In 1999, millions of Sikhs around the world celebrated the 300 years of the Khalsa, the order of the Sikhs ratified by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. To commemorate this milestone, Punjabi-Canadian folk singer Raj Ghuman released a video album for families and the community to enjoy. The album was called “Mata Gujri Da Lal” and featured 7 original song videos that told a story of faith, historical figures, and even new challenges that we must face to prosper.

In honour of the joyous month of Vaisakh and the celebration of the Sikh Panth on Vaisakhi, The Glass Museum presents Vintage footage of Raj Ghuman from the original “Mata Gujri Da Lal” video album.

Her story is so incredibly sad and made news headlines across the world. But, what about those countless women and some even children that are too afraid to report the sexual abuses they face?

In a country whose judicial system seems broken, this girls case becomes one among thousands that will sadly not change the rape culture that is festering there.

I am sitting here in Canada, safe in my office, knowing that I can trust my strong, democratic, judicial system that will fight for a victims rights. What can we do so far from where the issues are happening? So far from what we know?

We can make noise. We can make our voices heard. We can share her story and the stories of so many others that will not or can not speak for themselves. Put heat on a country that needs to address its domestic human rights violations that are disgusting and atrocious.

That’s what we can do.

May Waheguru keep her safe now where no one can hurt her ever again.

- Harjot

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20860569

Rick Matharu received the highest number of online votes from Canadians for his Butter Chicken Lasagna on the season finale of the competitive reality series.

The field was narrowed down to one finalist in each of seven food categories. Matharu was up against Jason Keary of Nerepis, N.B., with his Honey Cheese Pastries; Victoria’s Stephen Childs with his Chipotle Chili Bites; Tracey Rigden of Etobicoke, Ont., with her Dulce de Leche Brownies; Vancouver’s Jackie Koh with her Smoky Korean Meatballs; Don Harquail of Burnaby, B.C., with his Golden Toffee Nut Gems; and Cathy Ferguson of Gloucester, Ont., with her Montreal Deli Dip.

Each category winner received $25,000.
TORONTO — A Brampton, Ont., man is $250,000 richer after his recipe received the grand prize on the Food Network Canada show Recipe to Riches.

Rick Matharu received the highest number of online votes from Canadians for his Butter Chicken Lasagna on the season finale of the competitive reality series.

The field was narrowed down to one finalist in each of seven food categories. Matharu was up against Jason Keary of Nerepis, N.B., with his Honey Cheese Pastries; Victoria’s Stephen Childs with his Chipotle Chili Bites; Tracey Rigden of Etobicoke, Ont., with her Dulce de Leche Brownies; Vancouver’s Jackie Koh with her Smoky Korean Meatballs; Don Harquail of Burnaby, B.C., with his Golden Toffee Nut Gems; and Cathy Ferguson of Gloucester, Ont., with her Montreal Deli Dip.

Each category winner received $25,000.

Matharu’s winning recipe and the other category winners’ recipes have been developed into President’s Choice products and are available in select Loblaw stores across the country.

The butter chicken lasagna was inspired by the Indian-Canadian fusion dishes he loves to prepare.

Matharu, who was born and raised in Brampton, watched his mother while growing up — “she’s a great cook herself” — and started cooking about 10 years ago. “I love experimenting in the kitchen. It’s like a science lab for me,” he said, adding he likes to put his own twist on his mother’s recipes.

“For example, if a young kid’s growing up and they don’t want to eat Indian or Punjabi food I’ll figure out a way how you can introduce it to them, just like my mom did, because growing up we didn’t always like to eat Indian food and she would always throw it into ordinary cooking and that’s how she introduced us to Indian food and that’s what I want to do nationwide, for Canada.”

Matharu is a photographer, writes a food blog (ricksgoodeats.com) and hosts a radio show with his wife featuring Punjabi-style music known as Bhangra. He hopes to put some of his winnings toward a recently purchased house as well as taking some culinary training.

Matharu’s winning recipe and the other category winners’ recipes have been developed into President’s Choice products and are available in select Loblaw stores across the country.

The butter chicken lasagna was inspired by the Indian-Canadian fusion dishes he loves to prepare.

Matharu, who was born and raised in Brampton, watched his mother while growing up — “she’s a great cook herself” — and started cooking about 10 years ago. “I love experimenting in the kitchen. It’s like a science lab for me,” he said, adding he likes to put his own twist on his mother’s recipes.

