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...
Reasons to rejoice during the Chinese New Year of the Ox celebrations
I wish all my friends celebrating Lunar New Year “Gong Xi Fa Cai” and “Kung Hei Fat Choi” with lots of happiness and strength for the year of Ox. May the new year bring all the good things in life you truly deserve. Celebrations in Hong Kong There will soon be reasons to rejoice in Hong Kong, with the government relaxing restrictions...
Lockdown Diaries: Oli Khan’s Surma Takeaway to distribute thousands of free hot meals to frontline workers in the UK
The holy month of Ramadan 2020 will be remembered in history for coinciding with one of the worst pandemics of all time, and this has changed the way Ramadan is being observed globally this year. However this has not dampened the spirit of compassion and generosity during this sacred time. Celebrated chef Oli Khan FRSA and Surma takeaway in Stevenage have...
A ride too far
Baramulla, North Kashmir April 1990 The Vale of Kashmir was brimming with voices of dissent and there was a surge in violence, murder and mayhem triggered by religious uprising in the state. The trouble in the valley was abetted primarily by the military leadership of neighbouring Pakistan and supported by the religious fundamentalist forces who had fallen prey to the...
The Chattri Memorial Service: India’s war sacrifices remembered in Brighton
The Royal Armed Forces, veterans associations, relatives of Indian soldiers, and senior members from civic and political life attended the Chattri Memorial on the Downs just north of Patchman on 9 June to remember the war sacrifices of soldiers during First World War, from undivided India. Hindu and Sikh soldiers were cremated in the site of the memorial, having...
Lockdown Diaries: Feeding the feeders – CORO India distributes food supplies to wage earners amidst the coronavirus lockdown
It's been a long time since I sat down to write something. But if one's part of something magical, then that story needs to be told. My story begins with the announcement of the Corona lockdown by the Indian government. We all knew it would come one day, but still we were all shocked when it did arrive. Most of...
Creativity unlocked: an inspiring story from India in the times of the pandemic
While the pandemic has been challenging for us in different ways, Pulkit Datta shows us how he used the lockdown to unlock his dormant creativity “When an admirer offered to pay for one of my sketches, my 10-year-old daughter, standing beside me, literally jumped in joy. I clenched my fists instead. The moment had arrived,” says Pulkit Datta, a mechanical engineer by trade, and an...
KASHISH 2020: 52 films compete for a total cash award of Rs 1,80,000
The 11th edition of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, South Asia’s biggest LGBTQIA+ film festival, has decided to go online this year as KASHISH 2020 Virtual from July 22 to July 30. The festival will screen 157 films from 42 countries out of which 52 films compete in the 9 competition categories that includes Best Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay, Best...
The Taj Mahal becomes first Indian monument with breastfeeding room
Public breastfeeding still carries a social stigma in India where mothers are expected to be covered head-to-toe The Taj Mahal, built as a monument to a woman who died in childbirth, is set to get a baby feeding room in a first for India where conservative attitudes toward public breastfeeding mean nursing mothers are often shamed and told to cover...
The pride in overcoming body shaming
"The fear within us is our biggest enemy; get that out to conquer the world" There was a time when I wondered how ladies wearing bikinis and bodysuits be so fit? The fitness indicated their amazing mental and physical health, and the ability to be fit enough mentally to embrace themselves. That is my understanding, based on my personal experience. I...
