Brampton who are just as passionate about the environment as I am. I have also had the opportunity to take part in a variety of community based events and give back to the community which has provided so much for me and other Brampton youth. My experience with the Green Club Council has been very educational and rewarding.

- Yasho Paliwal

The council is currently working on several different environmental projects. Through these community projects and initiatives, the group hopes to raise public awareness of environmental issues and concerns. Some current projects include:

• Park Adoption
• Toronto Zoo Turtle and Frog Tally
• Olympic Torch Relay Recycling Initiative
• Harvest and Spring Cleanups 
• Pitch-In Canada Cell Phone Collection
• Year Round Environmental Cleanups
• E-Waste Collection

The council meets every other week to discuss upcoming events, projects, environmental concerns, and stewardship opportunities. The group hopes to inspire change by helping students to witness positive results from their own actions, projects, and initiatives. 

For more information on the Clean City High School Green Club Council or the Brampton Clean City Committee, please visit www.brampton.ca or call 905-874-2

Iftar Charity Barbecue

Mercy Missions is an Australian based non-profit organization that has recently decided to explore the Canadian grounds. A group of us have been fortunate enough to be chosen to organize our OWN charity case, under the support of Mercy Missions.

Our group is called Five Pillars of Humanity, and we are made up of 6 devoted and hardworking individuals who only are trying to make our city a better place for us all.

York Region Eid Mela

Five Pillars of Humanity wants to help because a society can flourish only when its members do not spend all their wealth on the satisfaction of their own desires but reserve a portion of it for parents, relatives neighbours, the poor and the incapacitated.  As the saying goes: Charity begins at home. A true believer is thus always prepared, after meeting the needs of his family, to assist other people in need of his help.

Not one of us can do this on our own, which is why immense support is needed from the rest of the community.  A series of charity events are being organized, and in that series one was held at Nene’s Continental cuisine where your generous support made the event very successful.

Esau, Heba, Maheen, Sobia, Aliyah & Bilal

Please visit www.mercymission.ca and look for Charity Challenge. Our group name is five pillars of Humanity for more information!!!

 Author: Sobia Malik

If you go to York University, you have probably heard of the Indian Cultural Association (ICA). Rahat Virji the current President of the Indian Cultural Association at York University gives us an insight of what ICA really does.

Indian Cultural Association’s main goal is to create a platform for students to express their talents. Before Indian Cultural Association was known as Bharatiya at York, it was primarily a social organization. They were known as the Bollywood club; they had pub nights, and Bollywood movie nights. ICA was blamed for not opening up or staying within closed doors. As the word Bharatiya is derived from Hindi, many people did not understand what Bharatiya meant. “It is not even an Indian “Student” Association where we are restricting ourselves to just students, but it is an Indian “Cultural” Association, we are trying to spread knowledge about the Indian culture, we are trying to allow people to celebrate the Indian culture” says Rahat Virji. The Indian Cultural Association holds political, social and cultural events.

The Indian Cultural Association tries to accommodate all kinds of interests which is why they have seven different portfolios including dance, academic, finance, membership volunteers, marketing, webmaster and events. For example the academic portfolio was in charge of a recent movie night event. This time instead of holding a Bollywood movie night, they held a documentary movie night, they showed a documentary titled “Born into Brothels”. It was shot in Calcutta. The documentary is based on a photographer who went to Calcutta and taught children of prostitutes. The photographer showed the children to view the world in a different lens. Then an organization was formed called “Kids with Cameras” that sends children to schools. has fundraisers and a sponsorship program. After the movie night, ICA held a fundraiser and sent money to the “Kids with Cameras” organization. Also ICA came first last year in the dance competition that happens during multicultural week. They have Bollywood dance classes throughout the year, and they performed at many places including Gerrard Festival and Chin Picnic. Great Job ICA!

The Indian Cultural Association currently has more than 400 members. Elections are held at the end of the year. The students are sent out position openings on the listserv. You need certain volunteer hours for certain positions. Multicultural Week at York University is a great time to volunteer with ICA, as they always need people to help out and represent the amazing Indian Culture! You may become a member by giving a minimal fee of $5; this will give access to free events, discounted events, email updates and so on.