“For example, if a young kid’s growing up and they don’t want to eat Indian or Punjabi food I’ll figure out a way how you can introduce it to them, just like my mom did, because growing up we didn’t always like to eat Indian food and she would always throw it into ordinary cooking and that’s how she introduced us to Indian food and that’s what I want to do nationwide, for Canada.”

Matharu is a photographer, writes a food blog (ricksgoodeats.com) and hosts a radio show with his wife featuring Punjabi-style music known as Bhangra. He hopes to put some of his winnings toward a recently purchased house as well as taking some culinary training.

It also has the highest retention rate, with future generations born and raised in Canada holding tight to their linguistic heritage.

Very interesting read!

National Post

OTTAWA — As the Canadian government moves to toughen language requirements for newcomers, the latest census figures suggest that more than two million people speak neither English nor French at home.

According to Statistics Canada, the figure more than doubles when individuals are asked about the non-official language they speak “most often” at home.

Overall, one-fifth of Canada’s population reported speaking a foreign tongue at least some of the time at home.

More than 200 languages were reported in the 2011 census, with Chinese languages continuing to dominate, with more than a million people saying they speak either Mandarin, Cantonese or Chinese (a non-specified category that includes Mandarin or Cantonese).

Punjabi was listed as the next most common foreign language spoken in Canadian households, with 460,000 reporting it as their mother tongue.

It also has the highest retention rate – something that comes as no surprise to Balpreet Singh Boparai of the World Sikh Organization of Canada.

 

As a second-generation Canadian, Boparai learned it from his parents at home and now his two-year-old daughter Gian is learning it.

“What makes the Sikh relationship with Punjabi a little bit different is it’s not just cultural, it’s also religious. Part of our faith is to be able to read scripture and that is in Punjabi and Gurmukhi,” the Toronto-area resident said, adding it’s also important to know Punjabi in order to communicate with relatives.

“For me it was important to have Punjabi first because I knew it was not something easy to pick up outside the home.”

That said, speaking Punjabi at home growing up didn’t stop him from picking up both English and French, languages he expects his daughter will also pursue.

 

While the use of foreign languages in Canadian households has gone largely unchanged since 2006, the government has started to crack down on immigrants who aren’t proficient in at least one official language.

This year, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney unveiled tough new language requirements for those seeking citizenship or permanent residence.

Strong language skills are thought to improve newcomers’ chances of getting a good job and integrating into society. Kenney has also noted a correlation between immigration fraud and regions that don’t make proficiency in one of Canada’s official languages a priority.

That said, the figures suggest the use of multiple languages at home has increased since 2006. Last year, 11.5 per cent of the population said they used English as well as an immigrant language at home compared to just 9.1 per cent in 2006.

In all, Asian languages now account for 56 per cent of non-official languages in Canada, while just 40 per cent are of European origin.

Tagalog, a Philippines-based language, saw a huge jump in popularity in Canada in 2011 with 279,000 people reporting speaking it at home — a 64 per cent increase over 2006.

The use of Mandarin (51 per cent), Arabic (47 per cent), Hindi (44 per cent), Creole (42 per cent), Bengali (40 per cent), Persian (33 per cent) and Spanish (32 per cent) also saw significant growth since 2006.

Meanwhile, the number of Italian, Polish and Greek speakers has declined.

The vast majority of those who said they speak an immigrant language at home live in a major Canadian city.

In Toronto, 1.8 million people said they spoke an immigrant language, a number two-and-a-half times greater than that reported in Vancouver.

Chinese languages accounted for the largest number of immigrant tongues reported in both cities, followed by Punjabi.

Chinese languages also topped the list in Calgary and Edmonton, where Punjabi and Tagalog are also dominant.

In Montreal and the National Capital Region, Arabic and Spanish are most common.

Other languages commonly spoken in Canadian households are Spanish, Italian, Urdu and German.

Retention rates among those who speak foreign languages are highest among Punjabi, Mandarin, Tamil, Urdu, Korean and Persian speakers, the figures suggest.

 

Why not take advantage of the fall season and all the pumpkins by using the seeds from your jack o’ lantern in your breakfast!

The pumpkin seeds can used in your oatmeal or granola and are loaded with anti-oxidants and fiber to boost your metabolism for great weight loss results!

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