What’s in the name? Ask a desi : The Tribune India

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What’s in the name? Ask a desi

Cool ones like Balle, Vadhaai, Punjab.

What’s in the name? Ask a desi

Identity export: Paldi was named after the city’s founder Maiya Singh’s native place in Punjab



Peeyush Agnihotri

Cool ones like Balle, Vadhaai, Punjab. Or cocky ones like Chakde, Marjava, Burraah… such vanity plates on cars and SUVs on Alberta streets do make you chuckle. Then we have food joints with whiff of India, both literally and figuratively, spread over various quadrants of gridlocked Calgary. Namaskar, Rasoi, Sukhi da Dhaba to name a few. Even Billoo! Not to miss out on that Sector 17 food truck parked along the Saddletowne-Taradale circle.

Just a glimpse of how we Indo-Canadians love to carry a slice of culture and heritage along, wherever they go! Car tags, eateries, even business establishments (ever heard of Singh Security Systems). All these do have an Indian dash to it, albeit at an individual level. What’s getting more noticeable now is how Indian community in Canada is lending cultural touch to various state and municipal establishments, either through sheer philanthropy, core community work or for having towered above the rest.

The Indian signages and names started appearing on the Canadian map ever since the first Indo-Canadians settlement on Vancouver Island in British Columbia was named Paldi in early 1900s (Maiya Singh, aka Mayo, founded the town, naming it after his hometown, Paldi, district Hoshiarpur). In 2014, Calgary honoured Harnam Singh (aka Hari Singh), the first Indo-Canadian to set foot in Calgary, by dedicating a park to his name. His rags-to-riches story is an inspiration and it’s said that at one time, he owned most of the land on which is built much of the present city of Calgary.

Much water has flown down the bow ever since. The vibrant Indo-Canadian community has come a long way and is giving back by donating money or land, or both. 

As an acknowledgement, the city and the establishment is recognising the efforts by naming facilities after them. Or according to them. Almost six years ago, Indo-Canadian-operated Genesis Builders contributed $5 million, plus a 15-year naming agreement for the Genesis Centre recreational facility in northeast Calgary. Barely two months ago, Calgary real estate magnate Bob Dhillon donated $10-million to University of Lethbridge, Alberta. In recognition, the university renamed Faculty of Management as Dhillon School of Business.

It’s just not about individual philanthropic donations. Even the governments (both provincial and municipal) have looked towards the Indo-Canadian community whenever they needed financial support for renovating or upgrading facilities. And the community never lets them down. Just ask an average Calgarian on how ‘Mai Bhago’ Triage facility or ‘Mata Tripta’ neonatal intensive care unit at Peter Lougheed Hospital came into being, and they will proudly narrate how lakhs of dollars of donations were raised through radiothons held by RedFM, a South Asian radio station.

Yes, the community does have a large heart.

Similarly, Dashmesh Cultural Centre, a gurdwara in Martindale, Calgary, has being recognised for years of humanitarian and community work. Though local wags has, since decades, dubbed the community of Martindale as ‘Singhdale’, it was just last month that a section of Martindale Boulevard passing in front of the gurdwara officially got a secondary name added to it. That stretch is now called Gurdwara Sahib Boulevard.

An unrelated move, almost eight years ago on Mill Woods Road, Edmonton, saw 13 signs in both Punjabi and English cropping up between 50 Street and 34 Avenue. Ditto at Prince George (Northern BC), where the city in 2015 erected first multi-lingual street signs, directing visitors to Prince George’s two gurdwaras. The Edmonton signs came at no cost to taxpayers because almost four grand needed to do the task were all fundraised. 

If not community’s joint effort or individual philanthropic donation, it could be a towering individual who swayed the socio-economic, cultural or political scenario of the country. The city of Vancouver in 2016 named a street after prominent Punjabi businessman Jack Uppal. A park in Calgary is being named after late S. Manmeet Singh Bhullar, a tireless politician, who died while helping a stranded motorist.

Canadian census 2016 shows 7.7 million Canadians belong to visible minorities, representing 22.3 per cent of the total population and that South Asians (read desis) are the largest visible minority group at 25.1 per cent of the total. Indeed visible they are, through the name and legacy they have etched their identity on the maple leaf.

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