Rahat Virji came to Canada for studies from Bombay, India. he is currently doing a Specialized Honors in Financial Business Economics. When I asked Rahat Virji whether balancing academic life and the responsibilities that come with ICA is a challenge, she says, “It is, to be very honest, it is very hard. I don’t only do these two things, but I also work 24 hours a week, but there is so much exposure, I have learned so much from this group.”

According to Rahat Virji, racism still exists in our community. It is the sad reality. “Basically as soon as I came to York University, it was my first year, I did not know anyone , I had family but I was still living on campus. Winter was starting and it was depressing. People were not making an effort to understand me, I was facing covert racism. I had a strong Indian accent, when I said something, it was gone unheard, people ignored it. And eventually I got over it, I am really happy because it made me a stronger person today. There are different groups at York, there are some people who will make an effort to know who you are, and some who will push you to the side and tell you that you don’t belong here. Racism still exists within the community.”

People need to welcome people from different cultures, most of us living in Toronto already know how to do this. But some of us tend to forget that we are all human in the end. Hopefully next time you meet an intelligent, nice individual who just sounds or looks different from you, you will extend your hand to them rather than turning your back on them!

Rahul Bose is coming to York University on Monday Oct. 19^th, noon -2 pm at the Health, Nursing and Environment Studies building, room 140.

 Author: Noorah Uddin

Social Services Network (SSN) was launched with the support of United Way of York Region (UWYR) in 2004. SSN is a not – for – profit charitable organization that was created specifically to meet the needs of the growing and diverse South Asian community. SSN’s mission is to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate services to the South Asian community through partnerships developed with mainstream service providers.  

Youth make up a significant portion of the York Region community and for this reason they are a primary focus at SSN. To engage youth SSN established a link to the South Asian youth community through the formation of Social Services Network – Leaders of Tomorrow, Today (SSN-LOTT) in May 2008. In carrying out the mission of Social Services Network, SSN-LOTT will be the change within society, to voice, address and resolve issues that South Asian youth face on a daily basis. The committee consists of 12 dedicated youth members from the diverse South Asian community who attend various york region high schools, colleges and universities. The group meets every Saturday morning. Within the overall vision of Social Services Network, SSN- LOTT will facilitate, support, encourage and unite the South Asian youth living in Ontario.

SSN-LOTT has been working on organizing many youth run events throughout the year. In September 2009, SSN-LOTT hosted its first inaugural seminar, ‘HYPE’ (Helping Youth Promote Excellence). SSN-LOTT is proud to present the 4th annual EKtaa – “Unity Within Diversity” show. The event will be held on Saturday November 14th 2009 at Bur Oak Secondary School, in Markham. This year’s theme is “Bridging The Intergenerational Gap”. EKtaa – “Unity Within Diversity”  is a multicultural show in which various South Asian children, youth and seniors will be showcasing their talent through performing arts, in doing so fusing the traditional South Asian culture with a modern vibe.   

Early bird tickets will be sold at $7 and door sales at $10. Visit us online at www.socialservicesnetwork.org

LOTT Members Top Row: (Left to Right) Parth Shah, Chadell Phillip, Harpreet Shokar, Paven Uppal,Bottow Row: (Left to Right) Bhavini Solanki, Jasmine Balley, Baljiwan Uppal, Ruchi Kumar, Neha Gupta, Aeram KhanEKTAA – 2008 Back Row Standing Left to right: Sehar Shahzad, Huma Noorani, Kirandeep Kainth, Naim Jutha, Rishi Bayani, Sachin Jain, Jasraj Singh, Neil Ladva Stand holding the board (left to right): Trisha Pramar, Preeti Momi, Bhavini Solanki Sitting (right to left): Tejal Solanki (youth program Manager), Sheliza Khan Susan Kadis Picnic Aug 2008 Left to Right: Jasraj Singh, Angeli Ghelani, Tehsin Jaffer, Bhavini Solanki, Kirandeep Kainth, Susan Kadis (Former MP Thornhill), Tejal Solanki (Youth Program Manager), Sheliza Khan, Sachin Jain, Rishi BhayaniSome of SSN-LOTT members and volunteers: Top Row (left to right) Huma Noorani, Safiah Bhatia, Baljiwan Uppal, Sophie Lalani Middle Row (left to right) Harpreet Shokar, Ameet Nathwani, Vineet Sharma, Tejal Solanki Bottow Row: (left to right) Preetika Purba, Pavitra Logeswaran, Bhavini Solanki, Paven UppalLOTT Member

LOTT Member