Children's illustrated book on Diwali making its mark in Canadian and American Markets

Ved and Friends Celebrate Dussehra and Diwali is a great children’s book which tells the readers of all the different reasons and religions, celebrate the same day. Diwali is one of the most celebrated Hindu festivals across the globe, but it isn’t celebrated for the same reasons even within the Hindu community!

    
  
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The book Ved and Friends talks about these various reasons the festivities are celebrated, and it’s a great way to introduce children to South Asian Culture and literature. The book was officially launched at the Consul General of India Office on Monday September 25^th 2017, by the Honourable Consul  General of India, Mr. Dinesh Bhatia. The book has been on Amazon’s Top 10 Bestsellers list since its availability in the market.

Ved and Friends is on the Top Ten Bestseller List on Amazon's Book on Indian Culture

Having moved to Ontario, Canada in 2009, Author Diksha Pal Narayan has worked in the Canadian and Indian Television industries before taking a sabbatical from work to be a stay at home mother to her child who she and her husband were blessed with in 2013. While trying to maintain a healthy balance between her cultural heritage and life in Canada, she was unable to find relatable content to read to her son which was entertaining, informative and attractive to a young child. So when you don’t see what you want, you create it yourself, and that’s exactly what she did! Coming from a culturally diverse family herself where she is originally from a small mountain retreat in the Himalayas, her husband hails from the southern province of Kerala in India. The couple were from the same country, had the same religion but that’s where all similarities ended as they spoke different languages and the same festivities had different reasons for celebrations for them. When they had their son Ved, they thought of going a step further and including ALL the festivities into their son’s life thus giving birth to the idea of the book- Ved and Friends Celebrate Dussehra and Diwali.

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People have asked Diksha why would you need to write a book about these festivities, when there is so much information available about it on the net? She responds, “Why not? There probably is information about a lot of things on the internet, but the joy of holding a book in your hand, engaging with your children, talking to them, reading to them is a joy I was blessed with as a child and I would love to give today’s generation the same opportunity to experience. Dussehra and Diwali are festivals which roughly span for 20 days while the preparations make it a whole month affair, so why not teach our children the reason we celebrate it. Our Bengali friend celebrates Durga Puja during the time we celebrate Golu Festival while our Gujarati friends celebrate Navratri and dance the garba during the 9-day festival leading up to Dussehra. Why not tell our kids about the reasons why their friends celebrate the same day as we do?”

“Look around you, your neighbourhood, your place of work, the schools your kids go to- it’s proof of our diversity and multiculturalism is in the Canadian blood. With this book, I hope to teach children about the diversity we have in our culture too, and the short stories with morals in them hopefully when taught at an early age can help them make better decisions in life to come,” adds Diksha.

This year Navratri is between 19th of September until the 30th of September.

Dusshera is on the 30th of September.

Diwali is on the 19th of October. 

To know more about the book please visit www.dikshapnarayan.com

Phone: 647.990.7801

Email  | Facebook | Youtube 

Diksha is available for interview to talk about the book Ved and Friends Celebrate Dussehra and Diwali, the festival of Diwali, and multiculturalism and diversity are seen in the festivities.

Thank you for your time.

Diksha

Diksha Pal Narayan

Author,

Ved and Friends Celebrate:

Dussehra and Diwali

Call: 647-990-7801 

StarBuzzOnline

The New Face in the Literary World- Sarita Mandanna - Diksha Pal Narayan

StarBuzz Weekly, Toronto-Sarita, a private equity professional, worked in the high-powered world of finance for most of her life. Sarita was born to a family from Coorg that loved reading and owned coffee plantations. She always knew somewhere in the back of her mind she always did belong there. It was the love of Coorg and curiosity of knowing more about her ancestors that led this numbers professional to try her hand with words. She not only wrote a novel, but also bagged the highest advance paid by Penguin India for a debut novel, even more than the likes of writer Amitav Ghosh!  Tiger Hills had been long listed for the 2010 Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize winning debut.

This novel spans over 5 decades where we follow a traditional family in Coorg. How the changes in the lead character’s life lead to tender moments, innocence lost and tragedies. A book that has been said to be “The Thorn Birds meets Gone With The Wind”, it truly is an Indian Epic. The novel plays with your emotions and captivates you.

