First line of defence against coronavirus

I am a commoner. We commoners only read and hear about wars, tsunamis, fires, murders, diseases. For us these things are just news, these are things that only happen to someone else. Our strongest opinions are often limited to the dining table of our house. To put it simply, we're just part of a large 'Janta'. But what if...

Lockdown Diaries: Bamboo House India supports waste pickers, daily wage earners with continued livelihood and aid

'My Waste, My Responsibility' is the mantra followed by Hyderabad-based social enterprise Bamboo House, India. Prashant Lingam, who co-founded the initiative along with his wife Aruna Kappagantula in 2006, moved from making eco-friendly bamboo homes to recycled eco-friendly plastic homes, plastic paver titles and kiosks for street vendors, using tonnes of used plastic garbage that would otherwise end up...

Community bonds over Hindu temple cemetery restoration project in Hong Kong

The capacity for people to give of themselves even in hard times is a wonder of the human spirit. Recently this was evident as a forgotten cemetery behind a Hindu temple in Hong Kong was saved by an eager crowd of volunteers. Arianne Baldesimo, a Filipino teacher who calls Hong Kong her home, has been in the Hindu Temple at...

Mother bares her soul about the domestic abuse her daughter suffered

A grieving mother is chronicling the abuse her daughter’s ex-boyfriend inflicted upon her in a new book after a sustained period of physical and emotional abuse led to her taking her own life in 2016. Miss Meera Dalal had experienced physical and mental abuse for years and which ultimately led the Leicester-based NHS professional to tragically take her own life...

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...

Lockdown Diaries: Director-Producer Faraz Ansari raises funds to support transgenders and daily wage earners in the film industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the worst epidemics that the world has witnessed within living memory. The lockdown imposed by governments across the world has been a huge setback for industries across the world, and for many in the busy Bollywood industry, this shutdown has spelt doom for the thousands making their living out of it. Faraz Arif...

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...

What is Global Indian Stories?

Global Indian Stories has moved! We've upgraded our website onto a bigger, faster server and changed our domain to globalindianstories.org to better represent our ethos of being a non-profit organisation. Our goals are unchanged. Global Indian Stories is all about Indians being able to share their stories with their communities and around the world. Since we launched, we've had...

Back in cinemas, the 2021 London Indian Film Festival

In a challenging year for India and South Asia, the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival and its sister festivals in Birmingham and Manchester, will be a love letter to the homelands, continuing to premiere the very best of new indie films from the Indian subcontinent and diaspora, from 17th June to 4th July 2021. Supported by the British Film...

Lockdown Diaries: British Asian Trust’s emergency COVID-19 appeal for South Asia

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Royal Founding Patron of the British Asian Trust, gave his support to the British Asian Trust’s COVID-19 Emergency Appeal on Friday 24th April via a specially recorded video message. South Asia is home to 27% of the world’s poorest people with 750 million people surviving on less than $2.50 per day. Now...