From bondage to the company boardroom

Indian tea plantation workers swap life of bondage for a seat in the boardroom  In a groundbreaking initiative to rehabilitate and include plantation workers in the Southern Indian state of Kerala, Priyadarshini Tea Environs in Kerala's Wayanad region saw the state government give 900 acres of land to the survivors of slavery in 1986. The plantation is seen as a rare success story...

One woman reports a rape every 15 minutes in India

One woman reported a rape every 15 minutes on average in India in 2018, according to government data released on Thursday, underlining its dismal reputation as one of the worst places in the world to be female. The highly publicised gang rape and murder of a woman in a bus in New Delhi in 2012 brought tens of thousands onto...

Global Indian Stories – Top 10

Early in May 2019, Global Indian Stories launched. Since then we've had the honour of sharing a wide variety of stories from around the world. We've had submissions from India, the UK, the USA, and Hong Kong. As a round-up of the year, we've put together a Top 10 of the most read articles. We have musicians, celebrations, and courage...

Multi-faith celebration marks 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak

Multiple faiths truly came together in Edinburgh at an event held to celebrate the 550th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. It was a ground-breaking evening arranged a Muslim organisation, supported by a Hindu organisation, and hosted by the Christian Lord Provost. It was attended by all faiths and was a wonderful showcase of...

Celebrating India’s Constitution Day

India celebrated its seventieth constitution day on 26 November, in different High Commissions and Consulates across the globe, with the Indian High Commission in London being one of them. India's constitution provides us equality, freedom of speech, right to education and human dignity. Here is a short speech by Dr Prerna Tambay, who spoke in the Indian High Commission in...

Passion project shares the voices of Punjabi women in the UK

Anita Goyal, a well-known personality as the CEO and trustee of The Hemraj Goyal Foundation, a patron of Binti International, and Honorary Chair of the FGM Appeal for Barnardo's in the UK, appears to be the very definition of success. Her latest project 'Voices from Punjab' sees her sharing the stories of fifteen Punjabi women who live in the UK, detailing...

HFB’s close to two decades of Diwali celebrations at the House of Commons

The most important and widely celebrated Hindu festival of lights Diwali, had its nineteenth festive gathering at the House of Commons on 23 October. The Terrace Pavilion was transformed into a vibrant and colourful space, full of light and laughter, prominent guests with scrumptious Indian festive food - a true and wonderful manifestation of the spirit of Diwali in...

20,000 celebrate Diwali on the Square 2019 in Birmingham

The West Midlands Combined Authority joined forces with the Consulate General of India in Birmingham in hosting a spectacular extravaganza to celebrate the third consecutive annual event to usher in the Festival of Light on October 19, 2019! This landmark event titled "Diwali on the Square" took place in the most prominent and iconic location in Central Birmingham, the...

Diwali – a victory of light over dark

Diwali is a Hindu festival of lights, celebrated every year in autumn. One of the most poplar festivals of Hinduism, it spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. This will be our first Diwali in Hong Kong, and Diwali this year is around the same time of our term-break, so we hope...

Diwali – a beautiful festival

Diwali is a beautiful Hindu festival, it's a festival of lights. On Diwali, we light candles and decorate the house with flower decorations, rangoli, clean cushions, and festive lights to show that lights always overcomes darkness. This amazing festival takes place in the time span of October to November, when the weather starts getting nicer and cooler, especially in India. We've...