Tiger Hills is a refreshing novel, it took 5 years to write but Sarita Mandanna did an excellent job, describing the lives of the 3 leading character’s - Devanna , Devi, and Machu a tiger hunter. The twists and turns in this novel keep you on your toes right till the last page.

At times you feel sympathetic towards Devanna. However, the story progresses in such a way that your emotions take a roller coaster ride. Devi’s beauty and arrogance is something constant in the book. Machu, the tiger hunter, has his trials and tribulations to deal with. No character in Tiger Hills is perfect, making these characters so much more human and real. Each one of them has their desires and ambitions; how they act on them at times and sometimes rise above their own benefit for doing the right thing is worth the read.

Some believe Devanna who had loved Devi all her life should’ve been forgiven a lot sooner than he was, while some believe he got what he deserved. You will find yourself in a dilemma wondering who suffered more, Devanna or Devi, and your heart will ache for one of them.

Coorg, dubbed as the Scotland of India, is a town that has a lot to offer to the tourist. Misty hills, lush forest, acres and acres of tea and coffee plantation, orange groves, undulating streets and breathtaking views are what make Coorg so important in Sarita’s novel. Coorg is the 4^th leading character of this novel. Coorg is on the Western Ghats, and is located in Karnataka's south-western end.

The Untouchables of India

StarBuzz Weekly, Toronto-Author Diksha pal Narayan

Dalits or the Untouchable caste of India faced a lot of hardships in the pre Independence era; well that’s what most of us think isn’t it? But not a whole lot has changed even with enforcement of the Quota system and other amenities, can we expect centuries of discrimination to fade away with a few laws? I am doubtful about this, which was not the case a mere 3 weeks ago. I believed that we were all equals back home in India, because I had a few classmates with the surnames which were of the Dalit caste and we never discriminated against them, it really wasn’t something you thought about and our teachers never treated them differently to us. Isn’t it stupid to think that we still discriminate people because of the surname or caste they were born in? I was oblivious to the sad facts of the life lead by the Dalit class in some parts of my motherland. Event today people are being killed because of their castes, inter-caste marriages are forbidden in some parts till today. In my interaction with Arun Prabha Mukherjee, a Professor of English at York University in Toronto, I came to know of the facts and life of the present day Dalits in India.

Filmi South Asian Film Festival ● Brought to you by ROGERS ● September 30th-October3rd, 2010

Bold and Courageous, FILMI 11 has something for everyone
The 11th Annual FILMI Toronto’s South Asian Film Festival (FSAFF) will be presented October 1st – 4th at the AGO, Revue Cinema and Bloor Cinema, The vision of FILMI Toronto’s South Asian Film Festival is to promote, discover, introduce and celebrate cinematic endeavours by talented South Asian filmmakers, and highlight works with South Asian themes that can be brought to a mainstream audience.

Canadian PREMIERE - ‘Ashes’ – ASHES is a cautionary tale of mental illness, greed, and the definition of family both real and imagined. The story of two brothers living in the inner city, as one descends into the grips of manic depressive schizoid disorder, the other, Ashes, absconds from his responsibility and tries to become a wealthy drug dealer. Fraught with contradiction, the story is a meditation on how easy it is to fall through the cracks of today’s health care system and how we ultimately find grace in the face of suicide.

CANADIAN PREMIERE – ‘The Taqwacores’– A hardcore, Muslim punk rock scene that deals with the complexities of being young and Muslim in modern-day America. Based on the novel my Michael Muhammed Knight of the same name.

FILMI Music Video’s – Preceding each film premiere, FILMI 2010 will also be presenting world premieres of new music videos by artists such as Canadian Bollywood supergroup RDB & Nindy Kaur ; JUNO Nominated Mississauga R&B singer Deesha ; and Montreal dance group The Bilz among many others, as part of FILMI's 3rd annual music video segment programmed by Canadian music personality Raoul Juneja (a.k.a. Deejay Ra).

