Teacher turns author to keep Gujarati alive for future generations

Growing up in a multicultural, multiethnic, and multilingual London has been a key factor in shaping my identity. I am British – born and bred. A true Londoner. And I am as Indian as they come. My childhood was an Indian one, from the food, the language, the weekend activities, to the way I interact with people; my experiences have...

The Piano

An eerie hum of silence roamed through the dark room. Dust floated around revealing itself when hit by the light coming through the small window at the end of the large, echoey room. The piano stool squeaked as the man adjusted himself. The man cleared his throat and touched the cold, ivory keys. Thousands of memories flooded back into...

Lockdown Diaries: My fight with coronavirus boredom

My name is Ishaan Saxena and I am a student of year 5 in an international school in Hong Kong. My school has been closed since January end amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Home learning is one job to do but once you finish it, it gets boring. So I thought I could use this time to explore my interest and do something...

Lockdown Diaries: Ten-plus-year olds review animation film Sitara, make statements to stop child marriage

Sitara: Let Girls Dream, made by renowned two-time Academy and three-time Emmy Award-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, is the best film we've seen in the last weeks during the Coronavirus lockdown. It is out on Netflix.  As sisters aged ten and eleven, we were quite excited when our mum showed us the trailer of the movie about two sisters in the...

Why everybody should read the Harry Potter series at least once in their lives 

The Harry Potter series is renowned across the world for its good writing and fantasy world. But it also teaches us a lot of life lessons and helps us understand the importance and the power of love and friendship. Here are some lessons which the Harry Potter series taught us. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes: This is an underlying...

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...

Vanilla cupcakes with cream-cheese frosting baked to perfection by a 5-year-old

The spread of the horrific Coronavirus that originated in China has reached Canadian borders, with the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Gregoire, testing positive for COVID-19. She is one of the over 8000 cases recorded on Canadian soil so far, and while 1200 people have recovered, more than a 100 have lost their lives to the virus. Like many countries across...

Uttorsori: The Generation Next Festival celebrated virtually over eight hours

The 7th season of Essex Indians UK's flagship event 'Uttorsori: Generation Next Festival' went virtual this year on the 21 June. Started in 2014 to encourage children and young adults to become a part of the cultural heritage and focus on project related to global causes, the event has grown from strength to strength over the past years. The one-of its...

Lockdown Diaries: Children express themselves in the times of Corona

Children in times of Corona is one example of challenging usual pathways. It started as an idea to create an intercultural digital space that then expanded even further as a platform to co-create, co-produce creative content with children between the age of five and fifteen, mainly working with South-Asian community, nurseries and schools in United Kingdom. We understand the...

Tales from the lockdown

From the minds of Samar and Ashish Hingorani come a collection of stories that follow three characters adapting to the new "normal" in these days of coronavirus. The illustrations are by Lakshmi Hingorani. Enjoy. NOTE: the controls to move back and forth through the pages are at the bottom of each page.