Desiland

With days before Canada's federal election, Niru completes her four-part Currying Votes series with two new episodes on the Khalistan movement in Canada and how Canadian politicians of all stripes court minority communities.

Part 3 is devoted to understanding arguments in favour of Khalistan, featuring the international policy director with Sikhs for Justice, Toronto-based lawyer Jatinder Singh Grewal.

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While most Indians around the world watch in horror, worried for their families and friends, one Bay-area couple decided to do take action. Rohit and Kanika Mediratta co-founded CovidReliefIndia.com, an initiative dedicated to getting badly-needed life-saving medical equipment into India. Please consider donating what you can to their efforts.

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Thank you for subscribing and tuning in to Desiland as we return from a hiatus for two important episodes on India's healthcare crisis.

In this first conversation, Niru speaks with Toronto-based respirologist and clinician-scientist Dr. Samir Gupta who describes a perfect storm of factors that led to horrific outcomes in Indian hospitals, and the shocking impact the crisis has had on his own family in India.

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There is no sugarcoating it: Canada's unofficial Desi capital, the city of Brampton in the province of Ontario, is a COVID-19 hotspot. But why? Questionable theories abound, and Niru explores a complicated problem with Brampton mayor Patrick Brown (who we also discover has spent more time in India than Niru). First, a snapshot of just how multifaceted pandemic politics are in the heart of Desiland with Gurpreet Malhotra, CEO of Ind...

On another socially-distanced remote edition of Desiland, Niru explores how India has managed the COVID-19 pandemic and why data suggested the crisis began on a positive note. As India closes in on half a million cases, what changed? Our guests: From Toronto, Dr. Prabhat Jha is a renowned  epidemiologist who explains how the crisis has been managed in India, and from Mumbai, Arnob Bal, a music producer and Mispronunciation Nation p...

Niru offers a unique perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic from Gurpreet Gill, a Colorado woman whose controversial poem on the crisis, "What if...", recently went viral on Facebook. Gill, who describes herself an intuitive healer and guide, spoke to Niru via Zoom video conference in a conversation the Desiland host describes as a "soothing balm".

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Niru pays tribute to a provocative post-9/11-themed comedy tour called We Ain't Terrorists that recently ended a decade-long run touring Canada. She chats with comedians Ali Hassan and Dave Merheje about Desis and brown-skinned people of all backgrounds being victims of "inaccurate" and tragically funny racism. 

Special thanks to Toronto's spectacular Aga Khan Museum and Theatre for hosting this conversation.

Coming up on Desiland:...

After a summer break and vacation with the kids, Niru is back and looking inward on the subject of Branding Desis; stereotypes, assimilation and the brown glass ceiling, with motivational speaker Bobby Umar, a five-time TED veteran and ranked among North America's top 100 speakers by Inc.com. His book is called "How to Network Anytime, Anywhere, with Anyone".

We're taking a pause on our series on Khalistan, Currying Votes, and will...