FILMI Shorts Programme - Examining the future directors from the South Asian Diaspora. The year’s shorts are all Toronto Premieres and all are BOLD and Courageous; Anand Kanna, The eerie DGC nominated film ‘Serum 1831’, New York’s Award Winning ‘Gareeb Nawaaz’s Taxi’, The amazingly crafted ‘Rendered’ and the Brilliant film of Canadian Jay Fields’ The Pickle and Patriacche’

Closing Night Film – World PREMIERE - FILMI Presents ‘Spirit of South Asia’ by Richie Mehta and Cyrus Sundar Singh. A film made in part by Vision TV The Spirit of South Asia examines the lives of 23 prominent Canadians of South Asian heritage. It looks at how their ethnicity and spirituality (or lack of spirituality) impacts their profession. Among those profiled are actress Lisa Ray, world famous choreographer Lata Pada, author and poet Priscilla Uppal, celebrity chef and Globe & Mail columnist Vikram Vij, entrepreneur and humanitarian Surjit Babra, the captain of the Canadian cricket team Ashish Bagai and the special advisor to Joint Forces Afghanistan Lt. Col. Sarjit Hajaan.

Filmi 11 is proud to have in attendance Samrat Chakrabarti (Kissing Cousins, Waiting City), Ajay Naidu (Office Space, Loins of Punjab) , Richi Mehta (AMAL), Cyrus Sundar Singh and much more …
The Filmi team would love to have you at our event to encourage South Asian Filmmakers.
Please RSVP your presence by Wednesday, 29th September 2010 to diksha@filmi.org

Hope to see you all there!

-Diksha for StarBuzz weekly, Toronto

Filmi South Asian Festival in Toronto

 

A lot has changed in the world of movies. Initially it was the old Zamindaar trying to swindle the poor farmer of his land. Then came the songs shot in foreign locations and Angry young men who would fight off the bad guys, stop drug smuggling and save the day! After which we were introduced to the love stories where the Khans took over romancing the lovely ladies of cinema. These days we are seeing a change in the movies with movies like 3 Idiots, Peepli [Live], and Road. Now there is a wider subject matter and there is something for everyone. Toronto International Film Festival kicks off on the 9th of September, which will showcase movies from all over the world. September starts with TIFF and will end with a BANG with Filmi ishtyle...with our very own 11th Annual Filmi South Asian Film Festival!

To tell you more about Filmi, this Film Festival was created ten years ago in response to the absence of South Asian representation in the North American Film industry. Today it has grown to be the largest festival of its kind in North America, and aspires to become the largest outside India. Filmi hit the festival circuit during the summer of 2000, at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, earning accolades from the worldwide film community and audiences alike. Continuing with its success, Filmi is now an annual event committed to cultivating a new audience for films produced outside of India and the Bollywood system. The creation of the Filmi South Asian Festival is further proof that all great things are born from a dream. In 1999, Mohit Rajhans and Dinesh Sachdev founded Filmi and together, they have grown this festival to be the largest of its kind in North America. Mohit is a household name when it comes to television and Dinesh holds the same stature when it comes to the world of stage and movies; both men have given us a platform to honour and recognise Film Creatives amongst our own!

The schedule for the 11th Annual Filimi Festival is available on line at www.filmi.org. The festival kicks off on Thursday September 30th, at Jackman Hall – 317 Dundas Street West. Friday and Saturday Movies will be screened at Revue Cinema – 400 Roncesvalles Avenue. And we end the event with the Grand Finale on Sunday October 3rd at Bloor Cinema – 506 Bloor St. West.

Now South Asian producers, directors and actors have a platform for their stories; these creative people come together to promote their films and we get to see more than the song and dance around the tree! Some of the movies that have been showcased on Filmi in the past have been: Just a Little Red Dot, directed by Mitra Sen; Hyderabad Blues by Nagesh Kukunoor; and the shocking true story Bawandar (Sandstorm), directed by Jagmohan Mundrah.

In ten years, the audience have grown to over 5,000 people and is still growing. If you want to have the opportunity to view the premiere of many Canadian films by South Asian filmmakers as well as South Asian films from around the world, this is the place to be! Come and see the wonderful creative works of these directors, producers and actors. It’s going to be a fun filled weekend in Toronto. You wouldn't want to miss it!
-Diksha Pal Narayan

a1 Sweets & Restaurant

Some work took us to Oakville last weekend and on our way back to Mississauga we came upon this restaurant: a1 Sweets. Having never said no to an opportunity to eat good food, Karthik and I decided to check the place out. a1 Sweets is located at 2345 Trafalgar Road, Oakville (www.a1sweets.com); it’s like any other restaurant from the outside. The ambience is like the typical Desi restaurant we see here, with Yash Raj Songs playing on the TV, but the customers aren't. Being a Desi restaurant in Oakville, I assumed not many people would know the place...but was I wrong! As you entered you can see a variety of faces seated and enjoying their samosa or thali. This isn't just a restaurants for Desis... because I think Karthik and I were the only Desi customers they had at that particular time!
The menu is not too elaborate, but the food is good. I liked the aloo parathas, while Karthik loved the Malai Kofta. Make sure you try out the freshly made selection of sweets here...kalakand was amazing! Having met Vikas and Ritu Saini, who own this restaurant, we came to know that it’s been merely 7 months since they opened this restaurant in Oakville. This is the second branch of the a1 Sweets chain. The original one is located in Scarborough and has been serving Desi food in that location for the past 10 years and is now run by Vikas's elder brother Vishal. Before a1 Sweets this Desi duo helped their father run Albion Sweets before moving to their Scarborough location.
Talking to Vikas I realised how dedicated he is in taking our Desi restaurants to the next level. This 27 years old’s passion is visible when he talks of all the things he has included in his restaurant, like the ability to deliver orders from any part of the world to people in the GTA. His catering services are available for parties from 20 people to 2000 people, and let’s not forget the on-site catering and his moblie tandoor that he as planned to offer.
What I like best about this place is that it has vegan food as well; also worth mentioning is that most of their food is made without garlic so people like my mother-in-law who are limited to dishes without garlic can most definitely enjoy having a meal here. The restaurant also serves Jain-style food.
If you are a vegan, or if you like garlic-free food, have a sweet tooth, or just love and appreciate good food, then a1 Sweets on Oakville is the place to visit!
-by Diksha Pal Narayan

Shopping Diamonds!

Shopping for the right piece of jewellery for the right price can be extremely time consuming. Purchasing from an online store can be a bit daunting. Now imagine, having a jewellery expert come to your home, or office, with unlimited designs to work with you to find the absolutely perfect piece for you, for a price that would blow you away.

Zuri Diamonds is bringing to you a whole new way to purchase your wedding rings, gifts, or whatever your fine jewellery needs may be. No more sales people convincing you to buy from them, or trying to charmingly sell you what you don’t want. Without overhead and inventory costs that retailers incur, Zuri Diamonds is able to maintain incredible prices. “We are only interested in making our clients happy, as our business relies on word-of-mouth sales.” says Zehra Abbas, co-owner of the business. “What we are really proud of is the quality we produce. Our credibility lies in the finished item we provide our client.”

They have also committed a certain percentage of their sales to charity. “We want to be a socially responsibly company.” says Abbas. The husband and wife team were inspired by their own wedding ring shopping experience to establish Zuri Diamonds. I would know because for my first year anniversary we bought our wedding bands from them. The process was hassle free, and not to mention within our budget.

The best thing about Zuri diamonds is that whatever your budget they'll have something for you.

-by Diksha Pal Narayan

Nainital A City of Lakes in North India - by Diksha Pal Narayn

Hey dear readers, I hope you didn’t miss me too much! I’m back in town now; back from my very short vacation home. Where’s home? Home is Nainital the Lake city in Uttrakhand, India.

Nainital a small Hill station and tourist spot where many people from North India come to spend their vacations.

To start with, I’ll tell you how the city got its name. Parvathi, the daughter of King Daksh, married Lord Shiva against the wishes of her father, who did not favour the match. To embarrass and insult both daughter and son-in-law, King Daksh held a ‘Yagna’ (holy ritual). Everybody was invited to this ritual except the daughter and son-in-law. Parvathi, at this insult to her consort, stormed the ‘Yagna’ and before everyone’s eyes leapt into the raging flames of the ‘Yagna’. Lord Shiva himself retrieved the half charred body into his arms and left for Mount Kailash, the home of the Gods. On his way to Mount Kailash the eyes of Parvathi fell into a lake and gave it a beautiful bluish green expanse of water. The lake was in present-day Nainital, and a temple was built on the shores of the lake for Goddess Naina Devi, a name given to Parvathi in affection. Hence the Lake was called Naini Lake and Naini, which refers to the eyes of Goddess Parvathi, and Tal, meaning lake, brought about the name Nainital. It is said that the lake is formed in the shape of an emerald eye.


There are many other stories as to how this lake city got its name but this mythological story is the most popular one. At an elevation of 1,938 m, Nainital has a unparalleled scenic beauty: imposing mountains, reflected in its lake which is 1,372 m long and 457 m broad with a maximum depth of 29 m. Surrounded by lofty peaks the city is divided into two parts - Talli Tal(lower lake) and Malli Tal (upper lake).

Here in Nainital, all the locals know one another as Nainital is such a small place. Some of the best educated and very famous men and women have spent their childhood here in the boarding schools built by the European Missionaries in the last century. Some the famous alumni of these schools are Amitabh Bachchan, Kabir Bedi, Bharat Ratna Aroona Asif Ali, Naseerudd in Shah, and Lalit Modi to name a few.

The seven peaks that surround the lake have wonderful hiking routes like Cheena Peak, Kilbury, Dorothy’s seat and Snow View. The places you can see in and around Nainital are the Governor’s House, Hanuman Garhi, Corbett National Park, and the Boat House Club. In Nainital the Nainital Yacht club continues to be an embodiment of tradition and a repository of sailing heritage. Every year national and zonal Yacht races are held in Naini Lake. Swimming, Canoeing and Kayaking competitions are also organized in Nainital during the summer months. Rock Climbing is also something one should try when in Nainital.

If you are going to the Northern part of India and want to visit a beautiful place then Nainital is meant for you!

- A StarBuzz exclusive

Remembering C K Nayudu: First Captain of the Indian Test Cricket Team -by Diksha Pal Narayan

Recently I met up with Sangeeta Kanjani and her husband Ram who own ARTeFAC Inc. (www.artefac.ca). Sangeeta’s mother is such a wonderful lady; having spent some time with her I knew what my next article would be about! Mrs. Leela Vidyasagar (Sangeeta’s mom) moved to Mississauga with her late husband ten years ago. Meeting Leela ji, I realised how important family and their legacy means.

Talking to Leela ji I came to know of her fond memories of her father - Cottari Kanakiya Nayudu, often known as C.K. Nayudu, who has the honour of being the first ever captain of the Indian Test Cricket team. He is also famous for being the first Cricket player of India who was bestowed with the Padma Bhushan award.

Nayudu was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra on 31st October 1895 where he spent his childhood as well. It was here that he first started playing cricket and also went on to captain the cricket team of the Hislop Collegiate High School, Nagpur. C.K. was selected by the Modi Club and later on became its captain. In 1916 he debuted in First Class Cricket, playing for Hindus against the Europeans. In 1923, Nayudu was made Captain of the army of the ruler of Holkar; he went on to hold the position of Colonel and made Indore, Madhya Pradesh his home.
C.K. Nayudu will always be remembered in Indian Cricket history for he lead the Indian cricket team in its first test cricket match, played against England in 1932. Even though in this match C.K. injured his hand while fielding, he still managed to make the highest runs of the innings. Overall, he scored 1,842 runs and grabbed 65 wickets during the whole tour.


Nayudu was blessed with a tall and well-built physique, and was quite good at driving the ball as a batsman. Apart from this, he was also an accomplished fielder and slow-medium paced bowler.

Nayudu played his last Ranji Trophy cricket match for Uttar Pradesh in the year 1956-57 at the age of 62, wherein he scored 52 runs. He died a graceful death on the 14th of November 1967 in Indore.

Sipping tea in their warm home, Mrs. Leela recollects the life of her father. “Nana (Telugu for Father) always taught all of us children to be humble and that no work should be measured to be big or small…whatever you do, just do it with all your heart and dedication.” Leela ji herself was very good in sports, having represented her state and college in badminton and table tennis, and her shelves of trophies are witness to those glorious days of her life. Leela’s sister, Chandra Nayudu, went on to create another first for India by becoming the first woman cricket commentator! Chandra also wrote a book, ‘C.K. Nayudu, a Daughter Remembers…’.

Way before the IPL or T20s there was test cricket and C.K. Nayudu, and way before Mandira Bedi there was Chandra Nayudu! Leela ji has lived on the principles of her father and carries his legacy with her. She tells me that she used to go watch all her father’s matches as she does her grandsons Rohan’s and Rishi’s these days. She has immense hope for her grandson to carry on the legacy of her father. The Nayudu Family has given a lot to Indian cricket history…here is hoping Rohan and Rishi will enrich the Canadian cricket history! To the Kanjani family, thank you for opening your doors to me and our readers and sharing your story.

-A StarBuzz exclusive